Chapter 6: Witch's Coven

The cresent moon hung over the thick forest as the men stare back at the piercing green eyes that looked back at them

"Who are you?" she asked first, her voice was almost quiet but demanding, with no sign of reproach

the men loosened their guard a bit as George answers

"We are looking for the witch's covern"

"At which's gate you stand" she answers again, this time taking small elegant steps towards the lot "what do you want here?"

"We are here for Princess Larissa of Windfall" David replied this time 

The green eyed lady gasped in shock and immediately lept back in an inhuman way and before the men could unsheathe their sword for action, they all felt a tight grip on their necks and bodies

a hold so gripping, the sound of bones cracking could be heard in the silence of the night

“What do you want with her?” she asked, her eyes fierce and frown deep with her arms stretched out and palms balled, as if controlling whatever force it was around their bodies

"We..." George tries to say but could only choke out his breath and claw at what was holding his neck.

Her frown deepened and she released a breathe

The general falls on his knees and coughs, free from that hold, but before he could catch his breathe, he's been brought by that same weird force to stand in front of her again, staring into her cold green eyes that held montrous intent.

"What. do. you. want. with. her?" she punctuated her every word, a threat demanding for the truth and the truth only

“Her father the king of Windfall has summoned her” he said in a breath “and we're here to escort her back”

She looks at him suspiciously and cocks her head to the side

“Do you have a royal decree?” she asked after a few seconds of silence to which the man nodded and pulled the scroll from his cloth and stretched it out to her

“Oh, why didn't you say so earlier?” she asked coyly as she lets her hands free to collect the scroll, the other men also let loose as they cough and try to catch their breath

“The king wants me in the palace?” she murmured to herself in thought as she faced away from the still coughing men who were trying to revive some of their fainted comrade “Why? is he sick, sick enough to not be able to visit himself?”

“The king is not sick” George supplied to the panicing girl but flinched a bit when the green eyed lady abruptly turned back to look at him, a frown replacing his appraised look when she smiled childishly in relief

“Thank goodness for that” she breathes out before focusing her full attention on the distraught man in front of her again “Then why am i being summoned? you must know handsome man”

“I beg your pardon but the princess was summoned, not a witch”

A gentle wind mockingly pass them as everywhere became silent safe for the animals that were all going about their nocturnal activities.

The lady stared at George with wide eyes for a few seconds before bursting into laughter

“Oh my, i guess i didn't introduce myself” she straightened herself and made an elegant pose, the moon over her igniting her grace “I am Princess Larissa of Windfall, feel free to fall on your knees in reverence, though i can see that most of you are already on your knees”

She laughs again as her eyes once more found George's eyes and he bows his head, his eyeballs moving frantically, looking for an excuse  for the way he just insulted her,  expecially now that he could see a bit of her resemblance to the king

“Sorry my lady, i didn't realize it was you”

“That's okay” Larissa brushed away “so tell me, why am i being summoned?”

“The king will fill you in on that detail when we get to the palace my lady”

Larissa cocks her head to the side with a hum in thought, she then looks at the men who flinched, afraid of her

She sighs

"Fine" she slaps the scroll to her palm "we'll leave tomorrow morning, tie up your horses and come inside so you can all rest" She said,  already walking back towards the mansion but when she felt stillness of the people behind her,  she turned back to see them fidgeting as they looked up at the scary house 

"We'll make our camps behind the gates and await the morning" George spoke up with a bow before she could ask "please have a good night rest"

"You sure you want to stay outside the coven?" she asked with a big grin on her face "it gets really windy up on this mountain and the demons here are pretty mischievous"

"Thanks for your concern princess,  please have a good night's rest,  the journey tomorrow will be tiresome" George refused gently to which Larissa nodded with a smirk

"Try to have a good night rest then" Larissa turned around and continued on her remaining steps to the mansion "that's if you can" she called out with a light cackle before she closes the door of the monstrous looking castle

"Good call general" prince David said from beside the man whose shoulders slouch and a sour look occupied his face 

"We'll make our camps out here" George announced, "this place looks way safer than the mansion in front of us"

The moon hid behind the mansion, giving it an ominous aura and the men gulped and nodded their head in agreement

Outside the mansion definitely looked less scarier.

***

"It is a royal decree from the king"

"I told ya'‘ Larissa answered the feminine voice absentmindedly, she watched the men make their tents through a window in the castle and a smirk occupied her lips, getting bigger everytime they flinched due to a sound or movement

it was quite amusing to her

"But why?"

Larissa sighed as she lept down from the high window, stepping down gracefully to take a seat opposite the older woman in a black hooded robe but with it's hood down

They sat on a big round table with other hooded figures, twelve of them, around them, half their faces covered by their hoods

She sighed again, placing her elbow on the table and her chin in her palm

"He wouldn't say, but I am going to be leaving to find out Nana" 

"But the demons..." the hooded ladies say in sync

"Sisters...!" Larissa cut them off immediately "at this point, I am already a pro at taming them, you all agreed I was, besides I do not want to spend the rest of my life being confined to this chouldron, my father must have realized that, hence, why I'm being summoned back to the palace"

"But down the mountain holds more people" one of the females said

"and the more their numbers, the more vicious and ferocious the demons amongst them" another said

"Remember, there are still demons you can't tame" another 

"What happens if they get a hold of you and you're taken away"

"We implore you your highness, please don't leave the mountain"

Larissa rolled her eyes as the sisters finish each other's words and in sync, said the last part

"It's not like there's anything I can do about that, the king himself commands it" she pouted 

Just then a scream pierced through the air causing a big smile to replace her pout and she leaps back up to the window in time to see the men scurry around and hurdle themselves up together with their swords drawn, and looking around 

Larissa squealed in joy as she watched them, seeing mature men act so out of character was quite amusing to her, especially since her books never described them this way

She sat on the window sill with her chin in her palm and a smile on her face

'To get to see more of this, more of people that are way different from the monotonous priestesses she's lived with all her life' Larissa thought

"I really want to leave this mountain"