Chapter 256
“Who are you? Where did you come from? What is your name? Who are the Quafars? Why do you call them your children? Did you give birth to them p>
The questions kept flying past my lips, nothing holding them back—only stopping when I noticed the strange witch looking at me blankly with a raised brow.
“What?” I hoped she was not about to tell me that she couldn’t answer these questions too. They were mostly basic. Surely whoever was calling the shots wouldn’t tell her not to divulge her name.
“You have a lot of questions,” she stated simply.
Not the response I was expecting—however, the most foolish.
What did she mean by that? Whoever was in my situation would do the same! Especially when I was not aware if she would change her mind the next second.
“Are you going to start with answers, or are you going to dodge them as before p>
She inhaled and crossed her legs, eyes perching on a strange painting I was just getting to see now. But then, everything was strange about the witch.
The painting itself was made with… watercolors? I wasn’t sure, but the quality of the painting had that similitude. Yet one can never know with magic.
The painting constituted a woman carrying a baby on her back, with a staff in her hand, which she used as if it were a walking stick. A simple painting; however strange all the same.
“What’s the painting about?” I asked, filling up the silence with another question.
“Just something I picked from one of my travels p>
My eyes scanned the witch for the millionth time, from her head to her dirty feet. She looked like no traveler, but I was sure she wasn’t lying.
Did she travel to some African continent then? I wondered, taking note of the beautiful black skin of the woman in the picture, who didn’t look a year older than thirty, but the walking staff kept throwing the guess off. Maybe a broken leg or shifted hip bone?
“So, you don’t know the woman p>
She shook her head. “It’s just a painting, Maya. Not everything has some magic strewn across it p>
“Then why do you have it p>
“It reminds me of me at one time. Don’t you see the lines of exhaustion on her face p>
I saw it then, as I studied the painting. The woman looked like she was carrying the weight of the world—like someone on the verge of giving up.
Now that I was looking at it keenly, there was a sheen of tears in her eyes. She was… tired.
The baby at her back, however, was another case. He—if I would take the selfish look in his black eyes as any indicator—was laughing, clutching a broken stick like a toy.
He was a baby, and yet in the picture, it looked like he derived pleasure from the pain of his mother.
Who painted this sad thing?
“And why would this remind you of you at one time?” I looked away from the disturbing picture, which I knew wouldn’t be leaving my mind for a while. “Do you have a child?” A dead child?
The witch shook her head. “The Quafars are the only children I have. It just reminds me of the time I was saddled with an insane amount of responsibility to shoulder. That period was… trying p>
I furrowed my brows, eyes darting to the picture. Why would she want to be reminded of that?
“I ran away, absconded from my duty. Travelled the world rather, and finally settled here, living obscurely p>
I had a feeling she wouldn’t divulge what the duty was—neither would she tell me who had saddled her with such a heavy load that had made a witch as strong as she run away.
“Do you regret it p>
The witch shrugged. “Most times, I don’t p>
Which meant that she regretted it a couple of times. I stomped down the growing curiosity. No need to pursue after the air.
“So, my name is Makeh,” she said next, solidifying my decision not to pursue unanswerable questions. “I am a witch as you know. My place of origin, however, isn’t much of your concern at the moment p>
She paused, wet her lips, and continued. “I didn’t give birth to the Quafars directly, but they are still my children. I found them, lost, abandoned, during one of my travels—perhaps two hundred years ago p>
Wow.
A tired sigh. “You lose count of the days when you age like an immortal p>
“Are you an immortal?” I needed to know, not sure if that was even a concept. Even vampires died at one point. Surely they didn’t live forever? That was impossible.
“I am not. ’Almost’ will be the word. So back to my children—if you know your books, if the stupid woman hasn’t banned them all from the sights of those above, you will know they are extinct creatures. Creatures believed to be extinct p>
I had no words to say to fill the silence after her response, but I knew that the stupid woman she was referring to was the queen.
“So, I found them—adopted them, kind of. They needed a carer after all. They were young Quafars at that time, barely ten years old. I found a nest full of them around some region p>
A pause. “Finding them put a halt to my travels, and then I got the visit that led me to this place, and this life. And that’s the story p>
She opened her hands wide, gesturing that she was done answering questions.
I wanted to ask more—she had just given me a summarized version. Who had visited her? Where did she find them? Who had led her here?
But in the end, I sighed and nodded, accepting my lot.
That seemed to please her. She smiled. “You seem to be getting a hand of your curiosity. That’s good. And for that p>
She paused, and my breath stopped, while I anticipated maybe a divulge of a secret she wasn’t supposed to tell. For original chapters go to (.)net
“I’ll let you in on a little secret p>
Yipee!! I screamed in my mind, getting closer to her.
“The triplets p>
I felt my anticipation like a cloud covering us all.
I frowned. I had expected more. My hope crashed to my feet. “Is that all p>
It was her turn to frown.
“You don’t think I’ve been able to make that out myself, witch p>
She snorted. “Since you know my name, you should address me as such p>
“Fine!” I snapped, arms folding across my chest. “You don’t think I have been able to make out that fact myself, Makeh p>
Makeh shook her head. “No. You haven’t. You think it’s just bad luck following you around. At least El is perceptive enough to warn you of your actions around them. Because you see p>
A significant pause where she searched my eyes for God-knows-what.
I scoffed, turning away. “And what about them? Are there consequences to their own actions? Those brats are full of themselves p>
Makeh laughed and got to her feet. “You never know, Maya. What if they are victims just like you p>
My eyes bulged, almost out of their sockets. “You gotta be kidding me p>
Makeh’s laughter increased, as she sauntered out of the hut.
I hurried after her. “What were you talking about?” I called out, running when I saw that she was many feet away from me.
Did she float through the air? What manner of witch was this?
“Surely, you aren’t an illiterate, Maya. The boys may not be the villains in all this. Maybe just like you, they are victims p>
I stopped running and barked a disbelieving laughter. The woman had gone mad.
Those bullies that ran through girls like they were nothing—victims? Maybe they had charmed her too! I concluded, ignoring the impossibility of that. Where would the triplets have met her?
Walking at a slower pace, I walked into the hut I had seen her disappear into. And that’s where I saw Diana.
“Maya, come see,” she spoke, beckoning me closer when I made no move to step further into the hut crowded with Quafars of varying heights; they didn’t get past Diana’s head level though, even in her squatting position.
The Quafars parted the way as I heeded Diana’s call, letting me see the Quafar that had saved me that night from being discovered by the queen.
He looked… I frowned. Old. His youthful face now resembled that of an old folk begging for death to come take him home.
What have I done?
“Do not feel so guilty, Maya. He will be back in no time,” Makeh spoke, tapping my shoulders.
How did she get there?
I, however, was more focused on the Quafar. Back in no time?
For creatures that live almost eternally, I wondered how long that time was, as guilt gripped me still.
’Let it go p>
El?