The royal moon witch

Chapter 2 - A new beginning

* Elvira P.O.V. *

The next day I woke up on the couch and my back was hurting quite a bit. I ignored the pain and sat up looking around me. The sun wasn't up yet and as I got up from the couch, I first fell back on it. Because of the sleep I had forgotten about the bullet in my leg. I did another try at getting up and this time I succeeded. I slowly walked toward the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water for myself. I looked out of the window and could still see the ashes of the houses glow up when the wind blew past them.

"It still isn't done.." I said to myself and sighed. Looking at the remains of the houses made me feel sad again so as good as I could I turned around with my back towards the window to finish my glass of water.

I walked slowly towards my bedroom and didn't had the energy to take off my dirty clothes. I let myself fall on my bed and closed my eyes. I kept them closed and tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't. All I could think of is the attack and why the royal guard would do something like that. I turned on my back and looked at the ceiling. I could see the stars and the moon and a smile appeared slowly on my natural pink lips. Because of my special rang, as moon witch, I always felt better at night. At least, that is what my grandmother always said. My mother was proud to have a moon witch as daughter but she never tried to brag with it or made me feel extra special. I could remember the countless discussions between my mom and grandma about me. I can't even remember anymore how many times I had wished to be a normal witch. Just so they would stop.

Overthinking all of these small things must eventually have gotten me to fall asleep because the next time I remember is hearing my name being called and my shoulder receives soft pushes from my sister Emma.

"Mm.. What?" I mumbled and tried to brush of the hand that pushed me but she was smarter than keeping her hands on my shoulder.

"You need to wake up Vira.. Mom and dad need you" she said and I sighed.

"Be there in five" I said half sleepy and stretched a bit. I heard my sister leave and turned around.

I snuggled with my pillow and ignored her wake up call. This I could better not have done because the next to come into my room was my father and brother, this I only knew because my brother jumped onto me and I heard my father laugh.

"Okay I'm awake" I said and sat up. Jonas landed on my legs and tears sprung in my eyes.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed and grabbed my leg. He quickly got off my bed and my father looked at me worried.

"I got hit with a bullet, I'll take it out after I washed myself" I said and my father nodded slowly.

"Good... We need you in the living room in two minutes. Later I'll deal with you about not telling this" my father said and I sighed.

"Alright" I said and once they had left I washed myself as quickly as I could and put on some fresh clothes. Black and grey clothes because even though yesterday seemed like a big nightmare, I knew the nightmare was very real. And these were the colors we wore when we were mourning.

Fifteen minutes later I walked as well as I could into the living room to see my parents sitting on the couch. They both were dressed in very formal looking clothes and both in black with grey.

‘’Where are you going?’’ I asked them and sat down on the couch across of them.

‘’We are going to the palace..’’ my father said and I looked shocked.

‘’Are you crazy?!’’ I asked and got up from my seat. Pain shot through my leg but I ignored it, their idea was ridiculous.

‘’Elvira.. Listen to us’’ my mother said and I sighed, ignoring her and looking at my father.

‘’Sit back down young lady’’ my father said and I did as he said. I could see my mother sigh in the corner of my eye.

‘’We have the feeling that this attack wasn’t a official order from the king.. And we are going to talk with him about this’’ my father said. I nodded and understood that I would be in charge to get the things here going.

‘’And I’ll stay here?’’ I asked.

‘’For now you will... Maybe we will come to get you but you need to look after our family’’ my mother said and I could see she was still worried. What if these people would come back? I had the same worry but when I looked at my father, I could see he had the believe in me that I needed.

‘’When will you leave?’’ I asked.

‘’Soon sweetheart but don’t worry.. We have always been on good terms with the royal family’’ my father said. Yes.. We always have been, until now was my only thought but I didn’t show this.

An hour after our conversation, I walked outside out cabin with my parents and walked them to our car. Yes we had a car, of course we had. We also had two horses but those belonged to all of us in the coven. Now that I thought of them, I wasn’t even sure if they were still alive. In that hour my father had told me to lay down on the table and checked my leg and had taken out the bullet. He had bandaged it with some herbal oil. He gave me a walking cane to support my leg a bit.

‘’We will be back soon’’ my father said and kissed my forehead. I smiled and gave my mother a tight hug.

‘’Make sure Emma and Jason...’’ she started and I nodded.

‘’They won’t see the deceased people.. Not before they are in their coffins and all cleaned up..’’ I said and even though I hated to think of the people of our coven that way, I had to say it or else my mother would have.

‘’You are so grown up’’ she then said and I shrugged.

‘’I am nineteen years old mom’’ I said and she chuckled a bit.

‘’Alright, we are going’’ she said and got in the car. Together with Emma and Jason I waved them goodbye and we blew kisses their way until we didn’t see them anymore.

‘’Alright.. You two go inside and play nice.. Or else I’ll make you both clean the house together’’ I said and they looked at me.

‘’How do you mean together?’’ Jason asked.

‘’I’ll grab some robe and bind your left and Emma’s right foot together and your left and her right arm together and you’ll have to word together as one human’’ I said. My eyes showed I wasn’t joking and he nodded quickly.

‘’Alright, we will be good’’ he said and I smiled. My father had done that once after they had been bickering at each other for three days and since then only the reminder of it was enough often.

I opened the door for them and they went inside. I then walked towards the big house in the middle of our ground, it had not been harmed and I was happy about that. It was bigger than our home but not a lot. I went inside and saw the bodies of our lost coven members. I swallowed and sighed, the body count was not very big but it still was quite a impact especially because we lived as one big family.

‘’Oh Elvira, thank you for coming.. I know your parents went away and left you in charge..’’ Manon said. She was in her late twenties and had two children, one of six years old and one of four years old. If I was right her element was fire but I didn’t know for sure.

‘’Well someone has to do it.. And I am sure my parents will be as stubborn as my grandmother about giving over the matriarch position but I rather be prepared on every event that is possible’’ I said and she smiled.

‘’You are so grown up for your age...’’ She said and gave me a hug.

‘’Is your family okay?’’ I asked after she let go.

‘’Yes, my children were on a visit with their dad to the city’’ she said and I was glad.

‘’We already made a list with who are not in this world anymore’’ she then said and gave it to me.

I took the list and started reading it. All together it were seven dead's, under them my grandmother and one other lady that was already quite high in age. I read further in the list and saw that both of the girls that we were having our ceremony for had found their dead's in this tragic event. Aside from these deads there were several light injuries and some members were very badly injured. I sighed and looked at Manon, she looked back at me with eyes full of sadness and grief.

‘’I’ll make this the most beautiful funeral we ever had’’ I said and she nodded.

‘’We owe it to them’’ she said and I nodded. I walked over to the others and we all gave each other a hug.

I then chatted a bit with them and then they left one by one so I could start with the preparations for the funerals. I had to make a list with things to do and then go by the families to hear their wishes for the funeral. Then there was the big decision to make if it would be one big funeral or each their own. I sighed by the thought how much things there were to do and sat down on one of the chairs.

‘’Why did this have to happen?’’ I asked and felt tears burn behind my eyes. I tried to stop them from coming out but I couldn’t. The tears rolled over my cheeks and I cried.

‘’Oh grandma.. why? Why did this have to happen?!’’ I said while crying and I knew I wouldn’t get a answer. Talking with the dead was something we could do but only if we really wanted or needed them. Also did it take a lot of concentration and training.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, when I looked up I saw nothing and sighed. Probably a slight moment that I could feel one of the spirits. I laid my hand on the spot I had felt the other hand and smiled.

‘’Thank you..’’ I whispered, I didn’t use a name because it could have been anyone. I sighed again and got up from the chair.

‘’Be strong Vira.. Be strong’’ I said to myself and walked with the list outside.

I closed and locked the door so it wouldn’t be getting to busy inside for now. The dead needed rest to cross over. I walked to the first family on my list so I could talk with them. We had twenty families in our coven so this would be a long day but especially a hard day for both the families and myself.

* Four hours later *

I just closed the door behind me from the fourth family I visited. I had three left to do from which one was my own so actually two were left. Emma came walking to me and I smiled.

‘’Hey Emma.. What are you doing here?’’ I asked and she showed me my watch.

‘’Oh I totally forgot it..’’ I said and took it from her. I checked the time and saw it was already close to 5:00 pm.

‘’Are mom and dad back yet?’’ I asked.

‘’No.. not yet, are they okay?’’ she asked and I nodded.

‘’Of course they are, I am sure they will be back soon.. It is a quite a distance to the palace’’ I said and walked with her back to our house.

‘’Well, what would you want to eat for dinner?’’ I asked her and she started to think while we walked back home.

‘’Not something that takes very long miss, because I have not the mood to stand long in the kitchen’’ I said honestly and she smiled.

‘’I understand..’’ she said.

I opened the door and we walked inside. Jason was sitting at the dining table and I saw he was reading. Lately he had been doing that more instead of fooling around and doing things he knew were not good.

‘’Working hard?’’ I asked and he looked up.

‘’Yes, I am learning some more spells’’ he said and I smiled. I was simply happy to see that he was more focused on learning than on the videogames he used to do.

‘’You can only learn them once you got your element, that will take up to three more years mister’’ I said with a smile and then walked to the kitchen.

"I know but if I can learn the words now, I have a advantage on the others" he said and I just couldn't help but hear our grandmother in those words.

‘’Emma, what do you think about pancakes?’’ I asked and Emma nodded. I knew pancakes would still take some time, but I had no other idea than this.

‘’Amazing idea!’’ She said and I grabbed the things I needed to make the batter.

I was about to pour the batter for the first pancake inside the pan when I heard two cars drive up to our house and stop. I looked from the window and saw my parents come out of their car.

‘’There are mom and dad’’ I said and Emma rushed out before I could say anything. I saw how she jumped into dad's arms from the window. I put the spoon back in the bowl and turned off the gas.

‘’Emma?’’ I asked and walked outside. I saw my dad hug her and when they looked at me, they smiled.Yet something fell off in their smile. I looked at the car behind them and again saw the royal crest on the door. I was on guard right away and had my hand resting on my wand. Why was a car of the royal palace here? I walked towards my parents and they hugged me.

‘’Where is Jonas?’’ my father asked.

‘’We decided he was for dinner’’ I said and my mother rolled her eyes.

‘’Really Vira?’’ she said and I chuckled.

‘’Sorry.. No he is inside and believe it or not.. He is studying’’ I said. I could see the surprise in my parents eyes even though they tried to hide it.

‘’Now I have a question too..’’ I said and pointed to the other car.

‘’What are they doing here?’’ I asked before my parents could say something. I saw how they looked at each other and then back at me.

‘’Let’s go inside.. we need to talk’’ My father said and I didn’t know why but those words gave me a strange feeling. I didn’t know it at this moment but from now on these words would always lead me to this moment in my life where everything changed drastically.

Once we were inside, my father asked Jonas and Emma to go to their friends and stay there for a while until they came to pick them up. The strange feeling I had when we stood outside was growing fast now and I frowned. At first Jonas wanted to protest but he looked at me and I gave a slight nod that it was okay. He grabbed his jacket and gave Emma hers, once they had them on, they left and I looked at my parents.

‘’What in heavens name is going on that my brother and sister can not know about?’’ I asked and I saw my father look at me. My mother didn't look at me which was odd.

‘’We went to talk with the king and queen... And the attack was indeed not a order from them’’ he said and I sat down.

‘’Well great but it was still their royal guard’’ I said, this was slowly getting me on my edge and I could even feel the anger boil up inside of me.

‘’Sweety.. Calm down please...’’ my mother said and I frowned.

"Don't tell me to calm down.. my grandmother died in their attack, our coven was attacked without a reason. I can better ask how you can stay so calm!" I said frustrated.

"Elvira Alessandra Evangelista Bianchi, calm down now or so help me I'll let you pick up every nut once autumn starts" my father said and he was not joking.

‘’Alright.. alright’’ I said and sighed. I sat down and my father gave me a glass of water. I took a few sips and a deep breath.

‘’Alright.. So what did you find out?’’ I asked.

My parents started to tell that the attack was a order of their son, at first I wanted to go against them but my father gave me a very serious look and I shut my mouth. I kept listening to why this son, Valentino, had ordered this attack and only nodded or gave a slight ‘hmm or ‘uhuh’ sound when I saw they wanted a reaction on what they said. After they were done, I looked at them.

‘’So.. Because he thinks that we or at least a coven has murdered the girl he loves in a ritual, he hates us and tries to eliminate our kind?’’ I asked shortly, we well they had been talking about this for about an hour now.

‘’Yes.. That is right’’ my father said.

‘’Okay and what are they gonna do about it now?’’ I asked.

Suddenly they got a difficult expression on their faces, it clearly was something that they didn’t wanna say or at least were afraid of my reaction. I sighed and looked at them.

‘’Okay come on.. Spill it’’ I said.

‘’They offered a possible solution.. But we have no idea of course if it will work’’ my mother started and I already didn’t like her soothing way of saying this.

‘’Spill it mother..’’ I said and was serious.

‘’They want you to become his fiance’’ my father said straight forward. The way I liked it the most you see, that is why my mother and I are not always a good match.

She flows around everything and tries to find ‘the best way’ of telling something while my father is straight forward. I looked at them and started to laugh.

‘’You are.. hahaha... Joking right?’’ I asked and kept laughing for a moment. But when the silent stayed from their side, my laughter slowly disappeared.

‘’You.. were joking.. right?’’ I asked slowly and looked at them. They started to shake their heads at the same time.

‘’Are you crazy?!’’ I asked and stood up.

I smacked my hand on the table and it caused my glass to fall over.

‘’Elvira.. Listen to us’’ my mother said but I didn’t listen.

‘’I was speaking now mother and I want you to listen to me’’ I said and walked away from the table. I started pacing through the living room as well as I could with my wounded leg.

‘’I am not going through with this.. He is the one that ordered the death of not only my coven members but from my grandmother.. My grandmother for heaven sake!’’ I said and started cursing in Italian.

We did speak English mostly around our coven because we were not all born in Italy but I could speak Italian too and Latin for our spells.

‘’Stop the cursing young lady and listen to me’’ My father said, he was calm and looked at me with the authority he had. I narrowed my eyes and stared at him, he did the same and for a moment we stood like that.

‘’Fine..’’ I said after a short while but folded my arms as a clear sign I was not liking this.

‘’We are not sure it will work out and if it doesn’t you can come back but this way we at least can try to protect our families.. And not just ours but also the others in the country’’ my father explained and I nodded slowly.

‘’So it is just a try out..?’’ I asked. I still couldn't believe this was not a joke.

‘’Yes, and we know he will of course try you out and try to get rid of you but you are our best choice because...’’ my mother said and I looked at her.

‘’My beauty?’’ I asked with a sarcastic undertone.

‘’Well, that too but also because you are the most stubborn women I have ever met... And when you say you will become friends with someone, you will no matter what... Just like with that stack that was hurt’’ she said and a chuckle escaped from my mouth. I couldn’t help it, I knew I was stubborn. I then looked at my father and mother.

‘’I guess I could try to meet him..’’ I said and then looked at the car that was still standing behind my parents car.

‘’I guess I’ll be leaving tonight?’’ I asked and my father nodded. I sighed and didn't like it but it was better for my coven but especially for Jonas and Emma.

I went to pack my things and my parents went to pick up my siblings. I put in my clothes, some books and of course my wand. I took my hairbrush and a few photo’s from my family, especially one of my grandmother. Once I was done, which was quite fast, I waited for my siblings and hugged them tight. Emma cried because she didn’t want me to go, especially not to the ones that had killed our grandmother. Jason helped me get her arms loose and held her in a hug.

‘’I’ll write and come by as soon as I can’’ I said and gave them all a kiss on their cheeks. I returned he walking cane to my dad, even if I could still use it, I was not willing to show weakness to these people. I then walked to the car where a man from the royal guard was waiting for me. He took my bag and put it in the trunk and another one that got out, opened the door for me.

‘’Eh.. Thank you’’ I said, not used to this kind of service and sat down in the car.

We left after the one that had put my bag in the trunk sat behind the wheel and started the car. I looked out of the window until I didn’t see my family anymore and felt tears burn behind my eyes. I swallowed a few times and tried to ignore them and sat straight after we had left the forest. I was officially on my way to a new adventure and a new beginning.