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“Sorry about what?” she said, and I was surprised, yet again, to see an enthused grin on her plush, ruby lips. “I was just a bit startled. It’s beenagessince a witch has been in the capital, you know, since the royal family is a bit iffy politically. To be frank, your power level iswaymore than I ever expected. Caught me off guard, is all.”
She had a strange lilting accent I’d never heard before. Maybe she was from the far west or the south, where islands littered the fringe of the maps.
“Oh…”
What was I supposed to say to that? The enchantress looked entirely too keen on me, and my nerves redoubled. But she was cool as could be when she walked past me to greet Euthalia, kissing her on the top of her blonde head.
“So, how can I help? Your attendant, while wonderfully polite, was fairly scant on the details, which I assumed was under your orders. Pretty intriguing.”
Kai looked to me, putting it into my hands how much we divulged to her, which I appreciated.
“I’m cursed,” I said. “Have been since I was a baby.”
“A curse put on an infant?” she murmured, frowning deeply as she crossed over to a velvet chaise lounge, draping herself across it. “Wow, a real winner there. I assume your parents pissed someone off?”
“I... I don’t know. I don’t know who my parents are. I call it my malignant shadow. It hurts anyone who’s close to me, and the more I like them, the more vicious it is.”
It sounded so simple when I summarized it like that, so I searched for a better way to communicate. “I don’t know the origin, whether it’s blood magic or how to break it. I’m willing tobetit is blood magic and we have to kill the original caster, but we don’t know who it is.”
“Wait, someone laid a whammy on you and has never stepped forward to claim it? That’s unusual. Whenever I’ve heard of anyone being batshit or corrupt enough to lay a lethal curse on an innocent babe, they’ve always had a large ego.”
I appreciated how she took this seriously. I’d honestly expected her to need proof or ask a few more questions, but she was largely taking me at my word. “What we were hoping is you could null some of the effects on Ka—Prince Nikolai, to protect the kingdom. I mean, it would beniceif you have the means to help me break it, but we’re not really expecting that.”
“I have some blessings I can put on His Highness right now, which should help hide him. From what I’m guessing, we’re not going to be able to protect him from this curse, but we can make him harder to find. Think of it as a magical maze, with traps this shadow will have to travel through to find him.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. That wassomethingat least.
“As for your curse itself, I’d like to do a couple of diagnostic spells tonight. Really feel it out and see if it’ll help me makebetter protection or voiding spells. Those I expect to take much longer, which I’m sure you understand as a witch.”
I nodded as I felt some flicker of hope build up inside me.
“Is there anything you need me to do?”
The woman stood to her full height and cracked her knuckles. “Just go ahead and have a seat. Let’s get to blessing, shall we?”
That was how I spent several hours in the enchantress’s house while she had Kai stood within a crystal circle, applying various blessings to him. I couldn’t sense anything changing, but since we had two different schools of magic, I really didn’t have much experience with blessings.
Once Kai was done, it was my turn to stand within the symbols burned onto her floor. It felt like any other spot until she activated the crystals one by one, muttering words I didn’t understand. From there, it felt like my skin prickled, hands made of cool water caressing my aura.
It was hard not to raise my defenses. Her magic wasnothinglike the diagnostic spells we used at the fort, and this was the only non-lethal enchantment I’d ever really had used on me outside of the coven. But I managed and watched the enchantress as she studiously examined me.
Well, my magic. I could feel her poking at it, sizing it up. Occasionally she’d flick her hand with authority, but it took me a few times to realize there was a book on the floor, with a quill that moved itself by following her fingers.
I wished I could learn more from her. After things cooled down, I could reach out to her and learn about her magic.
I couldn’t say how long I stood there, but it had to have been at least an hour, with the enchantress occasionally pouring potions over her crystals, or even flicking liquid at me with her vermillion nails. At least they all smelled nice.
By the time she was done, my back was stiff, and I was looking forward to sitting in the car. Yvonne seemed just as tired, flopping back on her fancy couch and taking the tea her girlfriend offered. Where Euthalia even came from, I had no idea. She’d just appeared with a steaming teapot.
“Would either of you like some?” she asked, broad smile on her face, once again. “It’s rose-hip and black tea with the tiniest hint of cardamom in it. It’s supposed to help invigorate after magical drainage.”
“Definitely,” I said. The coven was pretty adapt in herbology, but most of my knowledge was geared toward medicinal magic rather than edible, other than willow bark tea, of course.
“I’m good for the moment,” Kai said politely. “Yvonne, were you able to figure anything out in regard to my m—Healer Everton?”
She sighed. “That, Your Highness, will take much longer. I need to do some research, gather some ingredients, and really dismantle everything my diagnostic spells recorded. But I will tell you, I can already feel this curse burning through my protective wards. I’ve bought you time, and you’re still within the magical maze I managed to place you in, but I’ll need to see you again to place something more permanent on you, once I know this curse a little more.”
Wow. Good news, I could hardly believe it. After so many roadblocks and impossible impediments, it seemed like we were making progress.
