BANYE (Updating)

True Love

By the time Chanshin and Jian reached the witch's house, the night had covered the forest with its cloak. Outside the evening was chilled but inside, the witch's house air was balmy, hazy with dust of gray light.

Chanshin and Jian walked past ornaments after ornaments of severed heads and body parts displayed decoratively around the house, all attached to the thick chords that led to the deepest and darkest part of the dwelling.

The witch sat on her creaking shabby chair and inclined her head sideways to the young woman following behind the two men hidden in heavy cloak.

Her attention focused on the girl and intentionally ignored the two men. She dug her crinkled fingers into the grain of her old wooden chair. "What a pleasant surprise. I can sense the scent of the devil in you."

Jian barred his hand before his wife distracting the witch's focus and bringing it to him.

The witch looked up as if seeing him for the first time. She gave him a look of disinterest aware of the fact the elegant man standing in front of her is a prince. But she had not cared. She does not care for his status or money. Royalty is not what intrigued her. It's the magic and power spilling from the cloaked young woman.

"You must be the curse prince." The witch groaned with a mild tilt of her head followed by a slow curl of her cracked narrow lips. "I know about you, such cruel fate you were born with. I can see everything," her eyes clouded and looked up as if pulling strings of information from space. "Your past, your future, your pain, anger, everything you lost and everything you will lose."

Just ignore the creepy woman Jian warned inside his head. Witches likes to warn people of their fate and he had heard enough from all the witches he visited to know fate is not permanent.

He just need to get He Lian cured and he can go on his way.

"I need your help. I can pay however much you want."

The witch laughed insulted. She leaned across the space filling the room with scent of dirt and wet wood. "Your money mean nothing." Her mouth drew slowly. "There's nothing that can help your little princess now. This woman does not belong here in the surface. She does not belong to you. You can hang on to her all you want but before long, that leash the demon has on her is going to tug and he is going to pull. She will answer only to him. Can't you see? You may as well get rid of her."

Anger flashed in Jian's eyes, heat scaped from his reddened nape and it took all that he has not to reach for his sheathed sword and drew it out to cut the woman's throat. Long ago, Jian would have been patient, he would have tolerated others' insulent towards him but lately, he had learned to be unforgiving and the young prince who used to let things go isn't so forgiving at all anymore. "Watch your tongue woman. I am your prince and I will not be spoken to this way. I will not hesitate to leave your abode with your head severed."

The woman hissed. "Oh, I have faced many men like you. All of them alike, quick to anger, quick to draw their swords." Her mouth twisted into a slow cruel smile. "If any of them would have been strong enough to kill me, I would have been dead long ago. I don't think you're in any shape to threaten my life, your highness."

Jian felt a tug on his shoulder urging him to calm down. Chanshin hard voice followed. "There's no use getting angry. She's obviously not going to help us. It's a waste of time to come here. We should look for other alternatives for cure instead of consulting crazy shamans and witches."

Jian controlled the rush of his blood. Chanshin is right and frankly, he's getting tired of if. There's no reason to let the witch's words get to him. He sucked a deep breath and clasped his fingers upon He Lian's cold arm. "I'm sorry, He Lian. It doesn't seem like she can help us. We've come to the wrong place."

He Lian gazed at Jian. Dark abysmal eyes focused on him. Jian clenched his stomach tight and held the bile of acid climbing up. He hated the way her eyes swirled and moved like a bottomless black hole.

"I don't want you to go through this anymore. You're exhausted and lord Chanshin is exhausted. We've been traveling for days."

"I know you don't want to go through this, but I want to have you cured. I want you to become human again, He Lian. I can't let Banye take you, you are everything to me, I can't let you take everything away."

"The prince is right, He Lian. You are expensive and he loves you." Added Chanshin.

"I see it now." The old leathery witch interrupted as though she's seeing something for the first time. "Perhaps, not everything is useless and your trip here may not be a waste of time. I see something. You may still have a chance to have the princess back."

"What are you saying woman?" Prince Jian demanded gracing her with his attention one more time. 

"I see you have a curse,  and I can see she is the chosen mate." Her wrinkled face grimaced at the thought. "Once you turn, you'll chose a mate." She glanced are He Lian again, dull grey orbs pointed at her. "You don't even have to look far, your mate has been already by your side all this time. Trust the bond, the bond is strong enough to break through any demon spell."