Prologue
The witch of the mountain,who has turned hard like ice, shall be thawed by light.
Two thousand five hundred years ago, give and take a few years
“Rheseis!” the witch exclaimed the second the faerie danced into the coven’s library, the coven which was led by the first of the High Priestesses.
“I see your mother stayed true to her words,” Rheseis answered.
“Of course. Come here, let’s sit,” One, as Rheseis called her, continued and moved from one of the bookshelves and to a table in the middle of the room.
“I rather not sit.” With a smile, Rheseis started dancing around the room. She didn’t keep to the floor, but jumped up on a table and did a twirl, making the light purple dress she wore fan out as she did. Moved on and landed on a shelf from which she jumped and took hold of a ceramic oil lamp which hung from the ceiling. She swung back and forth, dangling from it, before letting go and landing on the floor. There, she continued to dance around the room.
“Well, I assume you’re here because you want your payment,” One said. Her eyes followed every of the faerie’s gracious movements.
“Yes, I am,” Rheseis agreed as she temporarily came to a halt, sitting on top of one of the overladen bookshelves. “I would like to have the Flower of Light.”
“The… The Flower of Light?” One said weakly, a trace of panic crossed her face, before gathering herself. “Of course. You’re doing us a great service, so of course you’ll get the Flower. But… May I ask why you want it?”
Rheseis had moved on and now sat on the ceramic oil lamp, using it as a swing, her black hair partly hid her face as it swung with the movements. She contemplated for a moment about how much she should say. For the witch in front of her, the witch who at the moment was the leader among the five High Priestesses, was still on the right path, just like her mother had been. But, just like her mother, she was a part of the problem of the future and, if told too much, could make those problems worse. Because there was a simple truth to why the deal had been necessary.
Power corrupts.
The same families had been in charge of the High Priestesshood for a long time now, and they would continue to be so for another two thousand five hundred years. That was a long time for power to corrupt. Mothers who would push their daughters to become as powerful as possible, resulting in pushing them towards the wrong path.
But she could not explain all of that to One. She couldn’t risk the High Priestesses trying to break their deal. For, though the future was not set in stone, the future problems were.
“The path to the future I’m aspiring towards, the future our deal will help bring about, is difficult, long, and winding. The Flower of Light will be of great help in my work to make it happen,” Rheseis explained and jumped down from the oil lamp to land in a tailor position on the table One sat at. Rheseis shining purple eyes fixed One’s brown eyes.
“In what way will it help?” the witch asked while adverting her eyes, making Rheseis think over her response again, think over how best to lie.
“Even with the deal that was struck, there will be a war over the High Priestesshood in the future. There is a risk the seats will fall into the wrong witches’ hands. But there are items within all of the High Priestesses’ covens that will help the right witches win the war. However, the items will be forgotten if they remain within your covens.”
“That doesn’t sound like much of a payment to you, then. It’s rather you trying to fulfill your task to an exceptional degree.”
Rheseis giggled lightly. “Oh, but I will get to enjoy the items until it’s time to hand them over.”
One nodded slowly, then asked, “Does this mean one of the five witches is soon to be born?”
“It’s still some time to come, but yes.”
“Which one? If you can answer.” Anticipation, curiosity, the desire to gossip, shone in One’s eyes.
“The one who’s mate won’t be born until two thousand two hundred and twenty-two years after her.”
“That seems logical. I guess the other four won’t be born until much later? And by then, she’ll be dead.”
Rheseis nodded and tried to hide her pleasure of One’s assumptions, the same assumptions her mother, together with the other High Priestesses, had made when the deal had been struck.
“Well, then,” One said and snapped her fingers. A beautiful sunflower, which sparked with the light of the sun, materialized between the witch and the faerie. Rheseis took it.
“It’s been delightful meeting you,” Rheseis said before she spun on the spot and returned to her own realm.
“How did it go?” Adriata asked the same moment Rheseis walked into her bedroom.
“It’s all about to beginning. I’ve been waiting for this for so long. But now finally it’s only a couple of years and then the first one will be born,” Rheseis smiled at her fellow faerie.
“Oh, I know! I’ve been longing for her to be born. She and I are going to be such good friends!” Adriata jumped a little where she stood as she said this.
