Echoes spread through the chamber as her heels clacked on the marble floor.
Now that they were inside, the room only seemed larger. The marble ring could hold a whole classroom without any students feeling like they might fall. Railings would make Zoe feel much better, but whoever designed this place obviously didn’t feel the same way.
The door slammed shut, sending more ominous echoes through the room.
Zoe immediately flicked her dagger to send them between.
The walls did not drop away. The room stayed exactly as it was.
Zoe kept a firm grip on Juliana’s shoulder.
The blond scanned the whole room as if expecting an attack from anywhere. Her eyes kept darting back to the still skeleton.
“Show yourself,” Zoe called out. There had to be someone here. If not, she’d only embarrassed herself in front of Juliana.
“You would make demands of
The feminine voice boomed around them.
Juliana jumped. Zoe grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer.
“Who are you?” Zoe asked.
“Another demand. Asking for a title before introducing yourself no less. Mortal manners have fallen over the centuries, We see.”
“KNEEL”
Juliana was all but torn from her hands as her knees slammed into the marble. Zoe didn’t manage much better. Someone tied ropes around her knees and pulled them into the ground.
She hissed as one of her knees felt like it cracked.
Juliana didn’t make a sound. Perhaps the metal flowing beneath her clothes cushioned her.
“We have observed you wandering about the grounds. We will not tolerate quidnuncs in Our presence.”
“I am Zoe Baxter, an instructor at a nearby magical academy. To my side is a pupil of mine, Juliana.” Zoe spoke quickly. She did not want to be on a list of intolerable things, not when a voice that could move her body against her will with a mere word had that list.
“We are searching for another pupil of mine, Eva.”
Zoe chanced looking around when the voice did not return. Nothing had changed in their surroundings. The skeleton, still sitting atop the throne, hadn’t budged and there was nothing else around.
“She has gone missing,” Zoe continued. “If you have any information, it would be graciously appreciated. If not, we apologize for our intrusion and will leave at once.”
“So mortals can display manners when their lives are endangered.”
The skeleton drew itself to its feet. It took one step down from its throne. Then another. At the third step, it moved out of the ray of light.
A woman stood in place of the skeleton. At first glance, she looked beautiful. Her square jaw kept high as she descended the stairs. Her eyes never left the two kneeling girls.
The longer Zoe stared, the more everything seemed off. Subtle cues, but they were there. Her dress was cut low enough that Zoe could see straight down to her navel. There was not even the slightest rise and fall of her chest for breaths of air. Not a sign of life could be seen on her blue lips.
Her eyes were like steel as the gazed down on her subjects.
When she got to the edge of her black marble platform, she took another step forwards. Small sections of a bridge flickered into existence with every one of her calm strides.
She stopped just ten feet from the kneeling girls. “You mentioned Eva. Missing you said?”
Her voice no longer boomed throughout the chamber. It lost none of its power.
Juliana spoke up before Zoe could. “Arachne said she went missing from the school dorms. We came here, hoping she was safe in her home. There have been necromancers plaguing our school as of late, we were worried she was captured or killed by them.”
“Eva is not dead. We would know if she passed. This may prove providential.”
The woman paused, looking between her subjects.
“One of you will deliver a message to Eva.”
Zoe cringed at the wording. Before Juliana could say anything, Zoe said, “if you are planning on killing the other, Juliana will carry your message.”
The woman shifted and placed one hand on her hip. “You would die for your pupils?”
“I would,” Zoe replied without hesitation.
“Do you wish for death?”
Zoe hesitated. She didn’t wish for death. Not by a long shot. If this was a trick question where she said as much, the woman might kill Juliana instead. Zoe mulled over wording then said, “if it means saving my students, then yes.”
“Death will come for you on His own time. We have no wish to hasten His coming.”
“I understand,” Zoe said. She bowed back down.
