Caught

All of the leaders of the other four major kingdoms and the various tribes could be heard voicing their discontent in the Meeting Hall of the Black Kingdom. In normal circumstances, the leaders of the four other kingdoms would wait patiently until Reagan and his wife arrived because they couldn't bother them while they were present. However, in this particular case, the treaty was at stake and the Black Kingdom's king had lied about his daughter, tricking them all into thinking Batya was their daughter when in fact she was a young child they 'picked up'. In addition to misleading them and playing with their emotions, they also offered Allister from the Ice Kingdom a cursed child to marry, a sort of deception they couldn't stand.

"In which part of the Treaty was it stated that the marriage of our biological children will seal the Alliance?"….Meredith asked, her tone dangerously calm, for a mother whose daughter was going through such a hard time she looked well than Akhasha had explained to them.

"It wasn't stated but the word 'offspring' made it biological… Meredith, shouldn't you be apologizing to Allister and Akhasha for the deceit?"….

Looking at the speaker Meredith ignored him and rather looked at Akhasha closely, something was off, the Ice Queen looked relaxed and quite contemptuous, she had this air of arrogance around her, and she has changed. So that was her plan, humiliation.

"And why is that? Why should I apologize to them? What for? What mistake did I make?"

Her answer shocked them all, they were very much aware the black queen was very extraordinary, she was too amazing, not afraid of anything and defending herself whenever she felt wronged. But to ask what she did to the ice people when she knew what she did? That was something. Akhasha's face changed and she frowned, even in this situation she still failed to see her wrong, she was just never wrong always right, that woman oh how she hated her.

"You knew your daughter was cursed, yet you allowed her to marry my son. Isn't that deceitful enough to apologize for? On top of that Batya is not your daughter you have broken the rules of the alliance", she turned to the black king who hadn't spoken since the beginning of the meeting.

"Reagan, you and your queen owe this counsel an apology if not me at least they deserve an apology"…

"This king owes no one an apology, why? Didn't your son marry my daughter? Didn't you all witness the wedding?"

"It has been nullified, has it not? So there is no marriage"….Chief Kale of the Hunter Tribe in the far east of the Black Kingdom spoke, his large figure barely fitting in the seat offered to him, these people were known as barbarians for their rookie lifestyle but Reagan respected this chief among all the other kingdoms, barbarian? He was the most civilized of them all.

"The marriage was nullified because my daughter didn't want to stay married to a man who couldn't stand the sight of her"….

"Is the curse reversible? I could be of help"….Kale offered and Reagan smiled sadly.

"None we know of"….Reagan looked at the curious faces of dozens of rulers across the four kingdoms and several tribes.

"Batya's curse is very ancient, we didn't know of it until yesterday. Till now we don't know the fate of my daughter. So, before you all jump to conclusions and accuse us of being unfair to the Ice family, you should know this we were never aware, if we did know a terrible fate like this we befall an innocent person like Batya on her wedding day, we would never have gotten her married. She lost everything, the love of the man she loved and the zeal to live her life the way she wanted to, she can't be in public without covering her face because of the brutality of the curse, she had also lost her confidence, she lost her smile and she lost her dreams, is she, not the victim here? An innocent girl who was so happy to get married that she couldn't wait for that day, and when that day came a disastrous fate fell upon her. If I knew a way to break that curse, I would do anything to do so, but I don't. As to if my daughter will be the same again is unknown to me, if she will live a normal life is unknown to me".

Everywhere was quiet, Meredith tried her best to stop the tears from falling from her eyes but she couldn't, Batya was her only daughter after all. For a mother to witness such a fate for her daughter was heartbreaking.

"What curse is it, I might have an idea?" Queen Vashti of the Cave tribe offered. The woman was a priestess and she was vest in all kinds of diseases and curses, her tribe was all about healing. They were called the healing tribe as most of their people were healers. During wars, this tribe offer treatment to soldiers and the agreement was they were not to take part in any war nor to be invaded, this tribe had the backing of the Black Kingdom.

"It's an ancient one. Marvel had a very hard time finding what kind it was exactly"….

"How was she cursed when she is just a child? She wasn't alive centuries ago, neither was any of us", Kale asked.

"Only one person can pronounce such a curse, Lilith"…

"But that woman had died long ago, her evil ways had led to her death. Her death had brought the world more peace"…..the ruler who had earlier accused them of deceit said and the look he got from the ice queen silenced him. He was there to support her claim not go against it.

"Batya is just the carrier of the curse. She has nothing against your daughter Meredith but against her ancestor. You need to find her ancestor and make them make atonement to appease Lilith's soul"….Vashti said.

"But how do we find them? When I took Batya there was nothing that gave a clue to her background, and I didn't dare to check because I had grown to love her"… Meredith said.

"Something isn't right, this kind of curse can only manifest if the carrier is touched by the caster, they need to meet to bring the full potential of that curse on the person"….

"But Lilith is a spirit, only her soul exists. That is all, it is not enough to do that, even with her wand she is still short of power to do that. It is a powerful curse and as such uses a lot of power, some remnant of that power is left on the carrier of the curse and if the caster is a spirit like Lilith is then she must possess a body with equal ambitions as her."

"A vessel?"

"Yes Kale, a vessel but a willing vessel. One of the guests knew of Lilith and had willingly aided in the manifestation of this destruction"…. the healer said and suddenly her pupils turned white, her staff glowed as she scanned the people present, and even far beyond, she can sense the presence of spirits that walked among the living, she uses this ability in vanquishing demons who regularly possess her people to learn their healing ways and it didn't matter how powerful that spirit or demon was she can sense them. Her eyes landed on Akhasha….

"You helped her why?"….those words were very accusing but Vashti knew what she had sensed.

"Impudence. Do you have proof of your claims Healer?"…..Akhahsha asked angrily.

"I am a priestess. Honesty is one of my virtues I do not make claims without proof, that mark under your sleeve on your left arm is proof of possession, they might not have the sight to see what is hidden but I do. Why did you aid a vengeful spirit in committing such a deed?...

With every eye on her, the ice queen gritted her teeth, who will have thought this cavewoman of a priestess could see beyond the ability of the naked eye? She has to escape even powered up by Lilith, she knew she was far behind in terms of power, a flick of Reagan's fingers could end her dear life, she had far more things to do than allow herself to die this young.

"You wanted revenge against my daughter? What did she do?"

"No, against you. She hates you she loathes you more than she hated her husband, she hates you because you have everything and she doesn't"

"Are you reading my thoughts?"

"Can't help it my ability"…

A dagger flew and it was so fast even Akhasha barely saw it coming, until it struck her chest, acting upon impulse she snapped her fingers and disappeared right before their eyes.

"But why?"

They could barely believe what had just happened Reagan who couldn't control his anger only sat down and didn't move, to think they had wizards stationed on the borders to prevent the spirit from entering little did they know that spirit was within. The enemy within is more dangerous than the enemy without.

"I have to go after her, if she hates me enough to harm my daughter then she wouldn't hesitate to kill her before she reaches her destination"… Meredith said, her protective instinct kicking in.

"No. don't make that mistake, she will be protected"… Vashti sounded sure of what she said. She took her seat and relaxed, a smile of triumph on her face.

"Explain"

"Lilith might have chosen the perfect body to possess but she didn't think of the disadvantage of that body"

"Stop speaking in riddles, parables are the last thing we need"…

"Akhasha in her nature would want to kill Batya to punish you, but Lilith needs her alive to carry on with the curse, when the curse was pronounced, she infused half her power into the curse so anyone who carried it will be very important to her, Batya's body, for now, is not powerful enough to contain a spirit like Lilith, therefore Lilith need more time to repair her broken soul and in preparation of that the curse enables her to grow in strength, the curse is just a very dark energy which fights her natural energy for control and that is triggering all these visible characteristics in Batya, she needs her alive for the main goal, gain immortality"

"And what will happen to Batya after that?"

"The curse is still breakable till the thirty days are over, after the thirty days, the dark energy then had already traveled inside of her and erased all proof of Batya's soul, now she will just be a vessel, her soul will be trapped in her own body for all eternity and she will have no power to stop Lilith from taking her body, now she will be immortal but a tormented one, Lilith will gain immortality through her curse, her goal is to live as Batya for all eternity"

"Eternity of torment"... murmured Reagan.

"It will only be natural for Akhasha and Lilith to be at war because of Batya. But don't worry none will get their hands on her"…

"Why are you talking like a sage all of a sudden, just go straight to the point and tell us what you mean by none will succeed…? Kale's voice held a trace of impatience.

"He will protect her."

"Damn it, woman! who will protect her?" Meredith was angry.

"You will see, Lilith's mistake will be her biggest nightmare", the smile on the healer's face was quite scary as if she knew something none of them did, they looked at each other, puzzled. Damn you Vashti, tell us! Caught

The Meeting Hall of the Black Kingdom was booming with the voices of displeasure from the leaders of the four other kingdoms, in normal circumstances they will quietly wait till Reagan and his wife joined because they couldn't act as a nuisance in their presence but this was a different case, the treaty was at stake, the king of the Black Kingdom had lied about his daughter, he had deceived them all into believing Batya was their daughter but she turned out to be a child they picked up. That form of deceit they couldn't tolerate, not only had they deceived them but they had also played with the emotions of Allister from the Ice Kingdom, they gave him a cursed child to marry, a monster as such, it was unfair for the young prince, he had been devastated when his marriage had to be nullified a day after the wedding, they had deceived everyone.

"In which part of the Treaty was it stated that the marriage of our biological children will seal the Alliance?"….Meredith asked, her tone dangerously calm, for a mother whose daughter was going through such a hard time she looked well than Akhasha had explained to them.

"It wasn't stated but the word 'offspring' made it biological… Meredith, shouldn't you be apologizing to Allister and Akhasha for the deceit?"….

Looking at the speaker Meredith ignored him and rather looked at Akhasha closely, something was off, the Ice Queen looked relaxed and quite contemptuous, she had this air of arrogance around her, and she has changed. So that was her plan, humiliation.

"And why is that? Why should I apologize to them? What for? What mistake did I make?"

Her answer shocked them all, they were very much aware the black queen was very extraordinary, she was too amazing, not afraid of anything and defending herself whenever she felt wronged. But to ask what she did to the ice people when she knew what she did? That was something. Akhasha's face changed and she frowned, even in this situation she still failed to see her wrong, she was just never wrong always right, that woman oh how she hated her.

"You knew your daughter was cursed, yet you allowed her to marry my son. Isn't that deceitful enough to apologize for? On top of that Batya is not your daughter you have broken the rules of the alliance", she turned to the black king who hadn't spoken since the beginning of the meeting.

"Reagan, you and your queen owe this counsel an apology if not me at least they deserve an apology"…

"This king owes no one an apology, why? Didn't your son marry my daughter? Didn't you all witness the wedding?"

"It has been nullified, has it not? So there is no marriage"….Chief Kale of the Hunter Tribe in the far east of the Black Kingdom spoke, his large figure barely fitting in the seat offered to him, these people were known as barbarians for their rookie lifestyle but Reagan respected this chief among all the other kingdoms, barbarian? He was the most civilized of them all.

"The marriage was nullified because my daughter didn't want to stay married to a man who couldn't stand the sight of her"….

"Is the curse reversible? I could be of help"….Kale offered and Reagan smiled sadly.

"None we know of"….Reagan looked at the curious faces of dozens of rulers across the four kingdoms and several tribes.

"Batya's curse is very ancient, we didn't know of it until yesterday. Till now we don't know the fate of my daughter. So, before you all jump to conclusions and accuse us of being unfair to the Ice family, you should know this we were never aware, if we did know a terrible fate like this we befall an innocent person like Batya on her wedding day, we would never have gotten her married. She lost everything, the love of the man she loved and the zeal to live her life the way she wanted to, she can't be in public without covering her face because of the brutality of the curse, she had also lost her confidence, she lost her smile and she lost her dreams, is she, not the victim here? An innocent girl who was so happy to get married that she couldn't wait for that day, and when that day came a disastrous fate fell upon her. If I knew a way to break that curse, I will do anything in my power to do so, but I don't. As to if my daughter will be the same again is unknown to me, if she will live a normal life is unknown to me".

Everywhere was quiet, Meredith tried her best to stop the tears from falling from her eyes but she couldn't, Batya was her only daughter after all. For a mother to witness such a fate for her daughter was heartbreaking.

"What curse is it, I might have an idea?" Queen Vashti of the Cave tribe offered. The woman was a priestess and she was vest in all kinds of diseases and curses, her tribe was all about healing. They were called the healing tribe as most of their people were healers. During wars, this tribe offer treatment to soldiers and the agreement was they were not to take part in any war nor to be invaded, this tribe had the backing of the Black Kingdom.

"It's an ancient one. Marvel had a very hard time finding what kind it was exactly"….

"How was she cursed when she is just a child? She wasn't alive centuries ago, neither was any of us", Kale asked.

"Only one person can pronounce such a curse, Lilith"…

"But that woman had died long ago, her evil ways had led to her death. Her death had brought the world more peace"…..the ruler who had earlier accused them of deceit said and the look he got from the ice queen silenced him. He was there to support her claim not go against it.

"Batya is just the carrier of the curse. She has nothing against your daughter Meredith but against her ancestor. You need to find her ancestor and make them make atonement to appease Lilith's soul"….Vashti said.

"But how do we find them? When I took Batya there was nothing that gave a clue to her background, and I didn't dare to check because I had grown to love her"… Meredith said.

"Something isn't right, this kind of curse can only manifest if the carrier is touched by the caster, they need to meet to bring the full potential of that curse on the person"….

"But Lilith is a spirit, only her soul exists. That is all, it is not enough to do that, even with her wand she is still short of power to do that. It is a powerful curse and as such uses a lot of power, some remnant of that power is left on the carrier of the curse and if the caster is a spirit like Lilith is then she must possess a body with equal ambitions as her."

"A vessel?"

"Yes Kale, a vessel but a willing vessel. One of the guests knew of Lilith and had willingly aided in the manifestation of this destruction"…. the healer said and suddenly her pupils turned white, her staff glowed as she scanned the people present, and even far beyond, she can sense the presence of spirits that walked among the living, she uses this ability in vanquishing demons who regularly possess her people to learn their healing ways and it didn't matter how powerful that spirit or demon was she can sense them. Her eyes landed on Akhasha….

"You helped her why?"….those words were very accusing but Vashti knew what she had sensed.

"Impudence. Do you have proof of your claims Healer?"…..Akhahsha asked angrily.

"I am a priestess. Honesty is one of my virtues I do not make claims without proof, that mark under your sleeve on your left arm is proof of possession, they might not have the sight to see what is hidden but I do. Why did you aid a vengeful spirit in committing such a deed?...

With every eye on her, the ice queen gritted her teeth, who will have thought this cavewoman of a priestess could see beyond the ability of the naked eye? She has to escape even powered up by Lilith, she knew she was far behind in terms of power, a flick of Reagan's fingers could end her dear life, she had far more things to do than allow herself to die this young.

"You wanted revenge against my daughter? What did she do?"

"No, against you. She hates you she loathes you more than she hated her husband, she hates you because you have everything and she doesn't"

"Are you reading my thoughts?"

"Can't help it my ability"…

A dagger flew and it was so fast even Akhasha barely saw it coming, until it struck her chest, acting upon impulse she snapped her fingers and disappeared right before their eyes.

"But why?"

They could barely believe what had just happened Reagan who couldn't control his anger only sat down and didn't move, to think they had wizards stationed on the borders to prevent the spirit from entering little did they know that spirit was within. The enemy within is more dangerous than the enemy without.

"I have to go after her, if she hates me enough to harm my daughter then she wouldn't hesitate to kill her before she reaches her destination"… Meredith said, her protective instinct kicking in.

"No. don't make that mistake, she will be protected"… Vashti sounded sure of what she said. She took her seat and relaxed, a smile of triumph on her face.

"Explain"

"Lilith might have chosen the perfect body to possess but she didn't think of the disadvantage of that body"

"Stop speaking in riddles, parables are the last thing we need"…

"Akhasha in her nature would want to kill Batya to punish you, but Lilith needs her alive to carry on with the curse, when the curse was pronounced, she infused half her power into the curse so anyone who carried it will be very important to her, Batya's body, for now, is not powerful enough to contain a spirit like Lilith, therefore Lilith need more time to repair her broken soul and in preparation of that the curse enables her to grow in strength, the curse is just a very dark energy which fights her natural energy for control and that is triggering all these visible characteristics in Batya, she needs her alive for the main goal, gain immortality"

"And what will happen to Batya after that?"

"The curse is still breakable till the thirty days are over, after the thirty days, the dark energy then had already traveled inside of her and erased all proof of Batya's soul, now she will just be a vessel, her soul will be trapped in her own body for all eternity and she will have no power to stop Lilith from taking her body, now she will be immortal but a tormented one, Lilith will gain immortality through her curse, her goal is to live as Batya for all eternity"

"Eternity of torment"... murmured Reagan.

"It will only be natural for Akhasha and Lilith to be at war because of Batya. But don't worry none will get their hands on her"…

"Why are you talking like a sage all of a sudden, just go straight to the point and tell us what you mean by none will succeed…? Kale's voice held a trace of impatience.

"He will protect her."

"Damn it, woman! who will protect her?" Meredith was angry.

"You will see, Lilith's mistake will be her biggest nightmare", the smile on the healer's face was quite scary as if she knew something none of them did, they looked at each other, puzzled. Damn you Vashti, tell us!