“Do you still want to include him in your plan? Will you be able to withstand his end as well? That may be his fate,” Encante warned her, “Even more, do you think he still wants to be next to you? Look at him.”
Mira studied him. Jonen looked back at her like she was a wild beast. The fear in his eyes hurt her. She knew the answer to Encante’s question. She chose her path and knew she had to make it hurt. Mira looked back to the queen.
“Do it,” She snorted, “He means nothing to me.”
“What?” Jonen hadn’t spoken until then.
“I’ve had eyes on him the entire time you’ve been here,” Azalea scoffed, “You’ve snuck out to meet him. He stayed at your inn. You paid off his entire debt to the Travel Knights. He doesn’t mean nothing to you.”
“I used him to anger Bobabano. Did you not see how jealous the orc got when I pretended to favor the halfbreed?” She scoffed, “I made him pay off the man’s debts for allowing your servants to see into our bed chambers. I know you had to pay to fix the walls and replace furniture after our first night here. You must’ve heard how he had his hands on me that night and how I screamed his name. I’m surprised the entire palace didn’t shake.”
The queen looked towards the other dwarf and he nodded. Her audience looked horrified at her admission.
“My kindness to the knight was simply to infuriate Bobabano. To humiliate him for trying to claim I was his bride. Bride? Nonsense. Orcs don’t have brides. I had to assert my dominance as his woman for when I claimed him,” She smirked, “To make him understand that I would be his queen on my own terms.”
Azalea narrowed her eyes, “I don’t believe that you have no feelings for the knight.”
“I killed him before,” Mira looked at Jonen coldly, “If you lift his shirt you will see a scar from where I thrust a blade into his spine. It healed and he lived.”
Duke Welftin looked at him, “Lift your shirt to confirm.”
Jonen remembered the eyes of the wraith as it did exactly what she said. The cold realization washed over him as he heard her words. He lifted his tunic to show the gnarly scar over his stomach
“Why didn’t you kill him again, then?” Queen Azalea narrowed her eyes, “Ending him would have stopped the attack Vimgraunt.”
“Why would I when the stupid man would take me away from my master? The oh-so-broken girl enslaved to a bad man. A knight’s dream to rescue a damsel in distress,” She laughed coldly, “He even told me he loves me! Sad, isn’t it? I’m sure he’s so infatuated from me saving his life. I had an orc willing to humiliate himself so I would sleep with him. Why would I care for a knight when I had someone who offered me a throne? Only an idiot would turn that down.”
“Is the wraith really you?” Jonen whispered.
“Who else would it be? Some uncontrollable demon? That’s what I am.”
“I don’t believe you,” Jonen walked over to the bars between them, “You couldn’t ever –!”
“Do you not believe me from my earlier display?” She tilted her head and he noticed the creepy reptilian eyes blinked back at him, “Do you want to see it, then?”
“This isn’t the Mira I know!”
Mira’s snapped and body contorted as her bones lengthened. Her muscles stretched as the wraith formed. Black mist flowed from her, and her eyes turned into lilac orbs as the bone white mask formed over her face. Her sheered curls grew into flowing silver hair that draped over the dementedly long arms. Its neck snapped into place. It ripped the shackles from the walls and turned towards him.
“Is this what you wanted to see?” The mouthless mask faced him, “The face that killed you.”
“How can you even –” The queen stepped back from the cells, “You shouldn’t be able to –”
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“I allowed you to capture me because I need rest,” It stretched, “When I am done resting, I will leave.”
“You can’t just decide –!”
Its hands wrapped around the bar cells and peeled them apart. The wraith stepped towards the terrified queen and stood over her small form in its massive height. A clawed hand lowered to lift her chin to face her.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” It chuckled, “I will do whatever I please, Azalea, because you cannot stop me.”
The duke at her side fell as he scrambled backwards, “You are a monster!”
“I am forced to be one,” It stepped calmly back into its cell, “A war is coming. I suggest you pick what side you want to serve.”
It bent the bars back into place behind it. The transition back into Mira’s form happened quicker than before Encante had bound his soul to her. Her body was fully formed before she plopped down on the cot.
“Now, bring me food and wine. I am hungry and those I consumed are only so filling,” She burped then turned to the queen, “Tell your son serve me. I’ll just go find him if he doesn’t.”
Azalea threw her hair over her shoulder and stomped from the dungeon. The man scurried after her like a frightened animal. Mira sat back on the bed and tried to ignore the sapphire eyes that bore holes into her. When Jonen wouldn’t look away, her honey eyes looked back to him. She waited for him to say something, but he couldn’t even if he wanted to. He didn’t even know what to say.
“I did not want you to find out this way,” Mira finally broke the silence.
Encante tried to help suppress the emotions that violently ripped through her. The calming chill eased the heart that slammed against her chest.
“You killed me?” Jonen sat on the bed in his cell.
“Yes.”
He put his head between his hands, “This whole time… you were using me?”
Mira hesitated. She wanted to tell him the truth. She wanted him to know.
“He will be safer if he doesn’t know,” Encante’s voice whispered to her, “If Jonen knows, he will always be in danger. Even more than now.”
“Does it matter?” She stared at the engraved sigils on the ceiling.
“Yes, Mira, it matters!” He laughed airlessly, “I opened my heart to you. I—I slept with you, for Goddess’s sake! Now, you turned into that thing. Now, you tell the queen of an entire country that you were using me? That you killed me? How am I supposed to know what is real with you if a listener can’t?!”
“I see,” She said coldly.
“How can I argue when you kept that you were the wraith from me?” He kicked the bar of his cell, “I don’t even want to ask how you did what you just did!”
“Then don’t.”
After a long pause, he asked in a serious tone, “Are you even sorry?”
Tears bit at the edge of her eyes but she refused to give in. She felt magic swarm around her as Encante’s will filled her. Her face frozen in indifference and the swell of emotion fizzled away.
“I am not sorry for any of the time I spent with you.”
“What about all the people you killed? What about all the terror you caused?” He grabbed bars between them, “How am I supposed to know what you’re actually thinking?”
“You could ask.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?”
“I would not lie to you, Jonen.”
“You already did!” He kicked the bars between them, “Did you even mean it when you said you loved me?”
Her chest stung but she refused to give in, “After what Isaan did to me… I do not know if I am capable of such emotions.”
Mira used the words Bobabano had. That is how she would look at it, going forward. He was right about Jonen. He was right about nearly everything he said. She only believed him now that he was gone. She wished he was there to hold her and comfort her again.
“Typical,” He sat down on the bed and grunted, “I can’t believe I’m going to be executed because of you.”
“You won’t be.”
“How do you know that? We are locked in a dungeon, and I doubt you will save me.”
The accusation hurt her. This Jonen was so different from the kind man she knew. She wished to see his loving gaze again. She knew that it would never happen.
“I did not know Bobabano paid your debts.”
“He probably did it like you said. To make up for humiliating you for –” He paused before letting out a hollow laugh, “You did sleep with him, didn’t you? Is that the reason you freaked out earlier? Because you actually love him?”
“If believing that will make you feel better.”
“I want the truth, Mira!” He yelled, “I gave you my heart. I deserve to know if I was used as a pawn in some sick game.”
Mira did not respond to him. It infuriated him not to know the answer. Jonen glared at her and saw the disgusting scars that littered her skin again.
“Even your scars aren’t hidden now. I saw your entire body. How did you pull that off?”
“Does it matter?”
“Everything I’ve asked matters to me!” He grunted, “If you ever cared for mw, just answer. You owe me that much.”
“My body was restored to an unmarred state after my battle with Isaan. My scars returned after the all mana I just used,” She paused and went over his previous questions, “I did not use you as a pawn. Bobabano and I never had sex. I do not understand my relationship to him, despite his efforts.”
“Did you actually kill the prophetess?”
“Yes.”
“You are a psychopath. Goddess, I’m an idiot. I should have listened to everyone else! I knew it was too good to be true. I can’t believe I fell for it.”
His fist slammed into the wall repeatedly. She did not turn to look at him.
“I can’t believe I loved you. How can we share dreams when you’re damned to the void?!”
Mira closed her eyes, “You won’t have to deal with me once you are released.”
“Good! I never want to see you again! Stay out of my dreams and stay out of my life.”
“As you wish,” She touched her hastily cut hair, “You are a free man, after all.”