To find wisdom, one must be a Slave to Foolishness.

𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗳𝗶𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆. 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲. 𝗔𝘁 𝗮 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝗴𝘂𝗻. 𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗻. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲? 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 "𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿" 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆. 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆? 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 "𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿".

𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵. 𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗜𝗿𝗶𝘀. 𝗜𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵. 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁. 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸, 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀.

He carelessly stepped over the now dead body and further into the alley, enough that the dim lightbulb above us showed his face. It would be a shame to kill a man before even seeing what he looked like. My eyes widened ever so slightly. Especially if his face looked like that. "I really did, but I'm sorry to inform you that you just did all of that work for nothing," he stated, his voice calm given the situation he just walked in on. I cocked up an eyebrow as he stopped about 8 feet from me. "Did I now?" He gave me a single nod. "Unfortunately, whatever is in that briefcase belongs to m-" I drew my hand back and threw my knife directly towards his chest. ~~~ When Lexi Malor's mother died, she and her brother had no idea what their lives would be like living within the custody of their father. How could they, they had never met him? Lexi often wondered what her father did, but she never expected to be the daughter of a crime Lord. She never expected to be thrown into his work against her will, and she never expected to have to pay her keep. Since she was the only girl her father had within her group, she would often go on jobs to get information. She would do whatever she had to to get it. Over, and over again. Of course, she couldn't refuse to do it. Her father was only keeping her around because she was useful. She soon accepted it to be her life, she never thought of treason, she never even imagined it. All she wanted to do, was stay alive. No matter what, she would stay alive no matter who tried to get in her way.

The plague of the witch's reign ended nearly two centuries ago, their age of power over the realm of Vytelor finally ceasing at the hands of the royal family. Throughout the eighty-year war, they managed to find the witch's weaknesses, they learned where their magic stemmed from, and with their armies strategized a way to make it end. A way to slaughter the most powerful of them, and force the rest into surrender. The Kendrick family then formulated a plan. A witch's magic is an important element with many uses, many of which the people agreed that they couldn't live without. They couldn't eradicate them completely. Spells of protection, enchantments that provide the body with warmth in snow, or sigils cast into the skin to bring luck or health. Their ability to tap into one's soul. To see one as one's most sincere self, and even go as far as reaching to discover one's soul bond, one's truest match. Such abilities couldn't go to waste regardless of the potential danger. Their use was priceless, and they had become easy enough to control under the right hand. Discipline and restraints were enough to keep their anger and vengeance from turning into anything truly harmful. Thus, the royals set out an order for containment instead. Grimoires filled with history and knowledge were collected and burned, save for a select few. Something similar happened with the witches themselves. Witches of the new generation grew up lacking knowledge of how to tap into their potential and were, from there, deemed no threat. These witches were sold off to me, no more than help in a homestead to those who could afford them. Those few that were picked and permitted to wield their magic were trained solely in the art of what the kingdom wanted them for. No more, and no less. Now was the time for Prince Elias to take his throne, but first must come to he ceremony with a witch to find who his soul's bond is. Followed by a hunt with his men to find her, and make her his Queen.