The Devil's Cursed Witch

Inside the Spirit Circle, the three old witches resumed lounging within the drawing room, silently doing their own things, as if nothing had happened. But from time to time, Maria and Glinda would throw curious glances towards Thala who acted as if she didn't know what these two were up to.

Maria could no longer bear it in the end.

"Thala, what did you talk about with Commander Morpheus?"

"It was nothing."

"C'mon, you don't need to hide it from us. We are sisters," Glinda insisted.

"Don't nose in on another person's private matters. If you are allowed to know, he would have requested to see us three, not only me, but he didn't, did he?"

"He must have thought your help alone is enough, but three heads are better than one, isn't it? Burdens should be shared among us. Don't keep it to yourself, you hag. We will do our best to help as well."

Rather than wise grandmothers, Glinda and Maria were acting like silly little girls burning with curiosity.

"If I tell you two, you two will never support me and will instead stop me. Which I don't want."

The witches turned quiet, their heads trying to come up with their own individual guesses.

"Hmm? An arrangement with the Commander that we would stop you from doing?"

Glinda looked at the plump witch suspiciously. "Is the Commander planning to commit an act he should not?"

"Ugh, I am hungry. Both of you better start cooking and doing chores, as you have promised."  Thala stood up. "I'll be in my room. Call for me when the food is ready."

"Thala, what is it? What did that man ask you to do? Don't tell us you are going to partake in dishonorable business? With your energy core broken, if you attempt to unleash a destructive spell—"

"—that I may lose my life?" Thala smiled, but her smiling face was uglier than a crying one. "If it means I will be satisfied before I die, then I think I did something good. After all, the most befitting end for the Witch of Destruction is to not die of old age in bed."

Glinda and Maria didn't get good feelings about this.

"Thala, be honest. What did the Commander ask of you?" Glinda asked, her expression serious. "If he asked you to use your powers despite knowing your circumstances, I will have to personally step in and prevent you from doing whatever it is, even if I have to ask Cornelia that young lass to help out. There is no war that will need your powers now."

"Who says there is no war?" Thala sneered. "There is always war going on, one way or another. Sometimes, that war includes armies and causes chaos, while sometimes, it only includes individuals and it goes on silently without any noise. Not every kind of war can be seen—who says one's mind cannot be a battlefield? Who says there is no battle just because one cannot see? An individual need not let those around him know how he fights to put an end to that war."

"That individual is the Commander?" Maria mumbled. "What kind of war is he going to put an end to?"

"Not just him. Are we not all individuals fighting our own wars? This time, I wish to put an end to the war inside my mind as well, one which I have been fighting against for more than a century. I now have an opportunity to put an end to that hatred."

"Hatred?" Glinda looked at Thala in shock. "It is not a secret that the Commander also holds a grudge against the King because of his younger sister."

Maria was horrified. "Thala, you are out of your mind! A-Are you planning something against the King?"

Thala didn't answer her and Maria rushed towards her sister.

"Speak to us!"

Thala didn't react even until after she left the drawing room..

"Thala, where are you going?"

"Answer us."

Both continued to shout but Thala disappeared behind one of the doors without giving a response.

"Sister Glinda, what shall we do? If these two are truly scheming against the King, then... Dear spirits. We know how much Thala hates the King."

"We need to tell Cornelia," Glinda replied with deep worry etched on her aged face.

-----

Meanwhile, Ember spent that day inside Draven's bedchamber, entertaining herself by studying the map lent to her. Some time after, she moved to reading some books about the human kingdoms that Erlos had found for her from the shelves within the King's study.

When afternoon rolled in, she got so bored and restless in bed that she used her willpower to force her aching body to move. Though it was quite a struggle, she was able to arrive at her study on the opposite side of the palace using her own legs.

By the time she entered the balcony of her study, she plopped on the chair with a relieved sigh. The fresh air blowing against her face made her smile.

'The weather is nice.' For some reason, she missed Draven's presence. 'I wonder where he is. Reya told me he is not in the palace again. Are all kings this busy?'

She then looked at the clear sky. As she idly watched the clouds roam, she realized she could not see even a single bird. It made her wonder if there was truly nothing in the sky or it was just that her eyesight was poor.

Agartha is a kingdom where the feathered race exists. Even if not Morpheus, there should be other winged people soaring through the sky, but even after narrowing her eyes, she could not see anything aside from clouds.

'Morph, I wonder if he is up there.'' She pulled the bird whistle out from her pocket. 'Should I see if this really works?'

Ember put the whistle between her lips and blew air into it as she was told. It didn't make any sound but she sensed the bead inside the whistle was rolling.

Though she trusted Morpheus' words about its effect, it was quite difficult for her to wrap her mind that it worked.

'Should I try again?'