The Rejected Werewolf Princess by Didiadeyemi

Chapter 175

It didn’t take much convincing to get Ryker to let me go with him. It was a relief to finally be out of the room, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the reasons were good at all. We were led to the council room and needless to say, it was a weird pairing to see Caius and Lyla whispering together in hushed tones. When we arrived, they immediately jumped apart.

“We found it,” they said together and my brows furrowed. I was confused as to what they were talking about but Ryker seemed to understand because his eyes widened in shock and relief. “It took a shi t ton of time but we did it.”

Ryker took the seat opposite them and I followed suit. “Tell me everything.”

Caius brought out a single piece of parchment and on it was what looked like a sigil. It was hard to distinguish at first because it just looked like a badly drawn circle but on closer inspection, I saw that it was a snake eating itself. I had never seen something like that in my life and I couldn’t help but wonder why they would be looking

for it.

“I knew it had something to do with the witches so I reached out to a few of my friends but none of them know,” Lyla began. “I thought we were simply too young to know of it so I asked Caius and he happened to know some friends who are a bit older and have ties to the witch world. One of them was able to identify this.”

“it is the seal of a long forgotten witch coven,” Caius continued. “They used to be so powerful in the days of my youth. They were considered ser vants of the goddess. They would offer sacrifices to her and speak directly to her. It was believed then that the goddess used to walk amongst them. They were favored and blessed until one day, things started to go wrong. They started hearing strange things from the goddess- things she would never have said on a normal day,”

“They weren’t smart enough to realize that they had been compromised. Instead, they kept sacrificing, kept praying,” Lyla cut in. “A few of them started to realize that things were not as they used to. Their crops were dying, they were not getting older, they started to investigate and they found that their coven leader had diverted from praying to the goddess. She started to dabble in dark magic, she fed off the life force of their land which was connected to the goddess- she was powerful. They tried to stand against her but there was a battle. It was long and it is was blo ody and by the end of it, their cover was razed to the ground.”

I felt goose bumps on my skin as her words settled in the air. She had a faraway and sad look in her eye. I figured the story hurt her more seeing as she was a witch.

“What happened to the leader? Did she die?” I asked but she shrugged.

“No one knows. By the time the battle was over, no one was recognizable. Legend says that a few of them managed to escape and merged with the other covens, their powers were long forgotten and the goddess never walked the earth again. Other legends say that they all died and put an end to their lineage forever.”

asked and she went silent. It was clear she was not expecting that question from me. She opened

wasn’t born when it happened and my mother would have been a

qualified on. I asked what you think,” I corrected. “Think about it

She sighed.

couldn’t have assumed she would be

I deduced and she nodded. “Does your history

does mention where their coven

“Where is that?”

and when the words finally left her mouth, I was

getting to the bottom of this. I could have sent a guard but I didn’t want to risk anyone

and I set out to what used to be their old coven. If I had been given a chance to think about where it could have been, I never would have guessed. The ride was quiet, everyone was lost in

suddenly making all eyes turn to me. “If she is alive, why doesn’t

coven land back?”

Some say that after the war, the goddess cursed the land so that no witch can inhabit it anymore. Others say that the very essence of the land cries out against us. No one has ever

were still so many questions that I wasn’t sure I would ever get the answer to unless I asked her directly- whoever she was. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was following us right now, tracking our

to her. “I hope I am not crossing a line but if I might

out a sigh of relief.

his vacation home. I took in what now was and tried to imagine what it looked like when the coven was

got off my horse expecting to see Briggs but instead, I was met with someone else- another young maid I had seen in passing before. She gave