A Magical Scheme

Chapter 3: A Meeting Like No Other

Morgan

Brooms are stupid. They are used for sweeping and cleaning- that's it. It was almost midnight, which meant I had to get prepared for the coven meeting. I mean, the fact that witches still use them to fly on, is stupid. I've always liked to teleport, I know it uses more mana, but it's so much cleaner, plus there are fewer bugs. The only flaw is that you have to see where you're going in your head, or else you could end up on the other side of the Earth. I was standing in my room, dressed in my day outfit, except I grabbed a thick black cloak, with a fur trim on the bottom and threw it on. Then I grabbed the handheld mirror from my dresser and spoke a slight incantation then the words, "House of sparked." and instead of the reflection of myself, the mirror turned into the view of a small house, built into the trunk a very large tree. I smiled as I played the image over in my head and spoke a soft spell, "Teleportus presentius", for spells I needed more mana for, or am unfamiliar with, I needed to speak the name of the spell or long incantation in order to harness the needed power. Within a few seconds I felt myself hover above the ground as I closed my eyes, and all of a sudden I landed back on the ground and opened my eyes to see myself standing in front of Circe's house.

Our coven was only about 15 witches, and as I walked to the large oak front door it opened without me even having to knock on the golden door knocker, probably a spell to sense a coven member. I walked in on the wooden flooring to the main foyer to see a few brooms leaning against the marble wall, ugh. Similar to mine, Circe's house was bigger on the inside than the outside. In front of me was a large staircase, and two hallways on either side. I heard talking and movement from the left hallway- most likely where the dining room was. I rubbed my shoes on the red velvet mat and almost walked into the black cat that stepped in front of me. I picked up the feline creature, Circe had brought him to a few meetings before, his bright yellow eyes were gentle as he looked upon me. "Hello Felix", I said, and he purred with the sound of his name as I carried him while I walked into the open dining room on my left. The walls of Circe's house were pure marble and I glided into the dining room to see most of the coven had already arrived. They all stood as I entered, and lowered Felix to the floor as I said, "Sisters, sorry for my late appearance." They all nodded their heads as I took my place along the long wooden table beside Circe. Circe's bright head of platinum blond was a torch among coal in our coven, her red eyes set her apart as our high priestess, just as her snow pale skin reflected every inch of light that hit her, as bright as the moon. Her long black gown hid the floor as she stood, and was intricately cut in a low neck that reached her mid-chest. "Sister Morgan, lovely to see you." I smiled back and was about to reply as Sister Nora came into the dining room and we all stood up. She mumbled a quick, "Sisters." As she took her place beside me. I gave her a quick smile as we all took our seats, Sister Nora was one of my best friends, and the only other witch I trusted- besides Circe of course. Nora had curly red hair and her face was dotted with subtle freckles that matched her fierce red eyes. Nora was a Drafter, about a year older than me, but the same height, and was quite good at her job, she brought two or three witches in a year, and they were always great additions. "Alright, now that everyone is present, we have some pressing matters to attend to." spoke Circe, her voice radiating off the cold walls. I was surprised Circe was starting the meeting, we were still waiting on sister Locasta, our Raven. She was supposed to sit at the other end of the table, opposite of Circe, but her spot was painfully empty. Suddenly I felt a soft sensation against my leg to look down and see Felix rubbing against my legs, before sitting down on my shoes. I smiled and turned my attention back to Circe. "Our coven is strong, and we follow the rules, especially with the help of our fierce owls." she said, as she glanced to sister Cassandra who sat across from me. Ugh, Cassandra was the worst, and her stunning looks didn't help my case. She had wavy brown hair and soft sand-colored skin, that matched her fierce golden eyes. She was so uptight, yet also did not seem to care about human life, and she always took every opportunity to show off- especially against me. She grinned as Circe mentioned the "immense efforts" the owls had put into keeping our coven together. Sister Gwen and Tessa were as equally as good of owls as Cassandra, and they didn't have to be mean about it or boast. "And our drafters have gotten us, new members, such as Sister Lucy and Sister Samantha." Circe said as she looked down the table as gestured to our newest members. Lucy was young and quite tiny, only about 14, her bright blond hair was cut short, and she was wearing a bright red cloak, her skin almost as pale as mine. but she was sweet and after her family died, joined our coven. Samantha was older, perhaps about 25 or so, yet she seemed as nice as any other witch, she had beautifully tan skin that melded well with her caramel hair and was part of another coven before joining ours, yet I don't know why she left. "But I have some bad news. Sister Locasta is gone, she was killed, supposedly by a witch hunter." A series of gasps echoed throughout the table. Sister Locasta was one of the most forward-thinking witches of our coven, she loved human beings, the rumour was that she was even in love with one- but that's no reason for a witch hunter to kill her, is it? "We'll hunt this evil hunter down and rip his heart from his chest!" yelled Sister Cassandra. "We will travel the ends of the earth to find her killer. They will not go unpunished." said Sister Annabelle and Sister Linda nodded in triumph beside her- both knights were fearless and known for killing a few witch hunters in their time. Also known for being the most identical twins to possibly ever exist, both with extremely long dirty blond hair and red eyes- the colour of the blood of their victims. I shivered as I imagined what they were capable of. Felix grew uneasy with all of the commotion and had taken to sit on my lap, to which I didn't even protest against as I instinctively began to pet him. "Keep calm sisters. Action will be taken once we find who is responsible- but that will fall upon my responsibility. Now, I have taken the time to carefully choose a new Raven. Someone who I know will embrace her role, and be as responsible as possible. Sister Morgan, I hope you accept your new appointment as our Raven." I gasped and look at Circe- who flashed a bright smile. "I-uh, I'm honored, your holiness, I accept graciously." I replied, barely able to catch my breath. "Perfect! Now unless there are any other matters to discuss, you are all dismissed and I will see you in two weeks." Spoke Circe, before I heard a voice whisper in my ear, "Stay until they leave." zit was Circe's voice- she projected it to a whisper beside my ear. I gave the slightest of nods as I stood up with the rest of the coven. I held Felix in my arms as I made my way over to where Nora was standing with her fellow Drafters; Sister Elizabeth and Sister Jessica. "Congrats sister, you're gonna do great in your new role!" spoke Elizabeth, her tone was truly genuine, yet I was unable to find any sign of kindness behind her dark blue eyes. "Yes we must be going, but I have faith in your sister." said Sister Jessica, plopping her hood over her face and walking out of the room with Sister Elizabeth. Sister Nora turned to me, "Don't be worried, Morgan! I know you're gonna kill it!" I laughed, her humor was never accurate but I was grateful nonetheless. "Thank you, Sister Nora. How about we meet up later this week? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" Nora nodded before being ushered out by other coven members.

Circe was still seated when I walked back over to the dining room. "I see Felix has taken a liking to you." She remarked. I smiled and looked at the cat in my arms, "Yes, he's quite a charmer, your holiness." I replied. Circe frowned before saying, "You can lose the formalities sister, come with me." she spoke as she stood up and walked out of the dining room from another door near her spot at the end of the room. I followed her as we passed through her large kitchen, and the library, and finally we ended up in a sitting room. "There is much we need to talk about Morgan. Have a seat." I sat on one of the plush white cushions on her long birch framed couch. Felix opted to stay on my lap as I opened my mouth, but Circe continued speaking, "Locasta was murdered. Not by a hunter- by a witch. A rogue witch." I gasped. "Are you sure?" Circe nodded, she was seated in a plush velvet chair with an extremely high backing. "I'm for certain, there was evidence of teleportation inside her house- she always uses her broom. And her grimoire was missing." I recoiled. A grimoire held every spell ever performed, it was bonded to your mana, to your soul. It was a source of immense power and if in the wrong hands could cause a lot of damage. "How was she- how did she die?" I asked, barely able to speak the words. "Whoever killed her wanted us to think it was a hunter who killed her, there was a stake driven through her chest and her heart had been carved out, it was laying on the floor beside her body." I felt bile rise to my mouth, but I forced it back down. Locasta was so innocent, she must have discovered something, or done something really wrong to receive a death this cruel. "There was another murder, two children-" Circe began but I cut her off. "Two twins, I know," Circe raised her brows. "A witch hunter came by my house this morning, and asked about any other witches I knew in the area." Circe shook her head, her bright red hair fell across her shoulders, and she looked up at me with her dark coal eyes. "This is bad Morgan. Very bad. As a raven, it's your responsibility to maintain our relationship with these humans. I need you to find the witch who killed those children. Find her and bring her to justice." I nodded. "Tomorrow, go to the scene of the murder, it happened at a gingerbread cottage, close to Breech River." "Okay, do you know who lived there? Or any witch that lived nearby?" Circe raised a hand up to her chin and thought for a moment, "I might know someone who lives nearby, but she's not apart of our coven. Her name is Sister Natalie. She has lived in seclusion for a very long time I don't know how she'd react to seeing another person let alone a witch. Use your mirror to find her. Until then, we best get to work. Good luck Morgan." She spoke as we stood up from our seats and I placed Felix on the ground. "Good luck Circe," I said, while I made my way out of her house and into the comforting darkness of the night.