I was sitting on a familiar wooden chair with my elbows resting on an old kitchen table, wondering if I have made the biggest mistake of my life. Five years ago, I had promised never to set foot back inside the hidden village of the witches. Yet here I was, back inside my childhood home.
Then again, no matter how many times I tried to think of another way, I was never able to come up with a different way things could have turned out. The moment I had channeled Kasey's magic to free myself from the freezing spell my fate had been sealed.
Despite the broken promise, what actually bothered me was the fact that my childhood home still looked the same. Exactly like it had five years ago. This made me feel more creeped out than feeling like I was back home.
Because it had always been only my mother and me living here, there was only one small kitchen table and only four painted blue chairs. The cupboards, that were supposed to be coated with a layer of dust, were spotlessly crumbling under the weight of herbs and species in my mother's collection. Not to mention the colorful arrangement of plates, bowls, and cups that didn't have anything in common, except for the fact that they were positioned on the same shelf.
I turned back to the table just as Kasey swaggered into the room. She plotted her butt on the chair across the table and then propped her legs up on the said table. As usual, she was dressed in nothing but black. This time, however, she was wearing black pants instead of a dress.
Without paying me the least bit of attention, she rested her hands on her stomach. She leaned her head backward and allowed her eyes to flutter shut.
"You know you don't need to follow my every step?" I eyed her from across the table.
"You keep telling yourself that." She scoffed without bothering to open her eyes. "We both know I'd get my magic stripped if you even set one foot out of the house without me right by your side."
And she was telling the truth. Our fellow witches and wizards had decided her punishment the moment her part in the attack on the werewolf castle had been revealed. However, to become my personal guard was a punishment neither of us had expected.
Then again, because everyone still considered me a flight risk, it was no wonder they put someone in charge of keeping me here. Especially someone who had been threatened to be stripped of her magic if she failed at her job.
Not that I had any intention of leaving, though. While a part of me yearned to be anywhere but here, the bigger part understood it was over. It had been that way since the moment I set foot inside Allium.
A loud commotion coming from outside the window pulled me back and reminded me just what I was waiting here for. My acceptance ceremony. Today was the day I would accept my position as the High Priestess. A day, which only yesterday, I thought would never come.
"You nervous?"
I glanced back from the window to find one of Kasey's eyes open. One would think that since I was just about to become her High Priestess, she would treat me with a little more respect. Kasey didn't seem to think that way, though. Since the moment we had stepped through the portal, she had treated me like I was just another witch.
"A little." I tilted my head back, so I was facing the ceiling. "Mostly I'm just anxious to get this over with."
I continued to stare at the ceiling for a moment while wondering if this was the right time. I have, after all, had the question stuck in my mind ever since the moment Kasey broke the masking spell in the werewolf castle. "How come the two of us never met before?"
"You're older," she mumbled, making me guess that she was chewing on her nails. She seemed to do that rather often. "And to be honest, I never stood out. I mean, I was always skilled with battle magic, but I never tried enough to stand out. It seemed like such a waste to compete against my fellow witches and wizards."
"How old are you?" She looked my age, but I could be wrong. The always present heavy make-up probably added a few years.
"Nineteen."
Younger than I expected.
"Why now?" I sat up straighter. "Why show your real strength during an attack on the werewolf castle? And why align yourself with rogues in the first place?"
"Honestly? I was bored. Nothing ever happens in my coven." She was looking through the window, still biting on her nails.
"You really think I'd believe you helped a bunch of rogues because you were bored?" I snorted.
"No." She glanced at her nonexistent nail before bringing it back to her mouth.
I waited for her to add anything, but she didn't. I gathered she wasn't prepared to share her reasons with me.
Because of my status, I could force her to tell me the truth, yet I decided against it. I didn't want to damage the fragile alliance we had built since meeting each other. A powerful witch like her would be much more useful as my ally than as an opponent.
"Why were you at the werewolf castle anyway?" she asked.
I was surprised because until now she had never asked me a single personal question. I just assumed she wasn't at all curious about me, but maybe I was wrong. "My half brother is mated to a she-wolf from Silver Moon."
Sooner or later every witch and wizard would know about it. My status ensured there was never a lack of rumors about me. I was sure that once there had even been a rumor of me having been secretly married. To this day I still didn't know who the rumors pinned as my suspected husband.
"But why were you masking yourself as a human?" She moved her eyes from her nails onto me.
With a sigh, I laid back against the chair. "My human relatives never knew about me being a witch, so that was partly the reason. I was, of course, still a wanted witch, so I couldn't parade around the werewolf castle as a witch, could I?"
"No, you couldn't." The female voice didn't belong to Kasey.
The unexpected voice caused me to lean too far back and I almost went tumbling down to the floor. I grabbed the edge of the table just in the nick of time and set the balance of the chair back on all four legs. Only then did I twist into the direction the female voice had come from.
In the open doorway stood a busty older woman. The same witch I had run across only a few days ago inside the werewolf castle.
A lump formed in my throat as I stared at the woman who helped raise me. "Euphemia."
The name felt strange on my lips and it left a bitter aftertaste. I didn't know how to react. A part of me wanted to throw myself at her, but I didn't know if I still had the privilege to do so. After all, it had been over five years since she last saw me.
"Psh. Since when do you call me that?" Her stern features melted into the smallest of smiles. "I will always be Effie to you."
"Effie." This name felt like home.
"Enough with the mushy stuff." Despite her words, her eyes glistened. "We have an acceptance ceremony to get to. Let's go. Everyone's already waiting."
I swallowed the large lump that formed in my throat and stood. I almost stepped on my floor-length blue Bohemian dress, however, luckily I quickly switched my feet before I could rip anything. The dress was longer than my usual dresses, but then again this wasn't just any other day.
With unsteady feet, I walked across the room. When I passed Effie, she caught my hand and gave it a little squeeze. The simple action had a much more calming effect than any words could.
Effie and Kasey were right behind me as we made our way through my childhood home. I kept my eyes focused straight forward, fighting the memories that were jumping from every corner. I exited the house with my head held high and a mask of serenity on my face. No one was going to know the swirl of emotions that were fighting to rip my body apart.
Directly from the front door of the house led a wide street with different colored houses decorating it from both sides. Because it was Allium's main street, leading from the main square to the house of the High Priestess, it was always swirling with life. However, it couldn't even think to compare to the sea of witches and wizards now gathered in the street. Not a single empty corner was left, except for the four feet wide path in the middle. A path which allowed me a view straight at the statue of the first High Priestess.
My destination.
I felt Effie's and Kasey's presence behind me as I took in a deep breath and began walking down the empty path. I was less than twenty feet away from the statue when I was forced to stop. A trio of unfamiliar witches stepped away from the crowd and positioned themselves in a straight line. I didn't try to maneuver past them because I knew I needed to face whatever opposition they presented.
"Get out of our way." I could feel Kasey gathering her magic, prepared to remove the trio with any force necessary.
Without turning in her direction, I lifted my hand. It was a signal for her to stand down. And she did, but not after cursing under her breath.
Silently I waited for the trio to say what they came here to say and so did the rest of Allium. It was quiet enough for me to be able to hear the electric buzz of the magic flowing through all of us.
"You acted like a coward by fleeing from your own kind," the witch in the middle said. "You don't deserve to be our High Priestess."
Her words weren't all that surprising because I knew that most of our kind felt this way. Yet I hadn't expected any of them to actually say it to my face.
"I won't try to excuse my actions." My voice boomed through the silent street, despite the fact that I wasn't shouting. "I had my reasons for doing what I did, but I won't try to defend myself or my actions. I'm here now and I'm ready to take on the role."
"And what if we don't want you anymore?" the one on the right asked.
"I won't try to force my way to the position that is mine by birthright." My voice was steadier than I felt. "If you decide you no longer want me to lead you then I'll go. But we all know that no one else can take the position on. No one else possesses the ability I do."
"How do we know you're still able to channel magic?" Someone from the crowd called out.
I knew there was only one way to answer that. I closed my eyes and allowed my senses to feel the magic surrounding me. Inside every witch and wizard were two shimmering forces; one's magical power and one's life magic. The former was the magic we all used every day to conjure even the simplest of spells. The life magic, on the other hand, was our life force; the magic running through our veins and keeping us alive.
With my own magic, I reached for the magical powers of the ones closest to me. At the same time, I made a wide circle around the life magic. Channeling life magic had been prohibited for centuries because if you took away too much of someone's life magic you could instantly kill them.
No matter how much time passed, channeling magic still felt like second nature to me. I allowed the surrounding magical powers to flood my body, filling my every cell with new energy. I felt invincible.
"Our High Priestess!" Came the first shout from the crowd.
"Let her pass!" Came another and then another and another.
Two from the trio of witches instantly moved back into the crowd, however, the one in the middle remained. She held my eyes for a moment longer before she too backed away.
With my path now free, I continued my way to the statue of the first High Priestess, my ancestor. The gray stone it was made of was without a single scratch or sign of aging. Which was a shame because the woman herself was neither attractive nor pretty. Her eyes were too close together, making her look like a mouse. Not to mention her big nose that had a mole right at the tip.
Despite her looks, however, legend had it she has once been the most powerful witch of her time. She had been the first witch with the power to channel magic. And to this day her family still carried the same ability. My family.
I turned my back to my ancestor and faced the surrounding crowd.
Our acceptance ceremony may not seem like much to outsiders. There was no crown for me to wear and no throne for me to sit on. All that I needed to do was say my vows. Words I had heard countless times as a child. My mother had often recited the vow when I misbehaved. It had been her way of reminding me who I was and who I was yet to become.
Thinking about my mother made a familiar ache tighten my chest. I couldn't help but feel wronged that she couldn't witness this moment. To stand in front of the crowd and smile brightly at me.
"I Gabriela Olivia Castillo..." I was barely aware of the words slipping off my tongue.
Once the last word left my lips, I felt a surge of immense power sweep through my body. Power I had never felt before, no matter how many witches and wizards I channeled.
I was officially the High Priestess.
A loud cheer erupted from the crowd while Effie made her way closer to me. Without stopping, she pulled me in for a tight hug. "You'll make one heck of a High Priestess. Now, you need to stand here and look pretty while everyone congratulates you."
"And then?" With her I always knew something was yet to follow.
"And then you need to smooth things over with the werewolves and their Alpha King. We need the alliance."
I had been afraid of that since the moment I had left the castle. Witches and werewolves had been allies for centuries and I couldn't be the one to break it.
This, however, meant I would need to face Theo again. And after everything that had transpired at the castle, I dreaded to see him again.
I had, after all, lied about the most important thing. About who exactly I was.
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