The Bewitched Soul

"I have a meeting with Lord Gerard after lunch. We will visit a few places as well after the meeting gets over," Alexander was hopeful and looking forward to the meeting and the visit.

Today was the most important day. If the plan will be a success, then it would be easier for Alexander to find the lost key to his vault full of secrets.

Later in the evening, Lord Gerard had invited Lord Alexander for a palace tour and a brief meeting with the councilmen. Lord Gerard had a separate council apart from the central one as the Land of Ostbarrow was responsible for the management of trades all across the four provinces.

Sharp at four in the evening, Alexander climbed down to the first floor towards Lord Gerard's study.

Knocking the brass coated door thrice, Alexander heard Lord Gerard say,

"Get in."

The door creaked when he pushed it open.

"Good evening, Lord Gerard." his face broke into a gentle smile.

"Good evening, Lord Alexander. Have a seat, there's one paper left where I need to sign." Gerard's sounded apologetic.

"No worries, I shall wait." Alexander smiled.

"Umm... done! Let's go," Gerard quickly assembled the scattered papers on his desk into a huge pile.

He quickly grabbed his coat hanging on his chair, taking long strides he walked towards the door. He stopped suddenly, realizing he left Alexander behind.

"Oh sorry, haha. I'm too excited." Gerard laughed.

"It's fine, let's go!" Alexander laughed as well.

Both walked through the vast corridor. They climbed up to the terrace which was more four floors above. Breathing in the fresh air,

"Do you know how old this palace is, Alexander?" Gerard asked, his hands were warmly secured in the coat pockets.

"Definitely older than me," Alexander spoke while looking at the view in front of him.

"It must be like a few hundred years old?"

"A few hundred thousand years," Gerard looked at Alexander as he spoke.

"It's ancient," Alexander bent down to pick up a dry maple leaf.

Dusting it, he carefully wiped its surface. The fallen leaf has still its glow intact.

"My father had built this palace when they burned down our previous home," Gerard stared blankly at the maple leaf Alexander was holding.

"They who?" Alexander brows furrowed as this information came in as a complete shock.

"Black witches," Gerard spoke as he treated over the fallen leaves, leaving a trail of crunching noises every time he took a step.

"The warlocks had gone to the Land of Shadowlake for a council meeting along with my parents. Apparently, the servants in the palace were cast upon a spell which made them follow the orders of the black witches in absence of my parents and others. They started burning the palace bit by bit and in the end, they died in the fire." Gerard sighed as he continued.


"The black witched hovered over the palace finally burning it down into ashes. It was too late when my parents and the warlocks reached Ostbarrow. Luckily, they were able to save the civilians from the black witches. Since then, we started practicing more on white magic. There are a few more black witches left to be killed." he spoke finally turning around to face Alexander.

Alexander's face was expressionless. This was something unexpected. Like who could have predicted that coming?

"They still possess danger and you know it," he spoke in a plain tone.

"You still have two days left. I'll take you somewhere to meet someone if you want." Gerard waited for Alexander's response.

"I won't be able to handle the situation, Lord Gerard." Alexander knew about whom Lord Gerard was talking about.

"It wasn't my authority to take actions against you. The council didn't even have enough proofs against him, Alexander," Gerard tried to make Alexander understand about what had happened.

"He's unworthy of being a white witch. But, it's only I and you who knows who was the mastermind behind that incident." he continued.

"Let me handle this. But, not this time," Alexander continued.

"To all those questions swirling in my head, needs to get answered, Lord Gerard. I've lost all my dearest ones. And now that you've mentioned that she is alive, makes me grow impatient every passing second. Even I need to find Emilia's daughter," he was speaking when Gerard interfered.

"You don't notice things around you when it comes to your personal life, Alexander. Every small doubt of yours might guide you the path to the answers to your questions." Alexander's left eyebrow lifted in reflex as his lips slightly opened.

"Why did my mother died?" Alexander spoke after a minute of silence.

"You were very weak and fragile at the time of birth. She gave all of her powers to you before she died to save you, Alexander. You can say, she drained the soul to you before she took her last breath. The reason why you have more strong super-powers than the rest mixed bloods," Gerard patted Alexander's shoulder gently.

"She had suffered a lot in her life, didn't she?" Alexander spoke as his voice started to shiver and his eyes started becoming red at ends. After much control, he failed to contain the tears. A single drop of tear raced down his cheeks, his Adam's apple moved as he gulped, trying to hold back his emotions.

The great king now looked like a lost child searching for his mother to get back to him and hold him tight in her arms.