Chapter 1
Zephyr
Crying filled the throne room.
A woman’s cry.
Without any emotion, I watched as two of my soldiers dragged the young witch across the shiny, black floor. The girl was crying, thrashing about, trying to wriggle out, and looking around in fright.
No one in the throne room came to help her, no one looked at her with anything but hatred or contempt.
The soldiers stopped short of the steps leading to me on the raised platform. They pushed the witch and backed away.
I watched as the girl hit the ground and looked up at me. A strand of red hair fell over her bloodied face. Her clothes were dirty and torn.
I felt no sympathy for her.
The candle flames flickered restlessly. My courtiers bared their teeth at the kneeling witch, their gazes changing from hateful to hungry. They craved her blood, her soul. I understood their need to destroy. The same need was eating away at me.
“I know why I’m here,” spoke the witch, still bent over the shiny floor. Her voice, high and strong, surprised me. I didn’t expect her to find the courage to speak.
“Really?” I asked calmly, almost lazily, tapping the black armrests with my fingers. “And why are you here?”
“To die,” she declared, her voice shaking with fear. She tried to appear strong and brave, but I could easily see into her soul. She was terrified from the darkest corner of her soul.
“Right.”
After my statement, the witch’s lower lip quivered. I almost smiled. I enjoyed the feeling of control over her life, and the fear she felt. I barely restrained myself from showing a perverted glee at the fact that I was about to deprive this world of another witch.
“Do you want to say something before my courtiers tear you to pieces?” I asked her mercifully when she said nothing.
Her eyes widened in terror and she visibly recoiled. The corners of my mouth almost lifted. Almost.
“I curse you,” she cried out, her voice filled with fear and hatred at the same time. “I curse you to be the witch who steals your heart to be your doom! Are you listening to me, my beloved Dark King? I curse you!”
An unpleasant chill ran down my spine after her words, which I did not expect, and magic crackled in the tense air between us. Before I could react, my courtiers lost their patience and rushed at the witch. I gripped the armrests tighter as I heard her scream and the tearing of flesh.
“Your orders?”
I watched the disgusting scene before me and spoke without taking my eyes off the welcome carnage.
“Find every witch and kill her.”
“We’re searching the entire kingdom, Zephyr.”
I finally looked at the man at my side. It was Kieran, the captain of my guard and the only person I trusted with my life. I didn’t trust anyone else.
“I don´t mean in this world. Go to the human realm, find every fucking witch of any age, and kill them.′
Kieran nodded and disappeared into the shadows. I looked again at the scene before me. My courtiers were already satisfied, contentedly smearing the blood on their mouths and licking their fingers. Nothing was left of the witch, only bones and torn clothes.
I curse you, her prophetic echoed in my thoughts. I curse you, my beloved Dark King.
I will not allow her curse to come true.
I will never allow such a thing.
