Kat landed with so much force that the stones cracked beneath her boots and hand, her sword still grasped in the one hand not used to catch herself from her fall.

  She was barely managing to stop her magic overtaking all her senses as her battle with the dragon raged on. Tam and Eli had left a while ago, but any specific sense of time was lost to the Daxarian queen.

  The dragon that she’d heard was named Wixim was clever at casting off or deflecting her attacks, but she could tell by the way his movements were slowing that he was starting to struggle as well.

  Kat’s attention snapped up to the ancient beast’s face as it landed in front of her heavily. Causing even more stones to shatter beneath his claws… When a whistle sounded, and his head turned toward it.

  With a low growl, the dragon cast one final look at Katarina. She braced herself for the beast to open his mouth and attempt once again to burn her to a crisp, but he didn’t.

  Instead, the dragon launched itself into the air, and flew away, leaving Kat almost completely alone in the courtyard that was ablaze thanks to both the missed fiery blasts from the dragon during their fight, and from her own earlier efforts to burn down a portion of the palace.

  Scanning the heated area, Kat noted that Harris stood at the top of the steps to the palace, his eyes fixed on something to the right…

  Kat’s gaze swung over to see two water witches successfully dousing the flames, and stopping the inferno from traveling any closer to the main palace.

  The remaining witches appeared to be members of the Wittica coven.

  Briefly debating whether or not to knock them out for questioning later, Kat instead double checked the skies to ensure the dragon wasn’t returning, and once she had confirmed that he was not, she instead made her way up the stairs to Harris. She realized then that he was also standing guard over the unconscious concubine and trembling Zinferan prince.

  Upon reaching the duke she cracked her neck. Kat then shot a blazing warning look at the prince as he gaped openly at Kat with her aura still burning brightly around her.

  “So. Eli is… A giant cat.”

  “Technically an ancient beast,” Harris clarified matter-of-factly. “Oh, and your brother’s familiar.”

  “Come again?” Kat swung around to stare at the duke, her aura dissipating instantly.

  “You heard me,” Harris sighed with a half smile on his face.

  “And… Luca mentioned that they are together…?” Kat ventured slowly.

  “That they are. They had a bit of a fight just before we got to Gondol, but from what I saw this evening it seems as though they’ve made up.”

  “Huh.”

  “Eli’s also my niece.”

  “Wh— Wait. Your half sister? Marigold Nam? That’s her mother?”

  “The one and only!”

  Kat grimaced. Everything she’d heard about the Nam family had been absolutely awful.

  “Anything else I should know?” she managed to ask.

  “Your father made Tam promise him before he left that he couldn’t get married without him there. But given how far Eli and Tam’s relationship has progressed…” Harris trailed off. “They should probably get around it soon knowing your family’s propensity for reproducing.”

  Kat’s face scrunched up in disgust. “Too much information, Harris!”

  “And you assume I, her uncle, wanted to know about it?” the duke asked dryly as the two of them watched the water witches finally notice that Kat was no longer fighting the dragon.

  “Do you think I’ll have to fight them some more?”

  Harris sighed. “Well… They don’t look happy that’s for certain. Say, where did the Ryu family go?”

  Harris did a quick scan of the courtyard, but it looked as though there truly wasn’t another soul present…

  The water witches were just starting to climb the steps to the palace, their expressions dark. Kat readied the grip on her sword, when behind them, the sound of the massive doors creaking open had both Kat and the duke swinging around.

  They found themselves staring at an older man, with a long white goatee that reached his chest, gold and purple silk robes, being pushed in a wheelchair by none other than Jiho Ryu, and at his side… Was Annika Ashowan.

  “Mum! What’re you doing here?” Kat rushed over to her mother, ignoring the witches that froze on the palace steps, their eyes wide.

  The duchess gave a slight smile; her face was still pale. “I had to come. I’d promised His Majesty I would be here. Princess Kezia is being tended to by the physician as we speak. Sir Cas has received some stitches and is concussed but otherwise fine.”

  Kat nodded grimly, then the first part of her mother’s words processed, and her attention dropped to the older man in the wheelchair.

  “Your Excellency.” She bowed.

  Once she straightened again, the Daxarian queen found that the emperor was looking over her shoulder at the smoldering remains of his back palace.

  “Your Majesty,” he responded with only a small incline of his head. “Is this a customary greeting in Daxaria that I’m unaware of? Burning down someone’s home?”

  Kat gave a polite smile but her gaze was sharp. “Apologies for the destruction, Your Excellency. Your people have been committing some grave offences, and I don’t like unfinished dealings hanging over my head.”

  Annika tilted her head and shot her daughter a warning look.

  Kat cast one right back that said I sounded polite while saying it at least.

  The emperor’s reaction to her guiltless response was thoughtful silence as he lowered his gaze to Soo Hebin, who remained unconscious on the ground. Their son, Prince Jum, proceeded to fling himself onto the ground in a bow.

  “Father! These heathens from Daxaria have—”

  “Silence.” The emperor’s voice was soft, but his dark eyes glittered dangerously. He then looked at another spot just past Harris and Kat.

  “The two of you will kneel and explain yourselves.”

  Kat glanced over her shoulder to see the water witches frowning. Evidently unsure what to do with this sudden shift of events.

  “Try anything funny and I’ll cut your feet off,” Kat informed them casually.

  The two women jolted in alarm, glanced at each other, then drew closer to the emperor cautiously.

  Eventually they stopped before him, but didn’t kneel.

  The one witch on the left with walnut brown hair and deep blue eyes clasped her hands in front of the pale blue silk coat she wore and stared down the emperor, while her fellow witch, a blond woman with identical eyes stood silently beside her. Kat was willing to bet coin that they were related.

  “Emperor, we serve the first witch. The covens of Giong and Wittica will be separating from the rule of the monarchs and will operate independently. If you do not agree to this—”

  “Let’s say I do,” the emperor interrupted. His voice sounded light, but there was something predatory in the way he stared at the women.

  The brown haired water witch didn’t catch this. “Then we look forward to a fruitful partnering in the near fu–”

  “Oh, no, no, my dear,” the emperor waved his hand. “The instant that this separation is made official, then we are declaring war. Violent acts and accounts of espionage, and a long list of other crimes have been committed. So wherever your coven leaders may be? You can go tell them this. The instant they separate from their respective kingdoms, there will be every imperial soldier pointed in their direction. Your Majesty?” The emperor looked up at Kat.

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  “Yes?”

  “What do you think Daxaria’s position will be once this happens?”

  Kat made a show of rolling her eyes thoughtfully to the sky. “Let’s see. There was the attempted murder of my brother, an attack on myself and my mother, my nephew and niece were abducted… Oh, and I’m sure the Troivackian king and queen will also take exception to their sister-in-law being in dire condition at present as well. So… Can the covens fight against three kingdoms…?”

  The water witches exchanged solemn looks before the blond replied with,“The Goddess will protect us. This is how it should be.”

  “Oh, she wanted you to go around supporting a concubine who enslaved people?” Kat snapped, her eyes homing in on the woman.

  “Speaking of my concubine…” the emperor interrupted lazily while eyeing Soo Hebin who remained on the ground. “What happened here?”

  “Princess Elisara slapped her once or twice,” Harris supplied casually. “She was within her rights in my estimation. She also declared the concubine’s punishment for her many crimes. Soo Hebin is to endure slavery for the rest of her life, and her son removed as an heir to your throne.”

  The emperor’s eyebrows rose up at this. For a moment, it was unclear whether or not he would take exception to a supposed punishment being decided without his say so…

  But then he smiled. “I am amenable to this sentence. Tell me. Where did my daughter, Elisara, go?”

  “She went to retrieve the other child that was taken,” Katarina supplied.

  “Ah… Well. Once she returns, I’ll have what servants remain attend to her. She will be quite busy in the near future,” the emperor settled farther back in his wheelchair, his hands lacing over his belly as his intense stare shifted back to the witches who seemed to be having yet another silent conversation as they stared at one another with pursed lips. “You two. Are there other witches remaining behind that I should be aware of?”

  The water witches said nothing, but they did meet his eyes.

  Harris jumped into the conversation then. “Why is it Elisara will be busy?”

  The emperor lifted an eyebrow at the duke’s interjection. “Because I plan on naming her the heir to the Zinferan throne.”

  Harris grimaced. “Oh, I… I can say with the utmost certainty she does not want that.”

  The emperor leaned forward in his seat, his expression hardening. “That will be between the princess and myself. You are that duke who is related to Lady Marigold Nam, aren’t you?”

  Harris inclined himself slightly in confirmation.

  The emperor was just opening his mouth to say something, when both the water witches moved in sync, arms extended. One aimed for the emperor, one aimed at Annika Ashowan.

  Kat had been waiting for something like this, and instantly stood in the way of both of them right in time to get blasted by two powerful jets of water that sent her aura flaring.

  The two witches braced themselves as Kat allowed her aura to feed off the magical attack. The more magic directed at her, the stronger she became as she pressed forward, sword in hand, until she reached the two witches and made good on her earlier threat. Both woman collapsed in a heap on the ground with shrieks of pain.

  Kat turned from them grimly, only to see another young Daxarian woman creeping up behind her mother.

  “MU–”

  The duchess swung around, a knife already in hand, making the mousey looking woman squawk, throw up her hands and…

  The duchess was suddenly gone.

  Kat moved in a blur of aura. She seized the young woman’s throat and hoisted her up.

  “Where. Is. My. MOTHER?” she thundered.

  The young woman gasped beneath her hold.

  After a moment of nearly depriving the woman of every wisp of breath in her body, Kat dropped her in a heap on the ground.

  “Now see… This is a perfect time for us to meet again, Your Majesty.”

  Kat’s eyes snapped up to find none other than the man named Ansar approaching her.

  She hadn’t seen him since her time in Troivack…

  The man’s eyes were darkened with hate as he proceeded down the hall to the small group. “You see, your brother, Tamlin Ashowan, made Aradia disappear. And I would very much so like her back.”

  Kat lifted her sword, her tip aimed at Ansar’s throat, stopping him in his tracks.

  He held his hands up, but his expression remained steely. “If you manage to return the first witch, then I’d be happy to ask Henrietta here to return your mother to her true form.”

  Kat glowered. “True form? What the hell are you talking abo—”

  A cluck cut her words off.

  The Daxarian queen’s eyes slid to the ground.

  There was…

  A chicken.

  A chicken with a dome shaped tuft of black feathers atop her head, and lean silky black feathers with some white spackling the rest of the way down.

  No one said a word as the chicken clucked two more times, and took a tentative step forward.

  Kat’s sword lowered as she turned to look at the young woman who was gently prodding her bruised throat.

  “Did you turn my mother into a chicken?”

  The young woman nodded slowly.

  Kat looked back at the chicken.

  “Now if you–” Ansar started to say something but Kat held up a finger, silencing him.

  She kept staring at the chicken. “Ansar… I don’t like you. And my mother being a chicken is a problem. However, I’m incredibly angry about the fact that I really want to laugh about this right now, and I know I shouldn’t. Is my mother in any kind of pain? Does she have the mind of a… of a chicken?” Kat proceeded to ask.

  Ansar moved forward. “It does not matter. Now go retrieve your brother and–”

  Kat used a backhand punch to hit Ansar in the family jewels without batting an eye in his direction.

  She faced Henrietta expectantly.

  “T-the duchess is still herself… And she’s not in pain. She’s just… She’s just a chicken.”

  Kat bit down on her lip. A long, whining breath streamed out of her nose. “Can she…” the queen cleared her throat. “He said she can be turned back?”

  Henrietta nodded slowly.

  “Good… Good…” Kat nodded idly.

  Harris joined the queen at her side. He peered down at the duchess in her new form.

  “I think… Your father might take exception to this.”

  “You think?” Kat rasped. “Tam’s lover might eat her!”

  “Similar to your mother, the chicken, Eli retains her mental faculties. She won’t eat the duchess,” Harris said with a dismissive wave.

  Kat pressed the tip of her sword into the floor, her chin dropping to her chest as her eyes closed.

  Then, despite the fact that she knew this was a horrible development at the end of a particularly gruesome day…

  She burst out laughing.

  And despite her best efforts, she couldn’t seem to bring herself to stop.

  The chicken clucked angrily, but that did nothing to help the Daxarian queen stop even a little.