"Burn the witch!"
"Burn the witch!"
"Burn the witch!"
The villagers chanted.
"Burn the witch!"
"Burn the witch!"
"Burn the… wait, is she waving?"
Yes, yes, I was waving.
They had tied me to a stake, determined to burn me yet again. And it hurt every single time.
The priest cleared his throat. "You are hereby sentenced to death by fire for the crime of sorcery."
"And fashion," I added helpfully as I nodded at my soot stained dress. "You forgot fashion."
He scowled and muttered something about disrespect or lack of remorse. This was what, the fifth time? Sixth? I'd lost count after they burned me for sneezing in the presence of the empress.
The crowd roared again as they lit their torches.
Someone in the back yelled. "May her soul finally be cleansed by the flames."
I sighed, I was getting tired of this. It didn't matter what I did, these people were never leaving the Victorian era. I mean, who still burned women just because they happened to practice sorcery? Couldn't I just be banished?
And since I didn't die the last six times, why'd they think I would die this time?
"Any last words?" the priest bellowed as he held out his hand.
I cleared my throat and lifted my chin. "Yes, your wig is crooked."
The priest's eyes twitched and threw his torch at me.
"Oh, very well," I muttered.
The flames started to engulf me, they were still very much painful. Honestly, this whole thing was terribly inconvenient, I had plans tonight.
With my free hand, I traced invisible runes in the air. My magic was weak but it wasn't gone, and if I timed it just right…
There!
I quickly cast the spell and just like that, I opened my eyes. I was on something soft, the softest bed I've ever come across. I bolted upright and stared at the room. The ceiling above me was painted actual gold, a chandelier hung in the middle and it cast fractured light across the velvet draped room.
Everything in here sparkled, so much that it hurt my eyes. I spotted a mirror and went to look in it. The face that stared back at me had white hair that dangled down her back, smooth skin and eyes that glowed violet. She was pretty.
I leaned closer to the mirror as I poked my cheeks and whispered, "Jackpot."
A sudden knock on the door made me jump and before I could answer, the doors swung open and three girls glided in.
"Oh," the one in front said. "You're awake."
"Good morning," I smiled brightly. "Wonderful day, eh?"
They exchanged glances and the tallest of them walked up to me with her arms crossed.
"Lady Lunaria, Her Majesty has sent us to prepare you for this evening's banquet."
"Lunaria?" I asked.
I knew I'd heard the name before but for the life of me, I just couldn't remember where.
"Don't embarrass yourself tonight," the tallest one said. "The princes will be in attendance."
My mouth opened but I closed it. Princes? As in plural?
And then it hit me, I knew nothing about the body of the person I'd entered. I was already out of bed so I couldn't even pretend like I'd lost my memory. My eyes glanced to the balcony. It was open and wind fluttered in.
I didn't think twice, I ran towards it.
"Where are you going?" one of the girls asked.
I reached the edge and jumped over without peeking first to check if it was survivable. Big mistake, it didn't look survivable.
"Lady Lunaria!" the girls screamed in unison but their screams were drowned out by my own screams.
My scream echoed all the way down as I tried my best to cast a floating spell, or anything. But I wasn't in my body, and this vessel had no magic in her. I had exactly three seconds to regret all of my life choices before…
Thump.
I landed with my face in a decorative fountain.
I was in pain, I was cold but most of all, I was alive. Hurray! Seconds later, I heard frantic noises from above and footsteps approached me. Heads poked over the balcony I'd jumped from and the three girls were losing their minds.
"She's dead!"
"She's not dead, her foot just moved!"
"Why did she jump?!"
"Did we kill her?"
I groaned and flopped sideways into the shallow water. My soaked dress weighed more than I'd carried in my previous life. Servants and guards came rushing through.
"Lady Lunaria," he gasped. "Are you okay?"
I blinked up at him. He had an enormous feather on his hat and I tried not to laugh. The nobles certainly had a weird style of dressing.
I looked up at him and gave him the most confused stare I could muster. "Oh goodness, it seems like I have lost my memory."
The man with the feathered hat jumped into the fountain and cupped my face in his hands. "You're not injured, are you? Oh, your poor face. We can't let it be ruined."
"I said…"
"Hush, girl."
Oh, okay.
He picked me up and helped me to my feet, as if I'd not just almost fallen to my death.
"Take her to her chambers," he barked at the guards.
Back in the golden room, the three girls got me out of the wet clothes, helped me with a bath and gave me a set of clean clothes to wear. They looked very disoriented and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why.
A woman in robes rushed in and started poking my face with what looked like a wand but it was just a fancy stick.
"She's fine. Get her ready for the ball." The woman said and turned away.
That was it?
When the woman left the room, the tall girl came to me and knelt down.
"Lady Lunaria," she sobbed. "Did you try to jump because of us?"
Another girl joined her. "We're sorry, my lady. We'll never maltreat you again."
"So please, don't ever try to kill yourself again," the third one added.
Oh? So they'd been bullying the original Lunaria.
I grinned. "Of course. But you three will have to be faithful to me for the rest of your lives."