I rocked my head from side to side while shifting I gaze from the ceiling to my hair spread across the floor.
I felt someone staring at me intently, but I didn’t care enough to stare back.
— So… were you sentenced to death too?
In the cell next to mine there was a man I’d never seen before, and he kept insisting on starting a conversation. I tried to ignore him, but his persistence began to irritate me — he looked desperate for some kind of human contact.
— Yes, — I answered finally, “but that’s none of your business. Speak to me again and I’ll rip your tongue out.
— Nervous?— he asked with a low laugh. — Relax a little and tell me why you’re here.
I rose with some difficulty because the chains bound my feet and hands, walked toward the man who wouldn’t shut up, gripped the bars tightly and growled in annoyance. He stepped back a little, afraid I would carry out the threat.
— I may be a little weak, but I think I can still finish off an annoying mortal… See you later, you parrot.
I couldn’t use magic, and the chains severely limited my movements, but with effort I grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head hard against the iron bars.
When the guards heard the commotion they ran to our cell and found me seated with my legs crossed while the man knelt, crying uncontrollably. They looked at me horrified and I gave them a smile.
— I don’t understand, why are you looking at me like that? He was going to be executed anyway; I only tried to speed up the process.
The guards looked disgusted, then one of them pulled the other aside and, speaking low, I could still hear him say:
— Notify the king immediately. Ask his permission to put this witch in solitary.
The other guard left so fast he stumbled over his own feet. While the officer was gone, I admired my work, the man still curled up, now clutching his head to try to protect it, still crying like a child and uselessly trying to crawl away from me on the floor.
— You’re a monster, — the guard who still stared at me declared. — That’s why it’s our duty to eliminate your kind.
I looked at him with disdain and stretched my legs to stand.
— Me a monster? Tell me, officer, who’s worse, me, the monster, or you, who created the monster?”
— You’re not normal. We’re only freeing people from evil.
I frowned at that grim assertion and rolled my eyes, already bored.
— What’s your name, officer?
— I won’t tell a witch my name.
— Your name doesn’t interest me either, but I like to know the names of my victims.
The guard went pale and I smiled triumphantly. I felt a pang of sadness knowing it was only a bluff. I might have been more resentful given everything that had happened, but I was still Melanie Bowen, and I definitely kept all my mother’s teachings locked in my head, therefore, I would never kill someone.
The other man who had gone to speak with the king returned not long after. He panted and rolled his eyes from side to side in desperation, then straightened his posture and said:
— His Royal Majesty, King Antenor, has come personally to review the case of Prisoner 769, the witch known as Melanie.
Shortly after that announcement the king entered; his robes dragged on the floor and, even with the dim light, I could see the wrinkles that marked his age. I flopped down against the wall, not intending to listen to what he had to say, but I enjoyed watching the whole scene.
— Your Majesty! To what do I owe the honor of seeing you in my cell?
Antenor stared me up and down with a cold look, then glanced at the adjoining cell where the man still remained in the same position, and curled his mouth in disgust.
— You disgust me! — he shouted, gripping the bars tightly. — How could you do this to that poor man?
— If he was a ‘poor man,’ then why was he here to die?
I regretted it almost instantly when I saw the man throw me a murderous look, then with a flick of his fingers he summoned the guards who stood at the ready, waiting only for orders.
— Take her to solitary and allow no visitors whatsoever until the execution next month.
The two snapped a salute as a sign of respect. They immediately pulled me from the cell and struck my head with a spear; then, with a blinding pain, I lost consciousness.
………..
When I woke I was in a place even more deplorable than my previous cell. There were dead rats on the floor and the walls that should have been gray were stained with the droppings of various rodents.
The smell of the place was unbearable; I could smell death. In one corner there was a bowl with some slimy substance inside; my stomach lurched.
— How disgusting, — I said to the emptiness. — They must have put poison in that.
I hurled the bowl at the wall and watched it shatter, splattering the slime everywhere. Then I went to the metal door, where there was only a small window, and shouted:
— YOU BETTER GIVE ME REAL FOOD!
The shackles rubbed against my skin and caused agonizing chafing, but they were loose enough for me to move around the space.
— I’m going to kill him… I want to kill that old bastard! I’ll make that animal die.
Before I realized it I found myself smiling; I was angry. Despite the chains draining my strength, they did not know I possessed far more power than an ordinary witch. I felt my eyes changing color, and when I saw my reflection in a shard of broken bowl I realized they had turned a strong yellow. Admiring my reflection I smiled and made a promise to myself:
— Come then, Antenor. You’ve made an enemy you won’t be able to handle.