The Witch's Love ( Book I of The Witch Duology )

Chapter Seven : Liar

"Chris?" She whispered into my ear. I gently pulled away, but only that much so that I could see her eyes while she still stood in my arms.

"I will not be reading minds anymore. So learn to say that, now." She said. A soft, calm smile had curved her lips; her cheeks were now dry though her eyes were watery still.

"I am sorry." I said.

She shook her head slowly, patiently, without detaching her eyes off mine, "Not that."

"I believe you."

"Not that."

"I'll protect you."

"Not that."

I paused a while before saying, "I love you."

Her smile broadened, "Yes," she nodded slightly, "That."

We stared at each other, smiling, unmoving.

She broke the silence, "So, you think you are going to fulfill your promise, Warrior?"
"You wanna bet, Princess?"

Her smile turned serious, "Just think. Which one comes first for you? Duty or love?"

My eyebrows pulled together and I resigned from our tangled posture, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you have two promises to keep. One to me, and the other to the Church."

I realized, "And those two contradict each other."

She nodded.

I smiled, "In my childhood, I had promised you to protect your innocence. And when I grew up, I promised the Church to bring them in the witch. The witch who was the cause of the plague that's killing Hazelwood."

She tried to get what I meant; I could get that from her perplexed eyes.

I continued, "But has the plague really been brought by a witch? If yes, then are you the witch?"

She was silent.

"Irina, my oath to the Church was taken under an illusion. And I don't mean those things which I do by an illusion. No one should." I shook my head as she mirrored my smile. She began to embrace me again when we heard the sound of horses' hooves and footsteps of human beings.

We turned to see what we were most dreading.

The priests and the warriors on horses walked towards us, lead by Father Xavier III. I saw Alfred beside him, his special worker, and James following, his eyes were sad, as if he was being bound to do this, his steps tired and wary. The warriors had their weapons. Father's eyes were disturbingly menacing, I could taste nothing but plain fury in them, plain and fresh.

Without moving my sight an inch from the approaching small army, I stood in front of Irina protectively, just like I had done years ago, and held her hand with mine. Last time, I was at failure. But this time, they were going to face serious trouble, more serious than ever. By the time they had come and stopped a half yard away from us, I had made the promise to myself that it must be an unhealthy battle.

"I knew it." Alfred said, "I knew it that if we follow you, we would easily find her."
He smiled smugly, "You shouldn't have asked me about the Ritual of Xavier, kid, let alone that you mentioned what you shouldn't know."

Father walked towards us patiently, viciously patient.

"As soon as you left, we reached Misthaven. Alfred told us that you now remembered that the Ritual of Xavier was conducted on you. That means you now remember everything." He looked down at Irina, "Thanks to you." He turned to me again, "James said that last night-"