“Bertha, I can’t believe you’re here,” Lucy shouted quite close to my ear, blue eyes wide, and squeezing me so tightly I could barely breathe. It was a miracle I hadn’t gone deaf, she was so high-strung, but I’d missed her terribly. “We’re going to have so much fun.” I’d just arrived at the castle of the Southern Kingdom and couldn’t wait to see how my girls were faring. They’d come to be so much like daughters to me.

 Catherine stood by, shaking her head, her curly red hair hanging over one shoulder, and staring at me with complete disbelief, but she seemed truly happy to see me, as well. My trip hadn’t exactly been planned. After an unexpected issue with a client, I felt the time had finally come. I needed a change of scenery. I’d been stuck in the brothel for quite a few years without a way out—well, at least that’s what I’d begun to believe, and at times, how it made me feel: trapped. Until Catherine and Lucy had crashed into my life in an almost literal sense and given me hope once again. They had brought laughter and joy and replaced what I had believed to be a rudimentary life, and with them, a foreseeable future ripe with new beginnings.

Catherine’s quest had brought her to my brothel, along with her

then

three companions, Eric, Tobias, and Jameson. Lucy had been kidnapped by the Drakin Clan—evil dragon shifters—while she and Catherine were on an outing in the forest. At the time, King Harold had been nearing his deathbed, and Catherine was soon to take the crown as Queen. A reluctant Queen, who’d only wanted nothing more than to fight alongside her father’s army, I should say. She’d wanted, and very much intended to hand the crown to Lucy. But during her quest, she and I had become quite close, and she realised not only would she be Queen, but she could remain independent and open her heart to love. Her destiny had been fulfilled, and she hadn’t fought it kicking and screaming as she’d said she would.

After they’d rescued Lucy from the clutches of the Drakins, I’d finally had the honour to meet her. She was a prim and proper princess indeed, quite the opposite of Catherine. But when it came time for her own quest and destiny to be fulfilled, she’d set out with three companions of her own: Prince Tobias, a dhampir from the Western Kingdom, along with Prince Patrick

soon-to-be King

and Duke Trenton, both of the Northern Kingdom. And this was when Lucy had learned she was born with magic, Fae magic, passed down to her from her late mother, Queen Isabelle, but in order to save the Southern Kingdom from invasion, along with her family, she had to steal the golden crown from the Orcs—it contained her mother’s magic. She not only found love in one gentleman, but all three. I, along with Gregory, a Drakin who’d fled the clan of its evil leadership, had come to her aid in the final battle.

And this had given me such purpose, purpose I hadn’t even known I’d needed in my life. Two young ladies had shown me something I hadn’t had in a very long time, if ever: love and true companionship.

Only now, I needed to find my own way.

“It’s good to see you, ladies, and, surely, this should be an entertaining visit at the very least,” I answered with a smile, and then thoughts of last night when I’d finally made my decision entered my mind. I needed to be honest with myself. I wasn’t truly certain what I was supposed to do next, but I did know, I was done with running a brothel. 

Many witches

the ones who were friendly with me, at least

had told me in the past I’d been wasting my talent and skills there. After what had happened last night, I now believed what they’d said to be true. I’d outgrown the brothel, or perhaps it had outgrown me. I had a new destiny to fulfil, I just wasn’t aware of it quite yet.

“Why didn’t you tell us you wanted to come for a visit?” Catherine inquired, looking a bit cross with me. “We would have sent a carriage for you.” She was so elegant now as Queen—trousers and all—it was obvious her relationship with Eric had made her stronger, even more so than before.

“Carriage for a whore?” I nearly laughed and rose a questioning brow at that. “Don’t be silly, Catherine. People within the kingdom would have been talking about it for days to come.” I then lifted my gaze around the room. It seemed her sister was attempting to set up Christmas decorations about the main hall, but everything was in a tangled heap. There were so many boxes scattered about. I had to admit, I was a bit exhausted, but a good magic potion would sort me out in no time at all.

Lucy was rolling her eyes and Catherine only smiled. Their beloved—if not silly at times—maid, Jane, and a few other staff members were working hard, trying to sort out the mess. I hadn’t even realised it was the middle of December. Christmas was just around the corner. What a wonderful time to bring on a bit of Yuletide magic!

“I don’t give a proper shit what people say.” Catherine placed her hands on my shoulders. “Even a whore, as you say, deserves special treatment. Anyway, I don’t like that term, it’s quite insulting. You’re a witch, after all.” Catherine winked, wrapping her arm around me and pulling me further into the room. “But we must catch up. We’ve been a bit concerned, as we haven’t heard from you at all lately.”

“There’s nothing wrong, and I believe that’s the main part of the problem.” I muttered that last part more to myself than to anyone else, but Catherine heard me and frowned. 

“Come on, you look like you could use a drink, and then you can tell us all about your troubles. You seem exhausted.” Lucy took me by the elbow, but I resisted and glanced around the main hall.

“Hold on, let me help you with untangling these decorations,” I said, preparing my magic. “Otherwise, you’re surely to be doomed forever. It’s a right mess.”

The sisters glanced at one another and then shrugged. I focused, channelling my energy, but my inner magic was silent for some reason.

For a few moments, nothing was happening, and my anxiety spiked. Most of the time there was some sort of energy all around me—my skin was normally hypersensitive, and I picked up on other people’s auras. In that split second, I realised I’d felt somewhat hollow since last night, since that moment when I’d been struck with what I believed to be my own magic. Something was wrong, and I felt it again as I tried to move a few things around on the table. Nothing happened, and the girls were waiting. Suddenly, I felt as if everyone was staring at me, judging me. What the hell was going on?

And a vision from the previous night slammed into my consciousness.

It was a quiet evening, and it had been three hours since I’d left the brothel. There was a werewolf shifter who needed my help—he lived in a cave high up on the mountain.

He had approached me in town as I was leaving the bakery, after someone had apparently recommended me. He seemed desperate and paid well, so I didn’t even hesitate. People were staring at him, some even spat as we were walking by. They didn’t want him in town, they didn’t want to be around him. Rude bastards, the lot of them.

He’d then told me his beast had become uncontrollable, and that he’d harmed innocent people. Someone suggested that a witch could take away his curse, and that was the reason he had shown up in town.  

Now I was here, and my legs were aching, but there on that mountain and amongst the trees and nature, my magic had never felt stronger. Even the air around me pulsated with enchanted energy. 

The shifter had no idea what changed in him, but I suspected that someone had indeed cursed him. It was perhaps an act of revenge or a fight gone wrong. Either way, it didn’t matter. I only had to break the curse. Soon enough, I reached the cave, and a fire was crackling outside, but the shifter was nowhere around. 

Energy grew around me, causing every tiny hair on the back of my neck to rise. I felt a bit of unease settle inside my gut.

“So, you showed up.” A rough voice startled me. He stood leaning against a tree, and there was blood dripping from his mouth. It appeared he’d just murdered another animal, or perhaps a human. Well, I couldn’t be certain, but I shuddered at the thought.  

“When I make a promise, most of the time, I tend not to break them,” I told him, feeling tired and distracted. “Put more logs into the fire, will you? We’re just about to begin.”

“Is this even going to work?” When he asked the question, he sounded deflated. 

And then I truly looked at him. I could see the innerworkings of the spell that had been placed upon him.

“Yes, I'm a professional.” I knelt to the ground and removed a few necessary ingredients from my satchel and threw fairy dust into the fire after it had begun to blaze back to life. After a moment, something felt off, odd. Perhaps my magic was a bit weaker tonight. Impossible. I’d only just felt its strength as I entered this place. This had never happened to me before. There must have been someone else in the woods, or perhaps my imagination was messing with my senses.

No one drifted into these parts on the border of the Northern Kingdom and the Eastern Lands these days. That shifter, Runy, had a reputation, and no one was willing to risk facing him. “Now shift, and I’ll use my magic to break the curse. Don’t be afraid of anything. Clear your mind of all thoughts, except that of healing and peace. This type of curse isn’t resistant. It appears to be nothing more than an enchantment meant to change your good nature.” 

He didn’t seem convinced, but his body suddenly went rigid. His eyes blazed with yellow light. I counted to five in my head, closing my eyes until my magic reached its peak. The wind blew and magic pounded inside of me. He roared with agonising pain, howling not a second later. 

Everything was released at once—I could see a large sphere of energy in my mind’s eye as it grew within me and streamed from my palms. I sensed the shifter was in his beast form now, but my eyes remained closed. Moments later, excruciating pain knocked me to the forest floor.