Horror

Ashes to ashes

When my parents died. My aunt took me in, but his husband wasn't happy. He said that I must learn to be a good housewife and sent me to the kitchen. I obeyed as diligently as possible until my aunt sent me to a convent to be educated.

The nuns taught me about the mysteries of Jesus, the saints and what to do with the devil. Seven years later my uncle came with a man, Victor. I was sold in marriage as a political tool of the house Dulehan. Victor wasn't bad, but he was loud and careless, which lead him to his doom in the court. Eighteen years and two daughters later, I married my second husband. This time he had a daughter of his own.

I was informed that my new husband, John, married the daughter of an alchemist and their kid was pretty. It was an understatement. Stella was gorgeous. Her pale skin, blonde hair and grey eyes with a tint of violet made her beauty truly unique. Also, I wasn't surprised to find alchemical symbols carved in many areas of the house since I recognized most of them from the work of St. Thomas Aquinas, but some of them were new to me.

If John bedded his first wife to find about the philosopher's stone and married me because he needed money. I married John to uncover the truth for myself. So first, I neutralized Stella. I sent her to kitchen duties with the excuse to prepare her for marriage as soon as John left to court. If I have known better...

When a few chickens and my cat disappeared, we thought that it was a fox. However, when two maids and the gardener vanished, we started a search. We found a rosary, a crucifix and a ring near a cliff, it seemed an odd suicide pact.

Weeks later, John wrote to tell me that the prince has decided to take a wife soon, so I must prepare. I went to the cottage where Stella lived to tell her the news. What I saw left me dumbfounded. Jars with multiple colors and sizes filled the shelves. Inside of them there were herbs, powders, animal and human remain. Pagan runes and alchemical symbols were carved on the wall. Stella was witch.

I panicked, but then Stella entered, showed me a beautiful crystal and smiled "Grandma was a true daughter of nature, she and grandpa were so close, but couldn't do the ultimate sacrifice. However, they did it for me, they did it because you came. Thanks. If you help me, you can have it too, choose".

And I did. I shoved her inside the cottage, closing the doors. Despite the protests, I ran with my daughters to court.

You know the rest of the story, the ballroom, the mysterious woman that enchanted the prince, the search and now you know the reason of my reclusion in this convent: the witch queen that possesses a philosopher's stone.