The Change of Time

CHAPTER 11

Elizabeth's P.O.V

I struggled to fall asleep, so I took a hot shower and started the day. After getting ready, I saw that all of them were still sleeping, so I tiptoed out to the balcony and looked at the forest that was surrounding the castle. It was truly beautiful and peaceful. I can understand why someone would want to live here. I felt hands encircling my middle and felt the soothing darkness enfolding around me. “Morning, Beautiful, did you sleep at all?” “Morning Babe, no, not really.” I answered him and settled back into his chest. He held me tighter as he took a deep breath of the fresh, cool air. “I would love to go for a run in those woods.” “Then why don’t you?” “You want to join me.” “Eric, I don’t think I will be able to keep up. I mean, I’m fast, but not that fast.” “Ha ha ha, no, not like that. You would sit on Phantoms back.” As he said that, his one eye turned darker and I could hear the gruffness in his voice. “I would love for you to join me.” “Okay Phantom, but how are we supposed to sneak out of this place? You recall that there is a Warlock here, right?” “I’ve got that covered.” He stepped back from me and I shuddered a little as the crisp air reached my back. In a few seconds, Phantom was standing next to me looking all gracious in his all-black fir and his mysterious dark brown, almost black eyes. I brushed my fingers through his fir and they were as soft as they looked. The next moment he went behind me, ducking his head between my legs, lifting me onto his back. I was a little dazed, didn’t really know if I have to laugh or beat him and I’m sure he was smirking at me with that big snout of his. Next, we were over the railing and falling to the ground. I closed my eyes and held myself to him as tight as I could.

For a few minutes I just stayed frozen and then I looked out in front and we were practically flying as he rushed through the woods, jumping over logs and the wind going through my hair was incredible. I laughed as I sat up straight and let my hands rest on his back. This was so dreamlike, the feeling of being so free and just letting go. Now I understand why he loves to shift and run. I would probably never have shifted back. We came to a clearing in the woods and there was a little pond, with clear blue water you can actually see through to the bottom. He stood still by a boulder and letting me use it to get off his back. I walk over to a nearby tree looking up into it and I saw the most beautiful birds I have ever seen. They were all the color of the rainbow and their songs were magical. As I turned around, Phantom was gone and I started to look for him, then an extremely handsome head peeked out of the water and gave me a dazzling smile. “The water is nice. Come in.” “With what? I don’t have my swimming clothes here.” He started to chuckle so hard even the birds in the tree got startled and I turned beet root red in my face as I recalled not so long ago he was a cat. “Fine... turn around.” I said, struggling to keep my voice steady. He got a twinkle in his eyes and gave me that smile of his as he turned around. I’m not sure why I was so nervous. It’s not like I haven’t done anything before. But with him, it feels more and more like it is my first. I got rid of my clothes as fast as I could and made a bomb into the water before I had the chance to chicken out. “This... this is not nice at all.” I said as the cold water enveloped me. “O come over here, it is much warmer.” “O... ya, you would love that. Not so easy Babe.” I turned to get some distance between us, but before I could get far, he grabbed my ankle and pulled me back to him. As I crashed into his chest, I could feel the rumbling of his laughter. I looked up at him, wanting to splash water at him, but my thought was cut short as his lips smashed on mine. We shared an impassioned kiss and my hands automatically went into his hair as his hand explored my back, sliding lower and lower. After a few minutes, we parted for some much needed air and he started to kiss me down my collar, nibbling slightly as he traveled down and I couldn’t help it as a moan escaped my lips.

“Miss Elizabeth Williams, you are supposed to be in your room getting ready to appear in front of the Council.” I was uncertain what to do at that moment. I just froze and did not make a sound as Eric sensed my discomfort and growled at the man. “O little kitty, that won’t do anything.” “Not now Eric... please.” He glanced at me and then at the man standing by the edge of the pond. “We will be there in ten.” Is all he said as he hold me tighter. “His gone now, love.” Eric said and gave me a kiss on the top of my head. “Stupid Warlock...” Eric chuckled, apparently likening that I’m disappointed in that guy showing up. He pulled away from me to get out and I had to turn and look at the perfectly sculpted man, with his blush skin and the muscles coming down his back, flexing as he walked. He turned and gave me a smile, then a second later, Phantom stood in front of me. Looking at me for a bit and then turned his head to the side, making him look so lovable. “O no big boy, turn around.” He beamed at me for a moment longer and then gave me a grin. Or that is how it looked. I put my clothes on as quickly as I could after he turned. He laid down on his belly as I got on his back, holding him tight. We then ran off in the castle's direction and not long after we left, we heard paws on our right side. As we looked, a wolf emerged from the forest and flanked us. Jared’s wolf was just as beautiful and they ran side by side until we arrived at the balcony. They leaped off the ground on top of the balcony and it amazed me at how high they could jump. I guess there is still stuff that I need to learn.

Once I arrived in the room, the Warlock and the chambermaid stood there waiting for us. Eric and Jarred moved up behind me and immediately took a defensive stance. “Where is Prue?” “She is in her room getting ready for the meeting as you were supposed to be.” Both the boys beside me started growling, and I also did not like the way he just spoke to me. I’m not his child. “What is your name, if I may ask?” “My name is Saruman miss.” “Well, it is nice too finally meet you, Saruman.” “My apology, Miss. Gentlemen, if you would follow me, I will show you to your rooms. These girls are here to assist you with getting ready. I will be back shortly to escort you to the Council meeting.” “Thank you Saruman.” As he turned to leave, Eric grabbed me by the waist, giving me one last kiss, and then left.

“Miss, your bath is ready.” The blond young woman said as she pointed to the bathroom. “Thank you.” I said and took a quick bath, as I didn’t want Saruman on my back again. As I came back into the room, there was a beautiful ball gown sprayed out on the bed and the two ladies at the dressing table. “Please, Miss, take a seat and we will do your hair.” “Hmm... its fine girls, I can handle it.” “Please, Miss, they have trained us for this. We will manage.” I just took in a deep breath and sat by the mirror, not used to this kind of fuss. As they had just finished my hair in a stylish bun, Prue came through the door in all black attire. “Leave us” is all she said, and the ladies did not even hesitate as they left the room. Prue came and stood in front of me, picking up the makeup. “Close your eyes.” “Okay, what’s going on?” “It does not please the Council members that we are here.” “Well, we knew they would be upset.” “So if you knew, then why go and ride on Phantoms’ back as if it is as ordinary as daylight? Darling, they saw you and are very unsettled by it.” “It has nothing to do with them on who’s back I’m riding or anything!" “You are trying to win them over. You need to act more like a Hunter and less like a love-struck puppy!” We stayed quiet for the rest of the time. Once dressed and ready, I looked at her and I wanted to be irritated so much because of what she said, but I knew she had a point. “I will not let them dedicate who I can be with.” “Darling... just let them make you part of the Council first, please.” “Fine...”

Then there was a knock on the door, and Saruman came into the room. “The Council is waiting for you. Please follow me.” As soon as I stepped into the hallway, Eric’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out. I had on a princess cut, light green dress and it fitted as if they specially tailored it for me. “You... you look marvelous.” Eric said as he pulled me against him. Prue cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows. So, with a heavy heart, I pulled away from him and went next to Prue. It hurt to see the confusion in his eyes, but it was for the best, for now. We followed Saruman down the stairs and then went into the wooden door on the left of the stairs. As we entered, it was a little dark and my eyes needed to adjust to the light. Once I could see again, I had a slight shock. It almost looked like a dungeon. The only source of light was the wooden fire torches against the wall. The tiles were black and the walls a stormy grey. It was an enormous room and on a stage sat the Council members, all looking down at us. They were dressed in white robes. I’m not sure if they maybe liked it or wanted to be intimidating, but there was no way I would be that. I wonder how long it has been since they were outside.

“So you claim you are a Williams? Do you have any proof of this?” A man with a long grey beard asked as he was looking at me over his glasses. It took every ounce of self-control not to laugh. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t bring my birth certificate. But I have these.” That is when I lifted my arm up and showed them my parents’ pendants. “You could have stolen that, with those things standing beside you.” A woman at the left end responded. She had long grey hair and I’m guessing in her late seventies. I looked at my family beside me and then back at the Council. “I’m sorry, but these people beside me are my family and I would appreciate it if you would speak of them with respect. As you well know, the role Prue played in helping Hunters and people of the shadows to life in peace.” The man with the beard gave the woman a stern look and then looked to the Lady beside him. “O come now Nicolas, you can see the girl resembles her father, and it is not the first time we are seeing her. We kept tabs on her as she was growing up.” The man nodded, but a young man sitting at the right end spoke up. “So what... what did you think was going to happen? Someone told you about your birthright, so you just came here expecting us to give it to you and give you the right to make rules and changes.” “Well, I did not expect that, but it would be much simpler.” “Enough!” Nicolas said, and stood up as he looked at everyone. “We will let her do the trails and see if she will be qualified to sit as the head of the Hunters.” “I’m sorry, but what are the trails?” The lady next to him stood up, giving me a soft smile. “That is a course designed to test you physically and mentally. All the leaders had to pass the course before they could have taken the seat.” “You will only get one chance. I know you did not grow up in this world, so we will give you a week to prepare yourself and then you will be tested.” “Nicolas, she will need more time.” “My word is final one week from now. You will do the trails.” The lady that stood next to him just looked sadly at me as she mouthed, I’m sorry. That had me stressed out a little. Can it really be so bad? The council stood up and left through a back door, and left us all confused.

“Prue, please tell me you know about the trails?” “I’m sorry Darling, I didn’t even know it existed.” I looked at the guys and they both just lifted their shoulders. They also did not know. “What are we going to do?” The door behind us opened and Saruman entered with the Lady that sat next to Nicolas. “Elizabeth...” is all she said as she took me into her arms and hugged me. “Your mother was one of my best friends and I made a promise to her if the day comes and she can’t help you, that I will. My name is Robin... So we have a week to get you ready. We will all help you with your training.” “The physical training, I guess, is like an obstacle course, but what is the mental training?” “Obstacle course... I guess it is more of a tournament mixed with an obstacle course, and the mental aspect is you will have to know the history. Where it all started and why everything happened the way it did. Then there is the more emotional test to see if you can act on facts and if your mind is strong enough to withstand black magic.” “Tournament?” Jarred asked, as Eric just moved behind me and put his arm around me, giving me the comfort I needed. Robin smiled at us and it was as if a white cloudy light surrounded her. It was so calming. “The tournament is where you will overcome obstacles and have to fight people of the shadows. Don’t panic, I’m sure you will be excellent at that. They are bad people and have hurt innocence, so don’t feel guilty about killing them.” “Killing them! O... Hm... Where did you get these people?" “They were captured by Hunters and were brought to the dungeons when your parents were still alive.” “So my parents knew about this and they let them live.” “Your father tried to interrogate them to find out about the Witches using black magic.” “For how long has these Witches been a problem?” “How about we get some breakfast and I will tell you all about it.”

We went into the dining room and it was the same as the rest of the house, white and gold and, of course, a chandelier with candles. “Can I just ask one thing?” “Yes Jarred, you may.” “Why all the candles?” “Well Jarred, we like to keep the place as authentic as we can and if we start building more places to generate electricity, it would be easer for our enemies to find us.” “It was quite easy for Prue to find you.” Erick said. “Because we wanted her to, that’s why.” Saruman said, before he pulled a chair out for Robin and then took a seat beside her. We all followed and in a blink of an eye, the table was filled with food and fruit. “Wow... Can you do that too.” Jarred asked, as he poked Prue in her side with his elbow. “Jarred, you are working on my last nerve and, of course, I can do it if I want to.” We all just smiled and dug into the food that was so... good. “So you want to tell me about the Black Magic Witches?”

“Well, the Legend goes like this. A very-very long time ago, there was a man with the name Orion Williams. He was in the woods busy hunting for deer when he came to a wooden cabin. He could see straight from the start that it was no normal cabin, there were dead creatures lying around it. As he neared it, he started to get a cold dead feeling going through his body as his hair on his arm and neck stood up. He went and peeped through a window and saw a child lying on the floor and a blue sort of light leaving her body going into the woman standing by an old table with a book and other sacrificial elements. Then a darkness grew in him and he just had one thing on his mind. He had to kill the woman. Just as the thought went through his mind, the woman looked him dead in the eye. He fell to his knees, clasping his head. It felt like his head was going to explode. When he closed his eyes, he saw a small little light, like it was at the end of a tunnel. He thought he was dying, but he could not turn from the light. It was as if the light was calling to him. As the light grew closer and became bigger, he reached with his mind’s eye towards it. It over took him and the pain stopped as if walls were being built around his mind and in an instant he stood up with his eyes wide open and his mind freed. The woman was looking at him with disbelief and he drew his bow and arrow, shooting it straight at her heart. With her still not believing what she was seeing, she did not notice the arrow coming towards her. That was the first Witch killing that we know of. Orion went to the girl’s side, but she was dead and as he walked through the house, he found more children and three of the children were from his village. They just told him that the girl lying on the floor was the second girl she took from them and the first one also never returned. He knew the first girl had met the same death as the one he saw dying. As he took the children out of the house, he set the house and everything in it on fire. They stood there for a while looking at everything burning and then he returned to his village and made sure that the children would be returned to their homes. After that, he gathered the town and trained all the men and whales they were training, he found that some of them could actually sense when someone was not fully human and only those men's firstborn could feel it too. So that is how the Hunters started, and that is why you, Elizabeth, are a royal to us.”

Everyone was staring at me, expecting a response, but what do I say to that? My mind was blank at first and then images started going through it as if I was there standing beside him. Feeling what he felt, seeing what he saw, and as she ended the story, I could swear he was looking at me. I still feel a prescience around me and it was creepy. “But he was not the one who actually built this place and started the council?” “No, Elizabeth, it was not him. They built this place four generations after him, but all the remains of the Hunters that were seen as royals were moved here to the burial ground behind the castle. Besides… your father’s father, we could not allocate his body as yet.” “As yet..., so you are still searching?” Eric asked. “Yes, we are. He might have done us wrong, but he is still a royal.” “So you agree what he has done on the Council was unacceptable.” “Yes, I agree with you, but there are others that won’t and you need to keep in mind there are those who feared him and are still fearing his followers. I don’t know how many of them will rebel against you.” “We will handle it together,” Erick said, and everyone nodded in agreement.

“Can I maybe see the burial site?” “Why would you want to do that?” Jarred asked, and I looked at Prue, hoping she could see it in my eyes. “Jarred, you are so nosy, you know that? The girl wants to see where her forefathers are lying.” “Sorry, I was just wondering.” “Well, don’t. Come, Darling, I know the way, and no boys allowed this is something she needs to do.” They both started growling, but she made them quiet with that famous look that would turn them into bolls of pain. As we walked the path to the burial site, I did not even wonder how she knew where it was, as I am certain Saruman gave her the path. We were silent all the way and I could feel more and more pressure on my mind. “It’s the Spirits Darling, they want to speak to you.” “Will you be there with me?” “I’m sorry, I’m not allowed in there. It is sacred to the Hunters.” I just nodded in understanding, held my head high and entered through the steel gates.

"Elizabeth, we have waited for you for a very long time. Please come and sit. We have a lot to discuss."