His Singularity

Chapter 28

Betrayal.

Many people have hurt me over the years, but nothing hurts quite like betrayal. It is one thing for random people to hurt you, but when it is someone you trust, well that just hits different.

It hits you right in your soul.

"Start from the beginning." Isla instructs.

"I left my coven at fifteen when they wanted to bond me to a man I did not love. Without a coven, I was on my own, defenseless. That's when I met Jack. He took me in, offered me a home, a community of other witches whose covens abandoned them. He even taught me everything I knew about magic. There were very few of us at first, but we grew in numbers and became an unofficial coven." I scoff rather loudly at that.

"How did you know the dark sorceress?" The vampire queen asks impatiently. It's funny how they won't even say my name.

"I was hunting when I saw them. Her and her brother were staying in a shabby tent wearing rags. They were both skin and bones and the boy was jittery, scared out of his mind of new people. He showed clear signs of abuse." Angry whispers and glares are directed at me.

Fuck you all! I want to scream at them. How could they think I would hurt my own brother?

"I convinced them to come with us. They were both reluctant, but I couldn't let them go. They were too young to be out on their own. Even when they joined our coven, the two were never really a part of us. They isolated themselves and barely interacted with anyone except me."
Because you were the only one I trusted.

"After about a year, she started opening up to me. She told me about the attack on her parents. It was very easy to tell it was the Rothang pack. They were notorious among us wild ones. I told her and she disappeared for two days, then word spread that the wolves had all been slaughtered.

We couldn't believe it at first. I mean, she was only seventeen and she never sacrificed. It didn't make any sense. But we knew."

"What do you mean she never sacrificed?" The merfolk guardian asks.

"Jack taught us that sacrificial magic was the original magic of our people. The source of true power and the only magic worth learning." Isla's eyes narrow suspiciously. Of course it was a load of shit, but they didn't know that. They all whole-heartedly all the crap he fed them was cookies and dough ice-cream.

"Why didn't she sacrifice then?" The lycan king asks.
"She said it was not her magic. Her parents had already taught her everything she needed to know about magic and sacrificial magic did not call to her. I did not understand it at the time. Jack told us she lacked the resolve for true sacrifice."

"Continue." The sorceress supreme insists.

"After that, Jack took an interest in her. He started asking me about her and then talking to her himself, but she never trusted him. Not like she trusted me." The tears that prick my eyes are unwanted. She does not deserve any of my tears. I was young and naive to trust her. I have learnt from that mistake. Never again.

"It didn't take long for us to realise that she was different. But Jack wanted to see her magic in action so he led her to the Shaned flock. The flock was the go between from the wolves who kidnapped them, to the lions who sold them.
That was the first time I witnessed her magic for myself. She was so strong, so powerful.
Then, when Jack wanted her to kill the children, she refused. No one said "no" to Jack. I was terrified he would retaliate, but he didn't. We let them go then went back home. She started separating a bit more from us after that, but everyone else... we all saw her for what she truly was-a star." Duplicitous hag.

"What happened to the children?" Bidi asks. This is why he is my favourite; he isn't just looking for crimes to pin on me, he is invested in caring for the community.