The Rejected Luna Queen novel Chapter 36

Alpha Bane's POV

We all stood, anxiously waiting for the witch to arrive. Minutes seemed to us like hours as everyone eagerly anticipated the witch and whatever it was that she had to say. I wondered what took her so long as we had waited for over ten minutes.

The witch, as I heard, was never one who was renowned for her speed. She was famed for always taking her time regardless of how urgent the situation was. I had expected the guard to try to get her to hurry up a bit. I guess he didn't have that power.

After another eight to ten minutes which seemed like an eternity, the witch finally walked into the dungeon, as slowly as I expected, with the guard right behind her.

In her hands was a large calabash which she held very delicately with both hands, put out in front of her as she walked into the dungeon. I noticed that the guard carried a bag too. It most certainly belonged to her as I was so sure that he didn't leave the dungeon with a bag.

As she got to the centre of the dungeon, she dropped the calabash on the floor and turned to look at each person that was present. Then, she got to Mrs Scott and paused, before letting out a wry smile which she held on for about half a minute, as the woman kept vibrating.

She turned back around and carried the calabash, this time, she danced around us with it, pausing briefly on getting to each person before proceeding to the next. I guessed it was all part of the ritual. Although it was quite weird.

She stretched forth her right hand and the guard immediately bent and began to search the bag for something as we all fixed our gaze on him intently. He searched for a while but didn't seem to find what he was looking for. Then he tried to leave, probably feeling he had left it somewhere but the witch shook her head, with her hand still outstretched.

He bent again to look for it one more time and this time, he dipped his hand further inside and brought it out with something inside. With a smile on his face, he walked to the witch with the stuff in his hand.

As he handed it over to her, I saw exactly what it was. It was a small knife and I wondered what it was for. "Does she plan to kill anyone here?" I asked myself. I'd heard a lot about witches and how weirdly they were said to act at times, so I expected anything from her.

She took the knife and returned to the centre of the room. Then she motioned to Mrs Scott and Sophia to approach her and they did, albeit reluctantly.

She stared at Mrs Scott for a moment and then she squeezed her face so tightly. "Stretch forth your right hand," she ordered her and she immediately obeyed without any hesitation, although she seemed very afraid. The witch pierced her hand a little with the small knife, causing her to jerk a little and blood dripped from her hand into the calabash.

She then turned to Princess Sophia and did the same to her. Then she kept the calabash on the floor and waited for something to happen. I didn't know what it was.

"If indeed this woman is the mother of the young lady, then the blood will turn black after two minutes. If not, then it'll stay the same."

We waited for a good two minutes and it seemed like nothing was happening. Mrs Scott looked up at the witch with a smile on her face like she had won a trophy but the witch smiled back and pointed back to the calabash.

We all looked back at it to see that it had turned black. It seemed she had celebrated too soon. As everyone else raised their heads, she kept hers fixed on the calabash. The shame was unbearable. She was probably confused and short of options.