Chapter 74. History

Ally's POV

The air in the witch's den is thick with the scent of damp earth and smouldering sage, a sharp contrast to the sterile ambience of Nathan's court. I edge closer to the table where the witch sits hunched over a crystal ball that reflects no light. Her eyes, milky with age, somehow still pierce through me. The next morning had broken and we had made our way to her home once more seeking answers.

"Can you tell me about the witch who always stands beside Nathan?" My voice sounds foreign in the silence of the den, like the distant howl of an unknown wolf- Dawn stirs restlessly within me, sensing my unease.

"Ah," she cackles, her fingers twitching above the orb as if plucking secrets from its depths. "Describe her, child, and be not spare with details."

I swallow against the dryness of my throat. His presence looms even here, in the absence of his shadow. "She's tall and slender, her hair the raven&#