What she saw in her cell, fury burned through her making her lose her control. Circe's cell was black on the inside. Iona opened a door of her memory from two days back. She found herself standing on the sides in a room full of nobles and other guests. She saw that during the dinner for the royal couple, Circe had thrown the magic stone that she had given her from the basin for Iona to summon, but the stone didn't work because Iona wasn't there in the tunnel. 

Before Circe had thrown the stone on the floor in front of the couple, Solon had come right next to her and whispered something in her ears. Her lips tugged up in a smile. She walked closer to the ornate armchairs where Ileus and Anastasia were sitting. She had bowed to them and then dug her purse to give them the gift. She took the stone out and had said, "This is my gift to you, Anastasia." She lifted her hand up in the air and threw the stone right at the princess's feet. The stone clanked on the floor and rolled and settled right in front of Anastasia. The princess looked down at it with a frown. She bent down to pick it up. 

"What is it?" asked Anastasia. She examined the stone at her eye level. 

"This is your doom, and the queen's" Circe hissed, as she stared at the stone and waited for Iona to appear. A fog formed in front of Anastasia and something sizzled out. It was Iona's head that tried to make way through a crevice. However, the magic was so weak that she had to retreat and the fog cleared. 

"Seize her!" Dmitri's voice boomed in the room and all the soldiers who were lined up on the side walls rushed to Circe. 

Solon, who was trying to rush out quietly, also found himself surrounded by the royal guards. 

Anastasia held the stone in her hand and took a step closer to Circe who suddenly found herself shackled by white lights that acted as barbed chains. She took the stone for Circe to see. And Circe—she was stunned because even her necromancer magic wasn't working. Ileus came right beside his wife. He took the stone and crushed it in his hands and let the dust fall on the ground. At that time, Circe realized that her plans were foiled and she didn't even get a hint of it. Sweat trickled on her forehead, down her spine as she looked at Ileus whose eyes were glowing a fiery golden. Next, she saw how he burst into shadows, which engulfed her completely. "You thought that we didn't know about your plans," he whispered to her. "Go and tell Iona that I am waiting for her." 

When his shadows retreated, she found Anastasia glaring at her with violet eyes. And Circe knew this was her end. She was surrounded by purple tendrils of magic that floated from Anastasia's mouth when she started singing a soft lullaby. The necromancer magic that she had built and mastered over so many years, seeped out of her body, leaving her in excruciating pain. "Noooooo!" the Minister of Education shrieked as cuts and nicks formed on her body, as she coughed blood out and as her vision became blurry and as necromancer magic flowed out of her. 

Not wanting to see it further, Iona pulled out of Circe's cell. She looked around to see that the royal soldiers were still fighting with the fae army who had greatly reduced in numbers. Her Diumbe were screaming with joy as they pulled the dead bodies of the fae soldiers and feasted on them. Where were Etaya, Aed Ruad and Maple?

--- 

When Etaya followed Iona out to be with Circe, Aed Ruad shouted at her, "We need to take care of Maple. She is your daughter!" He could feel his sister's pain. It was so potent and heavy that he felt suffocating. 

Etaya turned to look with cold eyes to him but didn't come to help her. She said, "Maple is like a lame horse. Better to put her to sleep." She hated her son's affection towards his sister. It was that consumed him and it was he was haunted with. Over the last few months, he was lacking in duties for he would brood in Maple's memories. Hence, it was better that Maple died. Etaya didn't care if she died at the hands of Anastasia and was in fact surprised and irritated when she saw Maple in the carriage. 

"Please mother, heal her," he begged. After so long he had reunited with his sister and she was in such terrible form. A tremor cruised through his body as he forced his tears away. He looked at his sister and knew that she was breathing her last. He glanced at her pale hand that was lying limp on the floor and noticed that she was holding a small capsule in her palm. He opened the capsule and took out a thin sheet of rolled parchment. And on it was written,

"Whip her Maple, whip her

For together we will ship her…" 

With due apologies my dear 'fake' king, I am sending you the perfect gift. For all the times you poisoned me, for all the times you punished me, there was something I wanted to give back to you. Did you think that Maple was imprisoned to be treated beautifully in the wizard prison? No. Every day I visited her. Every new layer of magic that my body uncovered, I tried it on her. Trust me, she is a good subject to be tested upon. I am sending her to you in a condition in which she is beyond saving. Cherish her last warm breaths. 

Oh, and brace yourself. I am coming!

—  Yours sincerely,

Anastasia

Aed Ruad crumpled the paper in her hands and roared. "Anastasiaaaa! I am going to kill you!" He looked at his sister whose cracked lips parted in a faint smile. 

"Sorry brother…" she whispered. "Ana— she is very powerful…" Her eyes closed. "Other world… we will meet…" 

"No. No. No!" Aed Ruad cried. 

Suddenly the carriage started shaking. He looked outside. The Mozias had returned with full force. They were attacking the fae soldiers. He swung his head wildly to see where his mother was. She was using her magic upon the Mozias. So this was a fucking trap they had walked in because of Iona's failed plans. 

Aed Ruad got out of the carriage with Maple in his arms. When Etaya saw him, she yelled, "Throw her back in the carriage!" But he didn't and started walking out of the circle that the Mozia had formed around them. Frustrated that he was going to get himself killed, Etaya darted to him and cast the invisibility spell on the three of them. She guided him through the chaos to the campsite. 

Aed Ruad placed her on the bed and sat by her side. He held her hand in his and watched her pallid face. Her wings were not showing. "Maple," he called her. "Please talk to me." He had waited to see her even once ever since she had come out on their mother's command. He must have made a thousand plans to get her back, all of which were thwarted by his mother. 

Maple opened her glassy eyes that had a slit of dull yellow in them. "Brother—" she whispered. "We will rule—" and then her eyes stilled. 

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