Katharine Corr - The Witch’s Blood

Still, what did any of it really matter now? He knew that Merry loved him, and she was certainly a powerful witch. But perhaps she wasn’t powerful enough. Not this time … That sensation he’d felt earlier? It was most likely nothing more than the by-product of his increasingly fragile state of mind. Despair had driven him to hallucinate, to conjure up the ghostly presence of his sister when he needed her most.

It was late now, and the chill of evening was creeping in through the narrow, round-arched windows of his room. Leo lay on his bed and tried to sleep for a while, but he couldn’t stop thinking, couldn’t stop unwelcome thoughts intruding. Turning his head, he glanced at the marks he’d been carving into the grey flint wall to keep track of the days. By his reckoning, at least four months had past. Four whole months! Anger swelled in his chest. Four months of living – no, this couldn’t be called living – of merely existing in this place. Four months of waking every morning to panic, to a suffocating realisation that he was not in his bed at home. That he was not dreaming. That the everyday nightmare was, in fact, reality. Four months of Ronan professing his love for him, offering Leo everything he could possibly want or need; except, of course, his freedom. Four months of, for the main part, having no one else to talk to other than Osric, the servant who had been assigned to him. And Ronan, of course.

No wonder I’m starting to lose it. One way or another, I need to get out of here. I can’t wait for Merry any longer.

Looking towards the window and the dark skies outside, he sighed. The day was at an end. He picked up a stone, carefully carved another mark into the wall, then shut his eyes. Eventually, he fell asleep.

Leo gasped and sat bolt upright, his heart hammering on the inside of his chest. Someone was pounding on his door, making it shake in the frame, screaming his name over and over. Just in time, he jumped out of bed. The door flew open and Ronan staggered into the room, clutching a leather bottle. Mead, almost certainly; the scent of honey had filled the air. Every muscle in Leo’s body was singing with tension. But at the same time, he tried hard to wipe any emotion from his face, to stay calm. He had learnt some time ago that it was best not to do or say anything to antagonise Ronan when he’d fallen into one of these … moods. Instead he stood by the table, his hands clenching the back of the chair as Ronan approached.

‘It’s been months, Leo. Months since the King of Hearts brought us here. But still, you refuse to join your life to mine as I’ve asked. You refuse to swear your allegiance to me. You won’t even come to the hall to celebrate my victories. I offer you the chance to rule this land by my side, but you’d rather waste away, locked up in this tower instead.’ He rubbed a hand roughly over his face. Had he been crying? ‘Why can’t you understand how much I love you? Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for us. For you. So why do you deny your feelings for me? I know that you love me, Leo. That much you’ve shown me, in the past.’ Ronan reached one hand out to touch Leo’s face, grazing his cheek softly.

Once, Leo would have done anything to have Ronan look at him, to touch him in that way. But not any more. He couldn’t help it: he flinched.

Anger blazed in Ronan’s eyes, and Leo swore silently in his head.

Ronan stared at Leo for one long minute, then shook his head. ‘Fine. Have it your own way.’

Ronan turned and clapped his hands together. Moments later, two guards – human ones, at least – dragged someone through the doorway. It was a boy, about the same age as Leo, perhaps a couple of years younger. His face was mottled with bruises, and there were bloody gashes running across his forehead. Ronan gestured towards him. ‘I have someone I’d like you to meet. This is Edwin. He and his family were captured this afternoon.’

Ronan began writing in the air with his forefinger. Glowing blue lines appeared, forming shapes: fire runes. Ronan’s favourite form of magic since he’d acquired the power from the King of Hearts. The runes floated across the room towards the boy. He shrieked in fear, trying to twist out of the grasp of his guards. But it was no good. The runes settled on him, searing his skin, and the boy began to scream and writhe.

It was unbearable. Leo wanted to hit Ronan, to force him to stop. But he knew that it would just goad Ronan to more violence. There was nothing he could do to help the boy. Not yet. He lowered his gaze to the floor, wishing he could shut out the shrieks, and the stench of burning.

Finally, the screams faded into sobs.

Ronan took hold of Leo’s chin and raised his head. ‘It didn’t have to be this way, Leo. I offered the boy a choice. Told him he could serve me willingly, or pay the price. Is it my fault if he doesn’t know what’s for his own good?’ He grabbed Leo by the shoulder, shaking him. ‘Is it?’

‘No, Ronan.’

Ronan took another swig from the bottle. ‘You know what’s going to happen now, don’t you, Leo?’

Leo nodded, his chest tightening painfully. He’d seen it before. Too many times to count.

‘Don’t be shy, Leo.’ He flung an arm out, pointing at the boy. ‘Tell Edwin here what will happen to him. What will happen to his family. Because he chose to defy me.’

‘But he won’t understand what I’m saying. We speak a different language—’

‘Oh, but he will understand you.’ Ronan went and stood behind the boy and, placing his hands on the boy’s head, muttered a spell. ‘Now, tell him, Leo.’

Leo gazed steadfastly at Ronan; he couldn’t bear to look at the boy. ‘He will enslave you, Edwin. He will enslave your mind, and put one of his demon creatures into your body to control it. He will make you another of his servant army.’

The boy let out a strangled cry. ‘ Niese! Ne acwellað min cynn! ’

Ronan laughed. ‘Oh, don’t worry, Edwin, I won’t kill your family. Why would I, when living slaves are so much more useful?’ He lifted his hand, ready to write more fire runes in the air.

Leo couldn’t bear it any more. He stepped forward, putting one arm on to Ronan’s outstretched hand, pushing it down. ‘Please, you don’t have to do this, Ronan. Please stop. For me.’

Ronan seized Leo’s hand and sighed. When he looked up, Leo could see the desire in his eyes. All these months, and he still wanted Leo. He still wanted him to stand willingly by his side. ‘I would. I would stop all of this, Leo. I’d stop enslaving people in this way, using the power of the shadow realm to control them. If only you would accept me as I am, I’d …’ he faltered, ‘I’d find another way to convince these people to obey me. A less destructive way of ensuring their loyalty. But I can’t do it on my own. I can’t …’ He moved closer, slipping both arms round Leo’s waist. Leo let him, knowing that his own safety and that of the boy rested on his cooperation. ‘I know I could do better, be a more merciful ruler, more … compassionate, if only you were by my side. If you were to pledge yourself to me, once and for all, I promise you, Leo: I would stop all this unnecessary suffering.’

Leo began to tremble. His mind was screaming at him to push Ronan away, to run. But he needed to buy time. So he leant in, bringing his arms round Ronan’s back, burying his head in Ronan’s shoulder. ‘I’m tired, Ronan. I’m tired of all this fighting. I’m tired of being left up in this room by myself, day after day. I want to start living again.’

Ronan breathed in sharply and turned to the guards. ‘Take the boy back to his family. Let them go.’ Leo heard the guards hustle the boy out of the room.

‘So … you’re finally agreeing, Leo? To commit to me?’ Ronan asked quietly. ‘To commit to what I’m trying to achieve here? To making a better world for us, and for people like me?’