Horse warily rose from the ground and dropped the mirror in order to have both och the highly unfamiliar hands in front of him in case he needed to defend himself from another unexpected burst of magick. But when the figure had removed its hood, time seemed to slow down considerably, and the face being revealed was unlike any he had ever seen. Imagine the features of the mos beautiful creature in the world, with skin as black as ebony, hair white as snow with streaks the colour of fresh blood. Her eyes radiated power and self esteem and had the colour of dark emeralds with a setting of gold. Simply put, Horse was completely spellbound by the young witch, and she hadn't done anything to cause it. She saw his stunned gaze and her smile turned into one of amused curiosity which in no way made her less appealing.
The poor Horse didn't know what to do, because while what she hade done to the prince and himself was scary she didn't seem thretening at all right now, rather the opposite actually. And come to think of it, they were the ones that had begun the attack, not her. A head popped out of the highest window of the high tower and a male voice, still a quite a bit high-pitched called out that the rat-trap was now taken care of and the danger had passed. The witch rolled her eyes and called back in a beautiful, very melodious voice, that it was very well done. When the head had disappeared back through the window again the witch said it beloged to her cousin who was visiting for a while. Usually she lived by herself, which sometimes made her relatives worry about her, and if there by some freak chance would arise a problem that she couldn't handle, she had a high-speed internet connection at her disposal, because as everybody knows, the answer to life, the universe, everything (42, by the way) and other little useful tidbits of information can be found in the intrwebz.
The witch, whose name was Thilyn, introduced herself properly and asked if they would like to stay for dinner, now that they had calmed down and were acting like normal people. Pollux nudged her insistently on the elbow and after a few tries with his new vocal cords, Horse managed to express his gratitude at the offer.
When they walked towards the stronghold the thick, gray clouds dispersed to let the sun shine thorugh onto the ivy clinging to the masonry. The moat glistened and the water lillies opened. At once the view looked a lot more inviting. Thily tried to get Horse talking so that he would grow used to his voice and his new visage. It succeeded and turned out that Horse really liked to talk. His voice grew steadier with each sentence and after a while de no longer sounded as if he was imitating a sheep each time he spoke.
When they entered the stronghold and Thilyn pulled off her cloak he quieted for a while, because under it she wore a stunning gown made of shiny green silk with seams and embroided vines of silver thread. In some places small faceted gemstones of various colours glittered from the surprisingly strong light in the entrance hall. And the curves suggested by the dress were absolutely gorgeous.
A minute or two passed before Horse could breathe normally again and during that time, Pollux tried to get at the sugar cubes hidden in Thilyns cloak. When measures had been taken against it, Thilyn lead the way to the dining hall, where both Horse and Pollux shied back when they saw the witch weave a spell. It turned out to be nothing to worry about when a bunch of apples appeared on a small table by the wall where Pollux could eat. She asked Horse to sit down and carefully started to move her fingers in strange patterns again, and one after another a nice variety of dishes popped into existence on the table in front of them. She sat down next to Horse and started to heap food onto her plate.
To be continued...
