Bewitched

3 The Great promise

“Niobe!” Yelled a voice across the hall, dragging the young witch from the land of her own thoughts.

Pealor walked towards her swiftly, his heavy boots clinking on the tile floor.

“What is it?” she asked, turning to look at him.

“We are ready for the ritual.” He trailed off, scanning her. She was a gentle flower in his eyes and it was against his beliefs to let her be the first one in the battle. Even if the battle was just talking to a certain young king.

“Do you want me to go for him?”

“No, thank you, but you know that’s my job.” She said defiantly. Truth to be told, she wasn’t sure what to think about Castor.

She tried to see through him with her magic but couldn’t. Maybe she should try again.

He brought out strong emotions in her, but she didn’t understand what they were and she wanted to find out before he would leave.

Without saying anything else, she turned to walk away, heading in the direction of Castor’s rooms.

It was early morning and the sun was shining through the windows while a light breeze played with her hair.

The Council resided in the Southern part of the land in the city of Torcay. The weather was quite pleasant and the borders were far, making it a great place for the Capitol.

Most of the witches were working all night to prepare the herbs and chamber for the ritual. It was crucial for their borders and nobody wanted a dark witch in their home for longer than necessary.

Niobe knocked on the door a few times and slowly opened them when nothing was heard.

She looked around the still dark room. The curtains were still closed and when she looked to the bed, there was Castor.

Sitting against the headboard, he was looking right at her, as if he was waiting for her.

It took her a moment to realize she was just staring at him, not saying anything.

“Ehm, I’m sorry to barge in, but we are ready for the Great promise.” Her voice sounded a little weak due to her surprise.

Castor just tilted his head to the side, still staring at her.

“Do you want me to wait outside while you get ready?” she asked, now feeling a little uncomfortable.

“Why the rush?” he asked and pushed his back off the headboard, standing up from the bed.

She looked away because the man was wearing just his pants and she didn’t want to be rude.

He walked to her and stopped in front of her, boring his violet eyes into hers.

“I’m sure we can have breakfast first.” He said and looked at the small table in the corner, which had a plate with some food on it.

Niobe finally looked into his eyes, trying hard to see past them, but couldn’t.

“Do you want to ask me something?” he suddenly asked, raising a brow at her.

She was taken aback a little, but shook her head swiftly and nodded right after.

“I do have a few questions.” She admitted and he walked to the table, taking the plate and sat down on the bed, putting the plate in front of him.

She realized he was waiting for her to join him when he hadn’t moved for a while and she slowly walked to the bed, sitting down as well.

His whole attitude changed drastically, now that they were both sitting on the bed.

He took a piece of bread from the plate and ate it. He was acting very casual and Niobe was just looking at him, still trying to figure him out.

“So, go on and ask me.” He encouraged her and continued to eat his breakfast.

“What are your plans for your kingdom?” she asked straight from the start. She wouldn’t beat around the bush.

“I want to rule justly and sustain peace.” He replied immediately in a very casual way as if he was talking about the weather and not a whole kingdom.

She stared at him, but he did look sincere.

“What would your father think about that?” she tried to anger him a bit. Or at least get some emotion from him. It was easier to read people while they were upset, at least a little bit.

He did stop eating and looked at her, thinking about his answer for a moment.

“My father was a cruel man. He wanted everything he could have and he wanted the things he couldn’t have twice as badly. But,…” he trailed off and looked her deep in the eyes.

“...I am not my father.”

She believed every word he said but didn’t understand why. There was something about his eyes that drew her in and before she realized what she was doing she was leaning towards him.

Bit by bit, it was as if she was hypnotized. His eyes switched from hers to her lips and Niobe closed her eyes, just before their lips joined in a soft kiss.

Castor laid her down on her back, leaning over her. He was so caring and gentle.

She kept her eyes closed and when he broke the kiss and she opened them, she was met with his deep violet eyes.

They were swirling with lust and she got lost in them for the longest time.

He made her feel like she never felt before, hot and cold at the same time, light and heavy and most of all so alive.

*****

“What took you so long?” Pealor asked Niobe as they all gathered in the spell room to make Castor pledge the Great promise.

She snapped out of her sinful thoughts about the king that was now taking his place in the middle of the circle of witches.

“He wanted to have breakfast first.” She mumbled, blushing. She was lying through her teeth because his breakfast wasn’t what made them late.

Pealor gave her a weird look but didn’t ask any further because the ritual was about to start.

Castor was standing in the middle of a huge circle. About twenty witches stood around in capes and a white circle was drawn on the ground, weird symbols all around it.

One of the witches had a bowl in her hand and stepped towards Castor. It was the other woman from the council.

It was her task to do this. She stopped in front of the king and put the bowl in his hands. He sipped whatever was in the bowl while she took out a dagger and a stripe of simple white cloth.

Castor passed the bowl to one of the others, who put it away and forwarded his hand towards the dagger.

His palm was cut and the cloth was put in his hand.

The witches around the circle joined hands and mumbled something while the white cloth was turning a deep red colour.

“I, King Castor am ready to pledge the Great promise. I promise to never give any orders to dishonour our alliance, to never attack your land or harm the light witches. That I swear on my own life.”

There was a deep silence after he finished, everyone waiting.

The cloth in his hand started to get darker and darker and when it was completely black, it slowly turned to black smoke.

“Thank you, king Castor, we appreciate you doing this.” The council member said and Castor nodded.

“I suppose it’s time for you to head back to your own land,” Pealor added, narrowing his eyes.

Castor looked at Niobe next to Pealor and his eyes softened a bit. “I suppose it is.”