Saturday, July 31, 2010

Princess and the Pea Chapter 38

Chapter 38:
“Two hundred years ago, both the White Witches and the Dark Witches were united into one big coven. We all lived in peace and spent our time creating elixirs and potions to sell in the markets. That’s how we lived our lives. We were merchants.
“Helen was my older sister. She always hated me, for some reason. She thought I would be a threat to her and her power…And her inherence. So she always made sure that in public, I would look terrible while she shone in front of the crowds.
“One day, Helen suddenly left home. My parents were frantic. They had no idea where Helen was.
“But I knew. She had told me that one spring morning. She had informed me of a magical place in the Great Woods where there was enough enchantment to give even the weakest witches unbelievable power. I wondered why she had told me.
“I told my parents what I had heard from Helen. They immediately sent out many witch soldiers to go find my sister. And my parents and I went with them.
“With our coven empty of supplies and protection…Oh, I should’ve known. Helen was creating an army. She manipulated many of our finest witches and turned them over to her side.
“Helen took over our coven, and while she was taking care of things, we found ourselves facing an iron gate that was blocking the Great Woods.
“All of a sudden, we all fainted. When I woke up, I found myself in the centre of the Great Woods. Helen had lied. I felt no presence of power or enchantment there.
“Many other soldiers and witches were with me, still unconscious. I shook them awake, and there, in the centre of the Great Woods, we built our own coven. Our coven was dedicated to goodness. Helen’s…Well, you know already.”
Neleh sighed. Then she looked directly at Fiona. “A few months later, my dear sister-in-law Anoia came running to me, holding a bundle of blankets.
“‘What do I do?’ She asked me. ‘I lost a bet with Helen, so I had to give my baby to her.’”
Fiona looked shocked as if she knew what Neleh was going to say. Everyone else turned to Neleh expectantly.
Neleh closed her eyes. “That baby was you, Fiona.”

-Vociferously yours, Vicky.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Princess and the Pea Chapter 37

Chapter 37:
The next few weeks were busy ones. The witches prepared for war silently, gathering dark forces and chanting their incantations in the Daffodil Acres castle. Helen left her army of toxic slugs to guard over the Ruby Cross castle while she practiced her spells in seclusion. Nobody knew where she was, not even her daughter Linda.
Linda was in her room as usual, lazily lounging on her bed, humming peaceful songs to herself as she rested, completely oblivious to the world around her.
“Come here, Melinda!” Linda snapped her fingers, and an old, exhausted looking maid came up to her, bowing low.
“What do you request, milady?”
Linda rolled her eyes. “My mother is what I request! Where in the world has she been?”
“You do not know, milady? Mistress Helen Crosby is preparing for war.”
“What war?” Linda looked truly confused.
“The war against…The former royalties of the two kingdoms you and your mother have captured.”
Linda sighed nonchalantly. “Oh, that war. Well, let my mother do what she wants. It’ll be all wasted energy at the end.”
“And why do you say that, milady?”
Linda frowned, unhappy to be questioned. “Because I believe you are all overestimating those former royalties. They have lost all their power. They do not pose as any threat to us.”
“If you say so, milady.” Melinda left slowly. She was worried for the young witch. Linda had been dilly-dallying for too long. She should be caring for the witches’ power, if she was to be the future Grand Dark Witch.
And on the other side of the castle, the former royalties and their two new acquaintances were also preparing for war. Vincent had provided them each a weapon. He gave Samson a long, silver sword, Marilynn a fine bow and arrow, Lily a staff, Henry a dagger, Sandra iron knuckles, and William a long, curved blade. Fiona had her spells and potions, so she needed no other weapon.
The group was also rounding up all their possible allies too. They found alliance with the Grand White Witch and her coven. The white witches were pure hearted and kind. They all had flowing white hair, pasty complexions, and pale, snow white robes.
They had introduced themselves to the group one fine morning. At first Samson had been quite appalled and tried to attack them, but they declared their innocence and swore that they were different from the dark witches.
“We’d be delighted to help you,” the Grand White Witch Neleh proclaimed. And so they joined the group against the dark witches.
“Thank you, Neleh,” King William said.
“You’re welcome, William, sir,” Neleh smiled. “But first, you must learn a bit about our coven…”

-Vociferously yours, Vicky.