CHAPTER 158: A PRESENT

"Mistress."

Dorothy Green looked up at the older woman as she waited for an answer. She had just finished explaining what she had seen in the moon chart- how the lines had crossed where they shouldn’t have and how the star that was supposed to fade had instead grown darker. She hoped the Grand Witch would be able to answer that. After all, they needed to return soon

But the Grand Witch said nothing. And this made Dorothy worry. What if even the Grand Witch did not know. And after the story that she had heard yesterday, she was even more unsure of the suggestion that she had given Crown Prince Lance about mating on the Golden moon. If Miss Ramona Vye was not the right mate then...

She shifted slightly and tried again, her tone more tentative and pleading this time. "Mistress, does the rising black star indicate that the mate chosen by the three triplet brothers is wrong? Does it have anything to do with the story you told Prince Zenlast night?"

For a moment, there was still no answer. The older woman’s eyes remained fixed on the flickering candlelight, as though she were searching for something within it. Then, at last, she spoke with a calm smile, "Everything is related to that story, Dorothy. Every shift in the stars, every shadow that falls upon this land, even the choices we make without understanding them. Everything that happens today is born from that same wrong of the past, still struggling to correct itself... again and again, with every passing age."

"You mean the reason why the triplet Alphas in the past have never been able to leave heirs and are always fated to be doomed is because they choose the wrong mate?"

The Grand Witch smiled," But did they really choose the wrong mate? Or did they choose the right one and..."

"What do you mean, Mistress?"

The Grand Witch smiled," Invite Prince Zen. He has been in the library all day today. I can feel his agitation at being held inside. I am sure he would appreciate the story..."

Dorothy nodded and hurriedly stood up, almost falling in the next moment as her feet had gone numb from kneeling all day. As she watched her apprentice leave, the Grand Witch closed her eyes.

She wanted to tell her that the rise of the black star meant that things were moving in the right direction. That only when the dark store rose to the highest, would it fall and all the wrongs be righted.

But of course, she was bound by that curse...

Almost as if he had been waiting, Prince Zen appeared with Dorothy and after a brief nod, sat down quietly.

"You are quite eager for the bed time story, I see." The Grand Witch teased Prince Zen.

"It is entirely your fault, Grand Witch. You made the story quite interesting. So, are we going to continue the story with you telling us if the Lords made the wrong choice?"

The Grand Witch laughed at that and said," But I don’t know if they made the right choice or not."

Zen frowned at that. What did she mean she didn’t know..."

As if enjoying his confusion, the Grand Witch said," You forget that both the girls were born on the same day and at the same hour. Which means that they were born under the same star and so both were special... And whether they chose the right one or the wrong one, they ended up hurting the other one. Which was not acceptable... And one mistake, caused a butterfly effect... leading to the Seven Curses. Prince Zen, do you know the curses..."

Zen frowned and nodded. He knew a few curses but not seven. In fact he didn’t even know there had been seven curses... "There is the Silenced Seer which stops the witches and seers from predicting and telling the future to anyone. Another one is the Omega’s curse, which is related to them being in heat and not being able to resist the Alphas. And the third one is..." Zen hesitated. Because this was the one he refused to believe in...and was intent on changing...

But the Grand Witch only smiled and said,"Tell me, Prince Zen. Which is the third one?"

Zen took a deep breath and said," The unloved one... where one of the three alpha triplets would not be loved and accepted by their mate and vice versa resulting in a fractured bond..."

The Grand witch smiled at that," That is surprising. Not many people know of this curse, Prince Zen. It is surprising that you do."

Zen grimaced. " Ever since we were born, our father had been looking into the past..."

The Grand Witch nodded," Then he did well. You can guess of course, why the first one came into effect. Because if the prophecy had not been made, then no one would have known or worried about the future, letting fate take its natural course so the first curse was cast upon the seers and the witches who could predict the future."

"The second one, the Omega’s curse was cast because of the unchosen sister."

Zen frowned." What do you mean?"

The Grand Witch smiled, "When she realized that she would not be chosen, the second sister did something unforgivable. She had fallen in love with two of the Lords, and in her desperation, she used dark magic to bind herself to them both- thus breaking the sacred bond that fate itself had woven. And so, the Omegas were cursed to never resist the pull of the Alphas unless they were properly mated... making them forever vulnerable to the Alpha’s will."

And the Unloved one? What about that curse? Zen wanted to ask but he did not. And the Witch smiled," I see that you know how to keep your curiosity under wraps... The unloved one is for the one who did not love the right sister and doubted the bonds of fate, thus ending up hurting his true mate...Quite convoluted, isn’t it?"