The Priestess' Affair [Books 1 &2]

𝐗𝐗𝐗. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝

-HIM-

I couldn't believe what I saw until red spots appeared in my vision. The rusty scent of blood was thick in the air, and so was the fear in people's eyes.

"Who could have done this?" I overheard a villager asking the other. "And how come no one noticed this?"

"I think it's the gipsies," Another villager speculated, feeding the fear already plaguing them. I listened keenly, unable to make something out of this. The mention of gipsies sent a new surge of agitation through the crowd.

"We'd have to leave our houses today," A woman cried, "why did they have to do it?"

"I don't think it's the gipsies," Another villager spoke up. It was an elderly woman, "gipsies wouldn't have a good reason to hurt the Royal Troops. I think it was a..." the old woman trailed off, gulping hard. The fear in her eyes spoke of something more terrifying than gipsies.

What could be more dreadful of gipsies? I wondered.

"Who was it?" The villagers urged the woman to speak up.

"I think it was a priestess!" She cried. Her words were the tremor of the seabed that sent devastating waves. The women wailed in dread while the men began discussing migrating plans in panicky tones.

"A priestess," A voice spoke beside me, reminding me of Vittoria's presence. Her eyes were wide, and her face paler than a ghost. I held her arm, snapping her out of the trace due to the sparks.

She looked at me with apprehension. Something had changed about her in that instant, but I couldn't put a finger on it.

"You will be safe as long as you're with me," I assured her, but my words didn't do anything to her. Instead, more and more blood drained out of her face.

"How are you sure that it was a priestess?" I asked the older woman with the wild guess.

"Look there!" She pointed at a peculiar tree on the other side of the lake. It didn't have any leaves, only bare branches. The tree would have looked dead if it weren't for the blood-red flowers oddly blooming on its naked branches. "The Devil's Oak has bloomed, and they bloom only when a grim reaper or a priestess has been near,"

Her words terrified the villagers even more. I tugged Vittoria away from the lake and those villagers to keep her from hearing more terrible things.

"Are you alright?" I asked to break her prolonged silence. As we left the villagers, she glanced over her shoulder as if looking for someone.

"Yes," she answered coldly.

"You don't look alright," I mentioned, but she didn't say anything. I couldn't hit a nail on it, but how she responded to the circumstances felt bizarre. She seemed terrified and disturbed, but not specifically regarding the incident. There appeared to be something else going on in her mind. "Those villagers were talking bluff. I don't see why a priestess would travel so far to kill some royal troops. Just this idea sounds ridiculous to me. I'm betting it must be some rouge warlords who did this," I stated.

"If it were some warlords, they wouldn't have left their involvement a mystery," She said curtly, looking ahead. The fear and the uncertainty had disappeared from her face. I had to admit, she was right.

"So you're saying it was a priestess?" I asked her.

"I never said that," she corrected herself instantly, giving me a frigid stare. The sudden shift in her demeanour disturbed me, spurring something rudimentary inside me. Then it all came crashing down on me. Well, even though it was more evident than the daylight, an enormous part of me had always overlooked it.