Her head was already aching from talking from one guest to another. Her lips felt stiff from constantly smiling. Sometimes she believed it was a curse to be a member of this elite society at her young age.
But she did ask for this.
Her eyes searched for her friend among the sea of the crowd, wanting to congratulate her for finally entering the exclusive gathering of the elite witches. But so far, she was not in sight.
"Where are you?" Elisia mumbled to herself, walking to the corner of the room, hoping not to catch anyone else's attention.
The party had barely started, and she was already annoyed as hell. Not because the party was boring. No, no, no.
On the contrary, her mother usually hosted the most glamorous and entertaining parties in their history. This kind of celebration was her wheelhouse.
But she was tired of those witches who only wanted to befriend her because they wanted something from her mother. She could see through them, but she could not do anything about it but smile and be polite as usual.
"Elisia," She heard her friend shouting from across the hall. When she finally spotted her friend, sprinting toward her, uncaring if she was bumping with the other guests.
It was visible that her friend was nervous from her clumsy movements. Her friend was the scaredy-cat among their group. But she believed that she was just young, and her friend would eventually overcome her fear someday.
"Ivrea." She greeted her back as soon as she was within hugging distance. "I have been looking for you." She whispered in her ears before finally letting her go.
"I am glad I finally found you," Ivrea answered her nervously.
"I am so happy that you are finally part of this celebration," Elisia said simultaneously.
"I think we need to talk." Ivrea looked at her with those swirling eyes. As if she was seriously bothered by something. At this point, Elisia knew she had to do something.
Elisia quickly dragged her friend to the other side, looking for some privacy. She wanted to avoid the curious glance the other witches had sent their way. Well, Ivrea did catch some attention with her little stunt.
Elisia abruptly stopped on her track and turned to look at her friend. Her eyes scanned the place but saw a few people who were about to pass them by, probably on their way to the garden.
"Not here," Elisia whispered to her friend as she continued to pull her friend by the hand through a narrower hallway until they had reached a door.
Then, quickly she opened it and dragged her friend inside, locking the door behind her. She did not like the way her friend was behaving.
She could not afford her friend to slip up while in the company of their mothers and the rest of the Covenant witches. What they did should remain their secret, and no one else should know about it?
"Ok. What is wrong with you?" She finally faced her friend, confident that no one else would hear them in this room.
It was very far from the festivity, and no one bothered to come to this place because it was an old room used by her grandfather for his study.
She loved this room because of the quietness, but more than that, she could stay connected with his grandfather, who had been her mentor when she was young. Unfortunately, he died several years ago.
"I keep thinking that the Elders might have learned what we did and was now about to punish me." Ivrea finally confided about what was bothering her, letting her body slump on the chair next to her. "Are you not at least a bit afraid?" She asked her.
She quickly moved toward her friend and knelt before her. She grabbed her hands and held them close to her. They were cold, just as if dipped in a bucket of ice.
"Of course, the Elders knew what happened. As I said to you, they were the ones who gave me the order to do it." Elisia confidently said as she squeezed her friend's hand to make her understand. "I think they were happy that you were there to help me."
She kept gazing at her friend, whose head tilted down to the floor with her eyes closed. She slightly shook her hands, hoping that she would finally realize that there was nothing wrong with what they did.
"That is why you are here now." Elisia kept saying, still trying to convince her friend. "They had finally accepted you to the fold." Finally, she saw her friend looking up at her, with her eyes slightly looking relieved.
"But how can you be certain?" Ivrea still had a few doubts. She could see it in her eyes, but it had lessened now. Her hands also stopped shaking.
She finally let go of her friend's hand and stood up. She moved to the other side of the room, staring at the large portrait of her grandfather. "Sometimes, I wonder if he is one of the Elders now, guiding me." Expelling a deep breath as she squared her shoulders.
As far as all the live witches knew, the Elders consisted of the dead witches who had transcended into the next realm. They continued to watch and guide them through their powers.
"I believe in the prophecy that I saw. I knew my orders came from the Elders. I could not explain to you how or why. But in my heart, I have to obey them." Elisia stared at her grandfather's eyes as if he was speaking to her.
Then, she walked back to the middle of the room and sat on the next chair, shifting her attention to her friend. She had to convince her that she had nothing to worry about in their situation.
"I wish I could be as brave as you and Avana," Ivrea uttered with a deep breath, expelling all her worries.
Elisia also felt relieved seeing that her friend was slowly calming down. She was afraid that Ivrea would accidentally spill their secret due to her anxiousness.
"You are. All you have to do is believe in yourself some more." Elisia moved closer to her friend and tapped her on the knee. "You want to know a secret."
When her friend nodded in response, she continued. "I think the Elders wanted you to be there. I don't think I could have performed that ritual on my own."
She had been thinking about it since they had returned home from the cabin, remembering how much power she needed to do the spell. Suddenly, she realized she would not have done it successfully if not for the help of Ivrea.
"You think so," Ivrea asked with her eyes glistening with excitement.
"Honestly, I think you are more powerful than I am. I might be a seer, but I think you are a natural at spell casting." Elisia stated her observation.
Witches don't necessarily have the same powers. Some were stronger on one facet of their capabilities than the other. It was rare to find a witch that could master all the elements of their powers, but she still wished to be one.
She had only seen a few. They were the Covenant Heads.