Part 4.18

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"A piece...of my heart?"

The Dark Witch's curse is made of anger and hatred. It can only be countered with something equally strong, and of the same nature. It must be something of the heart. But once the piece is gone, it cannot come back. It will become one with the curse and neutralise it. That piece of your heart will be gone forever.

I sit back, stunned. This is why he didn't want to tell me? He was afraid I'd lose a piece of my heart?

"The Dark Witch's curse...is it made from a piece of her heart?"

Yes. That is how a witch makes a curse. A piece of her heart to make it, a piece of her heart to break it.

"I thought the Dark Witch gave her heart to Rikamu."

She gave most of her heart to Rikamu. A part of it remained, hidden in her soul. That was the anger and hatred passed on from the First Witch. Rikamu could not take that away.

I wonder if Rikamu knows she doesn't have the Dark Witch's full heart. "Well I'll just give up the anger and hatred from my own heart," I say, grinning at my own genius.

But Onyx shakes his head. That would only make the curse stronger. It has to be a piece of your heart, but a different piece.

"The Dark Witch used a piece of her anger to make the curse," I mused, "but she had plenty left to last the rest of the Dark Ages. If I use a piece of my heart to break the curse, I'll probably still have quite a bit of heart left."

And what piece would you give, Lily? Love? Joy? Hope?

"I wouldn't give it all," I argue. The cat's being unreasonable, if you ask me.

Do you remember how Queen Irine was without a heart?

"She gave up her whole heart. She was just empty. The Dark Witch kept all the worst parts. I'm going to do this differently."

I do not want you to lose any piece of your heart, Lily.

My annoyance softens. I scoop him up in my arms and rest my chin in his warm fur. "Don't worry about my heart, Onyx. I'm not Bethany. I'm Lily. I'm the one who's going to break the cycle."

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