But it neither came from Hazel nor from the two casters. Zeke and Sorrel turned and were surprised that Lily was behind them.
The girl turned ashen as she witnessed her parent's death. With trembling feet, she tried to rush through the study but she collided with Zeke.
"Mom! Dad!" The girl began crying in hysterics.
"Calm down!" Zeke gritted out as he held the trashing princess.
In order to prevent Lily from getting injured and rushing through the vision, Sorrel sprinkled sleep dust on her.
Lily grew limp in Zeke's arms and eventually fell into deep slumber.
"How did she get here?" Sorrel asked as she eyed the girl whose arms were still around Hazel's severed head.
"I think she had stepped inside the pentagram. It allowed her to see this vision." Zeke said.
With the princess sleeping, both he and Sorrel continued to watch what had transpired. They witnessed how the two girls struggled to survive the attack and how they escaped the palace using the secret passages.
They had seen how Hazel cast the sacrificial spell and gave the amulet to Lily before she acted as decoy for the princess to escape.
Through their eyes, they had confirmed Hazel execution through beheading and how Lily managed to retrieved the severed head.
They endured watching the poor girl travel on foot and encountered mishaps along the way before she reached Nightshade's grove.
The two were silent at the end of the vision. Snapping out of her reverie, Sorrel made the first move.
She tried to take Hazel's head from the child. But Lily refused to let go. They had to use a spell in order for Lily to loosen her hold on Hazel's relic.
After taking Hazel's relic, the witch cast a spell in order to preserve it inside a resin. Looking at Hazel's severed head made Sorrel's blood boil. Though, she was livid, she could not do anything drastic to exact vengeance.
Hazel was Sorrel's favorite cousin. They had grown together but Hazel always had this weird concept of becoming a normal human. It is an idea that Sorrel was not able to understand.
Although she resented Hazel for giving up her magic, Sorrel still cared for her younger cousin and was still hoping for the younger caster to come back home.
Unfortunately that hope was crushed when they confirmed Hazel's death. Hazel indeed came back home but instead of a living body, only her head made her way to her former home.
The witch could not blame the princess for her cousin's death. Hazel willingly sacrificed her life to save the other girl.
Knowing what Hazel had done for the princess; Sorrel could not let her cousin's effort go to waste. She had to ensure that the young royalty will live.
"What do we do now?" Zeke asked after he laid Lily on a heather bed in the guestroom.
"I wanted to retrieved Hazel's body and give her proper burial." The witch replied while trying her best not to break down.
She could feel her hands shaking in anger. "I wanted to kill those bastards who killed her. I wanted to curse them to suffer eternally even in death!" she cried out.
Zeke could only pat her shoulders in comfort. He had been preventing his own tears from falling. "How about Lily? You know that we cannot allow a non-caster to stay in Nightshade's grove."
"Hazel never left an heir and she had sacrificed her blood to open Lily's circuit and allow her to live." Sorrel answered after she calmed down.
Getting a drift of her thoughts, Zeke continued. "To put it simply, Lily has a part of Hazel inside her. We could consider her as Hazel's child."
"Right." she affirmed. "I may be able to convince Aunt Heather to allow her to stay. But don't let your hopes up."
"If that won't work, then I guess I'll have to make a plan B." Zeke thought for a while. "With Master Chervil's help, I think we could come up with something."
"But the bottom line is Lily needed to meet Heather Hallows, the most powerful witch in our coven." Sorrel muttered.
The witch made sure that her guests were comfortable before moving out of the room. Preparing herself for her task, she made her way towards her rocking chair and took her seat.
Under normal circumstances, she would have taken her besom and would have ridden towards her destination. However, with the recent events, she couldn't take any chances. Although she wouldn't admit it, she was getting worried about the princess.
With a serrated knife, she drew her blood. The rich red fluid fell on the floor and a pentagram formed. A black mist oozed out and began taking a shape of a raven.
"Sable, I am glad you have come." Sorrel greeted with a smile.
"My pleasure, Sorrel." Sable gave a raven-like version of a bow. "What can I do for you?"
"I need have a message delivered to Aunt Heather."
"I presume that it won't be an ordinary delivery." Sable remarked. When Sorrel nodded, the raven plucked a feather from his left wing and gave it to the witch.
Sorrel chanted under her breath and once again the pentagram glowed. Closing her eyes, she could feel the surge of magic before her psyche projected and entered the raven.
With Sable's corporeal body, Sorrel traveled through the dark woods. For more than an hour, she weaved through the trees until she reached the core of nightshade's grove. A huge house stood at the center of the maze.
The raven perched itself on the porch before Sorrel willed Sable to shift shape and took on the witch's form. But before the woman could enter the house, two monstrous black wolves blocked her way. Sorrel knew that these beasts served as Heather's guards.
"I would like to request for an audience with Headwitch Heather Hallows." Sorrel informed.
One of the wolves growled before the other one talked. "Sorrel, why are you here? Our mistress has not summoned you."
"I brought forth grave news. I needed to talk to Aunt Heather." She uttered in her utmost urgent tone.
One of the wolves growled before both of their eyes flashed a golden hue. They suddenly parted and allowed her passage. They kept their eyes on her before following her inside.
The interior of the house was nothing like its eerily cold exterior. For one, the living room seemed cozy with a golden fire illuminating the room. However, despite the room's welcoming ambiance, Sorrel knew the Heather Hallows is far from being hospitable.
"Ah, my dear niece. What brought you here?" an icy voice rang.
Sorrel turned and faced her aunt. Her breath caught in her throat. The woman never looked like an old hag despite her age. But her beauty pales in comparison to her taciturn and unforgiving nature.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Sorrel decided not to beat around the bush. "Aunt Heather, your daughter has died."
All the while, Sorrel thought that Heather would at least grieve for her only child. However, Heather's face remained devoid of any emotion.
Heather scoffed. "Forsythia had been dead for years. She had died from the day she turned away from her responsibilities and fled from our coven."
"Aunt Heather please hear me out. You are without an heiress and though you had chosen me, I am past the age for turning over. Plus, I lack some of the qualifications to be your heiress..."
After an hour or so of coaxing, she finally got a response from Heather. "So what do you want?"
Gulping, Sorrel began. "I found a child whom Hazel had left behind. Please consider her as your next heiress."
Heather gave a cackle before remarking. "You are out of your mind."
Sorrel knew that it would take time to convince the hard-headed witch, but she refused to give up. "Please, Aunt Heather, just give this proposition a chance."