The Devil's Cursed Witch

When Erlos led her to the centre of the hall, everyone who had never seen her observed her.

Thin, small and ugly—those were the words everyone agreed upon laying eyes on her. Her body was so thin it could be seen she led a harsh life, and it was probably also due to that same reason her growth was stunted, making her body's frame tiny in comparison to an average human. This point was further emphasized by her loose elf dress.

The majority of her skin was still covered in bandages, but those exposed had visible burn scars on them. Perhaps the only redeeming point she had was that her hair was the rich colour of mahogany.

The council members frowned at the presence of the human but her presence was needed.

'She sure is ugly. Was she tortured before coming here?'

'Well, humans are ugly creatures so we can't expect them to look like us fairies.'

'This particular human is not someone pleasing to look at. She must have suffered a lot. Now I kind of understand Elder Leeora's worry.'

'Since she suffered outside, she's lucky she's given a chance to enter Agartha. She should be satisfied to be allowed to stay in the human villages. At least there, she would not lack food.'

Erlos stopped at the centre of the hall and told her, "Stay here," before walking away to stand by the King's side.

She stood there nervously with her head lowered, not daring to look at Draven who was sitting on the throne in front of her. She could feel all the strange gazes at her as if she was some kind of rare wild animal.

However, the gaze that scared her the most was that pair of red eyes in front of her. Anxiously, she started to fiddle with her fingers, scratching the skin of her fingers with the nail of her thumb.

Draven simply looked at her, his eyes carrying no particular emotion even though he could see clearly how her body was trembling in fear.

"Human girl, what is your name?" Halifax asked, his aged voice gentle as he looked at the girl standing in the centre of the hall.

She gulped and answered, "E-Ember."

"Do you have a family name?" he asked again.

Ember simply shook her head. "I don't have any."

The council members looked at each other.

"She's not a noble, but a commoner."

"What if she's not even a commoner but truly a slave? Won't that mean she has a master? What if she's a spy?"

"She's but a young girl though?"

Halifax turned his attention to the King. "Your Majesty, given the poor state of the girl, I believe it will be best to let her stay among her kind, and I will make sure that she will be put under the care of a good human family. She must have suffered a lot, but there is no need for us to keep her with the elves."

"We shall immediately send her away. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Draven didn't answer as he simply stared at Ember. The council members once again exchanged glances while those who knew Ember wished for the King to make the best decision for her.

Seeing how that heavy silence caused the girl to tremble, Halifax let out a sigh. The members of the council cared for their people, but though they have a bias against humans, they weren't cruel beings.

"Do you have anything to say, human?" the oldest of the elves asked.

Ember let out a whimper. "P-Please…let me stay…I-I promise to be good…"

'That is not possible,' the leaders wanted to say, but looking at her pitiful state, another heavy silence descended within the hall, this time more uncomfortable than the last.

"How about we decide after we keep her on the brink of life and death?" Draven spoke, finally breaking the tension among the council members. "If she survives, then she can stay and if she dies, her useless body can be thrown for the wild animals to feed on."

The entire hall was filled with whispers as they talked among themselves, confused by what their king was aiming for. Leeora and Cornelia felt puzzled while there was a sudden glimmer of brightness in Morpheus' eyes. However, he didn't show anything on his face.

"What do you mean, Your Majesty?" Halifax asked on behalf of everyone.

"To leave her to die where even me and my powers cannot save her," Draven responded. "If she survives then we will consider her like us and let her continue her stay with Leeora."

Leeora then realized the King's intention and decided to intercede, "Elder Halifax and the rest of the council, in fact, Ember is not an ordinary human. That is the reason why His Majesty wants to keep her with me, and because of her uniqueness, the humans will have a hard time accepting her for she's more similar to our kind than the humans."

The members of the council were puzzled.

No one could understand the situation, but Draven didn't wait for them and simply looked at Ember. "What do you think, human? Do you want to take the risk?"

Ember felt this was the only opportunity for her to stay in Ronan. She finally raised her head to look at Draven, and her emerald green eyes met his red ones.

His dignified voice continued to speak, "If you agree, there will be no one who will help you. Survival solely depends on your own strength and desire to live on. If you don't agree, you will be sent among humans, and after that, you will never be allowed to interact with anyone among the supernaturals."

'Sent among humans? Gaia always cursed, saying all the humans are nasty and we should stay away from them. They were nothing but cruel to us. Leeora even said they burned the entire mountain and tried to kill me. I don't want to go to them. I want to live here with Leeora. She reminds me of Gaia.'

Everyone looked at her while she was busy with her thoughts.

'I was supposed to die anyway after jumping down the cliff so it doesn't matter. Either I die, or survive and stay here.'

"Your Majesty, what if she survives?" the Queen of the Fae asked.

"As I said, she will stay here," Draven repeated and looked at Ember. "This is the last chance I am giving you, human. Do you agree?" he asked.

Though she was scared of him and she didn't trust him, she had to accept his offer as there was no other way.

"I…agree…" she replied in a weak voice but everyone heard her.

Once again, the entire hall was filled with the voices of council members talking among themselves.

The Queen of the Fae started, "Your Majesty, we still cannot allow her to stay. The humans—"

This time, Leeora chimed in, "I do not see what is the issue, Fairy Queen Ineth. I am sure His Majesty had all our opinions put into consideration."

Ineth frowned. "But the humans will demand entering our borders—"

"His Majesty won't put a simple test when he said he himself can not do anything to save Ember. If she survives, then she's not an ordinary human. Since she's unique, then the other humans can't complain about the difference in treatment. If she dies, then you have nothing to worry at all."

"I agree. She should get a chance," Cornelia sided with Leeora.

The two women trusted their king, and since he had proposed something like this, then there must be a reason. Ineth, the Queen of the Fae, thought their words made sense.

Though others were skeptical about the King's proposal, after hearing Leeora's argument, they all agreed in the end.

Halifax conveyed to the King, "Your Majesty, we agree to what you suggested."

Draven looked at Ember who was waiting to hear what she had to do.

"Come here, human," she heard Draven beckon, his gaze looking straight into those green eyes.

She gulped, hesitant as to why he was asking her to go to him. As the hall was with a circular setting, she could see Morpheus standing at her right side. She caught a glimpse of him nodding. Leeora also wore an encouraging smile.

Hesitantly, she walked towards the man on the throne. She climbed those few steps that led her towards Draven and let out a shaky breath as she stood an arm's length away in front of him.

Draven, still sitting comfortably on his throne, offered her his hand palms up. She looked at his large gloved hand and then toward those red eyes which showed he was waiting for her to accept his hand.

She moved her trembling hand on top of his hand. It felt large and foreign, but she didn't pull away as his hand dragged her closer. All along, his eyes remained fixedly staring at her. She didn't know what he was up to and followed his lead quietly.

'Brink of life and death,' were the words she remembered him saying, and she wondered how he was going to harm her in front of these people.

Just as there was no more space left for her to take a step, she felt a tug to her arm and she fell on his body, causing her to sit on the lap of the man sitting on that huge stone throne.

Ember wasn't the only one shocked—the rest of the people inside the hall could barely believe what they were seeing.

A human sitting on their king's lap!

Feeling nervous and thinking she made a mistake, she tried to get away but she heard his cold voice command her.

"Stay still!"

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