The Dark Witch And Her Knights

19

The same curse had been placed upon us by the same foul intended person. Just like me, his free will and choice had been taken from him. More than once the thought of trickery had crossed my mind though.

"If your mind was clear and we had met like any normal man and woman, would you admit to having an interest in me?"

My eyes snapped to his. Could I honestly answer that question?

"Since then my mind has gone down a dark path. I don't know if it can be stopped. Broken is my soul. Shattered is my heart. And my trust... destroyed. It is difficult to decipher what is genuinely me or the curse any longer."

"The past week I have fought against it as well." His hand reached to his collar ripping it down to reveal his chest. He too had been branded by the curse and the spread was becoming visible upon his flesh. It was not there when he had stolen my virtue. Slowly it must have grown over time. "The more I fight it the worse it gets. The only way to end this is to kill whoever has cursed us."

"If we don't kill them what will happen?"

"The urges will get stronger and our will to fight will get weaker. It will continue as such until we turn into the caster's puppets. The only ones stronger than I, are the Beldams. Yet, I cannot see them doing this. They are the protectors of the prophecy. Whoever it was I am not familiar with them and it is unsettling to know someone else out there holds as much power as those ancient crones. Or more." His head shook with disbelief.

"Then what do we do? I have tried to distance myself from you and the curse only gets worse every time." I huffed with annoyance.

"If we do not fight the curse, the poison will not spread. It has to be of free will. It is rooted in our hearts and knows the truth. I only wish to spare our sanity if we cannot end the culprit. This is why I ask, could you admit if you had an interest in me?"

"What will happen if one of us dies?" The thought had jumped into my head startling me.

Arbor looked away. He didn't want to answer. "I could only suspect three things."

"Which are?" I question a bit impatiently

He scratched the back of his neck hesitantly.

"Please tell me. Maybe we can find another way out of this together?" I pleaded.

"If one of us dies it could break the curse and the other would live out their days curse-free. Or they would still have the curse and would eventually die from the pain and separation. Then there is the chance that if one of us dies the other will instantly die as well. The curse has chained our fates together as one, I fear this is the more likely outcome." His hands rubbed over his face looking to relieve his stress.

"We must find the caster before then." I was trying to ease his worry.

"I wish it is that simple. To find the caster of a spell like this, will be impossible. You have a prophecy to fulfill and we can't be too far apart without the curse hindering us."

"This is useless," I screamed. I wanted to cry. Frustration brought my hands up into the air before slamming them to the table. The cups rattled against each other and the room burst with light. The candles around the kitchen had sparked with life causing a chill to run up and down my spine. "This place is haunted with evil," I screeched.

Arbor looked at me like I was a complete fool and a half. "My cabin is not haunted," his words started to trail off and his eyes filled with shock. Like a cat on the run, he made his way from his chair to the closest candelabra. He blew out the flames and placed the candles before me.

"Try to light them," he said with excitement. He took his seat again patiently waiting for me to cast.

"What? I didn't do that. I can't cast a spell to save my life. If I could I wouldn't be sitting here cursed with you."

He gave me a look of disappointment but it wasn't meant for me. "What if that is what she meant though? The day you came here with Gavrial, you healed a friend of mine. A Gypsy from the nearby village. She asked why you remained innocent. What if that was the point of the curse to force the prophecy in motion?"

"I don't want to say you sound crazy but you do. Is the curse reaching your brain so soon?" I cooed.

"No, you don't understand. Witches, strong witches of rare breeds, covens. They cannot cast a single spell until their pairings. When a witch of their caliber is born they are kept in secret until a wizard of worth rises to power. The Beldams confer before agreeing to the match. Then they are paired together with hopes of stronger offspring. The witch is closely watched to ensure her innocence. After, the witch's ability to cast is awoken per se."

"You think I am one of these rare coven witches. That losing my virtue has given me the ability to cast spells now." I shook my head at him. "You have lost your mind. Do you have potions in the cabinets to fix mental illness? Maybe some good old-fashioned liquor and getting you drunk will be suitable,"

"Stop," he says cutting off my rambling. "Prove me wrong."

"I am from no coven. I halfway don't even believe I'm a witch." I scoffed at myself pathetically. "I'm nothing, I'm worthless, useless," I screamed raising my hands in irritation.

The candles before me burst with violent flames melting the wax into puddles on the table. I stared in awe. I didn't do that, did I?

"You are a rare witch indeed and soon, a Queen."

My eyes went to him, "But I," I couldn't finish.

"You did."

"I didn't... I can't."

"You can. A new form of training begins now."

With this news in my hands, I couldn't stop my mind from running rampant with the possibility of finding who had ever cursed me and destroying them limb from limb with my new gifts.

"If you hand me a damned book I will burn it." I looked up from my hands and stared him directly in the eye. I meant every fucking word I would burn every page if he told me to fucking study.

"I think the training you need is more of the physical kind." He gave me a devilish grin and couldn't help but cackle at him.

"Agreed," I said quickly. Somehow I felt like I was agreeing to more than a training partner.