"Father?!" Jack yelled as he bust open the white wooden doors to his father's bedroom. Jack hesitated to move any closer after seeing the condition of his father. King Harry laid undisturbed on his bed, clothes were blood soak, bandages covered him, and his breathing was partially laboured.
"Jack my boy, it looks like I have taken on quite some damage." Harry said with a slight laugh as Jack smiled sympathetically. "The witches tried their best; I should be healed up in a few weeks."
"We tried herbal remedies for the pain, but the broken bones were trickier." Emily explained as she rested her hand on Jack's shoulder.
"There's only so much we can do with our knowledge. I'm sorry but after a few more treatments he should be fine." Sam finished explaining.
"Wait a minute! I went to the Forbidden Forest and brought back a few people with me! Just give me one moment!" Jack said as he got up and left the room.
King Harry scoffed as he carefully crossed his arms before saying, "he didn't even ask about my near-death experience."
"Now, now my king. I'm sure he has an explanation." Sam said as he rolled his eyes jokingly.
"... injured." Was the only audible word from Jack as he brought the guest from the Forest into the kingdom.
"Mother!" Emily's and Sam's voice yelled out as they saw Sellandia enter King Harry's room. Sellandia was nowhere near blood related to the young couple, but all the witches and wizards of the new coven held a high respect for Sellandia (seeing that she's the only survivor from the old coven).
"Hello my dear children!" Sellandia said softly as she hugged the two. "We shall catch up later, for now I need to know what you did to Harry."
"Sellandia my beautiful friend! Where's Drayde?" King Harry asked before he heard the rattle from the lantern hanging freely from the stick. "There you are, old friend."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Why is it that when we always meet you are injured?" Sellandia asked as she joined Drayde's side.
"Not all the time! The first time you introduced me to Drayden I was healing from a carriage accident." King Harry corrected as Drayde smiled.
"Hmm, I can see the bandages that held you together." Drayde softly spoke as he gave off a small chuckle before the creaking of the floor board interrupted their little reunion.
"Ah, so your small family has grown?" King Harry asked as he acknowledged the presence of the forest witches.
"Your highness, I'm Lilith-" "And I'm Hana!" They said introducing themselves.
"Welcome to Asterin! If you ever need anything don't be afraid to ask!" Harry welcomed as he exchanged looks between Hana and Lilith. Harry took immediate notice of Lilith's appearance; the bold and dark makeup was a Findarian style. She also had a more laid back, modern style of Findara that has recently been spreading around. Lilith also looked tired, much like she has taken years of abuse and neglect. Yet, there is a glimmer in her eyes that sparked with passion. "You're far from home, aren't you?" Harry asked Lilith as she nodded her head.
"I'm sorry Lilith but dad what happened to you?!" Jack asked as he sat in a chair close to his bedside.
"This is a funny story actually. Please have a seat everyone!" King Harry offered as the witches and wizard created a seat for themselves around the bed. Jack and Harry watched in awe before Harry continued on, "It was right after you all left to go retrieve more wood for the houses for the refugees. I'm assuming you met Sellandia and Drayde because you didn't lead the volunteers to the cutting ground like I told you to. So, you decided to go to the closest 'cutting ground' where you and the volunteers ended up cutting too deep into the forest, did I assume correctly?"
"Yes, but I'm glad we met! A wonderful couple they are, and the forest is beautiful!" Jack answered, smiling at Sellandia and Drayde.
"I'm sorry if he caused you any harm Drayde." Harry apologized as the wizard smiled softly.
"No harm done, plus darling over here always patches me up!" Drayde said as he rested his head on Sellandia's shoulder.
"Right on, I was helping clear the area where the new houses were going to be placed and then it went black. I woke up here in bed, wrapped in bandages, before you waltz in here." Harry finished explaining as everyone, except for Sam and Emily, stared at him with a black expression.
"That's it?" Lilith asked as she watched Harry's eyes look over to Sam and Emily.
"Well no, what happened was... I don't want to explain it." Emily said with sorrow as she looked at her feet.
"Fine, I'll explain it." Sam said with confidence but quickly back down. "We were helping clear the area using our magic. I shouldn't have pushed myself or Emily, but I did it anyways. We were lifting five times than what we should have since we are not as advanced in telekinesis as we are in healing. I got distracted and put my guard down leaving Emily to carry the debris all on her own. If we were struggling to lift that together, then Emily did not have the strength to carry it herself."
"Now all the rocks and trees were over Harry and a couple other people, so before the debris completely landed on them, I tried to make a force bubble to protect them. It wasn't big enough because someone was left out of it, a young girl who wanted to pick flowers for her father. Out of instinct, King Harry grabbed the little girl and pulled her into the bubble... switching places with her. Leo Percy and Eris quickly dug through the pile to pull out the volunteers while Emily and I tried to find King Harry. Thankfully he's a lot tougher than he looks or it would have been a completely different story." Sam finished explaining as she ran her hands through her hair and hugged Emily.
"Dad! How is that funny?!" Jack exclaimed.
"Sam was distracted by Emily. I find it funny how she sees her everyday but still gets distracted. It's the little things in life." Harry responded as Jack sighed. "Plus, I'll be fine! Like Sam and Emily said, after a couple more sessions I'll be up and bugging you again."
"Actually sir, Sellandia, Drayde, and I are well trained in healing... we can have you healed up right now! Well Sellandia or Drayde themselves can heal you!" Hana offered as the powerful couple nodded their heads.
"Yes! The ball is in a few short days!" Jack said desperately.
"As much as I want to accept that, I will politely decline." The King said as everyone's jaw dropped, especially Jack's.
"No, no, no. You are getting healed up right here, and right now! You have a ball to attend to and gather information." Jack said desperately, hoping his father would change his mind.
"No, no, no. Sam and Emily have to learn from their mistakes and it is time for you to step out of your shell. I may be 45 years old, but I am not going to have this type of strength for long. We are no longer going to be talking about this, understood." Harry said sternly as Jack nodded his head. "Drayde, don't think I've noticed you've changed your stick."
"Hehe, Findara loves dark oak so I changed- ow!" Drayde winced from Sellandia jabbing him in the ribcage, "we change the dark oak trees to regular oak trees and white oak." Drayde corrected himself.
"How are the children?" Harry asked as Sam and Emily leaned in eager to hear more about the coven in the forest.
"Children? I thought you said they weren't your kids?" Jack asked.
"Your correct! This is the new coven, we are one big family looking over one another, expanding from one another, and helping one another. I act as the mother figure, seeing that I'm from the old coven before it was eradicated by Findara and kingdoms alike and the most powerful witch-" "Who knows all levels of magic, except for necromancy." The younger witches blurted out all at once in pure admiration.
"Well yes, I never got around to learning that one. However, it is the most dangerous magic level." Sellandia paused as she looked at the ground only for Drayde to squeeze her hand." Anyways, Drayde acts as the father figure. He offers protection and guidance to the coven. I was just a young, lost witch when I met Drayde, we instantly became friends and decided to create a sanctuary together. Soon more witches and wizards, ranging from newborns to preteens, were in search for a safe place away from the immoral, ignorant kingdoms. So Drayde and I decided to just take them in as our own."
"Awe that's so cute! I mean, I'm sorry you all had to go through that, but that's still cute!" Jack awed.
"It's okay, it helped us build a common ground and quick trust within one another." Hana said with a smile.
"But have you ever thought about having children of your own?" Jack asked as the room fell silent and then a roar of laughter erupted.
"Drayde doesn't love like that!" Sellandia said through her laughs.
"And Sellandia loves anything that moves, but of course only staying loyal to me." Drayde said through his laughs.
"Jack, only you would ever ask a question like that." Emily chuckled as the laughs in the room died down.
"So, you're still not the sharpest sword in the armory." Lilith scoffed.
"He may not be the brightest star but he has his moments." King Harry said as Jack glared at him.
"You can say that again. Only a fool would enter the Forbidden Forest." Lilith said as she crossed her arms.
"Is it safe to assume you are a Findarian?" Harry asked as Lilith looked at him surprised.
"How did you know?" Lilith asked as Harry laughed.
"Well at first it was how you looked, you have bold makeup and the outfit speaks for itself. You're definitely not an elite, but you're not from the Slum either. You're from the Silver City, considering how laid back your outfit is. That may have been a coincidence, but the ignorant and rough tone has Findara written all over it. So, what's your story?" King Harry asked the young adult.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰." Sellandia whispered to Lilith.
Lilith pondered in thought before proceeding with, "If we are going to form an alliance I might as well tell them."
"As long as you're in terms with it." Sellandia said.
"It's okay if you're not ready to share, Findara isn't the most supportive and we are strangers." King Harry assured.
"Not really, my sisters are here with me and Jack-in-the-Box here has been proving loyalty and comfort. Plus, you are laying in your bed injured, but you still let a Findarian into your kingdom, much less your room." Lilith said as she took his hands but Harry quickly rested her hands between his.
"My rebellious, forest child... Jack was the one who put his faith and trust into you." King Harry smiled as he looked at his son with approval, proud of his slow growth.
"That's saying something!" Leo Percy yelled from the hallway.
"Leo Percy aren't you suppose to be watching the kingdom's walls?" Sam asked and in response was the clinging and clanging of the golden armour growing faint as Leo Percy went to do his duty.
"His trust is my trust." King Harry added as Lilith gave a soft smile.
"Well... it's not a story for the sensitive as Sellandia, Drayde, and Hana would know." Lilith started off as she took a deep breath in and out to calm herself. "My twin sister, Lily, and I were born into a family of well-known Elites-"
"I'm sorry for interrupting, but what are Elites?" Emily asked.
"The Elites are rich, self-righteous, pretentious, stubborn, snobs whose bloodline was there from the beginning of Findara." Jack answered, gritting it through his teeth.
"Basically, anyway for most of my childhood I was happy, I thought what the king did and the laws of Findara was for our safety. That changed, and it changed fast. Lily loved this girl from the lower class. She loved her so much that they would often sneak around together, they even planned on running away. By this time my morality has changed and Findara makes me sick to my stomach. I begged Lily to be careful and to wait until the coast was clear, but she was in love and eager. They ended up getting caught and my family made me burn Lily to teach me a lesson of what 'Satan could do to you'." Lilith added.
"What the living earth?!" Jack exclaimed, sick of what Findara does.
"That's so sad!" Emily cried as Sam wiped the tears away from her cheeks. At this time Jack moved his chair to sit next to the couple for comfort.
"Save the waterworks for the end." Lilith said bluntly. "It didn't stop there. I was 13 when that happened. I was so depressed that I spent days, weeks, and months in the castle's gardens. I felt numb and alone without my best friend. I cried because I can still remember her pleading me to save her as I held the torch in my hand, but I also remember the crack of the whip on my back for hesitating to burn her. My family were so disappointed that they sent me to live in Silver City with my cousin and his wife. I was put to work at their blacksmith almost every day. I wasn't complaining about that, it kept me away from my family and kept me occupied."
"When I was 16 that gap in my heart was fulfilled again. I meant a young man who wandered into the shop one day. His name was Allen, and he was wonderful, funny, and smart. I knew he was hiding something, but eventually he opened up to me and showed me that he was a wizard. He unlocked my potential of being a witch and taught me a thing or two of what he knew. I now understood the feeling that my sister once felt; love. We needed to leave and we needed to find safety. My cousin's wife caught Allen and I in my room. He was trying to teach me how to make illusions."
"When I heard her ear-piercing scream, I knew it was over. Allen and I made a run for it, we didn't know where we were going to go once we left Findara. We just need to get to safety. But the news spread like wildfire and I was once again looking at the towering wooden cross with a torch in my hand. Allen kept trying to comfort me, telling me that everything was going to be okay. I couldn't bear to bring myself to kill another loved one because someone told me too. I tried to rebel against it. King Oliver watched with excitement all over his face as the guards held me by the wrist and forced the torch into my hand. They kicked the back of my leg to force me onto my knees, closed to the pile of hay. I screamed as I was whipped over and over again begging for help but no one was coming. Allen, like most witches and wizards burned at the stake, was not powerful enough to escape. His screams of pain were much like Lily's. Forever with me." Lilith said, taking a break.
"Hold on it's not over." Sellandia said before anyone could make a comment.
"It's not over?! There's more?!" Sam said as Lilith nodded her head.
"I was taken away to the dungeons while I waited for my pending doom. The castle staff was kind enough to give me extra food and water as I waited. My fate, however, was worse than death. The only nice thing about being born into a family of Elites was the influence. My mother had a single ounce of love in her heart for me and convinced King Oliver to make me a servant of the castle. At first, I was a close servant for King Oliver and many other Elites where I was beaten and abused countlessly. I tried my hardest to bite my tongue and be grateful that I was still alive, but my thoughts got the best of me. I couldn't handle what I did, all I thought about was what I could have done differently. One day I just had enough and decided to commit suicide. King Oliver sent me on a quest to retrieve a message from another kingdom but instead I had other plans. I went to the forest and tied a noose to a sturdy tree branch, right before I leapt off from the branch to meet an endless sleep, a guy came out of nowhere. He told me that I tied my noose wrong and that it would come undone. He saved me that day and now I have a different purpose in life; help people escape from a forced life they don't want to be apart of." Lilith finished as she wiped away a tear from her eye.
"Please tell me he's alive! Please tell me you're doing better!" Emily cried out.
"Yes, his name is Malakai! We've been together for 4 years. He gave me so much more in life than I could ever ask for." Lilith smiled as Emily sighed in relief.
"Where was Prince Ace in all of this?" Jack asked as he leaned in close to Lilith.
"Ace? Hmmm he wasn't allowed out of the castle until he turned 16. But he helps around with the castle staff." Lilith answered, not wanting to give anyway too much information about the sweet prince in fear that it will be used against him. Jack didn't bother asking anymore questions about Ace, he was repulsed by him. Jack even began to think that Ace got the staff to trust him and then he would tell King Oliver their secrets. He was disgusted by Ace and hoped to never see him in his lifetime.
Hearing Lilith's life story made everyone realize that Findara is seriously not a force to be reckoned with. At the same time it made everyone in the room understand what they are dealing with.
"Well, you now have family here too." Jack said as he offered Lilith a hug. Lilith hesitated at first, but decided to hug her new friend and ally. When they let go Jack asked, "Hey Lilith, seeing that Dad can't go to the ball. Could you help me get around the Findarian castle?"
"Hm if you are hoping to search for any secrets or future plans, then forget it. You think it would have gone unnoticed that the Asterin Prince left the ball. You would be the eye of attention. There were rumours saying you were just folklore because no other kingdom has seen you before." Lilith said as she saw right through Jack's plan.
"Right. Well can you help me revise the plan?" Jack asked as Lilith nodded her head.
"Yes, leave me to rest and catch up with Sellandia and Drayde. The rest of you go on." King Harry said as everyone got up, the witches' and wizard's chairs vanished in thin air once they stood up. "Lilith?" King Harry added as she stopped in her footsteps and looked back at the king.
"Yes?" She answered.
"You are the strongest and bravest girl I have ever met in my lifetime. I know that Lily and Allen are cheering for you, wherever they are now." Harry softly said as he gave her a gentle smile.
"Thank you." Was all Lilith manage to let out as she let another tear escape from her eyes. It's been so long since Lilith opened up like that, but she was proud of herself of slowly allowing others into her life.