To Bewitch a Devil

Jasmine pressed her ear to Neera’s door, and yet, she still couldn’t hear a single sound.

All day since the King walked back into the castle in the wee hours of the morning, eyes still the same shade of fiery red, he had locked himself in the room with her body. At least the part where she was dead was sure, but where he went to and what he did, Jasmine had no information on that, and it was agonizing for her.

She had sent maids in after she had knocked and pleaded to be let in, hoping at least his need for food will win over and make him open the door. But Zavian didn’t bother to answer.

Maybe she should have asked Zoe and Rue to stab her in the heart instead of twisting her ankle. Jasmine shook her head, reversing back in her track of thoughts. Asking them to stab Neera in the heart to be certain of her death instead of drowning her would have led to questions, and Zavian would have found out, eventually, especially with that scared little mouse of a maid, Rue. Rue would have let the cat out of the bag the minute she was captured, and Jasmine knew her fate wouldn’t be as kind as Lyra’s.

If Zavian suspected there was foul play in Neera’s death, he didn’t show it, not yet at least. Jasmine bit her bottom lip, but what if he eventually did? What if Zavian suspects? What if he rounds up the entire staff and reads their pasts on their palms?

Oh no, she might have to do some killings again...

The plan had looked meticulous, but when she poked at it, she could see the gaps she missed out, and she needed every trace wiped out. She would deal with that later, so again, she knocked on the door, but there was still no response.

“Neera wa…is my friend too, you know...” She really needed to work harder on her verbs; to use present tenses instead of past. So far word around the castle was she was maybe unconscious or dead, and Jasmine assuming she was dead will drag her into suspicion.

.....

“Let me see her, please,” she begged. When silence replied to her, she gave up. She wasn’t getting any answers soon, so she let it be.

The thundering of hooves outside caught her attention. She moved to the balcony, and below her, in dresses and horses as dark as the night, witches rode into the castle.

What was going on?

Jasmine turned and guards were hurrying to Neera’s chambers, most likely to inform the King of their arrival. Jasmine followed after them, and Zavian stepped out before they could even knock. He looked centuries older, and his eyes were clearing back to the golden of his irises, his whites still tinted red.

Jasmine walked to him, and put what she hoped was a consoling touch to his arms.

“Talk to me,” Jasmine pleaded. “What’s wrong? What happened to Neera? I want to see her, please. Let me try to talk to her.”

Zavian’s hard eyes fell down on her face. Jasmine’s pulse raced, and for a minute, she thought she caught a glimpse of that knowing in his eyes, but it masked over, and he stepped away from her hands.

“Don’t go in there”, his voice was hoarse, as if it was filed on gravel stone. “That place is out of bounds to anyone.”

“Zavian, I am not anyone, I am her friend…”

“I said”, Zavian’s sharpness cut off her words like a knife. “Do not step a foot in there. And no one else can.” He directed the last statement to his guards.

Jasmine avoided looking at the faces of the guards, cheeks flushed from embarrassment. If Zavian was to trust anyone to be with Neera, it should be her.

She assumed they wanted to prepare a befitting burial, where demons, witches, and humans from far and wide will pay their homage to the concubine almost turned Queen. But she waited, and when all the witches marched into Neera’s chambers, her intuition told her otherwise.

Something was going on, and she needed to know. But the door closed behind Zavian before she could even take a peek.

Inside, thirteen witches made a circle around the body on the bed. Anna stepped to Neera, and put a finger under her nose and a hand on her chest.

“Her soul’s left her body for quite a while now, your Majesty,” she stated.

“I know, and that’s why I have you here.” Zavian said, “Bring her back to me.”

“It’s going to be grueling,” Anna said. “It is going to be hours’ worth of ritual.”

“And there is no telling if Anna can survive this ancient practice”, another maid, a dark-skinned one, spoke. “Witches of older generations could withstand it, and it has been a long time since it’s been done. It’s her time, let her go.”

Zavian stalked up to the witch, and she didn’t back away from him.

“You do not decide who gets to stay or go”, his voice was tinged with a warning.

“None of us do, your Majesty.”

“You have all day to perform the ritual, and part of tomorrow before the night falls”, Zavian said, a nerve in his jaw ticking. “Or no one leaves this room.”

Anna put her hand on Neera’s chest, closed her eyes, and chanted some words. When she opened her eyes, they were glassed over by a milky white and her pupils had disappeared. The witches picked up the chant, and Zavian waited.

The head witch’s eyes returned back to their normal color, and Anna gasped, stumbling backward. The other witches were quick to catch her and steadied her back on her feet.

“You would need to leave, your Majesty”, Anna said.

“I am not moving an inch”, Zavian refuted.

“For it to work, we possess the shields to protect us from the realm of the dead”, the dark-skinned witch said. “We have to find her soul, and the more time we spend not getting to work, the farther she will go- until she is gone forever.”