Chapter 4 Episode 4: Oath taking

Chapter 4.

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"The prophecy does not really concern the witch race as it has to do with Scroll Keepers, starting from me to the next generations to come," she said as murmuring began in the council and they began to look at each other with questions in their hearts.

"Yes, the ancestors heard my cry and left me and my descendants a gift after my grandma died as a defenseless, and fragile old lady who has done nothing wrong but serve Stoneville for the whole 94 years of her life. The only wrong Annabel did was to relay the message that was told to her by the primogenitors. She did nothing wrong at all and does not deserve to die!" She spoke and was battling with the tears that were forming in her eyes.

The council noticed that she was still grieving and they could not say that they blame her.

She waited for a while as she finally won by pushing the tears back. She sniffed and flashed them a faux smile.

"The ancestors left us a gift, we scroll keepers. The witches' powers would be powerless to us. We are now immune from your magic" she announced as the murmuring heightened, but she did not stop talking as she continued.

"Yes, Annabel was old. But she does not deserve a painful death. If she had powers like the witches, I know she would not have died as she did..." She was still talking as the council chief did a spell.

"Vhi zhu orobos" he murmured as his eyes glowed and an empty seat rose from its roll and flew rapidly to where Clara was. Immediately it got close to Clara, it fell on the ground without hurting or touching her as the witches gasped.

"It is true"

"She is telling the truth"

They murmured as the Council Chief decided to call them to order.

"Silent!" He called and the place became calm.

She breathed down as a smirk curled around Clara's lips when the prophecy was confirmed by the stunt that the council chief pulled.

When the chair was flying rapidly in her direction, she panicked and got scared at first.

The Queen immediately stood up to speak.

"This is great news, to you and your descendants and I must say that I am happy. Once more, I am sorry for your loss, especially that I was one that accidentally sent Annabel to her grave"

Clara bowed as the Queen sat. The council chief who sat when the Queen stood, stood up in agitation.

"So, can we move on to the next agenda?" He asked as Lucas adjusted on his seat uncomfortably.

The Queen nodded at the chief who smiled and glanced at the cradle. The babies did not make any sound while they were there since as they were asleep.

The King and Queen stood and walked to the middle of the hall that the cradle was. The Queen carried the black stone while the king carried the white one.

"These are the gifts that were given to me. I present to you, Charlotte Alonzo of the Black stone. She was the first to be born!" She announced raising the baby for everyone to see as murmuring began in the hall.

Lucas did not wait for them to die the noise down as he was tensed. The Queen walked up to him as they exchanged babies.

She lifted the white stone so that everyone could see her.

"And I present to you, Chloe Alonzo of the White Stone. She was born last!" She announced as the Council Chief became sudden furious.

"I said it! I knew this would happen! And you asked what if it were the white stone that was born first! Did you see now? How are we going to settle this?! The prophecy is already coming to pass. We have to get rid of that baby, this instant!" He barked as Lucas drew the baby closer to his chest.

"No one is getting rid of any baby. It was quite unfortunate that the black stone came out first. It was no one's fault. But this baby has a right to live!" Ursula cried.

"She has the right to lead? Wait until she grows up and starts demanding the throne. For over a millennium, the line of Queens has always come from the White stones. This sort of thing has never happened before. How are we going to explain to the black stone when she grows up that her younger twin has to be the next Queen? She would never agree to that! You just complicated things because of your silly mistake of choosing a husband! We have to correct it before it gets out of hand! Hand over that baby to us this instant! We have to do the needful!" Another elder from the white witches stood up furiously and spoke.

"We the black witches have kept quiet far too long. The sectionalization is getting out of hand. Yes, according to the seven scrolls, the line of Queens was supposed to be from the White Stones, but that does not mean that the black witches should not be given a chance. We are the same after all, we black witches can not do without you just like you can not do without us. You are stronger during the day, and we are stronger during the night and we protect the coven in turns. I see no reason why it should be taboo for a Queen to come from the black Stones! We should not kill an innocent baby because we have to follow protocols!" An elder from the line of black witches stood and spoke.

"Those protocols made us who we are. We are a people that have a culture that we must adhere to. We can not abandon the tradition that has been handed down for over a millennium! That baby has to be killed!" The council chief barked.

"What if we just save ourselves the stress by telling the babies that the white stone is actually the first twin and not the black one?" One of the white stone elders suggested.

"Never!" A black witch refuted.

"We would agree to every suggestion you made which does not involve killing her. But taking the birthright of the black stone as the elder of the twins is what we would not accept!" He charged.

"Enough!" Lucas barked when the hall started shaking because of their rage and they kept quiet as they scowled at each other.

"We do not have to kill Charlotte or take her birthright just because she is a black witch that came out first. It is not her fault. All we have to do is to train and teach her that her younger twin sister has to be the Queen. You would see how things would work out fine and Charlotte and Chloe would get on fine" Lucas said, still holding the baby to her chest.

"And what happens when Charlotte finds out the truth? What happens when she finds out that if she was the Queen, she would have the power of the day and the night and not just the power of the night as she is a black witch?" The council chief asked as the place went dead silent.

"Then she would not have to know what comes with being a Queen. She would not know about the special ability to command powers both at day and night!" Ursula said crying as the whole place was tense.

"Do not forget, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!" One of the white elders said.

"If we are to keep the black stone. We have to keep this secret from her because if she finds out, she would want that much power!" Another elder said as the lump lifted from Ursula's chest when str suspected that they might spare her daughter.

Do not forget, it is very dangerous for the black stone to find out because if she does, she had the power to stop the ritual!" The council chief said.

"We would guard the secret with our heart. She does not have to know" Lucas said.

"But what if she finds out? Remember black witches are stronger in the night and it is in the night that the coven performs the ritual to crown in the next Queen. Which means, when the white stone is being crowned, the black stone has the power to destroy the ritual!" The Council chief pointed out.

"That is why she would not know! She would not even know when the Queen would be crowned. And I will make sure she will not be aware of her immense strength in the night!" The Queen said.

"Hmm..." Clara mumbled under her breath as she watched the witches without adding her quota.

"Then, we would have to take an oath that this secret would not leave this hall. It would die here with all of us!" One of the elders of the white witches said as she black witches started murmuring.

"Are the black witches cool with it?" The Council Chief asked.

"We are good. As long as the black stone is left alive and her birthright as the elder is not taken away from her" An elder from the black witches said.

"So, shall we?" The council chief said as Lucas and Ursula dropped the babies in their cradle as Charlotte started crying but they ignored her.

The witches formed a circle, Clara broke free from the circle and stood at a corner watching them. The witches stretched forth their palms and began to cast a spell as their palms tore and blood started flowing from the cut.

"Clara, you have to join," The Council chief said to her as she nodded and joined the circle, she stretched forth her palms and they did the spell that would cut her palms but it did not work.

"I am immune to witches' power, remember? I think you have to take the oath yourselves!" She announced and broke free from the circle and went back to the corner that she was watching them from.

Blood was still dripping from their palms as they held each other hands, and it was merged with their drops of blood. They started saying a spell and the wind in the hall began as a hurricane outside the circle!

When they finished with the spell, they all fell to the ground and the circle broke off with a flash of lightning.

It was done!