As dusk fell, the hall began getting darker. Torches embedded on the walls came to life illuminating the hall. At the front was a platform with a wooden lectern standing in front of a throne-like chair. On the chair sat an old woman don in white with a head covered with a black veil. She wore a serious face as she studied fifteen women who knelt on the mats below the platform. All the fifteen women were dressed in green with yellow mantillas.
"My daughters, our sister is out there finishing the business we have failed to do since his birth. Each one of you must pay a visit to our fifteen shrines and tell the priests to prepare the sacrifices. Her Celestial is almost getting out of seclusion and nothing will please her more than the news of his death."
"Yes Mistress." The fifteen bowed.
"You can now leave." The woman waved nonchalantly as she dismissed the girls. When almost all were out of the hall, she called the last one over to issue some instructions. The one she called over nodded before leaving in a hurry. Minutes later, a woman in her thirties appeared and curtsied before her, "Madam Priscilla, you called for me."
"Yes, Agetha. The man is probably dead by now. The people from Cursed Town are not going to rest until they find out the person behind his death. I want you to capture the love girl and bring her to me. She has a gift that may prove useful in our fight against those people. Do it as quickly as possible." Agetha nodded before leaving.
Priscilla was a witch who taught young men and women the ways of Her Celestial and should they accept Her Celestial's ways, she would endow them with powers beyond measure. In other words, she was the keeper of Her Celestial's doctrines and had been for decades. When she thought she would die a keeper, Her Celestial decided to give her a promotion, after all, a keeper was a rank below many powerful people. She had been made a chief priestess of fifteen shrines, a task she had accepted with great joy. With her new role, she was allowed to travel to Gimanda where Her Celestial resided and talk to her directly.
She was almost leaving the hall as well when she saw Canya enter through the main entrance. She looked calm hiding the happiness she felt from seeing Canya's sad face. When Canya reached the throne, she hugged her tightly and started crying, "Priscilla, I have killed him. I have killed the man I love."
"It's okay, Canya, it's okay. I am really sorry."
"You are sorry? You do not understand, Priscilla. That is the man I love. I have killed the man I love. What can I do to bring him back?"
"Canya, we both know this had to be done. He was dangerous for everything we want to do."
"Had to be done, Priscilla? This has been in your head since we first met. I always believed that there was another way but you never gave me a chance to try whatever was within my powers. Was there no other way?" Canya's face was already wet with her tears.
"Canya, I want you to calm down and listen to what I have to tell you."
"What I want to hear about is how to bring him back."
"Please sit," Priscilla gestured as another chair appeared out of nowhere behind Canya. She sat and looked at Priscilla.
"Canya, death is an irreversible process and no known magic is powerful enough to bring the dead back to life. It is also everyone's destiny. While we know it is what lies in wait for all of us, we know not how it can come. You have killed him, that was necessary for your survival and also the way his death was designed by fate to be. There is something I want to tell you that I believe will alleviate your pain."
Canya wiped her tears and waited for Priscilla to talk, "Did you ever have the chance to see your mother?"
"Yes, but I was only a child when she died."
"Did you know she was a sorceress?" Priscilla asked with a cunning smile.
"There is no way she was. She led the humblest life I know."
"Then I think it is high time you visited your grandfather in Old Town. Everything I want to tell you will only make sense after he confirms to you himself."
It took a whole thirty minutes for Priscilla to convince Canya to visit her grandfather. The latter did not want to accept the fact that her mother was a sorceress. As she left the hall, she promised she would visit Old Town as soon as possible, however, she was not sure she would keep that promise.