The song here is "Hardest of Hearts" by Florence + the Machine
Hardest of Hearts
The dark was fading and the orange glow of the morning sun began filling the sky. The night had gone well. Rowena had finally found a town and it had a nice hotel, despite the fact this town was isolated in the bush and there wasn't much civilization.
She wasn't going to break the spell until she was safe in the hotel.
Rowena had a slight difficulty traveling through with the sunlight rising so fast. She was still a dark shadow and trying to find shade so she wasn't so noticeable was a challenge. She had to detour around buildings just to get to the hotel which was on the corner of the main street and some side street. It was surrounded by sunlight.
Finally, the back door had enough shade to cover her and once she was inside, she found herself to be in the kitchen that wasn't very busy. There was only one man and he seemed too dazed to distinguish a moving shadow from a still one.
Rowena slipped past him easily enough and got out to the restaurant that seemed like it was an old saloon that was given a face lift and nicer furnishings. To her left was the stairs and she had no problem gliding up those to the corridor of rooms. There was an elevator, but using it would risk grabbing someone's attention, even if the hotel only had one person as far as she had seen.
She opened the door to the staircase that lead to the second floor and decided to take one of the rooms there. When she was certain she was in the clear, she broke the spell.
"Thy will is done, thy magic won." She said and she began returning to her former glory.
Now that she was safe from Hellhounds, that she was certain were still back at the cabin, she decided to think of a plan. Her son was weak and it didn't take her long to think of that. What did take a while was how she could teach her son to be a better King. She wasn't sure he was capable of learning that, so she had to think of something.
Then her mind went back to when Lucifer was handsomely in his cage, about to break free. Fergus was painting stupid sigils while the Queen was doing all the hard work. She could see how Clara had affections for Fergus, after all, she had a child with him. However, every woman would tire of being held back by a man and would decide to push back and take control. Rowena was hoping that Clara would listen and let herself be convinced that she can rule Hell without the so-called Crowley, King of Hell.
All Rowena had to do was summon Clara and she wasn't exactly sure how to do that. However, she would figure it out. How hard was it to summon someone?
As Rowena searched the hotel room, she was remembering something she had seen to summon a demon. Naturally, most demons have their own sigil, not that she ever looked into it because demons were scum, but there was something easier; a ritual of ingredients a little difficult to find in a hotel and the name of the desired demon.
It took Rowena a couple of hours, but she soon had it all set up; candles, chalk, chicken bones and finally something that doesn't begin with the letter "C", a small sharp knife. Honestly, Rowena was tired of piercing her skin and using her blood. She had her fill, but this would be the last of it.
Before she began, Rowena gave this idea a thought; was she certain she could turn Clara against her son? And if not, would a spell easily do the trick? And if not, was she certifying her own death? Unless… she could hold something over Clara…
Rowena abandoned her spell for a moment and went to the mirror that hung just on the wall over the electronic fireplace. All she needed was a bowl of water and a small hex bag. Luckily, she had one left in her bosom that wouldn't cause much damage on its' own, but it would do nicely here. Rowena filled a bowl of water from her bathroom and set on the mantel of the fireplace, below the mirror.
"Anne, Clara's Wiccan relative, do me a favor…" Rowena said, seeing an image of Anne in bed, relaxing after delivering her son forming in the mirror. "And choke on this." she added, dropping the hex bag into the bowl of water. The image showed Anne suddenly coughing uncontrollably, a man rushing to her side, concerned, yelling for help. Sam and Dean rushed in with another much older woman.
Rowena smiled and walked back to her summoning spell, knowing she now had something over Clara.
"I summon Clara, Cambion Queen of Hell." Rowena said, poking her finger and letting a drop of blood fall onto the ritualistic circle of chalk, candles and bones. Once the blood fell onto it, she waited with bated breath. She was counting on this to work.
"Quite brave." Said a feminine voice that was so sudden, it startled Rowena. When she got off the floor and turned, Clara stood tall with a look of annoyance, despite a dark glimmer of curiosity in her eyes.
"Clara." She said with a smile.
"Rowena." Clara replied, her expression remaining the same. "Gonna skip to the part where you demand something?" she asked and Rowena let out a little laugh.
"Oh, no, deary. I just wanted to speak with you." She said and Clara arched an eyebrow as if she wasn't convinced. "How goes the little one?" she asked and Clara didn't seem thrilled that Keara was mentioned.
"Fine." She replied dryly. "I'd really rather just skip ahead, Rowena." Clara added and the witch looked bored.
"Very well." She replied and gestured at the little table with two chairs. Clara followed her and they sat down across from each other. "I must say that I admire your strength." She said and still, Clara didn't seem thrilled. "You're obviously no fool." Rowena said and Clara arched an eyebrow as if she could agree to that.
"Yes, so stop stalling and get to the point." Clara said and Rowena sat forward with her hands under her chin, flashing a nice smile that still didn't convince Clara.
"I have never met a hybrid before and I was quite impressed with your performance." She said and Clara's expression was difficult to read. Rowena waited for some sort of gratitude, but Clara remained silent, so she continued. "I was quite disappointed that my son couldn't be of more help to you; letting you carry all of the burden." She said and Clara's eyes narrowed.
"So this is your angle; pin me against the demon I love." She said and Rowena's eyes took on a dark glimmer, like she wasn't ashamed of it.
"You can't deny the fact that you are both more feared and loved than my son. You're more powerful and if you ruled Hell, I'm willing to bet you wouldn't have an uprising." Rowena said and Clara sharpening her eyes to the point it was chilling.
"You know nothing of Hell or your son." Clara replied and Rowena didn't seem upset that her plan wasn't working out so well, yet.
"I know my son is not the godly King of Hell he should be." She said and Clara's stare was so hard that Rowena fell into silence, as if unsure of what would happen and too curious to do anything about it.
"You want your son to be more like Lucifer, but you fail to understand that Lucifer was a dictator; even the demons feared him, so much they stayed away from him because he'd kill them. He created them, ruled them, and he hated them." Clara said with such authority in her voice. "Crowley is a CEO." She added and Rowena arched an eyebrow as if she didn't follow.
Clara gave a dark grin and sat comfortably in her seat, tapping her long nails on the table.
"Hell is not a place where sinners go to pay for their crimes and dirty deeds; Hell is a business. We offer deals, contracts, perks and bonus packages." Clara said and Rowena seemed intrigued. "You get what you want, we get what we want." She added and there was a sinister flicker in her eyes, as if she was suddenly hungry for a human soul. It made Rowena a little uncomfortable.
"Fergus, a CEO?" Rowena asked, as if she couldn't see it.
"He has a head for business. I have no knowledge of it; I just sign the lines with the little "x" on the papers. But Crowley, he knows how to run a business and Hell has changed. It's not a pit where even demons want to crawl out; it's home and everyone wants in." she said and Rowena's lips twitched as if she'd like to argue that no one wants to become a demon, but she could see how they can be blinded by greed, offered on a silver platter by black eyed crowd pleasers.
For a brief moment, they stared at each other in silence. It wasn't until Clara's expression became cold and dark that Rowena knew this might explode in her face.
"Why do you want to kill your son so badly?" she asked and Rowena was slightly surprised, to be honest. "You act like you care about him, but then you sharpening your claws to dig them into his back when his guard is down." She added and Rowena gasped.
"I do care about my son." She snapped and she looked offended. "I don't want to kill my son." She added and Clara gave a dark grin.
"Did he not turn out the way you had envisioned?" Clara asked, pushing on, ignoring Rowena's denial.
"Of course he didn't turn out how I had imagined or had hoped. He cowers behind you when he could prove he's an alpha." Rowena replied and Clara's grin remained.
"I'd say he turned out exactly like you wanted." She said and Rowena was stunned.
"I beg your pardon?" she asked, placing her hand on her bosom like she couldn't comprehend this.
"You're the product of your upraising, they say. You weren't there for him and you didn't give him the love he needed. He raised himself. If he disappoints you so much, just because you don't like what you see, then why don't you leave him alone?" she asked and Rowena looked frustrated as she clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes at Clara.
"You don't know anything about me and my relationship with my son." She snarled and Clara let out a small chuckle.
"I do, more than you know." She said, but Rowena continued.
"I was there for him and I won't give up on him. A mother doesn't give up on her child." She added and Clara stared at her with a dark glimmer in her eyes. "Oh, I see." Rowena said and Clara narrowed her eyes in intrigue. "How was your relationship with your mother?" she asked and Clara smiled darkly.
So Rowena wanted to go there, fine.
"My mother was afraid of me." Clara replied with darkness brewing in her eyes. "She tried to kill me when I was a baby and for all of my life, she hated me. I was a burden to her and I couldn't do anything good; I was as evil as they came." She added and Rowena just listened without judgment in her facial expression. "If my mother had loved me, I would have tried to be human. But she didn't and I believed I wasn't meant to be loved. I just wanted to be loved." She concluded and Rowena had a hint of victory in her eyes, as if she had found something else to use against Clara.
Oh, but Clara wasn't done.
"And to my wonder, your son did just that." She said and that look in Rowena's eyes was extinguished. "Imagine, despite never having been loved in his life, he loves me." Clara added and Rowena didn't seem thrilled. "And I love him, so you're as stupid as everyone else for thinking I would betray him; my lover, the father of my child." She concluded with a dark fire burning in her eyes.
At that moment, Rowena opened her mouth and spoke one syllable, but she wasn't fast enough to beat Clara. All she did was narrow her eyes and Rowena fell silent, voiceless, and flicking her wrists did nothing.
"I can't be that Crowley is a disappointment to you. There's something more. You do want him dead, like he's such a thorn in your side. Stop covering your lies and tell me, what stopped you from loving Crowley?" Clara asked and when she relaxed her gaze, Rowena gasped, as if to test if her voice had been returned to her.
She stared at Clara with loathe, but she relaxed in her seat and met Clara's eyes with defiance. It might be a good moment to have an upper hand in all of this. Rowena flicked her hand towards the mirror and an image formed. When Clara looked at it, she glared as she saw Anne coughing and choking, Gadreel, Viviane and the Winchesters not being able to help her.
"Did it ever occur to you that my own mother never loved me?" Rowena asked, ignoring the fact that Clara was very angry now.
"I'm not buying it, Rowena." Clara said, turning her attention to the witch that was harming her relative. As difficult as it was to not worry over Anne, she raised her hand up to analyze her nails, which were quite long enough to slice through someone's throat with enough speed and force. "I'm not as good at torture as your son, but I have watched. I think I can develop my own style if given the practice." She added and glared at Rowena with hunger in her eyes.
"I never learnt how to love." Rowena said and Clara turned her hand, running her thumb along her nails, slicing her own thumb, drawing her own blood. She placed her thumb to her lips and licked the blood with a dark rage burning in her eyes. "I wasn't sure how to be a mother, especially to a boy." She said, but when Clara placed her hand on the table, digging her nails into the table, making the wood crack like it was fragile ice.
Clara glanced up at locked her gaze on Rowena, her nails now resting on the table as if a reminder of what she could do if Rowena bullshits her way one more time.
"I had wanted a child in my life, but I had never wanted a son." She said and when she glared at Clara, she watched as a dark grin appeared on Clara's lips. "I had wanted a daughter, but then I had been chased all over, for years, and a son was all I could have." She said and Clara narrowed her eyes. "But, perhaps now, I may have a daughter," she said with soft eyes. "In you." She concluded, looking like she wanted to reach her hand across the table to Clara.
Yes, Rowena had told the truth about not wanting a son, but the rest was bullshit. She didn't want another child because the first one was an accident and she didn't want to slow herself down and get captured by hunters, all in hopes of having a daughter. This was a woman that only cared about herself.
"I had a mother. I'm over it." Clara said, thinking of Viviane and Anne, how she would love to have them closer to her, and just wanting to rip Rowena's head clean off. Rowena didn't seem offended, just a little sad, as if Clara didn't realize she was passing a damned good offer.
And then, the light bulb illuminated. Clara had seen passed Rowena's web of lies and found the truth she tried to hide.
"No, I believe we got this wrong." Clara said, giving Rowena a bit of false hope. "You never wanted a child, at all." Clara said and Rowena's face became blank; she didn't say a word and her facial expression didn't betray her. "I bet you even tried to kill your son at one point, just like my mother had tried with me." she added and only then did Rowena give a sad smile.
"So, you are as clever as you are powerful." she said. "I would have liked to have a daughter like you." She added and Clara let out a dark laugh.
"No you wouldn't, because at some point, you would be threatened by me." Clara said and at that moment, she narrowed her eyes and Rowena found that she couldn't move. She couldn't even twitch or move her eyes. Clara looked at the mirror and balled her hand into a fist, the hex bag exploding and releasing Anne of Rowena's horrible magic. She stared at the image that was slowly fading; Anne was able to breath and confirm that she was alright.
Rowena was frozen in place and the door to her hotel room opened slowly, a shadow slowly entering the room. Then, Rowena could have widened her eyes with fear as Crowley and Nikolai walked into the room with darkness brewing in their eyes; the same darkness that was burning in Clara's eyes.
"Hello, mother." Crowley said in his raspy voice, with a hint of hatred.