Page 32 of The Silent Mountain
“I hadn’t thought about that possibility yet,” Favian mutters, worry gracing his face as he looks at me.
“What if it’s just really a shock reaction?” I offer, feeling anxious about it myself. If it’s just in my head, it means I have deeper problems than expected.
Favian looks at me thoughtfully for a while. “Of course, that’s an option,” he says. “But it only started one or two weeks ago.”
“The king is right,” Stefan agrees. “If it were a traumatic response to something, then it would have started earlier.” He pauses. “You didn’t touch the birds, did you? After all, we don't know yet if they are carrying an illness.”
“I never touched them.”
We linger around in silence, the tension around us almost sizzling in the air. The two men are clearly nervous, probably for different reasons. Favian looks worried whenever he looks at me, while Stefan looks worried when his eyes catch Favian. His priority is protecting the king.
Fortunately, we don’t need to wait long because Cassie returns, with Barbara trailing behind her. She helps with carrying a few bowls. “When the king mentioned Princess Alana’s nightmares a couple of days ago, I started preparing this mixture of herbs and spices,” Cassie explains, while she spreads several plates and bowls around the room before having Barbara put the biggest one in the middle of it.
“What exactly is it going to do?” Stefan asks.
“If the princess was cursed, this will reveal it,” Cassie explains. “I likewise did this with the birds.”
“She is right,” Barbara backs her up. “We did that earlier today. I was actually about to report to you, my king.”
Favian looks at her with a frown. “What was the outcome?”
“As expected, something cursed the birds,” she says. “But we don’t know what kind of curse it is, or how they were cursed.”
“Can’t your spell tell that?” Favian asks Cassie.
Cassie looks flustered. “A different spell could, but I haven’t mastered it yet. Mine could only tell that the birds carry a curse.”
Favian and Stefan exchange a glance, the latter sighing slightly. Meanwhile, Cassie places candles inside every bowl, lighting them as she does before she approaches the last candle in the biggest bowl. Taking it into her hands, she starts murmuring something and walking around.
“Well, at least it’s better than nothing,” Stefan mutters.
“Maybe,” Favian says. “But if it is a curse that’s haunting Alana, I want results fast. We need to know what kind of curse it is. And I would also prefer results in terms of the cursed birds.”
Cassie instantly looks nervous at his words. She really can’t work well under pressure, which is not a particularly good trait if you work as the palace witch. I know how the witch in the werewolf kingdom handles her work, and how she can do anything at any time.
“Is there anything we need to do?” Favian asks Cassie.
She looks almost relieved that he asks her something about the current task, and hurries to explain to him that she just wants us to stand around. She moves the bowl in her hand, almost too energetically. “You best stay here, King Favian,” she exclaims. “And, Sir Stefan can stay on the other side, and Babs, you go to the door leading to the other room. And Princess Alana-“ She turns around excitedly.
“Careful,” Stefan exclaims.
But it’s too late. The clumsy witch accidentally bumps into the bed, wavering slightly to regain her balance, only to knock one of the bowls aside. “Oh no!” she squeals.
“The bowl in your hand,” Favian warns. “The candle-“
“Oh fuck,” Stefan curses, rushing forward to grasp the bowl, but in an instinctive gesture Cassie rips her hands up, the candle moving towards the blanket that’s been dropped over the bedrest.
“It’s catching fire,” Barbara exclaims.
Favian acts the fastest, grabbing the blanket before anything else can catch fire. Stefan and Barbara help him, while I open the balcony door, letting fresh air inside, as the room is full of smoke now. It’s then that I see something moving. I halt immediately, almost thinking I’m imagining things, but the shadow clearly moves across the room as if trying to escape the smoke.
Please don’t let me lose my mind! This has to be real.
“What was that!?” Barbara yells.
Favian has seen it too, handing the blanket to Stefan while his eyes dart around the room. “No way,” he hisses, his eyes turning to slits as his dragon powers surge forward. His power suddenly radiates the room as a rumbling growl followed by a bone-freezing screech—not coming from any of us—echoes through the room.
“Don’t move anyone,” he commands, successfully stopping all of us in our actions.
