THE RISING OF THE WICCA

I'm not leaving without you

Rokan fell to his knees but kept on resisting, he clenched his teeth and his body shook as he tried to break free from the spell. His resistance however only made the guarding wizard angrier, surprised by the king's strength, he put more force into his spell.

"This is nonsense, stop resisting or I will end your life right now!" He put his hands together and yelled.

Rokan smirked and tried focusing on his breathing. He was thankful to Duman for his help but he felt like the protective spell was starting to fade. He had to get out of this situation soon or he would never be able to find Evanora.

As the two men held their grounds, they heard shuffling in the corridor and a group of people appeared.

"What is going on here?" A man inquired.

"This man is an intruder and is disobeying my orders to surrender himself." The man said through his teeth.

"You need to deal with this quickly, the Wicca is coming this way, we don't want her to be disturbed."

"Disturbed by what ?" A gentle voice came from the bottom of the corridor and all heads turned in its direction. A woman in a black dress appeared and everyone bowed their heads.

The woman was wearing a white crown made of special thin branches on her head while dark locks flowed past her shoulders. Her face was covered in curvy lines, drawn by white ink on her golden skin. Rokan watched as she came closer and held his breath. Evanora finally reached him and took one look at him before turning to the guarding wizard.

"What is going on here?" She inquired.

"Wicca, I found this man wandering around the castle. He is not a wizard and I have never seen him before." The guard explained.

"And you decided to kill him?" Evanora eyed him accusingly.

The wizard stuttered and could not find the proper answer. This is what he used to do. Her grandfather ordered the death of all unidentified intruders who refused to obey orders. Plus the man appeared to be a human, the worst kind of intruder.

"I believe he deserves a chance to explain himself, put him in the dungeons and we will decide on what to do with him later." She announced.

"Right away my Wicca." The wizard bowed his head and quickly removed the spell on Rokan while two more guards aided him to take the king away.

Rokan showed no resistance and let them lead him to the dungeons. He could not believe the woman he just saw was Evanora. She was indifferent to him and treated him like a stranger, an outsider. He hadn't expected to run into her so soon and couldn't utter a single word. He remembered the day she left him in the cabin and how she did not look back at him as she left. He fought the pain gripping his heart as they dragged him around.

He wondered what they meant by Wicca, and his mind played the scene of her walking up to him and the way everyone seemed to both respect and fear her. Then he felt his muscles relax, she was safe, and the realization dawned on him. All that mattered to him was that she was safe, different but safe. He wished he had reached out to her and touched her to make sure she was really there.

Rokan was taken to a small, dark cell. He watched as the guards put a spell on the silver bars and walked away. He tried reaching outside of his cage but his hand was burnt by the invisible magic and he pulled it back instantly. He ended up sitting down on the cold floor and listening to the noises around him.
All he could hear was the sound of waves crashing on the tower's walls. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander, trying to figure a way out, a way to reach Evanora.

Minutes must have turned into hours as the night fell and the cell became even darker. He heard faint noises coming from outside and thought that the guards finally remembered his existence. He wondered if they were going to take him to see Evanora or someone else to decide his fate.

His eyes shot up as he sensed a familiar presence. A figure walked closer till she was standing right in front of him, she had two guards accompanying her. He couldn't move his muscles and kept sitting down on the floor watching as they approached.

Evanora waited for the guards to leave then fell to her knees before looking him over, scanning him from head to toe.

"What are you doing here!" She spoke in a hushed voice. "They could have killed you!"

"Do you recognize me, Witch, despite the shadow Duman cast upon me?" Rokan asked, referring to the magic Duman had used to alter his features so he could move around Evanora, without attracting her grandfather's attention.

"As soon as I walked into that hall, I sensed your energy. I have manipulated your energy flow multiple times, your highness. I'm quite familiar with it." she replied.
"You are not safe here, I will try to get you out of here as soon as possible but promise me you won't ever come back."

She was not different. The way she talked and fidgeted with her fingers and avoided his gaze whenever she was nervous was all the same as before.

"What about you? Why are you staying here? This place is dangerous for you too. We are both leaving and never coming back." Rokan answered after a long sigh, regaining his composure and putting on an unreadable expression.

"It's complicated..." She looked at him with bleeding eyes but he kept his cold attitude. "I can not leave, not yet." She told him and finally gained a reaction, he moved closer and put his hands on the bars close to her face.

"Why not? Why do you look like that and why do they call you Wicca?" He searched her eyes for answers.

Evanora saw a red light emanating around Rokan's hands and quickly put her hands over the bars to deactivate the spell while he kept on with his questions, "What are they doing to you? I heard you wanted to leave but weren't allowed to."

"I can't answer all of your questions right now but I promise I will. First I have to get you out of here then-"

"I'm not leaving without you." He interrupted her, his fingers gripping hers through the cold cell bars.