My pulse raced in my ears as I waited for a reply that didn't come. Instead the sorceress continued to weave her hair, and threaded precious jewels into it. The jewels appeared in her hand, forming from colored mist until they took a solid shape.
Then she plucked the gem from the mist and threaded rubies, pearls, and sapphires into her golden mane.
Courage and insanity collided within me. I didn't want to be like her! I couldn't be. She spoke lies. Hear me, old woman! I am my father's daughter! A mortal. He did not kill children and rip their beating hearts from their tiny bodies. He was a good man and would still be alive today if you didn't slash your blade through his gut! I screamed the words. I'd held them inside of me for so long, never daring to speak them. But no more. The witch slowly turned. Her gray eyes sparkled as she looked up at me, amused. I snapped, We are not the same.
Deny it all you like, child. But we are alike for one reason and one reason only. She tilted her head, pausing before she spoke. Do you really have no idea? After all this time, do you not see it?
There is nothing to see. I bit off the words, hating her.
It's only more lies more carefully crafted lies to make me submit to you. I'd had more to say, but she didn't allow me to finish.Before another word fell from my lips, the witch grabbed me by my throat and pressed my face into the glass. The mirror cracked as she screamed, LOOK! Tell me what you see? I am now as I looked when I bore you. Notice the eyes your father's dark eyes but the rest is mine. Your figure. Your hair. Even the delicate shape of your face. See it, Ella. I am your mother.
She released me. Horrified, I stared into the shattered glass seeing dozens of tiny reflections. I was standing closest to the mirror, with the witch behind me. The tension that lined my body made me utterly rigid. She was right. We were the same.
My face was a copy of hers. I could see it much more clearly now that she had restored her youth. Everything from the shape of our bodies to the way we stood was identical.
Through narrow hate-filled eyes I stared at her in the broken glass. That night you came back. That night you slayed my father what were you fighting about? I heard you. He kept telling you no, but you wouldn't listen...
She laughed, You! We were fighting about you, stupid girl! She huffed and turned away from me. Crossing the room she pulled an object from the wooden cabinet. It was an emerald green snake. She hung the beast across her shoulders. It hissed in her ear, ready to strike, when she reached out and snapped its neck. The bone cracked in her hand, and she didn't even pause.
A spell fell from her lips and transformed the dead beast into a gleaming green gown made from the finest silks.
She continued to speak while she crafted her gown. I know that they won't accept you, because you and I are the same. We are dark creatures with dark hearts. We thirst for power the way mortals thirst for water. Our lust for conquest is insatiable.
Uncontrollable. And yet... her voice softened as she gazed at the floor. Her eyes seemed unfocused as she remembered, I had hoped that I'd found one that could accept me. He was a kind man, seeing all of me and not just the darkness. He'd said it was worth the risk to be with me. And so he did. He took me as his wife, though his family shunned him. They didn't even know what I was. They just assumed I was a peasant after his gold. So they expected me to leave when they retracted his fortune. But I did not. Besides, your father was a self-made man, and we didn't need their money to survive. And that was all we managed, but it was enough.
And I was happy. I was happy, Ella... Her eyes were glassy when she looked up, but the expression on her face was deathly cold. Until we had you. That was when the fighting began. You were a witch, a sorceress daughter and you needed to be groomed properly. It's a trait as obvious as the color of your hair, but your father didn't see it.
Eventually, he sent me away. I wasn't allowed near you.
He feared for you when he discovered the source of my power the contents of the stone box. She laughed, The fool. As if I would kill my own daughter. But he didn't understand. He didn't accept me as he promised. And I knew, once you were able to walk on your own, that you wouldn't fit into his world.
They would destroy you when they found out what you were. A witch cannot be hidden. It would be like trying to hide the sky.
Being able to channel power as we do is an inherited ability. But it must be controlled, taught. Or you would have died. And they would have traced you back to me. Your ignorance would have risked both our lives. I could not tolerate it.
That is why you were locked here. That is why I destroyed him that night. He turned on me, Ella he turned on us. There is no place for our kind in this world. Never forget it.
