Lycan Alpha's Witch

7) Name

I could feel that the wizard was coming closer with each second passing. There were definitely only a few more steps for him to take to get to where I was standing. Valencia Rosemary, you have to snap out of this! Just a bit more, a bit more precise aim at the spell’s seal.

The bustling ballroom suddenly fell quiet. He had to be very close now, people were already forgetting how to breathe in anticipation of the union.

I snapped my eyes open. “NO.” I yelled out, finally breaking the silencing spell on me. I was panting for air as it took quite a bit of my mana to break out of it. The spells of the queen were truly no joke.

“What no? Is there something not to your liking?” The queen nervously smiled and took a step closer to me. If there was a threat of a scandal, she was sure to make it not happen.

I took a deep breath to announce my intentions. “I am not marrying.” I spoke clearly and loud enough for the whole crowd to hear.

“E-excuse me?” The baron stopped a few steps below me. His eyes were almost falling out of their sockets while the grimace on his face looked almost scary. Like a surprised zombie.

“You heard me right. I am not marrying. You nor anyone else in this room. EVER.” I could kill him with just my gaze right now. He was so tiny below me, in my shadow. There was no way he would ever get smarter or at least a bit humble and kind. All I could see in his eyes before was only lust for power and wealth.

I continued my speech, “I can be your queen even without having to marry. My magic is stable enough to-”

The queen’s voice resonated through everything, even through my whole body. “ENOUGH!” Her tremendous amount of mana was floating around her, making the air dense. It was suddenly quite hard to breathe. Her mana was way too fiery for me to get any closer to her. She was still strong enough. Stronger than me, still.

“You are marrying, princess! You are going to marry-”

“I am… not. And that is all I have to say.” I said unsurely before turning on my heel away from her and heading down the stairs. I didn’t look back. I quickly passed by the baron and I wanted to be out of here as soon as possible.

My mother’s voice made me stop in my tracks. “Starting today, the princess will join the battle corps, effective immediately.” Upon hearing that, I turned around to see my mother’s dreadful face, full of anger and disappointment.

“If she cannot capture the hearts of our people, then she has no right to stand above anyone and everyone else. If she cannot follow our rules and guides our ancestors have created, then she shall know the hardships before making her decision again.” The queen was standing tall above everyone else. Even above me. My mouth opened wide at my mother’s words. She wasn’t speaking like a mother. I was just one of her many subjects that had to listen and do whatever she decided. I gulped. There was no way I could answer that, talk back or refute it in any way. I could just stare at her, motionless.

Then, her fingers snapped. My ball gown and all the expensive jewelry was gone. I was wearing a simple white cotton dress with a wide belt, pants, leather boots and a brown cloak made from rough fabric. The whole ballroom fell dead quiet. Nobody dared to move.

I heard Lea’s cry for someone’s help from the crowd. With another snap of the queen’s fingers I wasn’t in the ballroom anymore. My stomach was tumbling around. I had just been teleported from the ballroom to somewhere outside. The cold gust of wind reminded me that my clothes weren’t enough for this weather. I got a sudden rush of queasiness. I took a deep breath to keep the contents of my stomach still inside of me. Drinking a couple of glasses of champagne probably wasn’t the best idea.

Only after a while of trying to calm my insides down, I realized where I was. This wasn’t the Floating island of witches. The Moon itself was way too far.

I got queasy again. But this time, everything came out.

Coughing, I wiped my mouth with a clean leaf of a linden tree that was nearby. I was in a forest. I was kicked out of the palace, out of the Island I had known my whole life. It took only a few seconds and from the very familiar place, from the luxury, peace and casual daily life I was in these rags in a forest at night.

“Name?” I froze. Someone spoke to me. That meant they saw me vomiting everything from my stomach out here and wiping my mouth with a tree leaf instead of some cloth.

I cleared my throat. “What do you mean, name?” I nonchalantly asked the old disheveled woman, who appeared out of nowhere with a notebook and a quill in her hand.