The Vampire & Her Witch Chapter 1997: Ultimatum

"I deserve to die..." Jocelynn said in a fragile, broken voice.

-SLAP!-

Ashlynn’s hand flew with the speed of a striking snake, slapping against Jocelynn’s cheek hard enough to leave a bright red imprint and split her lip.

"Don’t. You. Dare!" Ashlynn fumed.

Her palm stung. When she lowered her hand, a smear of Jocelynn’s blood stood out bright across it, right beside the faint, pinkish crescents her own nails had carved into her skin during the ritual. Talauia’s healing had mended the torn flesh, but it would be another day or two before the marks faded completely.

Inside Ashlynn’s chest, a strangely warm pulse radiated from the Olive Seed as if it were savoring the sight of Jocelynn’s pain or the feeling of being responsible for it. The warmth spread outward from her breastbone, down her arms and into her fingertips, and for the first time since she’d left the Enchanted Grove, her hands stopped shaking.

"Nyri risked our love for you," Ashlynn said in a tight, barely controlled voice. "I risked the lives of dozens of people to reach you before Owain could marry you."

"Cousin Eleanore DIED FOR YOU!" Ashlynn shouted as she lost control of her fury. Her eyes flashed with emerald light, and her pale blonde hair danced on a wind that touched nothing else in the room as the storm within her heart strained against her control. "After all that, you’re not ALLOWED to let yourself die."

Beyond the tower’s narrow windows, thunder rolled across the Vale, low and long, rattling the glass in its leaded frames. The day had already been gloomy and overcast with just enough chill in the air for people to wonder if it would snow. Now, the clouds above grew heavier, and faint flickers of light danced through them.

"Ash," Jocelynn started, backing away from Ashlynn into the corner of the sofa. One hand lightly touched the stinging red mark on her cheek while the other one strained against the sofa’s armrest to push her further back against the cushions.

"No, not another word," Ashlynn interrupted in a voice that carried the crack of a willow switch and the strength of a mighty oak. "Say one more thing before I’m done speaking, and I will drag you back to mother by your hair. Don’t think that I can’t," she warned. "Even when I’m this tired."

Jocelynn’s mouth opened, then closed again. Her fingertips came away from her cheek glistening red, and she stared down at them as if they belonged to someone else.

"I hoped," Ashlynn said after taking a deep, calming breath to regain as much of her composure as she could. "I hoped that you would see those letters and understand how precious you are to me. How much hope I had for our future. A future we could still try to salvage..."

"I hoped that, after everything you’d been through, the sister who strapped a knife to her thigh on her wedding night, just for a chance to kill Owain, would have enough fight in her to face words on parchment without destroying herself," Ashlynn said.

"I thought my little sister still loved me," Ashlynn said, glaring at Jocelynn.

"Ash, I do, I..." Jocelynn started, only for Ashlynn to interrupt her yet again.

"I told you, not another word," Ashlynn snapped. "Somewhere in there," she continued, poking Jocelynn in the chest hard enough to leave a small bruise. "Somewhere in there is the sister I loved. The sister I fought for. The sister who managed to survive Percivus, and Owain, and everything else that happened to her since coming all the way to the Verdant Hills."

Beneath Ashlynn’s fingertip, Jocelynn’s heart was pounding hard enough to feel through her bodice. Quick and light and frightened, like a bird beating its wings against the bars of a cage.

"Find her," Ashlynn said sharply as she rose to her feet. For a moment, she wobbled as she stood, but the anger seething in her chest gave her a renewed sort of strength. Enough for her to press on and say the words she couldn’t hold back anymore.

"Find the woman who at least had the strength to go out fighting," Ashlynn said as she began to make her way to the door.

Jocelynn’s hand lifted from the cushion, reaching for the trailing edge of Ashlynn’s sleeve, but her sister was already out of reach.

"You have three days, Jocelynn," Ashlynn called over her shoulder, refusing to look at her sister where she sat as still as a statue on the sofa. "In three days, I’m going to come for you, and you can either receive the Olive Seed I’ve nurtured for you and face its trial or I’m sending you home to Father."

"I need you to fight for me, Jocey," she said, turning to look back once she reached the doorway. "I need you to show me that you can fight to stay by my side. That you love me enough to push past the pain and grab hold of the chance I made for us."

"If you can’t do that, then it’s better that we separate now," Ashlynn said. "Because I can’t take any more risks for you if you won’t take risks for me. It hurts too much to see you giving up on yourself, Jocey. If you’re going to do that, then what was the point?" Ashlynn asked as the emerald energy faded from her eyes at last, along with the heat in her voice.

"I’m sorry," Jocelynn said, pursing her lips together for a moment before wincing in pain at the tenderness of her split lip. A tiny rivulet of blood ran down her chin, but she barely noticed as she fought to meet and hold her sister’s gaze.

"You’re right," Jocelynn said when Ashlynn didn’t stop her from saying more. "Nyrielle scolded me about it too. I don’t know if I can pass the trial or not, but... I’ll try. I won’t give up on you, Ash. I promise."

"You’d better not," Ashlynn warned, turning away before Jocelynn could see the mist beginning to collect in her own eyes. "I’m going to spend the night with Nyri. I need her help to get ready. I likely won’t see you until it’s time for the trial."

"You can stay here if you want," Ashlynn said as she tried to regain a semblance of her usual composure. "Georg will bring food soon. You should eat. The trial will drain your body’s strength. If you don’t eat full meals for the next three days, you’ll only hurt your chances of enduring a long trial. Don’t do that to yourself," she said. "Don’t do it to me."

Before Jocelynn could respond, Ashlynn slipped out the door and closed it behind her. Only then did she allow herself to slump against the wall, slowly sliding downward until she sat on the cold stone floor of the corridor.

Her breathing was ragged, and the hot words she’d spoken echoed in her ears. Somewhere deep in her chest, a voice called out to her.

"This is good," the Olive Seed said in a sweet, almost cheerful tone. "You’ve waited long enough. Doting on her isn’t enough. You can’t drown your hatred in honeyed words and family dinners. You can only drown it in her pain and suffering."

"That’s why I’m here," the seed reminded her. "To see that Jocelynn suffers for what she did for a very, very long time..."

Ashlynn stayed there, sitting on the floor with her knees drawn up and her head tipped back against the wall. Through the heavy oak door, she could faintly hear her sister moving, slumping onto the sofa. There was no sobbing and no sound of footsteps coming to follow her. Just that frightened, shallow rhythm of her breathing followed a few moments later by the rustling of pages as Jocelynn retrieved the letter that had fallen to the floor.

Ashlynn looked down at her hand. Jocelynn’s blood had dried in the creases of her palm, and when she curled her fingers closed over it, the Olive Seed pulsed again. Slow. Warm. Contented, like a cat curling up beside the hearth.

Then, the exhaustion of everything she’d done, from the ritual in the Enchanted Grove to her confrontation with her sister, caught up to her all at once. Sounds and light faded away, and before she could think of rising to return to Nyrielle’s bedchambers deep underground, the darkness carried her away.