When Leeora returned to her house, she found the black-haired king already seated inside, having made himself comfortable on the largest armchair in her lounge. He was leaning casually on the armrest, one hand under his chin, his red eyes expressionless between the black strands of his messy short hair. He simply watched her close the door behind her, saying nothing as she approached.
With his dark regal clothes, his commanding presence looked completely out of place inside the elf’s house which was filled with simple wooden furniture and leafy plants.
The Head of the Witches, Cornelia Grimm, was standing quietly by the side of the King, waiting for Leeora to return. There were only the three of them inside. Since Erlos was not with the King, it probably meant Draven didn’t find it important to bring him there with him.
“The Wood Elves are honoured to welcome King Draven in our humble city,” Leeora greeted him with her head lowered.
Draven simply nodded, easily dismissing formalities, and instructed, “Have a seat, both of you.”
The two women sat on the couch in front of him and patiently waited for their king to talk. The red-robed witch with a youthful face and the elderly elf clad in simple white clothes sat side by side, their expressions equally respectful before him.
Draven turned his attention to Cornelia. “Leeora told me that you tried to read that human’s memories but failed.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” she replied.
Though Draven knew the reason, he preferred to hear it from her, “What happened?”
Cornelia explained. “As you know, Sire, we witches have our potential powers determined at birth. Though we can use spells, we cannot effectively use them on beings that are stronger than the witch who cast the spell. When I tried to read the human girl’s memories through scrying, I felt a strange power stopping my magic from reaching her mind. I don’t know what exactly it is, but it’s not something I had ever come across before. It is the second time my scrying spell failed to read a person’s memories.”
Leeora looked at her. “Second time? You mean…?”
“Hmm,” Cornelia nodded. “The first time was with His Majesty King Draven himself. Not only me, even Her Eminence the Monarch tried to read the King’s memories in the past but failed to do so. It was understandable in the case of His Majesty as he is not an ordinary being, but that human girl…it bothers me that cannot read her memories. How can a mere human render my scrying invalid? Not even other supernatural beings can hide their memories from me.”
“Is there a possibility that she is not human?” Draven asked. Somewhere in his mind, he believed she wasn’t truly human.
“The world is a large mysterious place, and there is much to be explored. We cannot say we know everything about it so we cannot discount the small possibility that she is, in fact, a supernatural being like us,” Cornelia said, “but there is also another possibility—that she is truly human, but she is suffering from a curse. Since this kind of curse belongs to a divine realm far beyond what we mortals understand, it makes sense our powers fail to work on her.”
That reminded Leeora of something and she looked at Draven, who looked calm and cold from the outside, but there was a chaos of thoughts in his mind.
Leeora remembered something. “Sire, from what Erlos said about that child’s background, he mentioned that she was declared as a bad omen by an oracle, that her family gave her up because she is a cursed child. We cannot deny the words of the human priests as their predictions tend to be messages from the gods they worship. Perhaps there is truth in their prediction.”
“Cursed?” Draven repeated the word but then looked at Cornelia. “Is there a way to prove that she is not human? I understand the council’s position. The only way to assure the people is to convince them that she is not human.”
Though he already had a way to solve this in mind, if possible, he would not mind having another solution. If there was an alternative way to make the human girl stay, he would not have to use the last resort that he was not willing to use at all.
Cornelia understood the King did not want this human girl to leave. She was sure he must have his reasons, or else there was no way he would keep that human when he hated them to his core.
“Your Majesty, in the council meeting, I can say what I had experienced with that human girl but that won’t be enough. That only proves she’s not an ordinary human. If I insist, they will think I am conspiring with you to keep that human girl where she doesn’t belong. They won’t agree to it unless they get concrete proof about that human girl’s abilities. However, if she has other abilities, then that would raise the question on whether she is a human who wields black magic, which is something that would enrage the other leaders. Our kind finds humans disgusting, but sorcerers, in particular, are beyond acceptable. If she’s a human, they would merely ask that she be sent to the villages, but if they start to think she’s a sorcerer…”
“But she doesn’t have black magic,” Leeora interceded.
“That will be a point of contention if we raise that Ember, that girl, has strange abilities. It is a universal truth that human beings cannot use magic unless they are sorcerers who dabble in the forbidden use of black magic.”
Leeora turned towards Draven. “Sire, during my first meeting with that child, I remember the palace servants in charge of her said something about her changing her appearance?”
“A lowly shape-shifting spell,” Draven recalled that time. “It’s not black magic.”
Cornelia was hearing about this for the first time, and she could not help but be surprised. “How is that possible? A human who I cannot scry and also use a magic spell? She’s becoming more and more of a puzzle. Now I understand why His Majesty wants to keep her close. She’s a special human, probably the first of her kind—a pure-blooded human who could wield magic.”
Humans could not use magic while other races could—that was the ultimate reason why supernatural beings and humankind had fought in the first place. Though they dominated the continent with their population, humans felt threatened by the magical races who were far stronger than themselves and refused to coexist with them, causing the hunted ones to go into hiding to survive.
Yet now a strange human appeared…
“Hmm,” was all Draven said and stood up. He looked at Leeora. “Is that human inside her home?”
“Yes, Sire. Do you wish to meet her?”
Draven nodded. Leeora also stood up with an awkward smile. “Let me lead your way, Sire.”
“No need,” Draven countered and walked ahead, not giving Leeora a chance to say anything.
Leeora and Cornelia shared a worried glance with each other. They were both concerned about the human girl. They knew his presence would scare her, but who would dare raise this out loud to this overbearing king who didn’t know how to care for others’ feelings?
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