59. Evil Spirits.
Narrator’s POV.
“You see, the spell that was casted on the alpha king is very dangerous if not careful. It is a very dark spell”, the witch head said as she walked them down the spacious halls of the castle,
“Then why did your sister cast it?”, Fredrick asked her,
“My sister likes to explore and let us just leave it as she is very complicated and troublesome”, the woman did not feel very comfortable telling such strangers things about her family, besides, they were here for their king, not her family history. The woman opened a large door and walked inside, “Remove your shoes, this place is very sacred”, they looked at her skeptically but removed their shoes anyways.
Walking through the doors seemed like they had entered a highly spiritual realm, “What is this place?”, Sarah voiced out in awe, she felt like a feather and so did Fredrick,
“This, my dear is the sanctuary of the witch head. No one other than my guests are allowed to come here; you will feel light weighted since you are not a witch”, she explained to them, “In this sanctuary, almost all problems can be solved, you just need to remain extra silent while I meditate”.
She formed a circle on the floor with salt and sat in the middle with her feet tucked under her thighs, “What is the salt for?”, Sarah asked again, why were witches so weird?
“The salt is to keep the evil spirits in the circle. That way they would not leave or try to attack you; now, will you please let me concentrate?”, the witch head was tired of answering their questions, same as the man that had brought them to the castle.
She closed her eyes and muttered a few words that Sarah and Fredrick could not dream of understanding. This went on for about ten minutes until they felt a rush of the wind, which was confusing since there were no windows in the sanctuary.
The wind stopped and the witch head opened her golden eyes quickly and stood up, she began to yell out words that were probably not in the English dictionary, or any other dictionary to be precise.
In a matter of seconds, everything went back to normal and the salt scattered round the room, the witch head went over to them and said, “I know what you need”,
“We need something?”, Fredrick whined, he was hoping she would just say a few words and the alpha king would be fine once again,
“Yes, we do. A potion started this and a potion will end it”, she shrugged,
“I do not like the sound of that”, Sarah said nervously, she disliked the idea of drugging the alpha king again, even though it was to save him.
“What choice do we have, Sarah?”, Fredrick held her hand in s comforting manner and rubbed his finger over her knuckles,
“What if something goes wrong?”, worry was prominent in her eyes, face and tone, she really did not want this to be for nothing,
“That is exactly why we must handle this with care and precision”, the witch head chimed in.
“What do we need?”, Fredrick asked,
“The blood of a loved one, the blood of a direct relative and the blood of a loyal servant. Bring these three and I will do the rest”, the woman told them, making them panic,
“The alpha king has no living relatives”, Fredrick said at the same time Sarah said,
“We have not seen Daphne in weeks”.
“Well, that is what we need”, the witch head shrugged,
“Is there a way that you could tell us where the luna queen is?”, Sarah asked,
She rolled her eyes, “I am a witch, not a soothsayer or stalker. You are on your own from now, get me the materials and the alpha king will be cured of the spell”.
“Is there a place where we can find a soothsayer?”, Fredrick asked inquisitively, he knew he had to find Daphne with or without one, but it would be easier to know where she was ahead of time.
“No, the last soothsayer died before I was even born”, she said, “You guys ask too many questions”, she pointed out with a from,
“So we have been told”, they both laughed when Fredrick said this, it was something they had in common; the ability to asks questions for the entire world and not get tired.
They were about to leave the room when the witch head spoke only to Fredrick, “I am surprised you have not chosen her yet”, she made sure that Sarah had already left before she said this,
“She might not be comfortable with it”, he said gruffly,
“Since when did you werewolf men care about that? It is not like she has a choice in the matter”, the witch head shrugged, as misogynistic as what she had said sounded, it was absolutely true; women had no say, that meant that Sarah had no say.
He shifted uncomfortably, “I want her to have a choice”, he finally said. The woman nodded her head in admiration,
“It is kind of you to think about how she feels, Fredrick”, the woman smiled, Fredrick smiled back until he realized something,
“I never told you my name. How do you know it?”, he looked at her quizzically as she laughed at him,
“I know everything”, she grinned once she was done laughing.
“I am guessing you know where Daphne is too”, he rubbed his temples once he figured out, they had been played with, of course she knew where Daphne was! She was the witch head!
“Yes, I do but I am afraid I cannot tell you. It is your quest and mission to find her on your own, I am just a corner stone”, she stated,
“I understand”, he bowed, “I should be getting back to Sarah, we have a long journey ahead of us”,
“Stay the night here, I will ask Aria to prepare a chamber for you and Sarah to rest in for the night”, the woman suggested. As rude as it was to not decline that sort of offer after all she had done for them, he had to take it.
“That would be very appreciated, thank you”, he bowed once again. He had missed sleeping in an actual bed or even sleeping at all, he never slept completely when they were out at night just in case they were under attack. He had promised himself that nothing would ever happen to Sarah under his watch and he was ready to keep it.
They finally went to the hallway and met up with a confused looking Sarah, “Where were you? I thought you were right behind me”, she went over to Fredrick, “Are you alright?”, she asked him in concern,
“I am fine, thank you Sarah”, he smiled weakly, no one had ever shown him so much affection, even in the slightest bit; not his mother and definitely not his father, not even he last girl he had began a useless relationship with.
Sarah looked between the two of them and took a step back, noticing they had arrived together. Did they just? ‘It is none of your business Sarah, do not let them see you cry’, she chanted to herself. How could she even think that Fredrick would choose her when there were so many other beautiful ladies in the world, like the witch head for example; she was breathtakingly beautiful, of course he would like her.
“Your thoughts are quite loud, my dear”, the witch head chuckled, she could not believe all that Sarah was thinking, if it was one thing the girl lacked, it was self-esteem.
“What do you mean by that?”, Fredrick was confused and looked at an embarrassed Sarah who tried her best to hide her pink cheeks,
If the witch head was interested in playing the matchmaker, she would have told him the truth, but she was not one to pry or reveal personal things, “Nothing, it is girl stuff”, she winked at Sarah and moved away from Fredrick. “Aria would show you to your chamber shortly. I am quite tired and must rest, good night. I will be seeing you both tomorrow”,
They both bowed and said, “Good night”. The woman nodded and left without another word.
After a few minutes, Aria trudged down the stairs, “I shall escort you to your chamber”, she grumbled, they simply nodded and followed her back up the stairs. They came to a door and she pushed it open, “This is it”,
“You an take this one, where is my room?”, Sarah offered, not knowing they were meant to share,
“We are staying in the same room, accept now, argue later”, he said and pulled her into the room with him, “Thank you, Aria”,
“Yeah whatever”, he shut the door and locked it pocketing the key.
“One room? Why?”, Sarah did not want to disrespect him by yelling at him like she did in the woods, knowing she said stupid things when she was pissed,
“The witch head only offered one”, he shrugged and slumped onto the bouncy queen-sized bed, “I can sleep on the couch and you can take the bed”, he offered.
On second thought, she actually did not mind them in the same room or on the same bed, that was a huge bonus for taking this trip with him, “No, it is fine”, she sighed, “We can sleep on the bed together”,
“Are you offering to take me to bed?”, he smirked jokingly, her cheeks flamed red as she thought of how many things they could actually do on that bed, so many ways in which they could disrespect the witch head’s home and possibly Christian the bed and sheets.
“Fine”, she grumbled out, “You can sleep on the couch”,
He let out a loud laugh, “I was joking”, he took off his shoes and shirt and climbed unto the bed, “Come on”, he said to her, “We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow”, he wanted her to get into the bed so desperately but all she wanted to do was whack him with a pillow and yell,
‘You do not joke with that sort of thing!’.