Tears fell from Lily's eyes as incandescent light filled the room. She could not even tell whether the light was due from her charm or from another caster's spell.
One thing was clear though, with that light, the grip on her throat loosened.
At the same time, the witch was thrown back into the house. Lily fell on the hard wooden floor gasping for air.
"What in the world?!" she heard the witch cursed loudly.
As her vision turned vivid, Lily took note of the state she was in. She was still on the floor gasping and the witch who had assaulted her was being held back by vines.
Then a familiar figure was hovering before her.
"Zeke..." she gasped as her gaze fell on the young wizard.
Zeke gave the princess a small smile in acknowledgment and helped her up.
Before any of them could speak, the witch screamed. "Release me at once!"
The witch began to thrash around and screeched. "I will execute that murderer!" She had begun reciting a spell but she wasn't able to finish it.
"Do shut up, Sorrel!" Zeke snapped before he tapped his staff on the floor twice. The vines curled tightly around the witch and her mouth turned into a zipper.
Sorrel's eyes almost bulged out as Zeke flicked his wrist and made the zipper close. She tried to talk and broke her restraints but to no avail.
"It would be best if you keep quiet for a while, Sorrel. I need to know what exactly happened to Hazel before the princess was led to this place." Zeke warned gravely before turning to face the princess who was about to pass out.
Lily was caught by Zeke before she could slump on the floor. She was swept off her feet and laid down on the couch near the fire.
"I know that you are tired and hungry. Asking you to clean up would take more time, so pardon my insolence..." With a wave of his hand, Lily's dirty clothes were replaced with clean dry ones.
Then a tray filled with sugar cookies accompanied by a steaming cup of hot cocoa floated towards the girl and settled on a nearby coffee table.
With shaking hands, Lily took the cup.
Muttering a simple "thank you", she brought it to her lips and took a sip.
The fluid had a calming effect. Her shaking body was filled with renewed energy. Her empty stomach felt warm and the warmth even reached her trembling toes.
"Enchanted cocoa..." she whispered before she took another sip.
She remembered that Zeke's specialty was making enchanted drinks. A skill Lily had later tried to master under Hazel's guidance.
"I would like to know what had happened." Zeke began after Lily finished the cup.
Lily opened her mouth to tell the events prior to her coming to this place, but a sob was all that she could manage. Hazel's memories and those events that had happened overwhelmed her.
Remembering Hazel, Lily stood up. She took Hazel's head which had been left by the doorstep when Sorrel attacked her. She cuddled it while crying her heart out.
Zeke clenched his fists as he saw the severed head being cradled by the girl. He had tried taking it but Lily wouldn't let go.
Zeke patted her shoulders in comfort. "There's no need for you to tell me. There's no need for you to give me Hazel for now. But please your highness, allow me to borrow Hazel's amulet."
Lily glanced at Zeke warily before taking off the amulet with one hand. She gave the amulet to Zeke and resume cradling Hazel's head.
As soon as Zeke touched the amulet, he felt the a small amount of mana and traces of spell that Hazel had cast inside. He took a quick glance at the young girl who sat on the corner.
"I don't think I can bother her. She had gone through too much." He muttered under his breath.
He let his eyes wander to the woman who was bound by the vines and decided to approach her.
"Sorrel, I need to find out the truth. If you promise me, you will behave, I will set you free. But if you do otherwise and attack that girl, you will have to remain with those shackles."
Sorrel's dark eyes turned pitch black while glaring at him. Nevertheless she agreed to behave.
The vines began unwrapping themselves from her body and the zipper disappeared after Zeke tapped the floor with his staff.
"Ready to know what happened?" he asked.
Sorrel nodded in response.
Ignoring the princess who chose to crouch on the corner, the two casters decided to cast the spell in the middle of the living room.
Prior to the spell casting, they had moved some of the furniture away and drew a pentagram using powdered silver adjacent to the hearth.
"Allow me to remind you that we can only see what had transpired. We could not do anything to alter or stop what is happening in the vision." Zeke sternly said as he stepped into position. "so get a hold of yourself."
"I know." Sorrel replied haughtily. "But between the two of us, it is you who should exercise restraint more. You love her so much that you almost went back to that kingdom. You better brace yourself."
Zeke just glowered at her before he focused on the task at hand. With the amulet on his right hand he recited the spell:
Fire, water, wind and earth,
Return the spell to its birth.
Within the amulet holds
Secrets to be told
Unfold the events that happened
From their beginning to their end.
The amulet glowed before it flew from his hand. It remained floating in the air while the room gradually disappeared. Swirls of hues replaced the room before a darkened hall finally formed.
"Where are we?" Sorrel asked eyeing the empty path.
"I believe we are in Marjoram." Zeke answered taking note of the banners which hung neatly by the wall.
Just in time, a light began glowing at the end of the path as footsteps echoed throughout the hallway.
The two did not move an inch from where they were standing. Instead they braced themselves for the person to come into view.
"Hazel." The name barely got out of Zeke's mouth as his eyes landed on the figure coming before them.
Before he could move an inch, Sorrel broke into a sprint in order to hug the lady-in-waiting.
But as soon as the she reached Hazel, Sorrel just passed through the maiden's body like she was a ghost. Puzzled, she turned towards Zeke.
Zeke gave her a pointed look which means 'I told you so.'
The witch huffed in annoyance while the young wizard shook his head and sighed. "Like I have said earlier, we can only watch. We cannot touch anything here."
Frustrated, Sorrel marched ahead and kept up with Hazel's gait. Noticing the wizard, she hissed. "Come on and let us see what she is up to."
They followed the girl through a few turns, ambled down several flights of stairs and entered a couple of trapdoors.
Finally they came upon a secret room filled with shelves of books. A cauldron was placed below a chimney and a desk was situated at one corner of the room.
Hazel put a black candle on the table and sat on the chair. From one of the drawers, she took out a rectangular contraption wrapped inside a black velvet cloth.
"Tarot cards." Sorrel muttered as she eyed the deck which Hazel had uncovered.