Axlan and Cynthia returned to the Croia Hills around afternoon. Both of them were in sour mood. They didn't get to meet Damon or Thea. And now those four giants won't leave them in peace.
“I'm sorry, I troubled you for no reason,” Axlan apologized as they walked hand in hand.
“You don't have to apologize. You tried your best to help me,” She smiled.
“But, please, don't worry about your sister's well-being. Damon will never hurt her,” He assured her.
“You are still defending him. Why didn't he appear to meet you then?”
“He must have his reasons. Maybe it has something to do with Aurore's curse.”
“Hmm, maybe I'm refusing to look at the big picture. I want her back because she is my only family. But her existence is not all about being my sister. She is a cursed angel. She can't just keep rebirthing as human. Her curse has to be broken. I hope Thea understands that too,” Cynthia said thoughtfully.
“You are quite mature for your age,” Axlan complimented her, making her blush.
“Your brothers will be angry with you,” She spoke with concern.
“They can't do much about it. I found a way to nullify the curse's effect,” Axlan smiled, looking up at the sky.
They entered the Dark Castle and Axlan let go of Cynthia's hand. The feeling of her hand lingered against his hand.
“Thank you, Master Axlan,” Cynthia smiled.
“Call me just Axlan,” Saying so he headed inside. The smile refused to fade away from his soft features.
Cynthia too kept smiling for long moments before reality hit her. She was late for work.
“Cara will definitely fire me today!” And she ran inside the Castle.
✿ ✿ ✿
Cynthia reached the hall where all the maids gathered. The atmosphere felt different, in a bad way. She was receiving looks of disgust from the other maids.
Cara was standing in the centre and she looked quite angry.
“Oh, look, who graced us with her presence,” Cara taunted her.
“I'm sorry, I got late for work,” Cynthia apologized with her head downcast.
“Oh, yeah, you must be busy seducing Master Axlan.”
Cynthia looked up at Cara and the others. So they think she is having affair with Axlan.
“I wasn't seducing him. He was helping me in finding Thea. You all know she went missing,” Cynthia tried to explain.
“We saw you entering the Castle while holding hands with him. Don't mislead us. But tell me, how did you manage to get his attention, huh? Are you a witch or something?” Cara was doing Cynthia's character assassination quite confidently. Of course, she was good at spewing nonsense.
“Yes, she must be a witch,” said a girl.
“She must have put a spell on him,” said another girl.
“She can't work in this castle anymore,” said another maid.
Cynthia's eyes welled up seeing how it took them no time in declaring her a witch. Why these illiterate women were so reactionary? The five brothers would have known if there was a witch lingering around them. But these maids were too stupid to think of it that way.
Cara took a step towards her, so did the others. Cynthia got scared. It looked like they were about to physically assault her.
“Why are you all behaving irrationally?” She yelled at them but they kept stepping closer and about to launch at her. Cynthia got scared and hid her face behind her arms. However, suddenly a wave of light emerged from her body and hit Cara and the other maids. All of them went flying in the air and fell down on the floor harshly. They winced in pain. Cynthia gasped. She had no idea how she ended up doing this.
“Did I become magical after visiting Noir Valley?” She mumbled to herself.
“What happened? Why are we here? And why my body is aching so bad? As if someone threw me like a sack of potato,” Cara winced, so did the others.
Cynthia frowned. They did not remember that they were about to hit her.
“What is happening?” She mumbled in confusion.
The very moment, Zyaire emerged from the entrance of the hall, looking ravishing and regal as always.
“A mischievous witch came to meet me. She did this to all of you. I deeply apologize for the inconvenience. I will pay for your medicine and you all will also receive a raise as an apology from my side,” He lied to them convincingly.
The maids began thanking him and then left the hall to get treated by the physician.
Only Cynthia and Zyaire stayed back. They stared at each other for few moments before Cynthia spoke, “Did you hit them with your powers?”
Zyaire smiled and shook his head, “You did.”
Her frowned deepened, “How? Why they were behaving like that?”
“Someone put a spell on them,” He replied without revealing much.
“And how can I have magical powers? I'm just a seventeen-year-old girl,” She shrugged.
“Cynthia, Thea was also a normal human who turned out to be Aurore's human incarnation. You are already tangled in the magical realm. Embrace it wholeheartedly now that you know about your powrs,” He adviced her.
Cynthia gave it a thought and looked at him, “You don't look surprised. Did you already know I possess magical powers?” She asked him.
Zyaire nodded with a subtle smile on his face.
“Who am I?” She asked with a serious expression.
Zyaire smirked, “I'm not sure. Maybe you are a human incarnation of an angel or fairy,” He suggested.
Cynthia smiled at the thought of being an angel or fairy.
“I don't want to hurt anyone again with my powers. Can you teach me how to use them properly?” She asked expectantly.
Zyaire smiled with a nod.
•••
Thoughts 💭
