Chapter 12

Chapter 12

T he list of things that Fey truly hated was blessedly short.

She had hated her father, of course. She hated sewing, having tried for years to learn when she was training in the Queen's army and having nothing to show for it but pinpricks all over her fingers and hands. She hated the smell of lavender, which her mother had insisted was good for relaxation, but did nothing for Fey but make her gag.

And she hated meeting with the Head Priestesses of the four covens.

Fey stood outside the door, trying to calm her rage enough to enter without being openly hostile to the four women waiting inside.

"You okay?" Joy asked. Her sisters were waiting for her, watching her.

"No," Fey answered with a snarl, and Lilith chuckled darkly.

It was one of the few palace events they would attend unmasked, and Fey pined for the anonymity of her uniform. Pined for the mask to hide her from the Priestesses inside.

Deep breaths, Fey. She squared her shoulders. You can do this .

"Ok. I'm ready."

"Try not to kill anyone, okay?" Joy whispered as she put her hand on the door handle. Fey smiled, and they filed inside.

When a new Blade is introduced, it's a tradition that the heads of the four covens are informed before the official initiation by the Queen. It was a formality, and the High Priestesses had no real power to either accept or reject a candidate, but it was a matter of politics and tradition.

Two more things Fey hated—politics and tradition.

The High Priestesses were seated when Fey and her sisters entered the entertaining room, clustered together in high-backed chairs and sipping tea. The attendants had been dismissed earlier, none having the sort of access that would allow them to see the Queen's Blades unveiled.

Joy, Lilith, and Fey bowed deeply to the High Priestesses. Fey avoided looking at any of them directly, and one in particular.

She'd only met Sana a few times but loathed being in the same room as the Water Coven High Priestess. Sana was everything Fey wasn't, everything a Water Witch should be. Quiet, gentle. She was a healer and, of course, an expert in elixir craft.

Fey felt her judgment like a physical weight whenever they were together.

But Sana smiled at them in a seemingly warm welcome, setting her teacup down gently when they entered. She wore full Priestess Robes in the soft blue of the Water Coven. Next to her, the head of the Air Coven, Linh, looked at the clock pointedly and tsked. She was the oldest of the High Priestesses by several decades, and every year her patience for events outside her temple grew shorter.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting," Joy said politely, inclining her head. "We were unavoidably detained."

They hadn't been detained by anything, of course. They were simply late. Later still, since Fey had needed time to collect herself in the hallway. But Joy was a skillful and charming liar, and even Fey would have believed her if she hadn't known the truth.

The Priestesses nodded appropriately. Fey could feel Sana's gaze but refused to look at or acknowledge her.

"I understand we have a new Blade joining the ranks?" Leandra asked. The Fire Priestess sat proud as a Queen in her seat.

"Another Fire Witch, no doubt," Linh complained loudly.

Fey clenched her teeth together, but Joy's smile never faltered .

"A Fire Witch, yes," Joy conceded. "But Willow is also an Earth Witch."

The Earth Coven Priestess Claudia looked up with interest. It had been quite a while since an Earth Witch had been a Blade.

It was a trophy to them to have their covens represented in this. Though their identities were supposed to be secret, the powers they held always seemed to leak out, and Fey was sure that leak started here, with these women. There were bragging rights to be had when a Blade could wield their coven's element.

"Earth primary?" Claudia asked, hopefully.

Joy shook her head. "Willow is a Fire primary. Earth is her secondary power."

Linh snorted. "See? Another Fire Witch."

"My Priestess," Joy responded, emphasizing the word my . "Are you not pleased with my work on the Blades? Have I not brought honor to the Air Coven?"

Linh waved her comment away. "You're fine, child." Fey's jaw was pressed together so tight she worried she might chip a tooth. "I'm only pointing out the obvious. The Fire Coven has always been overrepresented among the Blades. And, again, you bring us another Fire Witch. Why not another Air, eh? Or even Water, hm?" Linh gestured at Fey.

The look Fey gave her could have killed, but Linh paid it no attention.

"And why should my Witches be punished for our strength?" Leandra smirked. "Fire is power. Aggression. Does it not make sense that the Blades should wield the strongest element?"

"I think Fey's presence on the Blades disproves the very notion that Fire alone is the element of aggression, Leandra," Sana responded, her voice soft but somehow rising above the hum of discussion. She was looking straight at Fey—had been since they'd entered the room. Fey refused to meet her eyes.

"Exactly!" Linh pointed at Fey triumphantly. "A Water Witch, just as deadly as a Fire Witch, eh? Why not bring us another? Bring me an Earth Witch, a full Earth Witch, just as bloodthirsty as this one. Now that's a Blade I want to see!"

Leandra argued, and as the Priestesses spoke over one another, Fey wanted nothing more than to turn and walk out of the room. She even considered it briefly before Lilith spoke up.

"You all seem to be under the impression that your opinion here matters."

The Priestesses stopped and turned as one to look at her. Joy, too, snapped her gaze to Lilith, eyes narrowing.

Lilith met their stares, the very picture of calm. "It doesn't," she told them with a haughty shrug. "You have no say in who becomes a Blade and who doesn't. We are telling you that Willow will be inducted this afternoon. We are not asking ."

Linh's mouth opened and closed in outrage. No one spoke to the High Priestesses like this. Not even the Queen. Her mouth gaped like a fish as her mind struggled to put her indignation into words. "Now see here, you disrespectful little?—"

"You serve at the pleasure of the Queen," Lilith snapped, speaking over her. There was steel in her voice, harder than anything in Linh's. The Priestess stopped. Stared.

"We," Lilith continued, gesturing at Joy and Fey at her side. "We serve at the pleasure of the Queen. And today the Queen herself will induct whoever the fuck we say she will into our sisterhood. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you take it up with her. But never forget that you serve at her pleasure. "

Everyone gaped at Lilith as she continued.

" And if the day comes when she no longer claims the pleasure of your service—" Lilith shrugged, but her eyes were glittering dangerously. "Well, then you might find yourself learning exactly what the Queen's Blades are capable of."

And with that, gasps of outrage rising behind her, Lilith turned and walked out of the room.

Fey barked a laugh, shocked, while Joy made a quick apology for their sister before bowing hastily and pulling Fey from the room. The door behind them closed with a sharp, painfully loud crack.

"You're fucking insane," Joy shouted after Lilith's back in the hallway, hurrying after her. "That wasn't necessary, Lilith, and you know it."

Lilith shrugged, stopping to let them catch up. "What's insane is that they think they can talk to us like that. If I wanted to be criticized by a sex-starved old crone, I would have stayed at home with my mother."

Joy opened her mouth to continue her berating, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a soft cough behind them.

A hand caught Fey's elbow, and she turned.

Sana stood there. The very last person Fey wanted to see.

"Fey," she said softly. "Could I have a word?"

Great .

Fey had managed to avoid Sana successfully since her induction to the Blades. She was the youngest of the High Priestesses, having just taken over from the last head of the Water Coven shortly after Fey came to the Eternal City.

Fey inclined her head. "Of course," she said, and she gestured to Lilith and Joy to continue. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"It's good to see you, Fey," Sana said as Fey's sisters disappeared down the hall.

She always sounded so… sincere . But Fey knew she was lying. Sana didn't think it was good to see her.

Fey made Sana uncomfortable. She wasn't what a water Witch should be—she wasn't a healer, wasn't interested in the calm, soft energy Witches of her coven should exude. She didn't use her power the way it was intended, and Sana knew. To Sana, Fey must be the ultimate form of blasphemy.

A Witch who used her power over Water to kill.

"I haven't seen you at the Temple, recently."

"I've never been," Fey said honestly with a shrug. She hadn't been to any temple, not since her Awakening.

Sana blinked in surprise. "Oh. Oh, well, you must come sometime. We would love to have you join us."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Fey answered. She felt uncomfortable standing here, talking to the High Priestess. Her skin felt too tight, too awkward around her body.

When Sana cocked her head in question, Fey sighed loudly.

"Do you want your temple to see me, Sana?" Fey held her arms out, the raised scar tissue of her sigils covering her arms and fully visible. "Do you want them to see an example of how their power could be used? Not to heal, but to hurt? You don't like the way I use my gift. Do you want me to inspire anyone else?"

Sana was shaking her head. "What you do with your powers is between you and the Goddess, Fey. I hold no judgment."

Liar .

Fey sighed. "I'm sorry, but it's a bad idea and you know it. I'm not a healer. I'm not the sort of Witch you want in your coven, okay?"

"Please just consider it," Sana insisted. "You're welcome to join us whenever you please. No matter what you think, Fey, I would love to have you there."

"Fine," Fey said. "I'll consider it."

She wouldn't, and they both knew it. But before Sana could say anything more, Fey had already turned and walked away.