The Last Witch (Incenaga Trilogy) (3 page)

Emmeline
narrowed her eyes. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

The soldiers
glanced at each other, but the leader never took his gaze from her direction. Although she doubted he could see her in the shadow, she pushed her back against the cliff until the rock dug into her skin. His eyes narrowed.

"Are you a
witch?" he asked.

"
Absolutely not!" Emmeline clenched her fists. She had read enough of witches to know she wasn’t one. They had to have mistaken her for someone else. She glanced around, hoping her father would come out of his hiding place at any moment. He would clear up the misunderstanding.

“Are you Emmeline Durandi of Pamizak?”

“Yes.”

“Then you are to come with me.”

Emmeline drew in a sharp breath. “I will not.”

“You have n
o choice. You are betrothed to Crown Prince Richmond Frederick of Dolmerti. By law you must marry him.”

“
I will not!” Emmeline repeated, her eyes wide with surprise. She would not marry a complete stranger, not even one claiming to be a prince. She was more certain than ever that they had the wrong girl. Where was her father? If he hadn’t been the one to stop the soldiers, who had? A chill ran up her spine. She had a feeling she was alone.

“
If you don’t come with me, your father will be in breach of the agreement he signed at your birth. An offense punishable by death.”

Emmeline shook her head.
“You’re wrong. This is a mistake. This has to be a mistake!”

The clouds drifted and the moon’s light inched up her skirt. Emmeline sucked in a breath and pressed herself against the cliff.

“A mistake?” The leader laughed. A few soldiers forced a nervous smile; some even let loose a chuckle, but most looked on with wide eyes and ashen faces. “The Prince has sworn to protect you,” he added.

“I don’t need his protection.”

“Are you ignorant of the dangers that come to an Incenaga Witch? The horrors they face?”

“I’m not a witch! This is
outrageous. You have mistaken me for someone else.” But even as she said it, she questioned it. If someone hadn’t helped her, how had the soldiers been killed? And what was the strange sensation she had felt when they flew away from her?

The cloud
s drifted again and she found herself bathed in the moon’s light.

The leader’s eyes widened and then he
smirked. “I have no doubt you are who we seek. Come with me.” He motioned for her to walk toward him, but Emmeline stayed firm.

“Who are you
to command me?” she asked.

“I am Mahlon,
the King’s Principal Knight. I have instructions to bring you back unharmed. I never fail in my tasks, although if you prove uncooperative…” He let his voice trail off.

“Where is my father?”

“He is no longer your concern.”

Emmeline’s voice rose.
“What have you done to him?”

Mahlon’s cool expression turned seve
re. “Enough of this!”

In two large strides h
e closed the space between them and reached behind her neck, squeezing viciously. Emmeline collapsed into Mahlon’s merciless hands and gave in to blackness.

Emmeline awoke with her hands bound behind her back and her head jostling from side to side. Her limbs were heavy, her throat parched and dry. Blackness swirled into gray as her mind cleared and she finally came into consciousness.

The crack of a whip cleared the
last web from Emmeline’s mind. She peered into the darkness of a covered carriage and found Mahlon settled on a bench across from her, staring down on her in silence. Emmeline straightened. Biting back her trembling lip, she glared in his direction.

“I’m glad you are awake
,” Mahlon said with a smooth voice. “We entered Dolmerti last night and will arrive at the palace shortly. There are a few things you need to be aware of before we arrive.”

“
Take me back to my father,” she said.

“
Your father signed a betrothal agreement. There is no going back. You will wed Crown Prince Richmond Frederick upon his return.”

“I’ve never even heard
of him! Don’t you think my father would have told me about the man he had promised me to?”

“I am
somewhat surprised by how ignorant you seem to be.”

Emmeline scowled. “
I won’t marry him.”

“
I’m sure you’ll change your mind once you’ve met him.”

“Doubtful.”

Mahlon continued as if she had not spoken. “Of course, it will be awhile yet before you meet him. He is traveling and has not announced when he will return. Until then, you are not to leave the palace.”

Emmeline
wrestled against the bindings around her wrists. “I am the Prince’s bride, and yet I am to be treated as his prisoner?”

“
It is for your safety. Several noblemen in Dolmerti are pushing for a war with your country. When you marry the Crown Prince, the royal army will be bound to protect you and the entire country of Pamizak. Many will go to great lengths to stop this marriage.”

“Including myself
.” Emmeline grumbled.

Mahlon’s eyes narrowed. “Your
people will be slaughtered if this war progresses. Dolmerti’s army has no equal.”

“My people? I don’t have any people. I’ve lived
my entire life in the forests. I’ve never even met a single Pamizakian.”

“Your father’s people,
then. Are you willing to let them suffer so you don’t have to be inconvenienced with a life of luxury? So you don’t have to marry a man who will treat you with the utmost respect?”

Emmeline’s resolve withered and her hands surrendered to the bindings
. She wasn’t sure what she was or was not willing to do.

“
What do they want?” she asked. “The noblemen.”

Mahlon shrugged. “What every man wants.
Wealth. Power. Pamizak’s soil is rich and fertile. By conquering Pamizak they not only gain the spoils but the taxing rights of its people.”

“Doesn’t your
King have any control over his own army? Can’t he just tell the people no?”

“Of course, but a smart king recognizes the need to keep his people pacified.
The King and Crown Prince are doing all they can to appease the noblemen. It is good that we found you when we did. I’m not sure the King can hold off a rebellion much longer. With your union, we may be able to convince Pamizak to open trade routes once again, which will expand our markets. But if the rebellion becomes too strong before you and the Crown Prince wed, the King will heed the voice of his people.”

“And he will destroy Pamizak,”
Emmeline said with a sinking feeling.

“
The King won’t. His army will.”

“Aren’t they one in the same?”

“Perhaps, but we digress. In addition to staying in the palace, you must not speak to any servants other than your handmaiden. No one can know that the Pamizak union is close, or that an Incenaga is in Dolmerti. Your safety depends on this. Do you understand?”

Emmeline
turned her head and peered out the window. She
didn’t
understand. How could a witch be the key to peace between two powerful countries, if that was what she was?

“I’m not a witch,” Emmeline said
, knowing it was of no use but unable to keep from saying it. Surely, he had to be considering the possibility that she was nothing more than a forest girl.

Mahlon
pressed his lips together until they turned white and disappeared against his pale features. A moment later his expression softened. “I apologize for any discomfort you may be feeling. It should pass soon. I administered a drug that kept you unconscious for several days. Harmless, but necessary. The soldiers were anxious, despite your bound hands.”

He waited for a response
, but when none came he too looked away.

Emmeline succumbed to
the growing number of questions swirling in her mind. Where was her father? It had sounded as if he knew Mahlon and his men, or at least knew they would want to take her away. Why else would he have told her to run? Why else would he have taken off his gold ring, a ring she’d never seen him without, and told her to flee with it to Pamizak’s capital?

A gust of wind blew into the carria
ge and rustled Emmeline’s hair. She welcomed the breeze until a thick lock of hair tickled her cheek and stuck to her lips. Squirming, she grew annoyed that her hands were bound and she was powerless to relieve one simple need. What did they think she was going to do, fight an entire brigade of men while avoiding the sharp teeth of a dozen fierce dogs?

Emmeline found it odd that although
she was bound, helpless even to swipe away a strand of hair, Mahlon felt compelled to drug her. What sort of witch caused such unease among a dozen armed men? Mahlon said her mother was powerful and made it clear he believed she had that same power, but what did he mean? What sort of power? She shook her head; she didn’t want to believe herself capable of killing. Nor did she want to believe she was a witch.

Mahlon reached up
to wipe the hair from her face, his cold fingers lingering on her cheek.

“You are as beautiful as your mother,” he said.

Emmeline jerked her chin away. She’d rather spend hours in discomfort than let him touch her. But she found herself thick with emotion. He knew her mother?

Mahlon dropped his hand.
“I know you are frightened. But you will look back on this day and be grateful you were brought to Dolmerti.”

Emmeline
swallowed her emotions and grunted.

“
It is a fine country, the best in fact. Everything we do is in the best interest of our people.”

“What a
bout my father’s best interests? Or mine?”

“They will align with Dolmerti’
s, and you will be glad for it.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Then this will be a difficult transition for you.”

Emmeline
released a hot stream of breath through her nostrils and looked away. In other words, she had no choice but to do what Mahlon ordered. She frowned. When she had dreamed about the day she would leave the confines of her little farm, she never imagined it would be the same day she lost her freedom.

Emmeline
watched the sun rise over the horizon, a pink hue lighting the inside of the carriage. It turned from rose to yellow and then to the white of mid-day. The landscape changed from packed trees to open prairies and rolling grasslands. As the day progressed the trees returned, crowding in on one another into a seemingly impenetrable forest.

Mahlon’s silence
left Emmeline hours to ponder. Why would a rational King and Queen betroth their heir to a witch? Even if she was an Incenaga Witch, her qualifications to be a princess were far below those of any courtier. At least from what she had read about them. She didn’t possess any special talents or wisdom. And she wasn’t rich. Perhaps the Prince was as mean as an ogre, or as fierce as a dragon, and all the city girls had run away from his proposals.

Her eyes darted to the door
latch, aching for a chance to escape. Mahlon’s back stiffened, his eyes narrowing. Emmeline tightened her eyes in return. She struggled to mirror his strength, determined to be the last to look away. But her resolve gave way. She stared out the window, her moistened brow betraying the effort it had taken to challenge him.

The carriage stopped with a jolt
, and the door opened from the outside. A wrinkled hand slipped inside and waited mid-air, held out for Emmeline to take. She glanced at the waiting hand and then turned a pointed stare at Mahlon, her eyebrows lifted.

Mahlon cut the cords from Emmeline’s hands
and gestured toward the outstretched hand. She rubbed her wrists and aching shoulders and then stared at the waiting hand. She couldn’t bring herself to reach out and let the stranger help her out of the carriage. His hand looked harmless enough, the soft flesh flecked with age spots, but it would feel like a betrayal to what little fight she had managed thus far. If she let the man guide her onto the ground, she would be letting him and all of Dolmerti claim her, imprison her, do what they wanted with her. Pressing her palms together, she wove her fingers so tightly her knuckles turned white.

“W
hat are you waiting for?” Mahlon asked. “It is time to start your new life.”

He slid into the seat next to her and
brushed a strand of hair from her neck. Emmeline shuttered and grasped the outstretched hand, every part of her body burning to get as far from him as possible.

Steadying
herself on the cobble stones, she let her gaze rise to the view in front of her. A palace built from shimmering granite loomed before her, the sun reflecting off its smooth walls. She had to admit it was a breathtaking sight, even if she wished for her forest cottage. Squinting against the bright sun, her eyes traveled up the tallest turret of the palace. It towered well above the dozen battlements already reaching hundreds of feet into the sky and seemed to pierce the clouds above. She never imagined something made from chisel and hammer could reach so high.