A witch amongst us?

How long has it been? Can anyone remember?

While the mass slept in peace, under the moonlight, she walked the street that you had walked and touched the walls that you had made.

She stood in the crowd yet no one recognized her.

Are they finally here? Are they finally showing themselves?

They will now take back what we had coveted that was not ours.

The land, the wealth, and the peace that we enjoy now. Who do you think our ancestors stripped them from?

Keep your salts by your gates. Keep the red beans ready.

Pray you are spared.

-Demented writer of the town

A daily drivel

The palace had been calm and peaceful over this year. The place of the beginning and the end of rumors was exceptionally quiet like the running mouths had been shut by hays. But one rumor still managed to live. The gentle and elegant Queen has been sick for the past three years with no sign of recovery. And the workers within the palace loved to come up with theories about the Queen's illness since the royal doctor was helpless.

The illness of the Queen was kept a secret from the people. If words traveled, those mouths would never taste even a simple soup ever again. However, the residents of the palace had the guts to still talk behind the back.

A group of maids stood in a circle by the well next to the pavement connecting the royal courtroom and the king’s study room.

“Did you hear that the prince sneaks out often?”, one maid started as she looked at the others eagerly.

“Oh my. I thought something wasn’t right when it became so quiet in the palace.” Another replied to make her point.

“Yes. Everyone is scared to talk about the royal family because those who did...just disappear into thin air. And I heard the prince have a lover outside the palace. He receives flowers from her every time he visits her.” Two of the maids beat their chests in disbelief while the others continued to share what they knew.

Just then, a trio of kitchen maids passed the way. Seeing the group of maids, they joined in too. They had just returned from the royal kitchen after hearing a piece of interesting news. “Ladies, there is a new novel called Enchantress.”

Quickly, the chats turned from the prince to the new novel. The ingredient importers bring in the illegal novels inside the palace and circulate it among the maids and eunuchs. One of the maids that have read it explained, “It’s about a hunter who was very brave to hunt in the Witchery Forest and encountered a witch. Their romance was epic with all the obstacles in their way. And what made it even more interesting was the hunter turned out to be…The Prince.” The maids gasped in unison.

“I almost forgot. I saw the paper of the demented writer. He said there was a witch in the capital.” She then went on to take out a folded paper from her dress’s pocket and showed it to the others.

“Witches in these days? Do they still exist?” One of them went on to add, “If I meet one, I will ask them to give me a love potion so that I can get a rich man.” The others cackled at her words.

“What are you all mustered here for? Get back to your work!”, a sharp voice rebuked the gathered group.

The Queen was out for an evening walk to feel the fresh air after spending a few days inside her room due to her illness under the supervision of the royal doctor. The Queen’s head-maid shooed the maids away to get back to their work, but the Queen stopped and ordered them to hand over the piece of paper they were holding.

Despite being sick, the Queen still happened to have moist skin and rosy lips. Her head was held high but her gestures were gentle and calm. No one could tell by the look that the Queen was ill. Indeed, nobody knew what the Queen was suffering from except the royal family, their doctor and the Queen’s head-maid.

She took the paper and read what was written on it. She crumpled the paper and ordered the head-maid to burn it. She then turned to the maids and spoke sternly, “Do not bring such absurd things inside the palace again. And if I find you gossiping over your duties, I will see myself that you get punishments.”

The Queen then went on to take a walk in the palace garden. The garden was managed by the crown prince as his hobby. Varieties of colorful flowers were grown in a well-sectioned manner. The sweet scent from some of the flowers was soothing and refreshing. The Queen bends down to pluck a yellow flower grown along the side of the path in a small patch.

“Mother.” The crown prince called and the Queen stood up without plucking the flower. “Mother. Those are rear flowers gifted to father by the king of Heisin. I would prefer if you let them grow faultlessly.”

“My prince.” The Queen smiled back at the crown prince. “I will be careful from now on.”

The prince chuckled and replied that the Queen could have any other flower in his garden if she wanted.

“I almost forgot but have you received the gift?”, the Queen asked.

“Yes. It was so beautiful to even use the arrows to hunt.”

The Queen smiled and requested the prince to use it. The prince then joined the Queen for a walk.

“Why don’t you grow daisies in your garden?”, The Queen asked curiously out of nowhere.

“Because…”, the prince stretched the word as he thought of an answer.

The Queen smiled and admired the creepers twirling around the wooden pillars and the flowers blooming on them “Prince Taehyung. You don’t have to go out to buy me daisies. I will bring you the seeds to grow them. Mother is worried about you, understood?”

“You knew?”, Prince Taehyung was surprised that his mother knew about him sneaking out.

“You are my son and I know every step of yours. You are now a crown prince. Nothing bad shall happen to you. If words got out, it will ruin your reputation. So, be careful. If your father finds out, you will be locked up in the library till you read the last book.”

“I understand, Mother. Father is too busy to notice me. But I will be careful.” Prince Taehyung stood next to his mother and admired his garden. Now he knows his mother is keeping her eyes on him. “Mother, I wish you get well soon.”

Taehyung started to sneak out of the palace to find peace and escape his reality. His father, the King was always busy and hardly had any time for him since he was a kid. It was only his mother who was there by his side. However, a few years back, he started to feel like his mother was not his mother. It was a burden in his heart. It was something, a feeling he could not bring into words.

And when he found out his mother was suffering from a strange disease, he wanted his mother to live longer and his love for her outweighed the doubt. But it lived in the depth of his mind. Everything was too much for him to handle.

When his mind and heart seemed to be tight on a rock and sinking in the sea, Taehyung run away from the palace. On his way, he would buy the daises for his mother.

.

.

After the walk, the Queen returned back to her room and dismissed all the maids. She was sweating heavily and her body itched from the dampness. Her mind has been restless after reading the demented writer’s paper and it was driving her crazy. She finally dropped the act and breathe out the inner self she was holding in. She scratched her skin above her cloth as she opened the drawer to take a bottle of potion and gulped it in.

“So, they are still here. Those rats. I should have burned all of them.” The potion subdued the itchiness and the Queen sat down on the soft mattress. She rolled up her sleeves to reveal red spots all over her hands. She sighed and checked her legs too. The red spots never disappeared, not even once for the last three years.

All the medicines she tried did not even have a little impact, so she usually consumed potions to slow down the infection. The thought of the white witches who cursed her being still alive made her angrier. How could she forget the day a man offered her a green box three years ago? She wondered if she was such a fool to accept it or if the human body had made her lose her mind. The box was cursed and once she opened it, the curse befell on her.

The man could not be found and she started to doubt if her fellow witches who survived that merciless night were trying to get back at her. She had deployed secret men to search the kingdom for them and the unknown demented writer who only wrote about witches.

But now the sighting of a witch made her more anxious. “Ae-ri. You have come this far. You should not be shaken by a mere irrational writer.” The Queen hugged her cold body tighter. “You must find them and lift the curse.”

-------

The prestigious Kim family, who were well known for their business inside and outside the kingdom, kept a secret away from the world. They were involved in different kinds of work except for the works related to the Royal family. They never got within the radar of the Queen for their secret will be easily exposed.

The members of the Kim family were not related by blood, and neither were there any real maids. The bond between each individual in the household was tied by the same goal. They were the surviving white witches and wizards of the ill-fated night that happened centuries ago. They swore to take their revenge against their traitor, Ae-ri, the current Queen of Beaudom Kingdom.

“Joon, what if she gets in trouble?”, Hoseok, the right-hand man asked their leader, Namjoon.

Namjoon sat down on a chair and replied, “She has returned safely to the forest. It’s alright. For now, we have to keep our eyes on that woman and the other two in the town. The Queen will do anything to find us. So be careful while you are out there.”

After a while, the five elders of the household entered the room and took their position to discuss about Hye-jin, Whee-in, and Moonbyul. The elders could not believe that Hye-jin was living in the Witchery Forest. Those who ran into the forest that night to escape the raging town dwellers did not last a night and lost their lives to the creatures and spirits of the forest.

“We will try to find if there are more of us in the forest. And for the publication of the paper, we will be on hiatus since the Queen has already been provoked.” Namjoon explained. They didn’t curse the Queen to kill her instantly but to take their time and slowly put her to a tragic death.

>>>

Whee-in and Moonbyul sat face to face in their shabby house. They had just returned from their respective works. They were tired but the crazy writer had made them stay alert. Between them was a small table with a paper on top of it.

“Hye-“

“Stop. Don’t say the name.” Moonbyul was always cautious when they talk about the sisters. They had to be careful if they did not want to poison themselves to instant death.

“She said someone was following her that day.” Whee-in continued. “Maybe that person is the one who wrote this.”

Moonbyul stared at the paper scribbled with a bold title- ‘A witch amongst us?’. “But how did they know she was one?”

Whee-in picked up the paper to read it once more. “If they knew her, then they might know about us too.”

Moonbyul immediately stood up, “We must warn them.”

“Now?”, Whee-in gawked at Moonbyul. “Please sit down. It’s almost nighttime. I don’t want my closest friend to be a snack for some creature.”

“But we can’t predict those women. They could be here by now.”

“We can go there tomorrow. But if you are so impatiently worried about your woman, then you can leave without me. I am not risking my life recklessly for you.”

Moonbyul stuttered hearing Whee-in say such words with a straight face, “Are you crazy? I am just concerned about them. And I wouldn’t have forced you to come either. You could have simply said that we can go tomorrow.”

Whee-in arrogantly dusted off her old skirt and went to the kitchen. Moonbyul clutched her fist and suppressed her temper. She must bear the annoyance because they only have each other to rely on.

Who is this demented writer that knew Hye-jin and their existence? Until now, everyone thought they were fooling around with their love to write. Now, it was a headache to Moonbyul and Whee-in. Whoever knew Hye-jin came to the town that day definitely knows about them too. They must find this person before they reveal everything.

But to be exact, how?