章 18: The Poison
She said in a cold voice and then stood up to leave when he laughed.
In his thousand years of life, this was the first time he was treated like that. And that also by a kid.
"You are injured. If you keep using your powers, you will die in less than a week. I am surprised that you are still alive. Did no one tell you about the curse on you?"
She paused and stared at him. His clear eyes were looking back at her with amusement. Thea had strong senses because of her work.
She had learnt to discern truth from lies by looking at the pupils and listening to their heartbeats.
He was not lying. Was that why she was feeling so sluggish and drained as if she was not left with any life.
"I know this curse and I can treat it." he announced when he found her staring at him. "But for that you have to take ten sessions and it will be very painful." She did not care about the pain.
Her perfect eyebrows arched upwards as she smiled and sat back.
"And what would it cost me?" he smiled nefariously. The arc made him look more handsome and he was habitual of seeing women sighing and swooning at him but she only looked at him coldly and calculatively.
"I will only charge your services. You are agile and strong. I will ask you to do minor things for me in exchange for saving your life. It should not be a difficult deal." it was not.. But even if it would have been, she had to choose it.
"Alright. What do I need to do?" her voice was clear with not an ounce of fear. It was mostly only in the strong witches but he was sure she was not one.
His eyes sparkled and he chuckled again.
"So you are sure that I am telling the truth. Huh? Do not worry, I will not ask you to do anything dangerous. But for starters, why don't you tell me your name?" he pressed again when she frowned.
Why did he care so much about her identity?
"My name is Thea. I am a commoner." commoners did not have second names and they did not have family history. So the basic detail was enough to keep her at bay.
"Alright, give me your hands." he took her hands and then closed his eyes and started to whisper a spell.
Since the time she had come here, she had seen a lot of magical tools that work as modern day technology. But this was the first time she was seeing someone doing magic.
As he kept whispering the words, he took a needle and cut his index finger while holding her hand from his left hands.
He formed a circle with it and wrote something in the middle she could not read well. Once he was done, he took the same needle and cut her finger.
The blood started to pour on the words and she felt strong pain as if someone was trying to pull her soul out of her body.
She held the edges of the table tightly with her other hand as he did not let her hand go.
He was whispering something and his eyes turned silver. Drops of sweat started to fall from her face and her face contorted. Her lips pursued as she tried to endure the pain.
She had been beaten, she had been shot, stabbed and even had her bones broken. But never in her life had she felt this much pain.
Soon the red blood dripping from her finger turned black and the flow of the blood increased.
The pain started to lessen. He took her finger in his mouth and licked it. The blood stopped as soon as his coarse tongue touched the wound.
He licked it for a few more seconds before letting it go.
"The curse had been mixed in your blood for ages. It is more than I had thought. Are you okay?" he looked at her worriedly but she just nodded. Her face was calm and collected as she smiled at him when he shook his head.
"You are strong. Others must have fainted by now. But you will feel better soon when the poison of the curse will be out of your body." he let her hands go when she felt the dark marks of her hands had lessened. Though it was still ugly.
"Master!" The urgent voice from the door took his attention and his eyes narrowed.
"The promise had been fulfilled and you could not call us liars anymore. But we had to leave now." he stood up and walked out but when she stood up to follow him. She felt her legs giving up and she sat again.
"Wait.. where are you going to meet me again?" she asked but only silence ensued.
She took the courage and walked out but there was no one out. The place was empty and desolate. She looked around and sighed.
She needs to learn a few of those magic tricks too. But it was not like there was google here or they had plenty of books.
Taking a deep breath, she looked at her hands and then left the place. Instead of using her magic anymore, she took the local carriage to go back home.
"My lord, you have dipped your hands into forbidden magic!" The man trembled with fear as he looked at the single blemish on his fair hands when his eyes darkened and followed his gaze.
"No one should know about it. I will deal with it myself."
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