Merlia takes to the treetops right outside the packhouse with barely enough energy left to cloak her scent. "I should have taken care of that child long before now. Marge had told me there was time, and I would grow strong the longer I kept Skylar under my spell. I was just a fool to listen to my sister," the demon witch thinks to herself.
Merlia had fled as soon as she could, but Jericka caught her leaving. The minion had somehow grown a heart in the sixteen years since she had been made. Jericka was formed and left on edge with Merlia as her conscience. When Jericka had seemed to be getting too close to the princess, Merlia stepped in and tried to forbid their relationship. However, she forced them closer together, which had worked for about twelve years.
Thinking about the night bef
