A Sorceress From the Future

Chapter Twenty Five

She had saved his life.

The half-human half-beast had been charging towards Luke at full speed and instead of moving away, he had remained frozen. Luke was still the same man who was supposed to rescue his brother from the hands of mages. He was still the man who was meant to be king when his father handed him the throne in his old age. What kind of a leader freezes in battle? Luke watched mesmerized as the witch expertly detached the magical creature’s grotesque head. Its fate had been sealed the moment she drove the vessel draped sword in its heart but the beast had been quite strong. It had fought its doom vivaciously. Maybe Luke could learn something from his enemy.

“Well that was something…”

Luke spun around slowly, Lawrence was standing behind him, watching the scene before them intently. Had he been there all along? Frankly, Luke had forgotten all about Lawrence. He had assumed that the coward had dashed back to Chi. Somehow, he had actually stayed in the face of danger and on top of this, he was still alive.

“I know you are wondering how I am still alive yet your little trained soldiers-“

“Stop just stop Lawrence. Some of these men were the bravest lot I have ever come across…”

They both went silent when their thoughts trailed to Tony. The guard would have made a brilliant assassin. He had not quivered in the face of danger, he had risked his life for the sake of the mission. Most of all, when Luke had needed someone to shadow him and watch his back, the young lad had not hesitated. Tony was a humongous loss to Chi and to this rescue mission. Luke would see to it that his family be taken care of in his absence.

“What are we going to do about her?”

Luke’s eyes flitted towards the girl. She was currently stripping her blood drenched apparel. Luke immediately looked away, he had not seen a woman in the nude for a long time.

“That is one fine looking witch…By gods she is gorgeous! It is as if the gods had particularly taken their time sculpting her body-“

“Quiet you barbaric! Look away! What sort of manners have been imparted in you by your parents? You do not ogle at a beautiful lady-“

Luke cut himself off, he could feel the girl’s presence behind him.

“Do go on Prince…Here I was thinking I was the ugliest creature to roam the world, you know, with me being a witch and all that…”

“Don’t flatter yourself…I still find your kind repulsive…”

“Is that so? Gaze upon me and verify your words…”

Once again, Luke froze. Lawrence found himself rather enjoying the exchange. Luke had not been involved with a woman, ever. He had always directed all his focus to the wellbeing of his family and the kingdom. When he was not absorbed with playing knight and shining armor, he would vanish from the palace with his group of assassins. According to Barry, Luke would disappear to go train. The servants always made a point of discussing how haggard and mauled he appeared each time he reemerged. At one time a rumor emerged that Luke would force his assassins to inflict as much pain on him as they could. This was a way of building his tolerance to agony. It was bizarre and honestly very unnerving.

“I do not answer to you…Now, I implore you, do cover yourself…”

Roselidah could not contain her smile. This was perhaps the first time in her lifetime that someone from the other gender had refused no, the Prince had refuted to look at her in the nude. This fact was intriguing and for some reason, Roselidah was hellbent on making him as uncomfortable as she possibly could.

“If memory serves me correctly, I do not take any orders from you either and now that I have your sword in my possession and with the others conveniently missing…I can do whatever I please…”

The swords.

Luke whirled around and shoved Roselidah out of his way. He then made a beeline for the area where Tony had been standing with the swords. The girl was right, the swords were missing. How? Where had they gone to? More importantly, how was he going to salvage his brother’s life without the only thing he could use against his brother’s captives?

“Ummh Luke?”

“Not now Lawrence…”

“I think you want to see this…”

“For the last time I am not interested in seeing the witch naked!”

Luke heard the clanking of metals. His heart plummeted to his stomach.

“Now will you look at me Prince?”

Luke turned around to find the witch covered in Lawrence’s flannel. It stopped above her knees and exposed her curves. It took all of Luke’s willpower not to avert his gaze. His eyes trailed to the swords in her possession. Somewhere during the whole chaos, the witch had managed to gather the swords and make some sort of sheath for them. Had he really let his enemy take his weaponry?

“I suppose you are looking to strike a bargain with those?”

The witch was smiling ominously. Her dark hair was wet with the beast’s blood and her face was smeared with dried blood. For some eerie reason, Luke found her appearance quite attractive.

“You suppose correctly…I want you to swear your allegiance to me…”

“You might as well kill us…”

“Woah woah woah…I do not recall agreeing to this insanity…Unlike the prince here I have no problem with loyalty…”

“Clearly you do coward, I mean you have just betrayed your prince…”

Luke couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his throat.

“Listen, I am well aware that you have these assumptions about our kind and perhaps they hold water but you have killed my three escorts rendering me helpless in my mission. Help me find what I am looking for and I will not only offer you safe passage past the magical realm but I will also bargain for your brother’s freedom…”

“And if we do not agree?”

Roselidah smiled cheekily. She found the prince quite amusing.

“Simple, I will kill you and leave you to the beasts of these woods. Your brother will die in our lands and a war will evoke. Human race and magical creatures alike will be annihilated…Your choice my prince…”