After the guards had grabbed the 'witch', Mack had them take her to the castle for questioning, however, he never ordered them to take her to the dungeon, instead he told them to take them to the castle's back garden which, due to the overgrown shrubbery and plants had become increasingly more isolated and had over time had become like it's own little world.
After calming down the mob in the market by promising them he would deal with the matter personally, he went to the garden to speak to the supposed witch, only to have the haunting realisation upon arrival that he could not find her. He looked around and after a while had found her atop the garden shed which the apparently non-existent gardeners put their tools in. "How did you get up there?!" Mack asked the girl, bewildered. "I climbed." Was the only answer the girl was willing to offer to explain how she climbed an eight foot smooth, vertical wall.
Mack, not bothering to persist with that pointless line of questioning, decided to go for something simpler, "what's your name?" He asked the girl, hoping she wouldn't be so stubborn and would just tell him. "My name is Charlotte." The girl replied with a seemingly large amount of effort. "So, did you drag me out here so I could have a scenic death?" Charlotte asked, making Mack uncomfortable with her forwardness with such a matter. "The only way I could kill you would be if you were a witch, which I chose to believe you are not." Mack said, certain he was right.
"Your belief is wrong." Charlotte only said four simple words and yet those words had completely destroyed Mack's 'undeniable' certainty. As Charlotte was saying this, the wind began to quicken in time with her breaths as the distress on her face became more and more clear. "What d-do you mean wrong?" Mack asked, now cautious of the girl next to him as the winds continued to get violently faster, the leaves and branches no longer swaying peacefully but now writhing uncontrollably. The once peaceful garden now became a place of darkness and fear, a place Mack thought he were to die in.
"You have no need to fear me, you know. I only used my power in the market to help a vendor tidy up his stall, but then once he saw what I was doing he accused me of stealing. I swear, I didn't steal anything." Charlotte went from a terrifying and unknown power one moment to a weak and vulnerable girl the next and frankly, Mack didn't know what to make of that.
Suddenly, Mack had an epiphany, if he could utilise Charlotte's power in a battle then he would undoubtedly crush the King of Wales' army and take both Wales and Wessex in far less then four months. "Charlotte, I'm not going to kill you, however, I can't just let you go, so, what I am going to do is offer you a deal. If you accept, then you will become a loyal servant of the Kingdom of Northumbria and you will help me in my upcoming campaign, however, if you disagree, you will simply be placed in the dungeons for the remainder of your life until the people find out and demand your death. Do we have a deal?" Charlotte remained silent for several moments, pondering the Prince's words until she finally spoke, "how will you justify my 'loyal' service to the people?" Charlotte asked, already sceptical and highly doubtful of the Prince's plan. "I would tell the people in the market that you were simply a new maid and nothing more and that you are coming on campaign with me to care for me and cook my meals. Of course you will have to do no such thing in or outside of the castle and you will be treated as an honoured guest by all staff."
Charlotte once again pondered the proposition, only speaking one word after several moments, "okay."
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Mack was exhilarated after her response, immediately telling the castle staff to prepare the guest room for a 'friend of his.' He could not tell the castle that Charlotte was a maid because they would expect her to work whilst he could not tell the people that she was a friend of his because they would ask too many questions. Overall, Mack had to lie to pretty much everyone, including his father, the King.
Mack had considered telling his father but after very little deliberation decided against it considering his father was one of the most religious men he knew and bringing a witch to meet him would not be a good idea given the fact that they are assumed to have the devil's power.
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That evening, Mack had dinner with the nobles of the realm to celebrate his victory and to wish him and the king good luck in their conquest of the southwest. To say there was some drinking involved would be an understatement. After the party, Mack could barely walk and like most of the lords there, had to be carried by servants back to their rooms, many of them shouting or singing in a belligerent manner that could hardly be understood by anyone nearby. All those who were near the castle that night would have little or no sleep due to the obscene amount of noise the most powerful people in the kingdom were making.