Jamal POV
I stopped dead in my tracks as I tried to piece together my thoughts. There was no way this was real. This was more serious than many could realize. Did the White Witch know? I now had to be very quick with finding her or there might be deadly consequences even I was unaware of. It was bad enough that even in her banished, weakened state, the Dark Witch had the ability to put up a fair fight against the White Witch. Now there was the possibility that there was someone else whose power could match the powers of the Dark Witch and effortlessly blend into a fight against the White Witch. Maybe even in exile, the Dark Witch needed to be kept in check. It was too much of a risk to leave her roaming about. As for me, the perfect solution was to find the Dark Witch and relieve her of her head. Perhaps the White Witch had other plans.
I wandered around the cave almost aimlessly as I followed the scent trail. Their voices still echoed around the cave but I paid no heed to that. Sometimes the voices led me left and the scent led me right. I always picked right. And sure enough, I reached a pathway in the cave that looked promising. Their voices had died down by then but it made no matter, their scent was already so strong I was certain they were here. I made a run for them and as I burst into the scene, I saw the White Witch standing victoriously over the Dark Witch, her staff split in two with a few debris here and there and the White Witch pointing a sword down her opponent's face.
The White Witch turned to see me and a scowl appeared on her face. “Why did you follow me.”
“I didn’t,” I lied. “I came on my own.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Don’t test my patience.” I looked down at the Dark Witch, then back up at the White Witch. “What are you waiting for?”
“What?”
“FINISH HER!” I screamed. “Or step aside and let me do it myself.”
“Can you really?” the Dark Witch said. She was still lying on her back as she spoke. “Are you capable of killing me, Jamal?”
“King,” I corrected her.
“Oh yes. I beg your pardon, king. I almost forgot.” She was mocking me. “Are you capable of killing the ex-queen.”
“You were never my mate,” I replied.
“Wasn’t I?”
“No.”
The Dark Witch laughed but was silenced with a kick to the mouth by the White Witch. She spitted out spittle and blood but continued talking. “Then why did things go as it went?”
“Nothing went in any way you think.”
“Why have you not found a mate yet? You are well past your prime; you know?”’
“Silence.” I returned my attention to the White Witch. “That’s enough talking from her. Kill her.”
“You had already pronounced judgment by banishment when you took her down years ago.” The White Witch began to speak. “So by law, she is under banishment.”
“I care not for what the rules have to say.”
“What king does not follow the rules?” the Dark Witch asked.
I remained silent. Fighting within myself not to let the Dark Witch’s words go too deep into my heart or to give in to the calls in my mind to end her life.
“My own rules,” I replied.
“How is she?” the Dark Witch asked.
I knew exactly who is was talking about but I decided to play dump and ask. “Who?”
“You know who, King Jamal. The girl you brought in to replace me.”
“She bore him two kids,” the White Witch quickly came into the conversation.
“Congratulations,” the Dark Witch mocked. “But forgive me for adding. I had noticed a rather too-familiar resemblance on her face. Maybe it was my imagination. I’ve done too much dark magic it addled my sense. If I were not delusional, I would say she looked rather like me.”
“Silent.” The White Witch warned.
“Did you miss me so much, Jamal? So much so that you had to get yourself a carbon copy counterfeit. Did you really try that hard?”
“Silent.” The White Witch warned again. Explaining further. “Your staff is broken. You are weak. You are at a disadvantage.”
“I was at a disadvantage the moment you two walked through the entrance of this cave. Save your warnings.” Then she turned back to me. “You really miss me, don’t you? So much so that you brought in a weak human for the mere reason that she resembled me. so that every time you kiss her, you close your eyes and imagine me, when on the bed making love, it is my face that you see, even if the feeling is not the same, it is better than nothing.”
“SILENT.” The White Witch based the Dark Witch’s mouth so bad I was not sure the Dark Witch could make use of that mouth ever again.
I took a step back. My head swirling from an external presence that had just infiltrated into it and was lurking aimlessly in it in search of a passage to my heart. In my heart it would do the most damage.
“Fight it!” the White Witch urged as she watched me struggle through my quickly changing facial expression.
“Cast it out!” I called out to the White Witch, but she just stood there atop the Dark Witch, saying nothing. “Cast it out!” I called again but the White Witch did nothing.
“Not everything is magic,” she finally said. “She is playing with your mind and you are imagining it because of the power you believe she possesses. You need to fight it.”
I stayed calm as I waited for something to happen and sure enough something did. The feeling began to clear and relief flooded my body again. Once again I was free and back to my normal self.
I looked down at the Dark Witch, resentment beginning to form in my heart again. Rather than bashing her head into the walls of the castle and tearing her away limb for limb, I settled for another alternative. I was going to pay her back in her own coins.
“If I had the chance to leave a night with her or a lifetime with you, I’ll choose a night with her. She is more and I mean it, far more important to me than you ever were despite the fact you spent longer than she did in my life.
“That ‘weak’ human is far more appealing than you ever were, thou jealous twat. She has more than appearance, she is more than the part between her legs unlike you, whore. She is a real gem.”
“Whore?” the Dark Witch repeated in a more question-like format. “You don’t know what it is you are messing with.”