"A warlock," Sir Christian clarified. "I am a warlock."
Archie did not know what to say or how to respond to the revelation. His closest friend, someone he trusted, was not human, and he had been oblivious to it all this time. Saying that he was shocked would have been an understatement. On the other hand, for Kenric, it only confirmed the doubts that he had been having for the past few days.
"Magic has been outlawed for decades. You know what would happen to you if you were to be found, so why...why would you become a knight? Be at the castle where your secret is most vulnerable." Kenric questioned.
"It is a long story," Sir Christian muttered, glancing between the two of them. "One we do not have time for right now. We need to find the witch and get back before sunset. Otherwise, the portal will close, and we will have to wait until tomorrow, and well, if you thought that creature was scary, then you do not want to witness what all comes out when it is dark."
Knowing Sir Christian's identity made Archie feel so goddamn stupid. They would not have had to make this journey in the first place if they were aware that they already knew a warlock. The entire quest felt redundant, but they were too far along to turn back now, so Archie could only hope the witch would tell them something that Sir Christian could not.
"We want answers, Sir Christian," Kenric stated. "Be it now or later, but you will tell us everything."
"Trust goes both ways, Your Highness. How do you expect me to lay my cards in front of you when you are hiding yours from me?" Sir Christian retorted, making the prince bite his tongue in annoyance.
"You are in no place to argue. You have lied to me, to the King, and to everyone else for years! You have deceived us and—"
"What was I supposed to do? Live my life in hiding forever because of what is in my blood. I did not choose to be a warlock; it is who I am, and the only times I have used magic in the castle have been to help you two." Sir Christian added
"You have still broken laws."
"To save you and—"
"Will you both shut up for heaven's sake?" Archie snapped loudly, and the two immediately stopped as they turned around to face the stable boy. Archie's face was flustered red, and he looked frustrated beyond measure. "Are you both children? Answer me!"
"No..."
"Then fucking act like it and get over this! Sir Christian, I get you had your reasons, but you did lie to us about who you are. And Ken? All Christian has done is help us every step of the way, and we would not be here without him. So can you both stop arguing for now so that we can move ahead? We have a task to do and you two are busy bickering like kids," Archie finished.
"Fine," Kenric muttered, his voice bitter as he looked away with his jaw locked tight. "Lead the way, warlock."
Sir Christian nodded, shooting Archie a grateful smile that the stable boy did not return before turning to the left and starting to walk. Kenric and Archie followed behind him, silence among the three. Archie took the time to look around his surroundings, Kenric was doing the same, though their reasons were far apart.
Kenric was on high alert, his sword in his hand as he was ready to fight anything and anyone that was to come at them. At the same time, Archie was busy observing how different the forest was from anything that he had ever seen before. He had the urge to touch and feel everything on his fingertips, but he remembered Sir Christian's warning and stayed at arm's length from all the flowers and insects he came across.
Archie watched in awe as a yellow butterfly that shined as if its wings were made of the most valuable gold flew by them. Archie's eyes followed as it landed on a tree, before turning into a small golden bird.
"Woah..." Archie had stopped in its tracks to look at the bird until Sir Christian cleared his throat and asked the stable boy to keep following him.
"How long till we reach her?" Kenric asked.
"Not very," Sir Christian replied.
"Since when have you been practicing magic?" Archie asked. It was not to interrogate the knight, but simply to get to know more about him out of pure curiosity and interest.
"My family line usually starts showing signs of power by the age of five, so a little over two decades," Sir Christian answered.
"Are there more of you? Where's your family? Have you always lived in the kingdom?" Archie continued, making the knight shrug lightly.
"Most of them are dead," the blond replied, a grim look on his face that both Kenric and Archie mirrored. "I do not...I no longer know where they are except a few. And the answer to your third question...well, it depends."
"On?"
"This...the gateway to Bluestone Lake may lie in the kingdom, but where we are right now is...it is hard to explain, but it is in a different realm. Sort of a safe haven that was created centuries ago to protect the creatures and people that outsiders hunt. I grew up here, though I left when I was merely thirteen," the knight spoke.
"If this land was made to protect the creatures then why did that...why did that thing attack us?" Kenric asked.
"Because we are outsiders. Especially you both since you are human. And no offense but humans are not a trusted species around here," the blond replied.
"So what all can you do? In terms of magic? Can you make items float? Or light things on fire?" Archie changed the topic, sensing that talking about home and family was a sore subject for the warlock.
"Hah, I wish," Sir Christian chuckled. "Like I said, I left at thirteen, so I did not get to learn or hone my skills much. I can do some spells and the energy bursts that you saw, but that is about it. My knowledge and power are very limited compared to an average warlock."
"You do have something that they do not," Archie paused, "you are also a knight. How many average warlocks can say they have won battles without using any magic whatsoever?"
"Not many, I suppose," Sir Christian nodded. "I know I kept the truth from you two but...but I did not have any other option. I would have been burnt at a stake if anyone was to find out."
"Your secret will remain safe with us," Kenric pitched in, surprising both Archie and Sir Christian. "I cannot make any other promises about what the future holds for you right now, but I can assure you that you will not be hunted or harmed for what you are. At least not under my watch."
"Thank you," the knight said as the three finally reached a small hut. Sir Christian gulped as he stopped in front of it, before turning and looking at the other men. "This is it."
"Huh," Kenric hummed, looking around the place for signs of anything dangerous. It seemed like a plain house with a garden in front of it, but if there was one thing that Kenric had learned since he had arrived at that place was that looks can be deceiving.
"Well! What are we waiting for?" Archie exclaimed as he started walking towards the entrance of the hut. Kenric and Sir Christian shared a look before following behind him. Archie knocked at the door, but when he did not hear a response, he simply shrugged before opening it and walking right in.
He probably should have been a bit more careful, considering he was going into a witch's house but well... the anticipation was killing him.
Archie blinked, stopping in his tracks as he faced a young woman knitting on a chair. She furrowed her brows, not in anger but rather in confusion as she watched the three men enter her house. Archie was expecting an old woman, dressed in a black robe with maybe a pointy hat and a large mole on the chin. But what he did not expect at all was a rather gorgeous blonde wearing a yellow dress with a flower crown decorating her braided hair.
"Oh my...if anyone had warned me that I would have such handsome young men visit me today then I would have at least dressed up!" The woman chuckled as she kept her half-knitted scarf aside.
"Uh, our apologies for not giving a notice of our arrival?" Archie responded, still at a loss for how to react.
Both he and the prince were shocked at how different she was from their expectations, whereas Sir Christian stood there with his arms folded around his chest and his lips pressed in a thin line.
"No need for apologies, pretty boy! You are welcome here any day!" She said, getting up from her rocking chair, a wide grin on her face. "Oh, where are my manners? Prince...Kenric, am I right? My greetings, Your Highness."
"How do you know who I am?" Kenric asked, already wary of the woman.
"Seriously?" The witch huffed, raising a brow. "How can I not know the great warrior prince? Oh, how fortunate am I that you came to visit me! Wait till I tell all of my friends, you have given me bragging rights for at least a decade."
Kenric did not know whether she was teasing him or something else, but he already did not like her. Something felt off, and he could not shake the feeling from his chest. He gripped his sword tighter as she walked closer to them, stopping in front of Archie as she looked at the stable boy. Kenric almost took a step towards them, but Sir Christian had to hold him back with a warning look as the woman held Archie's chin.
"Huh," she hummed, examining Archie's face carefully, turning it left and right as the stable boy stood there wide-eyed and frozen.
"Uh..."
"You have your mother's nose but your eyes and your face...it is as if you are a spitting image of your father," she spoke. "He was quite the charmer in his days, you know? Had all the village girls following him around. Tell me, are you out there breaking hearts too, hm?"
"You knew my father?" Archie whispered.
"Knew him?" She scoffed, letting go of Archie's face before turning around and sitting back on her chair. "I practically raised him!"
"How...but you...you are so young...and my father— what was he doing with witches?" Archie spoke. "It makes no sense."
"Time works differently here, my dear," the witch stated. "And everything would make perfect sense to you soon. Enough questions from you. It is my turn to ask what you are doing here now. I do not suppose you came for my marvelous pot roast."
"We need your help," Kenric butted in. Archie was still in shock upon the mention of his father, no longer caring about anything else. "We need to break a curse."
"I see," she hummed. "And you came to me? Could dear Chris not help you with it?"
"Well, we learned of his...skills only recently," Kenric muttered, glancing back at the knight who looked too uncomfortable to be there.
"Really!?" The witch gasped, getting up and walking over to the blond man. "Not good, Christian, not good! You do not keep secrets from friends! I thought I taught you better than to do that."
"You did," the knight paused briefly. "I apologize...mother."