"NOOO—"
"I haven't said anything. Queen Eri, you are the almighty one to rule the world so you will help the mortals like us, won't you?" Showing puppy eyes, Ceris looked at Eri who was turning wary.
"What…what do you want?"
"Please help me find Ivy with your powerful nose. I will personally cook for two weeks for you when we return back to Phoset or have a chance to cook good food. Or I will buy you your favourite from the five star restaurant for a week."
"You-you are corrupting me…Ahh…you will cook for a month when you have a chance." Saliva was all over Eri's mouth.
Ceris flashed a smile. Closing the eye, Eri took a deep breath and focused on her breath.
Eri jumped from the shoulder and turned herself into a dog, sniffing around, "Umm, I can smell the blood lingering in the air towards… the northwest. We need to hurry as the smell will disappear soon." Afterwards, Ceris collected some crucial things from the cabin which could be useful to her in the journey. She didn't have any knowledge of money or the bartender system of the fantasy land nor the geography. Ivy once had said that they were in the outer region of the Eastland of the Moon Kingdom.
Luckily, the horse could be used for travelling as it would be faster than their foot. With the guidance of Eri, they travelled for five days towards the smell of blood as fast as they could. With time, the smell was very very faint as if it would disappear in thin air. Detecting the smell was even harder for Eri as her mental strength was on the verge of collapse.
The settlements were increasing as they travelled crossing huge vegetation, rivers, hills and finally reaching a castle in the middle of a town.
"Ce, she should be somewhere here. I can't help you more, I need to return back to your body and will be out of reach for some time. You are on your own so stay safe and avoid a perilous situation. Run away if you can't deal." Without hearing any reply, Eri's physical body disappeared.
Ceris smiled from the warm suggestions and prepared to do the rest of work on her own. Leaving the horse in a nearby forest, she decided to observe the situation first.
The people around all had light to faint purple eyes with Ivy's being the darkest purple. Mixing with the people, Ceris got to know that East land was a coven of witches, the castle being the palace of the leader of the coven.
Spell and magic were not performed openly or for social aids. Witches with more pure blooded; intense and advanced were their magic.
'So, Ivy is a witch…but she can't even use magic, only a few spells. Why is she inside the castle or what is her relationship with the leader of the coven?' Ceris doubted Ivy's identity and murmured with herself.
Without permission, no one was allowed to enter the town as it was protected by a barrier and to reach the castle was an impossible dream.
Luckily, an opportunity arrived for her within a day, when the castle was admitting a few maids. But surprisingly, no one was willing to join. As a result, some young, weak witches were grabbed by the guards and dragged forcefully. In fear, few followed and Ceris joined them.
Jane, the vice-leader of the coven, was the previous witch leader's half- sister. She was only a vice-leader and couldn't ascend the throne of coven to be a leader.
There was a strange practice in Eastland, everyone had to pass two tests: a magic aptitude at the age of eight and the level test at eighteen or as per needed to have authority within the coven.
After the aptitude test, the witches would determine a branch of their witchcraft and study as their aptitude and the level test would determine their position in the caven.
A white jade ball was used for level test, where the witches would drop their blood and the jade would change the colour. Lowest being the red according to the colour of rainbow 🌈 with violet being the highest. No one in the history of witches had reached the violet.
The qualifications to be leader was to reach the indigo colour, Jane could only reach the blue so the throne wasn't given to her after the previous queen Irene's disappearance.
Irene had a daughter but after her disappearance, no one knew the child's whereabouts or condition. A rumour circulated in the town, claiming the daughter was already dead.
Since Ceris wasn't a witch, anyone would notice that her eyes weren't purple. So to be safe, bowing her head and avoiding eye contact was the best solution.
Without accessing the new recruits properly, all were instructed for a while and mobilised to do labour in different parts in hurry. Unknown to anyone, the castle was busy, preparing for something.
Even after eavesdropping and trailing around, Ceris couldn't find any information about Ivy or the occasion. As she couldn't voice out her words so the info hunting didn't succeed.
On the second day of Ceris's arrival, handful of witches wearing dark purple coats arrived with masked men. Still no one knew the reason for them to conduct secret gathering or didn't have the courage to gossip. Familiar and unfamiliar faces were appearing as the day ended. Half of the maids who entered the castle were nowhere to be seen.
"Tick…tick…tick…tick…" the sound of the wall clock was only audible in the entire castle as midnight approached. When most of the creatures were deep in slumber, Eastland was wide awake than ever.
A woman, overall dressed in deep purple clothes, was seated on the highest seat of a large hall. Everyone kneeled and bowed their heads in her presence, so did Ceris. Even the makeup wouldn't hide her ugliness and age- old fogey, the leader of the coven, Jane. The maids were trembling from fear and holding their breath in her presence.