Illusion and Reality

Two options

Everything became still after hearing the new information Astrid gave us. I had no idea how to ask her for information about the matter or rather how to start.

Lily on the other hand did not have any such problem, “What?” she screeched.

Astrid did not look at any one of us, she kept her eyes on her hands in the lap. Talking about her dead coven would be difficult for her and I did not want to rush anything, especially after everything that had happened, she might be our only hope.

“Astrid, are you okay?” I asked her gently.

“Yes, I am fine, Samara. I do not understand what else to tell you, they were all murdered around the same time as the queen.”

She became quiet again after saying those words.

Lily gave me a look.

“What about the witch Valeria told us about?” Lily asked.

“Two covens were brutally murdered but one witch survived the attack.”

“Okay? Then where is she?” Lily asked again.

“No one knows. After everything happened she left the kingdom and started living alone away from everyone,” Astrid tried not to look in our eyes while answering the questions but her words were different, they did not hold the usual confidence.

“The witch lives in the jungle far far away, hidden from everyone’s way but could be seen with the sun’s first ray. That’s what Valeria told us about the whereabouts of that witch, do you think it could help us?” I asked hoping it would help in some way.

Astrid started playing with the bracelet in her hand impatiently, thinking about something. Then suddenly she stood up and walked towards the bookshelf. She frantically started searching for something, turning books here and there, making some of them fall on the floor as a result, but she did not care about them. 

“What are you looking for?” asked Lily. Astrid kept on searching, either she did not hear Lily’s question or decided not to answer her.

When she could not find what she was looking for she ran towards her room without uttering a single word.

Lily and I sat there with no idea about anything. Lily went to the bookshelf and started organizing the book that fell from it.

Astrid came back with a book in her hand. 

I was expecting it to be a magical book, similar to Valeri’s book but it was a simple green book with trees and mountains covering it, Astrid opened it and it had different maps. 

The maps were not normal, the water in the maps was flowing, the weather on every page was different.

Astrid flipped some pages of the book and sat on her previous seat, without taking her eyes off, “I know where we can find the witch.”

Lily put the last book on the bookshelf, “Then what are we waiting for? Pack your bag girls, we are going on a trip,” she clapped her hands together.

Astrid and I gave her a look.

“What?”

“That witch lives far far away from us not 10 minutes away, it is going to be dangerous,” Astrid replied.

“Can’t you use that portal thingy to magically teleport us, in that way we don’t have to go through the awful journey?” Lily asked impatiently.

“You do realize she lives in the forest for a reason, she does not want visitors,” Astrid looked at Lily’s expression and continued, “she will not be easy to find and the magic would be useless against her.”

“How can we go there then?” I asked.

“We have to wait for Lucius, he knows the place better,” her words were quieter and laced with disappointment or maybe some anger.

“What did your friend say about the pendant, is there any other way?” I asked again, suddenly remembering about their visit.

Astrid sighed, “Nothing that would be helpful in our case,” she added with a little smile.

I furrowed my eyebrows, it was not usual for Astrid to show any emotions, “It’s not something good, right?”

She stayed silent, looking at her bracelet.

Her silence was louder than the words but I was not sure if I was ready to hear another bad news, we got so many surprises for one day already.

But I had to know, “What is it, Astrid? What did your friend say?”

Astrid gave a look to both of us and replied, “We do not have much time, the stone is losing its powers.”

“What do you mean losing its powers?” asked Lily, she knew the answer but was not ready for it, no one was.

“We will figure it out,” Astrid tried to motivate her.

Lily did not reply.

“How much time do we have? A month?” I asked.

Astrid pressed her lips in a thin line, “Just a few days.”

She looked to confirm if we were doing okay when none of us said anything.

“If we have just a few days then why exactly are we waiting for Lucius?” Lily asked loudly standing up from her seat, “just because you blindly trust him, it doesn’t mean we have to as well. Who knows if he will even help us or not?”

“I do not want to have any conversation regarding this matter with you or anyone else,” Astrid replied sharply, annoyance clear in her voice.

I sat there hoping Lily would not say anything to make things worse.

Maybe she understood it as well, as she stayed silent and Astrid went to her room.

“It is not her fault, Lily. She didn’t know about anything either.”

She rolled her eyes, “Can you stop being so f*****g nice. She literally treated you like the cat she is allergic to and yet you are taking her side.”

“It is not about taking sides, Lil. I just don’t want to start anything, I want to go home and forget about this place.”

“Why can’t we just ask Valeria? She will join us I am sure about it. In that way, we won’t have to wait for Lucius.”

“We can’t ask Valeria for help, she has already helped us enough. If the king gets to know about the people helping us they all will be punished. We can’t take advantage of her kindness just because she is helping us. Lucius works for the king maybe he won’t be punished that badly but Valeria does not work for the royals,” I tried to explain. I saw her silently sitting next to me.

“I guess you are right,” she said softly.

We both stayed quiet without saying anything, just soaking in the new information. The new information was something we were not ready for. Lily sat there deep in her thoughts.

“Sam?”

“What are you thinking about Lily?”

“Do you think he did it?” she asked softly, looking at me.

I gave her a confused look, “What are you talking about?” 

She scooted over to me and whispered, “the queen’s murder. Do you think he is behind this? Or he is the one who helped the current king or the people of the other kingdom.”

I stared at her in disbelief, “Lily! You can not accuse someone of the murder just like that,” I gave her a serious look.

“Open your eyes, Sam. He has a map of the palace, her picture, royal letters about the attack. Everything is literally pointing towards him,” she argued, folding her arms.

“He works for the royals and maybe that’s why he has the letters about the attack. He can’t work for them without knowing about the history of the palace or the queen. Besides the queen died a very long time ago.”

Now it was her turn to look at me with disbelief, “We are literally surrounded by witches, Sam. Ignorance is not always bliss,” she stood up abruptly and left me alone there wondering if she was right or not.

I could not believe that Lucius would ever kill someone, my heart refused to believe that. But I could not ignore all the things we found in his room hidden perfectly from everyone. If he was behind that then maybe some witch helped him in hiding his age since he had no powers. I could not forget he went to meet someone in the forest as well and most importantly did he help us because I look like the dead queen.

I sighed and thought about cooking something to divert my mind, I walked over to the kitchen, “Stop overthinking Sam, or else your brain would explode,” I said to myself.

But the sight that welcomed me in the kitchen was not helpful at all. Vegetables were chopping on one side of the kitchen on their own. Some pasta was already boiling in the pan and ingredients started floating in the air and went to another pan directly. Then the realization hit me just like the egg that was about to hit me on the face, but luckily I ducked on time. Dinner was being prepared by the magic.

Now I had two options left, I could wait for Lucius and confront him to know about everything, the only problem was I had no idea when he would come back and even if he did come back soon, there was a chance he would not tell me everything. The second option was to visit Valeria and talk to her about everything, with the second option I had chances of getting some answers.

I decided to choose option number three, I picked some snacks and went to my room to enjoy some peace alone.

When my eyes opened I was on my bed, lying in the middle with the snacks I was eating. 

I stretched my arms, rubbed my eyes, and collected the empty plate and the bags to put in the trash. It was 1 am when the lights went out suddenly.

It was dark everywhere, with no moonlight outside and no light inside. I tried to turn the lights on again but it was of no use.

“Great!” I said to myself.

I went back to my bed with no sleep in my eyes, tossing and turning around restlessly.

It was until I heard some tapping on my window, I ignored it but it happened again. My breath hitched at the sudden sound in the middle of the night.

I did not move from my position, hoping the tapping would stop but it continued. 

There was no tree outside my window so maybe it was an insect, I tried to reassure myself.

When the tapping didn’t stop after 10 minutes, I started getting anxious.

Gathering all the courage I went outside my room, and my doubt was right. Thanks to Astrid’s magic there were some lamps liting up the house.

I picked a lamp and went back to the room, slowly I walked towards the window.

I removed the curtains and almost screamed looking at my reflection in the mirror. Realizing it was only the reflection I tried to peek outside without opening the window but it was of no use, everything was too dark.

I hesitantly opened my window slightly. Nothing was outside, I exhaled a deep breath in relief but gasped when I saw two shining yellow balls in the garden. 

I gulped but could not move from my position. 

Lightening occurred in the sky and as the result, I realized those tiny yellow balls were someone’s eyes. The lamp fell from my hands out of fear, I quickly picked it up again and looked at the same spot in the garden but no one was there.

The lights came back and I checked the garden one more time from my window. Nothing was there.

No one could move that fast, maybe it was my imagination and nothing more.

I shut my windows tightly and closed the curtains to be more sure. I kept the light on and went to my bed.

I closed my eyes tightly hugging the pillow, even though I was not sleepy.