CHAPTER 457: THE TIME WITCH

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Prince Simon shouted when he noticed that his commands had not been carried out.

The guards who surrounded Shelby on all sides did not make any effort to heed his words. This was new to him, and Prince Simon was beyond livid. His commands had been ignored .... him! The crown prince! The one who was to be crowned King in a few moments! The sheer audacity of it sent his blood boiling.

The entire audience mirrored his shock in some sense. To them, their royal family was the sky! A wave of disbelief rippled through the gathered crowd, expressions ranging from confusion to outright fear. Gasps filled the silence, eyes darted nervously, and some even dared to step or fly back as if afraid of what his wrath might bring.

All except two people.

They stood unfazed, untouched by the weight of his authority or the tension suffocating the air. One with quiet defiance, Brian, and the other with eerie amusement, the little witch.

In all these, Prince Syla was almost hyperventilating, his chest rising and falling in sharp, erratic motions as he gripped the wheels on his chair. A cold sweat broke out on his brow as the enormity of what he had just sensed crashed over him like a relentless tide. It was that power.

That foreign, unnatural power... one that should not exist... but one that he very well knew but could not understand how it was associated with her. It slithered through the air, unseen yet undeniable, coiling around his senses like a vice. It was all too consuming and even suffocating.

He tried to ignore it, but the unfolding events made it impossible. There was no way the royal guards, who had been groomed to perfection, would ignore any command, not to talk of ignoring in front of the whole Fae-folks.

And yet, somehow, amidst the sheer horror of it, his words had been blatantly ignored, as did that of his son! That was not acceptable!

He, the oldest supreme power in that whole room, had spoken, but they had all ignored him!

It was too much. Far too much. His fingers twitched, his vision swam, and for a moment, he thought he might actually sink into the weight of it all.

All, until a warm hand lay re-assuredly on his shoulder, providing him with the grounding to bring him back to the present.

"You cannot lose your composure now," Ash whispered for his ears only. Instantaneously, Prince Syla relaxed, but his eyes narrowed more on Shelby.

"What are you waiting for?"

"What the hell are you doing?"

Both Princes snapped at the same time at the older witch.

The witch spoke so slowly, so aged, that it felt like each word was being pulled from the depths of time itself.

"You... demand..."

A pause so thick, it felt like the very air trembled.

"But do not... pay?"

Each syllable crawled from her mouth as if the weight of the universe pressed down on them. It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t even a rebuke.

It was a verdict.

The Timeless witch in her little body burst out laughing, adding annoyance to what was going on.

"Shut up!" One of the guards close to Prince Syla screamed, "Y-"

He never completed his next statement as he fell with his eyes wide open in terror. He never saw how his end had come about. It was so swift that no one noticed what the little witch had done. She swung her legs on the chair, which did not touch the floor, as she continued to grin widely as if she were enjoying her favourite show.

Prince Syla seemed to be familiar with how the witches worked, so he did not flinch, but that was not the same with Simon.

"What do you want as payment!"

"Why .... do ..... you .... ask .... when .... you .... know?"

Simon sighed, looking at Shelby with a little too much longing,

"Go get the prisoner!" He said in reference to Murray.

"I wouldn’t take that payment, sister.... You gotta listen to me on this..." The timeless witch added as all playfulness dimmed from her.

The older-looking witch was known as the time witch, and unlike her sister, she could consume people’s ’time’ arbitrarily, but despite this, she always got the opposite effect of what her older sister got. The Time Witch stared long and hard at her sister and then made a request:

"That one will do!"

She pointed to one of the many concubines of the Princes – an obviously beautiful Fae female who was also the only daughter of one of the elders. However, despite the startled cries of both father and daughter, the princes just pushed her forward and watched her wilt in front of their eyes.

Unlike the Timeless Witch, the Time Witch did not only take some years off the person; she took all of it. Therefore, all payments to the Time Witch were death warrants.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The father screamed, but in response, an irritated Syla finished him off with a wave of his arm.

Coronation days were supposed to be auspicious days, but there had already been numerous bloodsheds. This made the people fearful and skeptical. However, they had no room to retaliate or say otherwise unless they wanted to the next.

"Seems like you grew even older, little sister." The Timeless witch remarked, her tone laced with something between amusement and pity.

At this, some of the bolder ones turned to look at her. The Time Witch’s already ancient-looking body seemed even more withered after that repayment. Deeper lines carved new paths across her already timeworn face, her once slightly bent posture drooped even more, as if the very air had become a burden.

Her fingers, gnarled like twisted roots, gripped her walking stick more firmly, her knuckles paling from the effort. Even her robes, which once draped over her with an air of quiet authority, now seemed too large, as though she had shrunk beneath their weight, and her breath came in large gasps as if she was trying to draw in her last breath.

And yet .... her eyes.

They gleamed like molten gold, flickering with an unnatural brightness that made them almost youthful. A sharp contrast to her crumbling form, they were alight with something dangerous. Excitement? Satisfaction? Perhaps both.

She let out a light, almost chirpy laugh, which was so at odds with her brittle form that it sent an unsettling shiver through the air.

Without paying attention to the Timeless Witch, the Time Witch lightly tapped the floor with her walking staff.

The action looked like nothing, but in that moment, that haze that seemed to have been cast from Shelby diminished considerably. The Faes, who seemed to have been charmed to submission, shook their heads and stood upright.

This was no subtle action, but almost all felt it at the same time... all, except one.

"Now .... that ..... we ..... have ..... your..... attention, ..... let .....us ....start .... the ceremony...."

After this, her voice sped up considerably, almost to that of a normal person, but not quite. The witch spoke like she was a very tired person, looking to take a nap forever

"Prince Syla.... I only came to fulfil the demands given. You know that I never take on any more than the original ask... right?"

Syla frowned, not liking the Time Witch’s tone, but his hands were tied. He understood that she was referring to his concerns raised about the human girl....

"Now, in order to complete this coronation, we need two tasks done: One, we need two living sacrifices.... To rid of the block from the unburied royal...." As she said this, she looked at Syla and then at his legs. The implications were clear ... at least to all who understood.

"That’s easy..... we have the sacrifice ready!"

The Time Witch nodded at the reply while the Timeless sighed in pity.

"... the second sacrifice will be needed to get rid of the tests that your King-to-be should have gone through already...."

All eyes turned to Prince Simon, but he was engrossed in Shelby. No one could read his body language, nor expression. They did not know whether he was still lusting after her or angry that his commands were not adhered to.

"... just use that fetus for that!" Prince Simon snapped.

The crowd frowned in displeasure. This was because there had been speculations on the fact that Prince Simon had not undergone the mandated tests and wanted to set himself as King. In the case of Prince Syla, he had at least gone to hunt to show his capability and prestige. It was worth knowing that even Syla did not undergo all the tests required either.

However, what displeased them the most was that a new life was to be sacrificed! That was unheard of in their land!

"I know you have no boundaries when it comes to what you do, little sister, but as I said, you’d want to re-think your next actions!"

The Time witch’s expression darkened with every word that slipped from her older sister’s lips. Her patience, already worn thin, finally snapped. Her grip on her walking stick tightened as she straightened, eyes narrowing like storm clouds about to unleash their fury.

"Know your place, sister! This is not the time for you to interfere," she thundered, her voice echoing through the chamber like a crack of lightning.

A sudden pressure filled the air, pressing down like an invisible force as if the very walls themselves held their breath. The flickering candlelights wavered, struggling against the weight of her fury.

For all her withering body, in that moment, she was terrifying, but her sister, even though she appeared as a child, was not affected at all.

"Do not say that I did not warn you...." Then she gestured to Shelby,

"She is more than meets the eye!"

"HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!! Do you mean a mere fragile human like this can harm me? Did your brain grow smaller with your body?"

The Timeless witch did not take offence but rather, added as if an afterthought,

"... and oh.... That Prince... will never be king!"

"... and why is that, sister?"

"He has no will, so how can he be king? A stupid love-sick fool like that?

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