Beauty and the Magician (Tales of the Red Witch Book 1)

Chapter 42 - Facing the true beasts

Annika stumbled down stairs a few hours after being put to bed and having been given three very lovely potions that did wonders to clear her head and ease the headache she was feeling. Her legs were still shaky and much of her body strongly protested being out of bed. But she had had her nap and now she was restless as emotions and decisions plagued her. There were things that she needed to face now that she had confronted the witch and failed to be turned back.

"Where's Eben?" She asked Toby who was sitting by the fire in a garish polka dot waistcoat. He wasn't wearing his purple robe. But then she remembered that he had given it to Andri. He looked so much more like a normal little boy without it. She had always wondered about it and his attachment to it, but it would have to wait for another time. She had more pressing questions pushing to break free.

"Oh, he's not back yet. How you feelin'?" He asked from his seat on the couch. She had seen him sit like that many times over the last month, only it was always with Mr. Pig at his side or at his feet. He looked sad and lonely. No matter how much he pretended to be independent, he was still so much a child in need of a family.

"Much better, thank you." Annika looked around the room feeling Toby's emptiness. She missed Mr. Pig too.

She wanted badly to stay here with him and be a family with him and Eben, but she already had a family. One that she found she needed to see. Her heart was broken and only the comfort that a sister could give her would do to help patch it back up. Perhaps part of it was an excuse. As much as she wanted to stay here, she knew she couldn't. She couldn't look at Eben every day and know that her feelings were not returned. It would only serve to destroy her. Besides, Eben didn't need her around to find the fix for her curse. He would either figure it out or not, but she couldn't sit here and wait for that to happen. It was perhaps time she accepted her fate and tried to live her life.

She sighed. Rojiera must be wrong, it couldn't be undone. Love could not be the answer. She loved Eben and Andri had told her that he had loved her and yet she was still a beast.

It didn't matter now, she had resigned herself to her new life. There was no reason to stay here any longer and continue to hope for an answer. It would not do her any good.

She had made her decision before she had pulled herself from her bed. She had spent the last several weeks convincing Eben to face his fears and embrace his responsibility. It was time for her to heed her own advice.

She needed to go back to Wohnort and face her village. She needed to face her father, Valdimir, Mrs. Cooke, and the rest. If she was going to live as a cat beast then she wasn't going to continue to run and hide, she would face them all down and demand that they accept her as she is. Perhaps then she could find some place there.

But more importantly, she needed to hug Sofie and eat a slice of Mrs. Pender's cake. It was the perfect medicine for the heartache she was currently suffering. She knew they would accept her no matter what. They would love her no matter what. She realized that now. The rest of the village would accept her or not but she would not worry herself over them or what they thought of her. Why she had ever concerned herself with what they thought of her in the first place, she would never know. Perhaps she could just chock it up to a small and rare bout of foolishness on her part.

Toby had noticed her bag on her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" He asked suddenly worried.

"It is time I go home to Wohnort. There are things I must face there."

"I'll come with you." He said as he leapt up to his feet.

"No, I have to do this alone. Besides I need you to stay here to tell Eben goodbye for me."