XXVI. Timeless

Kogo

Bright light surrounded me as my body left the comfort of my boutique. It was as if I was floating in an empty space. I actually was. There  was nothing around me. I was surrounded by heavenly colours. The kind of colours found above the clouds with blue, purple, magenta and black. This had always been my favourite portal.

A lethargy began to take over my body as the portal asked its carrying charge.

That's what a portal did to you. It sucked the life force out of as you moved throw it. Everything had its price, even magic, especially magic.

For every spell there is a toll. This is to keep the balance of life, the balance of nature.

I was not so sure my body could handle this task any more. I was getting old and age also has its toll. If I had it my way, I would never leave my house or my liquor cabinet. Sadly, I had to attend the stupid meeting. One day -soon- I would tell the other Princeps to go screw themselves.

Screw you all! Fuck your godforsaken meetings.

A smile tugged at my lips as I entertained the idea.

Suddenly, I stopped floating and before knowing it my knees were met with a hard force. Opening my eyes, I saw that I had arrived at my destination.

I was kneeling on the stark white, limestone floors of the highest tower in the Witch Lands.

Looking up, I took in my surroundings. I was at the centre of the room, kneeling directly in front of the starry portal.

The room was stupendously large, comfortably a dozen times the size of my home. With high, golden ceilings and a masterfully carved stone pillars supporting it, it was the height of ten long-legged men standing on top of each other. You would think the architect's aim was to touch heavens and disturb Zeus as he hoed around in his palace.

"I would appreciate it if you watched your language while using my portal, Kova ." To my ears came the chilling, nauseating voice of a woman I knew.

Her words, reminded me one important fact :a portal broke the barriers  put up by the human mind, allowing anyone on the other side to hear your thoughts as you travelled. She had heard my thoughts. And I did not give a rat's ass.

Meria- as usual- was dressed to kill. She was trying too hard. Even when we were young, she cared too much about what people thought about her, a common effect of growing up in a highly noble witch family.

She wore pure white, a sign of purity -none of which she had- and  left her blonde locks hanging over her shoulders, cascading down her slim back.

I felt a twinge of jealously. The men here preferred her kind, blondes, they always had, I while and my raven locks were left in the dusk awaiting her tired scraps.

"Are you going to sit there the whole night? Surely Kova, we have much work to do," she said, her tone reprimanding. How I wanted to smack her.

She addressed me by my birth name. I only ever used it here. Elsewhere I was Kogo, a fun loving old lady who will sell you weed provided your fake id is believable enough.

Taking a breath, I stood.

"Be kind, Meira," someone said. I knew that voice. It was Keith. He came up from behind me, dressed in pure black, prepared for meeting we would be having in a few hours' time.

Keith acknowledged my presence with a simple, polite nod.

He had not changed a bit. He looked as dapper and as dangerous as usual. The only thing that was different was the way he had styled his hair. He had cut his famous manbun but had spared the white streak at the front of his head.

In his younger days, he had been such a rebel. He still was but his wife had somehow managed to tame the badboy in him.

"The fact that she still stands here shows that I am being kind ", the woman spat acidly, not knowing that my only reasons for showing up were the...herbs awaiting me in my chambers.

Her husband approached her, giving her a chaste and clearly forced kiss on the cheek. It hurt me a little, watching him do to her what he used to do to me.

It had had hurt me deeply when the two were betrothed. Keith had been my first crush and my sixth boyfriend. We broke up on the announcement of his arranged marriage to Meira. But I moved quickly after all, his sister was a much better lay.

That was all in the past. Now we were grown, some of us anyway.

"If you will, excuse me. I shall return for the meeting," I excused myself. The meeting would not begin for another hour or so. My buzz was wearing of and I needed to find myself a drink. Hecate, forbid I sit in a room with Meira for hours sober. It may just be the thing to cause my long over due death.

I exited the hall before the Princep could respond, walking into a labyrinth of corridors.

The sound the water rushing down the mountain around us laced the atmosphere, covering up the sound of my sandals tip tapping on the limestone floors.

My chambers lay all the way on the other side of the castle.

The halls were covered in ancient architecture, collections, momentos of our past as the children of Hecate. One of the works of art was of a giant woman - a goddess- , over twenty feet tall cradling dozens of children in her arms. The beautiful woman was a depiction of the ancient and powerful daughter of Perses and Asteria.

Another painting hung on the opposite wall. It was wonderful, displaying the theory that witches were born of the earth and not of any diety. The landscape was vast with human-like creatures arising from the green. It was like the miracle of birth.

As I walked the halls, I was reminded of how majestic our land was. This was our home and it sure was beautiful. Elsewhere we were just visitors, outsiders.

The familiarity of the palace was great. I came here every fortnight for the Princeps meeting where leaders of each coven converged to discuss' important matters' which rarely were as imperative as they made them sound.

After a long walk during which my tired old legs nearly gave out, I reached the tall doors of my chambers. The wood of the entrance was gold encrusted, baring the insignia of the Xolem Ignim.

I breath the ancient word of my clan into the doors and they opened like the tomb from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Everyone thought the idea of 'open sesame' was sooo original when it was just like another spell among witches.

Entering, I shut the doors behind me, taking in the vision that was my chambers.

Across from where I stood, there was no wall just pillars supporting the high ceiling and a magnificent view of the Crystal Lake where The Trident's -the waterfall right beneath the palace - largest falls drained into. The water of the lake shined even in the night's darkness. A treat for my eyes.

My eyes feasted on the view I had looking been at for a long time. It never got old. The place was timeless.

Just how much we had achieved was astounding. No wars. We deserved it after what we had been through.

I moved across the room to the small living area where a jar of wine had been placed for me. I poured myself a glass and sipped it leisurely. Glancing at the clock, I checked the time. I had some time before I had to go.

I moved to the edge of the floor where only a short wall prevented me from falling right off. From my vantage point, I watched over a great distance the waters of the lake shimmering under the light of the moon.

There was a sudden gust of wind coming from behind me. I felt a presence behind me.

Turning my head I was stupidly surprised to see the person behind me. I should have expected her.

I eyed her keenly.

Her stark white hair flowed down, hovering above the granite flooring. Her hair had always been her best feature. Or was it her sharp silver orbs? Who could decide? She was a beautiful, a first class creation of the gods themselves.

It was hard to believe we were related.

The woman's dress swept the ground, clinging onto her curves like second skin. She was scantily dressed in only a white bra held to her body by silver sashes running across her shoulders and ascending to her top. Her torso was fully exposed, with a skirt hanging right below it.

She had always flaunted her beauty, leaving a trail of broken hearts in her wake. Clearly, she still did.

Just like this castle, her beauty was timeless.

Zoladie was a witch like no other. A true enchantress, no spell required.

"Kova."

I was silent, not showing any response to my birthgiven name. The buzz was just sinking in and I also could not process her presence. Needless to say, she rarely visited, perhaps only once every two moons.

"Kogo? I'm told you go by Kogo these days."

"What are you doing here? The entire kingdom is searching for you," I told her placing the bronze goblet in my hand back on the table.

"I'm simplifying their task," she answered evenly. "I must also see my own-"

I did not let her finish that sentence. "You have to leave. As horrible as you are, I do not want to get arrested."

"These fools cannot hold me. Their magic is weak, as are their barriers." Her silver high-heels tip-tapped on the granite floors as she explored the place. She ran her fingertips across the petals of the massive potted plant placed at the centre of my chambers.

For a fugitive, she was exceedingly calm.

What she said was true. Before me stood a witch older than any of us, her power peeked all of ours...combined.

But that did not mean she was safe from the person hunting her. He was ruthless. A beast. "The king wants your head. Why?"

Zoladie's crimes were against the witches and not the lycanthropes and definitely not against the king but he most of all, hunted her like a thirst man does water.

"He believes I am threat to him. Especially now that the gods have granted him his chosen."

"Are you? A threat?"

She faced me and smiled." Yes."

"Why do you want the king dead?"

"First of all, he is no king. And I do not want his head. I want his beloved's."

The wind was knocked right out of my lungs. I knew who we were talking of. Cara. Cara was in grave danger. The woman out for her head was unstoppable.

"Why?"

"The same reason women wage wars and men fight them. Revenge."