Cupcakes and Tea

Chapter Ten - Kalelius

'Tut, tut, tut,' came the voice in arrogance and pride, 'Tophiee-cakes is all alone, and there is no one here to help him.'

Though Toph could not see her, he could hear The Witch's heels tapping on the carpet as she walked slowly towards him.

'Begone, Killer,' she said.

The man did not speak, but dropped Toph's upper body to the ground then strode out of the room, throwing the sword on the carpet, and closed the doors behind him. The room became unnaturally silent, very much like the forest, until The Witch began circling Toph, who lay tied on the ground, with her long, cream dress flowing behind her as though she were gliding; then she came to a halt, tapped her staff onto the ground, and the ropes around Toph's wrists vanished into air.

'Get up,' said The Witch.

As Toph clambered to his feet, he felt something hard smack against his lower back and he fell to the ground.

'Get up,' she repeated.

Again Toph got to his feet, and again The Witch swung her staff through the air, colliding with his lower back. He fell to the ground.

'GET UP!'

Prepared for another swinging, another beating, Toph stood slowly and cautiously to his feet and grabbed hold of the staff that whistled in the air. He looked directly into The Witch's ice-blue eyes, whose pointed face glared arrogantly back, then she slapped Toph across the face with her other hand. Though Toph did not fall to the ground, he released the staff and stood unarmed, alone, in the throne room with The Witch. Still staring into one another's eyes, they began to circle each other, too, and Toph could feel his pocketknife rubbing against his thigh.

'Your friends are dying, my Tophiee-cakes, and there is very little you know before you go the same way; like a fool.'

Toph did not reply as they circled, but stared into her eyes.

'Any last words?' she said.

He tried thinking of something, tried stalling for more time, tried thinking of a way to escape, but his ideas were running slim. The Witch is right, he thought helplessly, he is all alone and there is no one to help him – not now. The room was dim and windowless; the only light was that of a black chandelier above, lighten by candles, and the torches on the walls. As they continued circling, Toph caught a glimpse of a door to the left of The Witch's throne that stood at the back of the room on a platform, and another door of which he had just entered, that, he assumed, would be bolted shut preventing his escape. Behind The Witch's throne, sitting on the wall, sat a tapestry of another dragon – the same green and malicious one as the circled-window on the forth floor.

'No?' said The Witch sweetly. 'Nothing?'

'Are you not going to ask me how I wasn't cursed?' he asked, mainly without thinking, still circling each other.

'I honestly couldn't careless, Tophiee-cakes. You're going to die, so there will be no one left to tell the tale. Are you not going to ask me how I caught your little friend?'

'We were betrayed.'

'Betrayed?' said The Witch, laughing. 'How could you have been betrayed if they weren't on your side to begin with?'

'They?'

'Oh, Tophiee-cakes, don't tell me you have fallen sympathetic for them. Your greatest flaw of all: idealism.'

'What has that got to do with it?'

'It has everything to do with it,' she said. Toph could see her feel of importance at knowing something he did not. 'You set your ideals far too high, Tophiee-cakes. You're a fool. Have you ever wondered why you're such a loner? Why, after seeing the persona of someone, something, you become isolated, disappointed?'