The Cursed

Chapter Nineteen

Lilura

I knock on the blue door, trying to steady my breathing. Tears threaten to pour down my face as I long to run back to Everette. I knock harder, praying both that Willa would open the door, and that she wouldn't. But the door did swing open revealing the woman. She had a smile on her face and stepped back to let me into the tree. I rush into her house, not noticing anything about it. I collapse against the wall, tucking my knees into my chest and letting the tears fall.

I feel so alone. I am lost in the world. I don't know who I am, but everyone around me seems to know something I don't. They're holding onto a secret that's going to tear me apart. Rather than tell me and help me through the devastation, they leave me with a stranger. I have to figure out my life without knowing where to start. I don't know who I am. My memories are gone, and I have to start fresh.

Willa opens the door, letting it swing open. She steps back and gestures for me to enter with a sweeping arm. I dart into the tree and the dirt closes with a snap.

Immediately I am bathed in the scent of lavender and oak. There's a merry fire crackling several feet above the floor, spreading red warmth into the room. Thick carpets muffle Willa's footsteps while she hobbles to a small counter. There are two glasses filled with a thick blue liquid that smoked slightly. She clutches them and gives me one while gripping the other with gnarled hands.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, wiping away my tears with my free hand.

"Hush darling. I know, I know," she cooes. "Come, I wish to show you your room." She starts to hobble towards a small staircase I failed to notice. I trail behind the witch up to another room.

It's small with a quaint bed, a hand sewn quilt tucked neatly on it. There's a small mirror sitting on a table filled with glass trinkets that catch the light shining from a dusty window.

We walk up to another room filled with shelves filled with dried herbs, animal parts floating in a clear liquid, and what seems like hundreds of jars filled with a mixture of a liquid and herbs with hand written labels. As we walk past the stained, wooden table and bubbling cauldron over a fire, I see the names.

"Love Potion" and "Liquid Death" are scratched messily in two larger jars. I hurry past them to the next set of stairs.

Willa hasn't said anything in our small journey through the tree. She occasionally will hum or send a puff of smoke to clear a dusty surface she spots. We climb up more stairs to what feels like the very top of the tree. And there we finally stop.

We're in a room like the bedroom several floors below. The air feels lighter and the light that shines through the dusty window isn't filtered green. I think we must be above the forest canopy. I glide over to the window and look out.

Instantly I remember the small room we stayed at before Everette and I saw the first witch. The leaves rolling like waves. I feel my eyes tear up just slightly.

"Dear?" Willa says, breaking me out of my memories.

"Hmm? Sorry, I must- I must have, sorry," I mumble. I clench my fists so my nails dig into my worn palms.

"Never mind child," she says. Her eyes trail over my form, pausing on my hands. "Well, we have work. Your wardrobe must be fixed, and you have much to learn about magic. We will start tomorrow, but first-" she gestured around the room. That's when I notice my trunk laying open and bare in the corner of the room.

I have a small-ish bed filled with fluffy pillows and a thick blanket. There's a vanity filled with dozens of flowers in jars. They're alive yet only have the water in the jars for sustenance. The room is small, but not claustrophobic. It's open and I feel the scent on salt. It reminds me of the ship. It's perfect. This helps me settle in, I feel comfortable.

"Thank you Willa, it's perfect," I say spinning to face her. She smiles warmly at me.

"Your clothes are in the closet and breakfast is at eight. I will see you there, sleep well dear," she says before sweeping out of the room to descend the many levels to her room.

I sit on my bed and it does feel as comfortable as it looked. Before I can fully undress or prepare for bed, I fall back into the pillows where sleep wraps its sticky fingers around me.