Meanwhile, back at the castle...
Around the same time, in a luxurious room, over in the capital of the kingdom, the curtains were drawn and the sun rained in over the numerous golden accessories that adorned the throne. On the sparkly purple and golden chair, a massive man dressed in pompous robes sat and watched a muscular body bowing on his knees before him.
The King with the official name, King Mathias Cornell the Third, was an existence so domineering, as he was the one that could have raised or ended life with a flinch of his finger, with a raise of his hand and even with a single look towards the royal bodyguards. This man was so powerful that he soon forgot he was just a simple human being. Being under so much scrutiny from the public since young, he learned to hide his emotions better than anyone, and for him, the position he had was all well-deserved. His only weakness was his son, the only one he could father, as war left him unable to conceive any more children. However, this was a secret that would forever remain his, blaming the lack of children on the Queen and courtezans at the palace, he killed tens of women under this excuse. Every time this happened, it made him feel in control of his own insecurities, so over the years, the number of deaths simply rose without anyone questioning his motives.
"What exactly did your men do over there?" The King shouted in anger at the trembling man kneeling in front of his eyes.
"From the aftermaths, it seems a strong opponent had appeared and helped the young witch escape." The man replied with a shaken voice. He knew all too well just how cruel the great King was and he did not want to be beheaded for a simple fancy of his.
"What about Count William?"
"He is nowhere to be found. It is presumed he died in the altercation."
"You presume?!" The King asked with a venomous tone of voice.
"Yes, your Majesty, my men are still looking through the ruins, but whatever happened left even my best soldiers dead, so a nobleman is less likely to be able to survive that."
"That's because you don't know him..." The King muttered to himself before raising his tone again. "Find me proof of his demise or I'll be sure to make yours happen."
The man before him shuddered at the threat and while keeping his head bowed, he exited the room without another word.
"I must find the witch in order to keep my life..." He concluded and scuttled along the long corridors and out towards the exit of the palace.
Meanwhile, the King had already moved over to the room neatly hidden behind the throne, where he had hidden the Book of Knowledge. He treasured it so much it scared him. His worse nightmare was for this book to end up in the hands of strangers, and he became so paranoid that he had no choice but to guard it himself until the time was ready for him to pass it on to his son.
His only son, Prince Lucas, has had a weak body since birth, and it was hard to think of him as a future king. However, due to the help of the old witch Beatrix, he was now on the right track to becoming a healthy eighteen-year-old. This was his legacy and his only weakness, and therefore he had to use everything in his power to protect him, even that meant going against the wishes of the Book of Knowledge. After all, no one knew if the young witch was a good or bad influence on the Kingdom, and he couldn't risk his own son to find out which one it was. Therefore, the only way left for him was to get rid of the girl and cut the invisible thread connecting her and the royal family.
"Your Majesty, are you here?" The King heard a weak voice call out to him.
"Yes, I'm here, what are you doing out of the bed?" he asked the slim youth poking his head over the trap door, looking straight at him.
The King's eyes turned gentle as he took in his son, now standing in front of him. The prince's eyes were still sunken and red from all the suffering he went through the last few weeks, the treatment of the witch was hard on the young, underdeveloped body, but the spark of intelligence had never left him. His chocolate-colored hair reached just to his shoulders and fell in waves around his pale face making him look more like a child than a man. He was still weakened by the disease he had before but he was recovering.
"I was bored, so I came over." The boy answered with a shrug of his shoulders and leaned on the door frame to steady himself.
"You're still weak, go back to bed, I will visit you later." The king tried to convince him, but maybe because it had been such a long time that the Prince hadn't gone outside his room, he didn't budge under the pressure.
"When is Lady Beatrix coming? She promised to bring me a new book."
The King's eyes widened and his tempered flared up again at the mention of the name.
"That's no Lady and she will not come again." The King was now reminded of the failure to kill Celia and absentmindedly ran his fingers over her name in the book.
"Why? Who's Celia Ellis?" At the mention of the name the King shivered visibly and turned his head to notice Prince Lucas staring at the book.
"Because Beatrix left, and is never coming back. Celia here is no one important. I don't want to hear these two names coming from your mouth ever again." The response seemed to have been a bit more violent than he wanted to and in turn, the Prince looked at him with curiosity shining in his small brown eyes.
"Then why is her name here?"
The King had to think carefully of what he was to say next, as his explanation could decide on how the boy would see this "thing" if they ever had the chance to met. So he decided on the best course of action...
"I will tell you everything once you recovered, try to get some rest, there is still a long way to go."
He brushed away his questioning eyes and thought to himself:
"I will take this time to ensure that witch will never cross paths with the Prince or anyone from the royal family..."