Ava examined the man’s appearance.
Contrary to his expression, he was actually angry. And Ava wondered why he was so good at hiding his emotions. The man was smiling at her, gently even.
Which was puzzling as the Lycans she had met so far were quite rude.
"I come in peace."
"Yeah, right." So far all Lycans she had met either didn’t like her or thought that they could boss her around. They acted mighty around her as if she was beneath them.
"I wanted to meet the witch who was serving Matthew."
"Why?" Ava asked. She had no reasons to talk to these people. However, her curiosity won.
She wanted to know more about Matthew and the Lycans. She had so many questions, so many things that she needed to know. Things that she couldn’t just ask Matthew.
Of course, she wasn’t planning on directly asking them either.
"I’ve heard things." Almeru answered. "Matthew hated witches."
There it was.
Again.
"I was surprised when I heard that he made you swear loyalty. And started to doubt it. But I can see it... I can sense a bond."
A bond?
The man could sense it?
"I can hear your heart lady, I am going to assume you were not informed about the bond?"
She pursed her lips in response.
"When a witch swears loyalty to the Lycan, a bond is formed. It’s usually... a slave bond. Though yours is a bit different."
"A slave bond?"
The man smiled. "For a witch, you are weirdly uninformed. Did you swear your loyalty to Matthew without knowing the slave bond?"
"Explain it."
"When a witch becomes a Lycan’s witch, their lives are no longer theirs."
"So, if the Lycan dies..." Ava said.
"The witch dies." Almeru continued. "So you didn’t know."
Ava didn’t answer. Of course, she didn’t know anything about a slavery bond. She wasn’t Matthew’s slave.
"Did he trick you into swearing your allegiance?" Almeru leaned closer. "Did he?"
"I don’t think that’s any of your business."
"But it is!" Almeru said. "Matthew just declined an invitation from the Royals. Though this isn’t new, I wondered if this has something to do with his witch. And I guess I’m right."
Confidence radiated from Almeru. Ava didn’t like it.
Ava leaned back. She just finished her breakfast.
"So, you came here... because you want to talk about my bond?"
"No." Almeru shook his head. "On the contrary. I came here to help Matthew. I came here to convince him."
"To go?"
"Exactly."
"But?"
"You are quite smart, aren’t you?"Almeru smirked. "But yes... I cannot do it without you."
"So, you want me to convince him." Ava uttered.
"Of course! Aren’t you his witch? You are supposed to protect him!"
"And convincing him is... protecting him?"
"Precisely."
"Why is that?" Ava asked. If declining the invitation was so dangerous then... why did Matthew do it? Matthew must be aware of the consequences of his actions, right?
The man let out a surprise gasp. Even the woman next to him looked surprised.
"You don’t know?"
"Know what?"
"Matthew is the next Lycan king.’
Again, Ava showed surprise. She had to convince them that she knew nothing about Matthew.
"And?"
"All Kings need to do the Fealty Ceremony with their witches."
"Witches?" Plural? Does this mean Matthew is going to have witches serving him? And all of them needed to sweat loyalty to him? For some reason, Irritation made its way inside her head. Her gut knotted. She quickly suppressed it.
"A king... needs servants. To protect the crown, the King along with his Queen need to work with witches." Almeru said. "And that means, the upcoming King needs at least three witches before he can be crowned as King."
"But Matthew... doesn’t want to be king."
"He told you that?" Almeru scoffed. "Do you really think he has a choice?" He rested his elbows on the table. "Look lady.... The King is still healthy and that’s the only reason why they haven’t dragged Matthew back to Scotland yet."
Ava pursed her lips, her emotions extremely complicated.
If the man came here to make her confused, then he was succeeding. However, a different kind of determination started burning in Ava’s eyes.
"That... and he needs the three witches when he marks his Queen." Almeru continued. "Everything has been prepared. All you need to do is show up... and Matthew is going to become the official heir to the throne."
Bullshit.
Ava cursed inwardly.
"Now little witch... your mission is simple. Bring Matthew back to Scotland and the King will surely reward you."
Ava sighed. Right, these people were Lycans. All of them look down on witches. Ava didn’t like most of the witches either but... this ... this was infuriating her.
She flicked her hand and the woman next to Almeru gasped.
"That— I can speak!" Aira said while holding her throat.
"You can leave now." Ava said. It looked like she needed to think about her future now that she was able to confirm the complicated nature of Matthew’s kind. She could already feel the headache coming her way.
This... along with her aching body was enough to worsen her mood.
"You— You can’t just tell us— " the woman stopped talking when Ava glance at her.
"You know... " Ava said. "I swore my loyalty to Matthew... and not you. So you better don’t try to irritate me or I will roast you and eat dogs for dinner!"
"You— You—" the woman got up and pointed at her. "Brother! Aren’t you going to stop her?"
To Ava’s surprise Almeru just stared at her without saying a word. Then he got up. "I already conveyed the message. I shall leave now."
"Brother! Aren’t you— "
"Zip it." Almeru hissed then he narrowed his eyes at Ava. "We are leaving!"
He turned around but before he could reach the door, he stopped and turned to look at Ava.
"By the way," Almeru said. "I forgot to mention. If you fail to convince Matthew... the King will send witches to suppress him. You should know... Matthew is a powerful Lycan. But he can be helpless against... magick." He gave Ava an irritating grin. "It was lovely getting to know you... Miss Woods."
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