THE RISING OF THE WICCA

Decisions

"Mom, are the Kamars really strong? Dad keeps telling me we are invincible." A three-year-old Evanora asked her mother as she sat on her lap.

"Mom, where are Dad and your family?" A five-year-old Evanora pulled on her mother's dress.

"Dad, do I have uncles and aunts?" A six-year-old Evanora wondered putting her book aside.

"Yelena, do we have cousins?" An eight-year-old Evanora asked her sister as she tossed in her bed.

"Mom, where is Dad going?" A nine-year-old Evanora asked while she stood on the doorstep watching her father walk away. "Yelena, do you know where Dad went? And you Minerva, do you know where he is?" Evanora looked between her two older sisters.

"Mom, when is dad coming back?" a ten-year-old Evanora asked, sitting at the dinner table.

"Mom is d-dad really never....coming-back?" an eleven-year-old Evanora mumbled in incoherent words as tears fell down her face.

No one ever answered her questions and slowly she stopped asking altogether, no one wanted to explain to her who she really was and she had to stand and watch her life being taken by one storm after the other.

But maybe it was for the best, her father, a man with dark hair and a small beard, helped plan the killing of every impure witch and wizard, knew someone was coming for his own family, and yet did nothing. He was so cruel. In just a few hours, the memory of her father has turned pitch black as if she had never truly known him.

"..but first you have to come to the tower." Her father's voice haunted her dreams and her eyes flared open.

She was startled by the cloth on her forehead, clouding her vision. She opened her mouth to protest but her throat was so dry she couldn't utter a word. She lifted her hand and touched her throat.

"Water.." She thought.

"You are awake." A rough voice pierced her ears and she looked up. The room was barely lit and she couldn't see his face but already knew who it was.

Rokan smiled down at her. He put down the cloth he was using to wipe away the sweat from her forehead and grabbed a glass of water from the bedside table. Then he sneaked an arm around her and tried to help her stand up. He put the glass on her lips and titled a bit so she could drink. After a few seconds, she pushed it away and he put it back.

"Lay down. I will ask them to bring you some boiled herbs." He started moving but froze in place as he felt her hand on his wrist.

"Stay.." He would have missed her word if he had not seen her lips move. He kneeled down beside the bed and held her hand in his.

"Do you need anything?" His voice was gentle and it made her heart ache. She remembered everything that happened earlier and tears started falling again.

"Please don't cry, you have already shed enough tears." he pleaded.

"My dad, he knew someone was coming for our family and he let him be. Dad let them set fire in my heart."

"Are you sure?" Rokan asked and watched as Evanora nodded weakly.

"He left the message himself..."

"So he was here? He is not dead?"

Evanora nodded again in response, unable to utter the words herself. She had believed him to be dead for years and now all of a sudden she saw a vivid image of his face. It could only mean one thing, he was hiding in the Tower all along.
"He wants me to go to the tower. He said he would explain it all." Hearing her words Rokan frowned and sealed his lips. "Someone will finally answer all of my questions." She added.

"What if it's a trap?" He asked while squeezing her hand carefully.

"I don't care." She blurted carelessly, the only thing that mattered to her was getting answers.

He got up and sat on the bed as Evanora moved to give him space. Once he settled, he pulled her closer and she rested her head on his lap.

"Go back to sleep and we will talk about it later." Rokan wiped away her tears and caressed her hair gently. 

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