Zamien was away from the palace as he had gone out for an early inspection of burnt bodies that had been found the previous night. His men were thoroughly inspecting the bodies while he watched from a close distance and he turned to look at the burnt body of a woman.
The woman's hand had twisted around along with her wrist and fingers. Her entire body had turned black while leaving the scarce clothing that couldn't be burnt by the lower creatures. The humans and fairies had a habit of tying the witches up and burning them in the middle of their villages. It was a common practice that had been taking place for many years. The issue was that both the humans and the fairies and any other lower creature had no right to take such matters into their own hands in the land of the demons. Even the demons were not permitted to kill the witches without proper judgment. If a human or fairy found a white witch or a black witch, they were supposed to inform the officials like the guards of the village or towns who would then pass it to the magistrate before it reached the councilmen.
The reason was to avoid any unwanted mishap from taking place. Historically picking up facts, people often mistook the others to be witches, in the name of being witches, many women had been unjustly killed until an edict had been passed keeping the white witches in mind. The rule was hardly ever implemented in any of the kingdoms much less in Rhodes.
"Your majesty, do you need to inspect the cottages as well?" asked a woman standing beside a black pony who was the magistrate of this village. Women weren't usually given such opportunities in Rhodes but opportunities were dug and found by some of the humans, especially when they turned to half-demons, their ambitions rocketing further than the rest of the crowd.
"Where were you when this took place?" he questioned the lady. His eyes catching hold of the few humans who stood not too far away in shackles.
"Your majesty, I was supposed to go to the next village to speak about the men who often come near the lake to harass the women when they go to wash clothes or bath. The magistrate will give you the information."
"That won't be necessary," he replied.
One of Zamien's guards who was done talking to some of the people of the village, walked towards Zamien to interrupt, "Your majesty."
"Leave," said Zamien and he watched as the lady magistrate left, "What did you find out."
"The villagers say that they were once a family of six when they came here a few years ago. They didn't interact much with the villagers except a few who went out of their way to talk to them. A few of the villagers claim that had many at times found them walking towards the river in the middle of the night."
"How much middle in the night?"
"Later than the bell of the church. It must be after midnight. The eldest son of the family had long been found dead in the same river. They lived in the corner of the alley."
"This is not a family of witches," Zamien stated. "The magistrate of this village and the next need to be replaced. Get rid of the captives." At the same time Zamien felt fear creep in, emotions trying to get through him from the person he had bonded with.
"Your majesty, there are still other places that need to be inspected, along with…" a confused Kreme trailed off as he realized that the prince he was talking to was nowhere in sight.