Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume 1 by L.A. Jones

to
her, and it must have her blood on it."
    “Keon,” the Sovereign
thundered.
    "Trust in me and the
rest of my clan," Keon replied. "We shall retrieve what you need. I
have already stationed one of my subordinates observing
her."
    Keon could only see the
Sovereign’s chin and nose slowly rise and fall under his
cowl.
    "If you wish," Keon
further proposed, "we can snatch her right now and bring her to
you. Or snuff her out and end this now.”
    “You will do no such
thing,” the Sovereign replied. He was quiet, almost whispering.
Keon had never felt such fear or intimidation before.
    “It will be as you
command.”
    "Keep her under
constant surveillance and report any unusual activity to me
directly. When it is opportune, snatch something that meets
Morgan's criteria. Be absolutely certain no one notices you doing
so. Am I understood?"
    Keon nodded. The
Sovereign jerked his head toward the exit, and Keon left the throne
room. He turned sharply toward Morgan, his meaning clear. She, too,
disappeared.
     
    Coming forth from the
shadows, Rome said, “If I might be so bold, my Sovereign, I rather
liked that ferret’s suggestion to put her down now.”
    “Finish what you failed
to complete two centuries ago?” the Sovereign replied.
    Rome, only mildly
chastised, went on, “I understand if you don’t entrust such a task
to a Night Shadow. He and his clanmates are clowns. I would be
honored to take the assignment. I would not fail you
twice.”
    “No, I imagine not.”
After a brief decision, the Sovereign explained to Rome, "If she
were anywhere else in the world, perhaps, but not in Salem. Of
course that is where she would surface. By now, other hiddens will
have noticed her. If she disappeared, questions would be
raised."
    "You need not answer
those questions," Rome insisted. "Your word is law!"
    "True," the Sovereign
acknowledged. "And I became Sovereign by taking only necessary,
calculated risks, Rome. Right now, she is impotent against me. One
whisper of protest, though, could incite a rebellion, and I will
avoid that outcome.”
    Rome nodded. “As a girl
in high school, she is controllable, but as a martyr she could
damage your standing.”
    “You pick up slowly,”
the Sovereign said, “but you can learn. Vampires follow me without
question,” mostly , the Sovereign thought, but left that part out. “Other
hiddens still question my rule. Many factions do not yet accept me.
If I make any move that they find suspicious..."
    "You are above them,
Sovereign," Rome protested. “Your power is vast, and not merely
political. You would win any war. I would ensure that.”
    "No doubt, but when we
start my war of conquest, it will be at the time of my choosing,"
the Sovereign concluded with an evil and handsome grin.
     
    The Sovereign lingered
for hours, studying Aradia's reflection. Until Morgan wiped it, the
image would remain in the mirror like a newly painted
portrait.
    A slight, whooshing
displacement of air betrayed Morgan’s return.
    “I did not bid you
come.”
    “No, you did not,”
Morgan replied with uncharacteristic simplicity. For a while
longer, the Sovereign ignored her.
    "It's hard to believe,"
the Sovereign said finally, still staring at the mirror, "that this
little thing is the sole survivor of her people. Look at her. I
have faced and defeated far more powerful looking creatures than
her, including witches.”
    “You underestimate her
strength,” Morgan replied. “Her power. You cannot feel it as I can.
She has great potential.”
    "Tell me about it," he
commanded.
    "You should not
underestimate her, for if there is one thing I sense, it is that
she is anything but impotent against you." The Sovereign was not
surprised to learn that Morgan had been eavesdropping on his
conversation with Rome.
    Morgan braced herself.
She expected an inevitable, furious outburst from the Sovereign for
her impertinence. Surprising her, the Sovereign instead chuckled
and kept his eyes locked on the