Chapter Twenty
Trepidation tugged upon Aidan as he approached the Bloodwitch's red door. He spent so much time outside of the cottage, but never fathomed entering. He never expected to see the Bloodwitch.
"You needn't be fearful."
Aidan turned to Carys. "So she isn't that bad?"
She blinked. "No, she's that bad. But she shan't harm you. Not while I... not while my brother has need of you."
He almost missed her swift correction, too consumed by his own apprehension. "Don't you Curse Mages believe in blood vengeance?"
"Aye."
"'Do what you will'." He clenched his fist. "Isn't that the law of the land?"
She wiped a smudge from her face. "Indeed. But Meical promised Mistress Claudia that you aren't the only member of your family left. He vowed she could still have her vengeance."
He scowled. Only Carys would think that it was reassuring to have his family offered up as a consolation.
"You'll be fine." She frowned. "As long as you don't question Mistress Claudia. And don't show any disrespect. And don't speak unless you are addressed."
The door creaked open, and Aidan scooted back. A foul stench wafted from the shadowy cottage, akin to mystical waste. The smell no longer made him want to vomit, but it stung his eyes and left a terrible taste.
Carys remained unaffected. "Come along, then," she said, passing through the doorway.
His imaginings of the cottage were gloomy and macabre, but it didn't quite match his mind's picture.
Despite one window, the inside was bright.
Candles of all shapes and sizes lit the room, adding only a hint of eeriness.
Peculiar etchings bordered a few on the earthen floor.
Some symbols were runes, the rest incomprehensible.
Baskets hung from the ceiling, mostly filled with dried herbs.
If nothing grew in the Curselands, he assumed they came from the Starlands.
A few baskets held more disturbing items: dead spiders, snakeskin, and animal skulls.
Aside from the spell that cursed him, he hadn't known Carys to practice Sacrifice Magic.
The display of death disturbed him and added to his reluctance in aiding Curse Mages.
When he was younger, his mother spoke to him of the atrocities they committed.
She explained they sacrificed men, women, and children.
Queen Sara had looked haunted as she recounted the story. "If you ever wonder why your father gave his life to seal those monsters away, remember the mothers who are still missing their children."
A large bone on the ground made Aidan doubt any life lasted for long in the Curselands.
Gil had given him a leather jerkin, and he regretted wearing into this sweltering sty. A cauldron boiling over a massive fireplace seemed to be the source of the unbearable heat and reek.
Distracted by the hellish atmosphere of the cottage, he bumped into a table.
He shuddered at the group of raggle-taggle poppets atop it.
Some made of cloth, others of twigs. The cloth ones were most unsettling, eyeless faces marked with an 'X'.
One had a pin jammed into the forehead area, and he was almost certain that it lifted its face toward him.
"I would not disturb them."
His heart leaped. He had heard no one approach, and now a woman stood on his left.
Long, wild dark curls framed an oval, pale face.
An unsettling ageless quality coated her face, smooth and expressionless, like a mask.
She wore a dress of mismatched patches of leather.
Her ring finger was missing, an ugly black blotch blemishing the stump.
Claudia the Bloodwitch.
He gulped. "I... I..."
"Unless you desire untold misery unleashed upon strangers, leave them be," Claudia said, her voice leaving the impression that she swallowed a goblet of thorns.
He backed away. "I'm sorry."
"The warning is for your benefit." She craned her head, her dark gaze searing him. "Magic ofttimes wreaks consequences on all those involved. If you hurt someone with magic, even without intending it, the magic may rebound on you. There is always a price to magic."
"I know," he muttered.
Her mouth twitched into a smile, revealing uneven, yellowed teeth. "You would know, wouldn't you?" she asked wryly. "The innocent lamb who never harmed anyone. But this lamb must pay for the sins of his kin, and suffer in the den of the wolves."
"Mistress Claudia..." Carys faltered.
"I... I am fine," Aidan said, unaware of whether he was reassuring Claudia, Carys, or himself.
Claudia tilted her head. "Are you? Surrounded by wolves who shall tear you apart as soon as you cease to be useful? Far from those who love you most?"
He lifted his head, refusing to show fear. "As long as my loved ones are safe, I am content."
A terrible silence followed his lie. The contents of the cauldron crackled, and another doll faced him.
"As you will." Claudia nodded. "So it seems your Starblood shall make these dead lands flourish. The lamb has more to offer than the wolves knew."
His jaw clenched, irked with being called a lamb.
She reached for his hand, and he tensed.
She ran an icy finger down the lines on his palm.
"Now we must harness the useful element in your blood.
Since we can't bleed the lamb dry for an orchard, we must make the most of a little.
But that means relying on the most banal and odious of methods. " She curled her lip. "Alchemy."
Her disdain surprised Aidan. "What's wrong with alchemy?"
Carys' face darkened with fury at his questioning the Bloodwitch. But Claudia didn't appear offended. "Magic is the most primordial force in any realm. Alchemy seeks to reduce it to a tool for the service of man."
He chewed his lip, trying to suppress his opinions.
But his sense of righteousness overwhelmed his common sense.
"Alchemy keeps everyone safe!" he exclaimed, disregarding Carys' exasperated expression.
"Magic can do terrible things. Look at the wild portals plaguing both of our realms, created by corrupt magic.
" He snatched his hand away. "And even you must understand it's the reason you are imprisoned in this abyss. "
Instead of anger, an off-putting smile crossed Claudia's face. "The reason that I am here, that Carys is here, and that you are here is because of people like your sanctimonious father. Do you want to hear the tale of how I earned the epithet 'Bloodwitch'?"
He stood straighter, struggling to appear unintimidated. "You've slain many good men in battle."
She clasped her hands. "I earned that name before my fame in battles.
I saved a young maiden from a sleeping curse.
A curse meant for a princess, but affected many people.
Even an innocent who happened to be in the vicinity.
But I didn't just save her from sleep, you see.
When eternal slumber came upon her, she fell and bashed her head on a rock. I healed her death wound."
He remembered what Carys told him. "Curse Magic cannot heal, it's only good for destruction. I would imagine any healing corrupted her, body or soul."
"Aye." Claudia sniffed. "That weighed upon the righteous minds of your brethren. Perhaps a healer with pure intentions could have saved her. A question for the ages. But your kind decided it was more prudent to kill her."
He clenched his hands, struggling to maintain a calm demeanor as Claudia offered a smug smile.
"Of course, a blood curse is hard to kill. They tried poisoning the maiden, smothering her. Nothing worked. Terrified by their inability to snuff out her life, they ripped her out of her mother's arms, took her to a lake, and drowned her."
His stomach twisted. Carys focused on her feet, refusing to meet his gaze.
"I don't... I don't believe it," he croaked.
"If she couldn't be killed... necromancy must have resurrected her.
Her body may have been animated, but she wasn't truly alive.
No one in the Starlands would do that to a living child. "
Claudia shrugged. "If thinking so of your countrymen helps you sleep, so be it. Hold out your hand."
"I beg your pardon?"
She picked up a dagger from the table. Aidan jumped back as the glinting blade neared him.
The Bloodwitch rolled her eyes. "I need to test your blood, measure the purity of your Star Magic. When one spends enough time in the Curselands, the atmosphere can corrupt your power. Although, given that grass grows when you bleed and shit, I imagine you aren't too corrupted."
"Grass doesn't grow whenever I—"
Claudia tapped the table with her dagger. "Still, if you're to heal more than an inch of this rotten land, there needs to be considerable purity in your blood. So I must discover how much corruption has begun and then determine the best method of banishing it."
Aidan glanced at Carys, who gave a quick nod.
With reluctance, he extended his hand and Claudia made a small cut, capturing the crimson drops in a glass bottle.
She added pinches of powder and strange colored liquids into the bottle before pouring the contents into a silver bowl of gray water.
He and Carys bent down to examine the mixture, so close that their heads almost brushed.
He glanced at Carys, curious if she understood the purpose of the brownish-red blob floating in the water.
"Mistress Claudia, what does this mean?" she asked, just as perplexed.
Claudia stuck her finger in the bowl before bringing it up to her mouth and licking the substance.
"The Curselands have only started corrupting him.
The core of his Star Magic hasn't been touched.
But, as the prince spends more time here, the corruption will dilute his power's purity.
There are methods to counterbalance this problem.
.. all rather difficult. The simplest solution would be Sacrifice Magic, but I can't imagine the prince would kill a virgin for a good harvest."
"I would never!" Aidan exclaimed in horror.
"Indeed, he won't." Carys crossed her arms. "The whole point of relying on his magic is to avoid Sacrifice Magic."
Claudia rummaged through a shelf before selecting a bottle of foul brown liquid. "Then he'll have to purge the corruption."
Aidan wrinkled his nose. "I am... I am to drink it?"
She nodded. "It contains dragon blood. That's almost as valuable as you.
You'll be lucky if you don't retch and have terrible bowel movements.
Although, regardless, it should hurt a great deal.
Of course, I understand if a little suffering isn't worth giving children a decent meal. So, by all means, leave my home."
He snapped out of his daze, realizing that he was backing to the door. "If I take that concoction... no sacrifices are necessary?"
"I should be able to salvage enough untainted blood to serve our purposes.
" She grinned, resembling a skeleton in the dim light.
"At least for the first time. Since we can't bleed the lamb dry, this will be a prolonged process.
You'll be corrupted again, and we'll have to purge you again.
Are you certain the wretched souls in this land are worth it? "
Brief resentment burned at his heart. "It seems I must always sacrifice for others."
She poured the brownish liquid into a pewter goblet.
"The Starlands taught you self-sacrifice.
It destroys you. Do you know why so many Curse Mages are consumed by their magic and transform into beasts?
They can't or won't make the proper sacrifices.
Look at my pupil, Carys! She refuses to make the High Sacrifice. "
Carys busied herself by arranging herbs in a basket, not facing at either of them. Aidan tried to bury his curiosity and didn't last more than a moment. "High Sacrifice?"
"Human sacrifice," Carys mumbled.
He expected to feel queasy, but felt only emptiness. "You never went that far?"
"No. And it has only hurt her," Claudia said. "It wears on her body, especially considering how much Curse Magic that she uses. One day she shall strain herself too much and—"
"And nothing," Carys said.
Claudia winked at Aidan. "If the fate of my loved ones rested on the survival of a witch, I'd start making sure that she makes the proper sacrifices."
"I will do no such thing!" He clenched his fist. "I think Carys is brave for refusing such a foul act."
Carys lifted her head. Shock and something akin to admiration animated her typically expressionless face. The humanity on her face sent a strange sensation through him.
Claudia tossed something on the table that resembled an oversized, pea green headless chicken.
Aidan's heart leapt in horror as it started flopping until she pierced it with her dagger.
"I hope you retain those noble sentiments when she is dead.
.. unless her death is what you desire." She cut into the creature.
"Perhaps the corruption within bids you to hate Carys more than you love your princess. "
"Untrue!" he snapped. "I do not want Bella to die and I do not want Carys to die."
Claudia ripped something out of the carcass, and black slime dripped down her hand. "Then persuade her of the High Sacrifice's necessity." She bit into the revolting chunk and smiled, inky sludge staining her mouth. "If she doesn't make the sacrifice, you'll lose both of them."