Chapter 3: She's Marked
"I marked you."
"I promise you, Prince…"
Prince Kaelen Sterling waited for Nexi to finish her statement. His one eye was scanning her face with cold patience.
"Promise me what?" Kaelen raised his brow.
Nexi forced her mouth to work. "Promise you that I...I will see your end, Hunter…remove the mark."
"Hah…" Kaelen laughed once. It wasn't funny at all. "You will promise me nothing. You will obey me, witch."
He took one step, and his hand shot out and gripped her wrist.
Kaelen spoke the words so low and fast. They were not common words. They were words of a dark, old magic that hurt Nexi's ears.
A spike of fire shot from Kaelen's hand straight into Nexi's skin, and it didn't stop. It burned like acid.
Nexi tried to pull away, but she couldn't. Kaelen held her tight until the pain stopped.
Then, he let go, and Nexi stumbled back against the stone railing.
She looked down at her wrist and saw the dark mark, the color of old ash, circled her skin just below her hand.
"Why did you do it? Why did you strengthen it?" Nexi whispered.
"I marked you like my dog," Kaelen shrugged his shoulders. "You are my property now. You belong to the Crown until I finish my hunt. You will do what I say, when I say it. You can't leave me. You can't hurt me. You can't disobey. If you try, the mark will make you very, very sorry."
Nexi felt sick...
"I won't work for you. I won't help you," she hissed.
Kaelen took a clean white handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped his hands slowly, looking at her wrist.
"You will. Because of them," he lowered his eyes.
Nexi frowned. "Them? You mean the Duke? I don't care about him."
Kaelen shook his head. "No. I mean the people who gave you their name….Your parents? The family who promised you safety. You know I have only to send one letter to High Priest Lucius. He loves burning."
Nexi's skin was covered in frost.
Her breathing became difficult.
She saw the picture in her mind: her parents tied up, accused, burning. They might have been cold to her, but they were still people.
They didn't deserve that. They didn't even know about her magic.
"They aren't witches. They don't know," Nexi choked out.
"It won't matter...Lucius doesn't care about the truth. He cares about accusations. If you were truly a witch, your family must have been involved. He will kill them slowly. You will watch. And I will tell him to start the fire tomorrow morning if you say no right now."
The threat was absolute. Nexi felt all her fight leak out of her body. She couldn't let them die.
Bowing her head to the ground, Nexi's shoulders slumped. "What do you want?"
Kaelen smiled again….
That ugly, cold smile. "I want obedience. You agree to find the artifact for me, and you don't tell a soul."
"I agree," Nexi's tongue replied on its own.
"Good girl," Kaelen tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket. "Now you are mine."
He stepped away from the door and bent against the stone.
He started to speak, not about the artifact, but about her.
"Your magic is a worthless fraud. You tried to buy safety with a Duke's ring, but you are still just tainted blood. You're worse than the demons I sweep from the woods. You are a cheap, desperate lie."
Every word the crown prince said hit Nexi like a small, hard rock. Her head started to ache, and she felt a terrible need to stop hearing him.
So, Nexi looked over the balcony railing. It was very high up.
The ground was dark and obviously far away. 'It would be fast,' Nexi blinked.
The fall would break the magic, and Kaelen would lose his weapon.
When the prince wasn't paying attention, Nexi climbed the railing fast, before her mind could change.
She stood on the thin, wet stone ledge. The wind pulled at her dress. She took one deep, final breath and pushed herself off.
Unfortunately, she did not fall…
The black mark on her arm suddenly burned like coal. Nexi's teeth snapped shut. The intense heat shot up her veins, forcing a silent cry into her throat.
Her muscles locked tight, and her fingers curled into useless claws.
It felt like a thousand needles under her skin.
Nexi fell hard onto the balcony floor. She stayed there, breathing fast, and the pain slowly started going away. She glared at Kaelen.
He didn't look surprised, just bored.
"I told you, witch. You can't leave me…but it was fun to see you in pain."
Nexi rolled over, and the irony of the moment finally cut through her fear.
"It's funny," Nexi spoke in a shaking voice. "You claim to hate magic. You kill everyone who uses it. But you're using it on me. You're using the darkest kind of binding spell right now."
Kaelen looked down at her. He kicked the edge of her skirt gently with his boot.
"That's the difference, witch. I use magic as a tool. Like a shovel uses dirt. I don't believe it's alive. I don't love it. I use your taint to clean the world. The mark is just a lock on a pigsty. It keeps the filth from running away."
There it was again, his words were so difficult to forgive.
They made Nexi feel worthless…like some puddle that anyone could step on.
Kaelen looked at his own hands. "The ball will end soon. The Duke will be looking for his pretty bride."
He bent down fast. Nexi opened her eyes, startled. She tried to fight, but the magical mark sent a humming needle through her veins.
Nexi didn't even notice when the prince placed one of his hands on her neck.
And so, her head felt foggy…and Kaelen put a small, damp cloth over her mouth and nose. It smelled sweet like cinnamon.
Nexi didn't fight for long and eventually her body gave in.
Kaelen finally stood up and looked out over the garden for a moment. Then he picked up Nexi's limp body.
She was so light in his strong arms, like a doll.
Opening the balcony door, the prince went back into the hall and walked straight past the Duke's servants.
He spoke loudly enough for the nearest people to hear him. "The poor girl passed out. The heat was too much. I will take her to the private chambers now. She needs rest."
No one argued with the Crown Prince. They only nodded and gave him space.
Kaelen walked quickly toward the back hall. He didn't go to the private chambers. He went to a small, hidden service door...
There was a horse waiting for him. The horse was black.
Kaelen threw Nexi's sleeping body over the saddle. He put his coat over her to hide her satin dress. He didn't even look at her face and just climbed onto the saddle behind her.
The Witch Hunter General dug his heels into the horse's sides...
The prince didn't take the witch to rest -he kidnapped her.