Chapter 61 - The magic of it all.

Chapter 61 - The magic of it all.
Beverly



I gave my father a quick kiss on the cheek before setting off. My brother wasn’t even around to say goodbye, but it didn’t bother me. He had been so trapped in his office that he didn’t notice anything other than the reports about my mother’s death. My chaperon looked nervous as we set off in the direction of the capitol. My father had already called the high priestess and, according to him, they were excited about seeing me.

The journey was arduous, but by nightfall, we walked into the city and I felt my spirits being lifted immediately. You couldn’t help it. The city just did that to you. There were always people laughing and walking about doing business or just catching up. The black flags were still hanging for my mother, but it didn’t seem as if the sadness had infected them as badly as it did people at home.

We stayed over in our home that my parents had kept in the city all these years and in the early hours of the morning, we boarded a ship to the witch island. The scent of the sea soothed my aching heart and I wondered how my mom must have felt when she flew across here the first time. She was going to save her people. She must have been so nervous!

Thankfully, the voyage wasn’t that long and we reached the beach by mid-afternoon. The high priestess was waiting for me, and we happily greeted each other before she showed us the huge harbour they were building. After a quick tour of their beautiful city, they took us to where we would be staying, and she gave us a list of things we were allowed to do and the things that were a definite no-no. My chaperon looked a little disgusted when she read that we weren’t allowed to kill anything.

“Literally nothing!” She exclaimed. “Not even a spider!” Her eyes grew wider as I laughed. I knew she had a huge fear of spiders, and she was definitely going to have a hard time. The laws didn’t bother me as much. I didn’t have silly fears like that and all I could think about was getting started with whatever the witches had planned.

We had a lovely dinner with the witches and, just like us, they all gathered like one big family and had dinner together. Dinner was made up of a deliciously fresh salad and my chaperon pulled her nose up when she realized we wouldn’t be eating any kind of meat over the next couple of weeks.

“How are we going to keep up our strength?” She whispered and I shrugged.

“We supplement our diet with nuts and other things that are high in protein.” The high priestess smiled, surprising us both. We were not used to other creatures having the impeccable hearing we had. I had to smile when I saw my chaperon’s lips pulling into a thin line that usually indicated she had a lot to say but was trying to keep her mouth shut.

“That sounds interesting. I would love to find out more.” I smiled, trying to relieve the tension. I really didn’t need my chaperon here. There were no males around, and it had become blatantly clear that she wasn’t happy there. I made a mental note to speak to her about it when we returned to our temporary home. This was my journey. My adventure. She really didn’t have to be there with me through it.

She was very upset later when I brought it up and promised to keep her opinions to herself, but I knew that my father was the reason she forced herself to stay. He would have been incredibly upset if she went back home. We went to bed and as the moonlight flooded our room, I sighed contently.

“Have you noticed that you aren’t hungry? Even though you haven’t eaten any meat.” I smiled, knowing her lips were probably in that thin line again when she didn’t answer. I fell asleep soon after that and was woken in the early morning hours by someone knocking on the door. My chaperon was dressed and answered looking surprised when a young witch walked in with a silver tray.

I could smell fresh coffee and, most importantly, freshly baked biscuits! That got me out of bed faster than ever before and we thanked her. I got dressed, and we made our way to the high priestess’s office where she joined us for a walk through their beautiful town. She showed us the library which was closed the night before and took us through their hospital which we also didn’t see the night before.

She showed us the huge hall where everyone who had been affected by my mother’s spell had stayed, and I could see the sadness in her eyes when she talked about it.

“There are people who believe my mother was born with magic. Do you agree? I mean, from what I’ve been able to find out, you are either born with it or not. It is not something you can develop over time.” I asked as I gaped at the beautifully painted walls of the hall.

“We believe that we are all born with a little magic inside of us. Take the werewolves, for instance. You are born a werewolf, but many years ago a witch did a spell, and she turned a human into a wolf. That means that even though you were born a werewolf, your wolf is magical.” She smiled, and I had to admit it made sense. I agree with their view that we all have a little bit of magic inside of us.

“Is there any way for me to tap into that magic? The same way that witches do?” I was nervous about her answer. If she said no, then that would be it. There would be no reason for me to stay here.

“Of course, there is. Magic flows through all of us the same way everything else does.” She laughed, and I instantly felt relief rush through me! There was hope! I had hope!