The Phoenix Witch

Chapter 3

Christine's P.O.V

The room was pristine and royal with higher ceilings and a huge chandelier, it was brightly lit, and sofas were scattered in the corners. On one of these sofas sat a regal woman, with greying hair and a set of earthy brown eyes filled with tears.
'Nan' I whispered in concern, and ran towards her but before I could reach her guards stopped me. I glared at them and they stepped back, probably at Aurora's command. I hugged Nan and she buried her face in my shoulders and I said 'It's okay Nan, you'll be fine, we will be fine'

Her grip tightened and after a while of whispering comforting words, I asked
'We have to go to the reading Nan, are you up for that?'
She nodded, cleared her throat, and sat up straight smoothing down the wrinkles of her dress, 'It's very good to see you, Chrissy. I'm sorry it had to be in these circumstances' she said and kissed my cheek.

'I've missed you too Nan' I said with a smile and kissed her cheek, she gave me a small smile and I turned to one of the guards and said ' Bring me one chamomile tea and some biscuits please'. He nodded and ran off, 'I don't need-' Nan started but I cut her off and said 'Don't start Nan, the tea will make you feel better' With a stern look on my face, she sighed and asked ' Am I the grandma here or you?'
Before I could answer the doors opened and I turned to see the person I was dreading the most to meet.

He looked at me with mixed emotions seemingly not able to decide if he wanted to hug or scream at me. I opened my arms and he tackled me in a hug, squeezing me, I held nothing back as I squeezed him too showing how much I'd missed him.

After what seemed like an hour he pulled back not fully backing away and stared at me, I raised an eyebrow, and he backed away leaving a little place between us. ' I missed you, Chrissy' was the first thing that came out of his mouth sounding very deep. Before I could ponder over his changed voice, tears started pooling in his eyes, I stepped forward to comfort him but he stepped back and exploded 'How could you leave Chrissy?! I loved you, I looked up to you. you didn't even say goodbye, I missed you so much Chrissy' he shouted with all his pent-up rage, tears started flowing down his cheeks and it broke my heart to see my little brother so broken.

I close the distance between us and hug him trying to comfort him, he resisted at first but then relaxed into my hug,
'I'm so sorry, Eli I didn't mean to hurt you, you know that I love you the most right? You are my favorite little brother' in a soothing tone. He hugs me tighter in response and Nan walks over 'Okay kids, as much as I love this, you have to break apart now or Aurora might eat us' she whispers to us and we both laugh before breaking apart. Nan leads Eli to sit next to her and mother.

My emotions after that teary reunion had effectively drained me for the day making me tired, I wanted this will reading to finish and to fall inside the comfort of my bed but I had a few important questions nagging me so I forced down my irritation and tiredness and asked ' was the king murdered?'. There was a stunned silence and everyone was gaping at me I realize it was insensitive but I knew Nan had calmed down now and wouldn't take offense, I raised an eyebrow, Jordan cleared his throat, and said 'Yes, there was an attack on your family when they were in their summer castle'.

'What were you doing in the summer castle?' I asked turning to Nan, before she could answer Aurora spoke 'The king was here about some issues regarding the council',
'What issues? And even if so, why was the whole family there?! Surely you knew it was dangerous! I said raising my voice a little.
'Your whole family was summoned to the council to discuss the issues ' Silas said in a cold yet polite tone.
'What are these issues?!' I was getting angry now and I had to control myself to stay calm. I tend to become reckless when I was extremely angry and that didn't bode well with this situation.
'Christine, that is a council issue that is not important right now, your grandfathers will reading however is, so I suggest we proceed with that' Aurora says, or more like orders.
' yes we can totally do that but I have a question first' I say standing my ground.
She sighs and gestures to me to ask, 'Have you assigned anyone to investigate the king's murder?' I ask.
'Yes we have, but we can discuss it later, the will reading is more crucial right now' Silas says in his cold, dead tone.

I sigh knowing that they won't give me an answer and say 'Fine, let's start the will reading then'

'We have been brought together in this room right now, to read our late king's will and final wishes, we are immensely saddened by his death and vow to avenge his death' Aurora says in a serene, powerful voice, she twirls her hands, ribbons of gold magic appearing before a beautiful white scroll appears. It looks to have intricate designs with the royal witches symbol, a woman with green magic surrounding her.
Aurora keeps it in her hand and says
'As per the conditions given to open this will, as have the king's eldest granddaughter present here and all of his family'. The will shimmers as if sensing my presence and opens.

I wait for her to start reading when I feel an overwhelming amount of what seems like magic hit me, it rocks my core and leaves me feeling dizzy, I'm not aware if she has started the reading nor am I aware of my surroundings, the only thing I feel is the pain as if something is trying to claw its way out of my soul. Everyone seems to notice my discomfort but I couldn't care less, my mind only concentrated on the pain which all of a sudden dulls leaving me panting slightly. The feeling is present but now is diminished to a sort of pull, I turn to where it's telling and see something that my eyes couldn't leave...