Chapter 9

The next day, she stood inside the spacious room that was the King's office, the solarium incident still fresh in her mind.

The prince went about his usual activities which, was; bending over his ledger and paying her no attention.

When she spoke he still continued to ignore her.

"The first reason I have, your highness, is; witches are a very caring specie, our coven is otherwise known as a caring facility. Exiled witches also include children, we take care of the witchlings till they're of age to fend for themselves."

The prince still hadn't looked at her. She cleared her throat loudly.

"You don't have to dehisce your throat to get my attention." The prince said, lifting his eyes to hers.

Dea's face burned, she continued amidst her mortification. "By sending a warlock to our coven we would be able to take care of so many children." Dea cleared her throat once more, "the second reason. Not only do we take care of the witchlings we also teach them--"

"Teach them, about what? How to snoop around places they're not supposed to be in? How to lie?"

Dea sputtered, not knowing if he was serious or not, "i-i most definitely did not lie--"

"That's right," the prince nodded, "but you didn't tell the truth either. So, what were you doing in the solarium?"

"I. . .my maid said to explore the castle..." She finished lamely.

The prince laughed loud, the sound enthralling. "Explore the castle in the night? I'll have to see that maid of yours then."

"No! I mean. . .she said to do it in the day but I decided..." She trailed off, her cheeks burning.

The prince nodded in fake assent. "I understand. You felt the urge to... Steal--"

"What! N--"

"--and possibly murder someone in their sleep."

Dea's mouth gaped open.

"I don't... Kill."

"You don't kill," the prince said, reclining on his chair, "then what do you do? Teach those witchy children how to infringe?"

Dea took a deep breath in, "if you must know, your highness, we teach children the basis of magic, which involves; potioning and spell formation."

The prince intertwined his fingers in front of him, looking directly into her eyes. "You still haven't told me what you were doing in the solarium so late at night." He stated.

Dea's mouth opened, and closed; repeatedly. "I. . . .explored.."

The prince raised an eyebrow, the side of his mouth twitching.

"Come here." He ordered, his eyes turning serious.

Dea's heart skipped a beat as she took slow steps towards the monumental desk.

Standing in front of it reminded her so much of her days back at the coven, standing before Allegra's desk.

The prince motioned with his index finger for her to come closer, then when she did he pointed at the spot beside him.

She stood beside his high backed chair.

Then took a reflexive step back as he rose to his full height. Her wide eyes followed him as he prowled slowly around her, her eyes left him only when he paced behind her.

"Why," he finally said after a long pause, "do you always wear a bonnet?"

The world came to a halt, Dea's heart stopped beating; the air hung heavily with still silence.

Perhaps the prince noticed her sudden stillness for he stopped as well and drew closer to her back.

"What are you hiding?" His low voice sounded directly beside her ear, the scent of pines tickled her nostrils as her heartbeat skittered to an alarming pace.

She could not afford to show her hair, merely because it was unusual. And a part of her, a part she didn't want to delve into, was scared of what his reaction to it would be

"You see. . ." her voice sounded frightened to her ears, "I. .normally do have a head cold, I know it has nothing to do with my wearing a bonnet but, it gets so alarmingly serious at the smallest hint of a cold. Which is why-er because when I was a baby... I-I--"

Swoop!

Her bonnet was snatched out of her head, the loose knot she tied with the ribbons giving way and going along with it.

Her hair fell out in two loose braids. Two catastrophically ruinous colourful braids.

There was a long pause.

She was afraid a heart attack was near inevitable, although who it was destined for was undecided.

"Why?" A single question. The prince's voice sounded deep, too deep.

She felt sadness plow a hole in her chest, he was disgusted with her hair after all.

"Well, they weren't always like that, I always had black hair; if you must know. I'm sorry it disgusts you." She said tightly.

She felt a pull on her hair and turned sideways to see the prince rolling a braid around his fingers.

"I meant, why, do you hide such beautiful hair?" The prince asked distractedly.

In shock, she turned so sharply that she was in danger of falling face first in his office again. "What?" She gasped.

"I asked," he said a tad impatiently, "why you conceal such beautiful hair." He said, bringing her hair to his nose, "it smells like the sun." He murmured, more to himself than her.

She felt hope stirring in her chest as a stupid smile stretched across her face.

And then she remembered breakfast.

She moved away from the prince, loosening her hair from his grasp in the process; she picked up her bonnet from the floor and fixed it on her head as she moved towards the doors.

Facing him, she tied her ribbons underneath her chin. When she was done she released a gust of air, "if I may, your highness?" She asked.

The prince stared at her for a long time before nodding.

She curtsied and left the room.

* * * * *

The smile was still on her lips when she sat in the noisy dinning hall.

The lopsided smile was like a permanent stamp on her face as she sat beside Ochen in the classroom.

A flick on her head had her turning to Ochen in surprise, Ochen's fiercely serious eyes surveyed her face critically. Lines of worry formed on her forehead as she eyed Dea. "Are you alright?"

Dea furrowed her eyebrows at Ochen, the smile still threatening at her lips, "why wouldn't I be?"

If possible Ochen looked even more serious. "The fact that you answered my question with one of yours and your smiling like you took a clout to the head is what. And everyone's staring at the crystal on their desks."

Crystal?

Dea looked at her desk and was surprised to find a crystal joined atop a small dais. Her fingers automatically went to the blue ball that was the crystal, a wave of energy reverted up her arm and she withdrew her hand hastily.

Ochen's excited eyes drew closer to the ball. "You see this?" She asked pointing at the interior of the ball. Dea brought her face beside Ochen's. "They're just like little lightnings." Ochen's voice was awed.

Dea squinted her eyes at the ball and widened them as she saw flashes of pallid lightnings zipping across various areas in the ball.

"Wow..." She whispered, her voice equally awed. "You're right, they're jus--"

Her sentence halted midway as the class doors were pushed open so forcefully they clanged against the walls. A tall ice warlock walked in, his white hair was pulled severely and fastened with a strip of clothe.

His bare face was austere and impregnable.

Wide eyes followed him as he strode towards the class front.

His cold eyes swept through the witches, leaving them with the feeling of coldness seeping into their bones.

"I'm Albert, your scrying teacher." His voice was cold as he spoke. "Before you are your scrying crystals. The aim of today's class is to unlock an important message in your life."

His eyes surveyed the classroom once more. "You will all close your eyes now." When the witches had closed their eyes, his voice carried on with a gentle lull. "Put your palms on either side of the ball...Feel the energy going through you. . .connect with it. Now, envision."

Dea's world shook, then tumbled into a dark hole.

She felt the downing movement as if she was really going down a hole; like she was at a place other than the classroom.

Her world stilled, the air shifted around her as she fluttered her eyelids open. The room, or wherever place she was in, was blanketed in velvet darkness. It was so dark that it clogged her other senses, she couldn't feel the width of the room, couldn't hear a sound; couldn't even smell a thing.

But yet, she could see. Her eyes inhumanly adjusted to the thick darkness.

Her heart missed a beat, cold chills raced to the base of her spine as she saw shadows flickering on the wall before her, their outlines were growing bolder by the second that they almost looked like corporal forms leaning against the wall.

Her heart pounded anew as tiny whispers sounded from all around her, their tiny pitches like cobwebs over her skin.

The whispers stopped, the shadows vanished.

Her breath hitched in fright as the darkness clogged her senses once more, making her unable to see anything or even breathe properly.

Her stomach was a riot of hot flushes, nausea churned in her gut as a whoosh of breath was released against her face.

A guttural whisper percolated the darkness clogging her ears, it was the kind of whisper that accompanied a putrid or acerbic smell.

Nadea...

The oily whisper slithered against her skin.

She felt claws at the side of her face and stiffened all over, but not so stiff as to halt the frantic pounding of her heart, or the quickening of her breath.

Nadea... Finally.