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“Again, is there a question coming or?—”
“Why have you stopped?” Leandra asked, bluntly. “A few months ago, you told me yourself that your visits to the temple were good for you. That they helped you feel grounded. More in control. So why did you stop?”
Fey considered it.
She could lie. She could say it was because of the congregation. The swirling voices that called her queen. The Witches who looked at her and dreamed she was something more.
Or?
“I don’t need to visit the temple to feel in control anymore,” Fey admitted. Fire and Earth pulsed beneath her skin, constant and familiar companions to her now. “I hold the Goddess inside me wherever I go, now.”
After a moment of scrutiny, Leandra nodded.
“I’m glad,” she said, giving Fey a tight smile. “And I’ll pass along the message to Sana to save her worries for someone who needs it.”
Fey nodded her thanks, before turning back to the wafting crowd.
Time to begin.
“Alright,” she called, voice traveling over the lawn. The effect was instantaneous. Conversation died immediately as they turned toward her. Hundreds of Witches, young and old, watching her expectantly.
“Since it’s raining, I figured this is a perfect day for my favorite element.” Fey paused, waiting long enough to let them grow a little restless. Then, calling Water, she reached out to the falling rain…
And stopped it.
She could only hold it for a few seconds, and only for a small area. But it was enough to cover the entirety of the group, enough to earn gasps and murmurs as the Witches looked around the lawn in wonder. They stared at the tiny beads of water, halted midair, glimmering like stars.
Releasing a shaky breath, Fey let her hold drop, and the raindrops fell to the ground with an audible splash.
“Water Witches, you’re with me today,” Fey called, raising her voice to be heard over the gasps and murmurs of the crowd. The Witches were all talking now, chattering excitedly to one another. Shooting Leandra a quick grin, Fey continued. “And the rest of you? The High Priestess will be taking over your instruction. Let’s begin.”
It was an exhausting day.
By the time the palace bell tolled the late afternoon hour, signaling the end of their daily lessons, Fey felt on the verge of collapse. Goddess save her. She could run five miles a day, and usually trained for hours with Alice and Joy each week, but she never felt this worn out, this exhausted.
Thankfully, the clouds had finally broken, and the sun came out just in time for Fey to enjoy it on her walk to her sisters’ place from the palace. It made the walk infinitely more pleasant, and she took her time, deviating from her normal route to slip through a new neighborhood.
Jasper would be proud, she thought with a smile as she walked.
This neighborhood was a little fancier than her own, and even with the desegregation of the city, almost all the people she passed were fromthe Witch Faction. Fey recognized a few of her students walking back to their own homes. She smiled when they waved at her excitedly.
Maybe she’d stop by one of the stores here and grab herself something to eat from a new bakery. She had plenty of time before Joy and Alice expected her at their place for family dinner. And she was hungry. Famished, even. She could?—
Fey froze, staring at the man nailing something to the wooden signpost at the end of the block.
She recognized him. An aristocrat who had frequented the palace back when she was a Blade. A sniveling coward of a man, always a little too effusive in his praise for Queen Edelin. But, more importantly, she recognized the poster he was putting up.
“What are you doing?” Fey asked in a hollow voice. A dark storm formed in her chest as she stared at the image of her own face.
OUR TRUE QUEEN, the poster said.
The man turned, ready to tell her to mind her own business. But when he saw her—recognized her—he did the most peculiar thing.
He smiled.
“Your Grace!” the man greeted her, his grin stretching ear to ear. The same unctuous, pandering grin he’d given the old queen. It made her feel ill. It made her feel angry. “How good to see you on this beautiful day!”
“Are you the one putting these up?” Fey asked, fingers flexing. She felt so cold, suddenly. Like ice had started to creep down her spine, and through her nerves.
