Evanora didn't know how to react, or what to say. This was the first time she received more clothes than she was able to wear. The fluffy rug was so soft and would give much needed colour to the room. The same goes for both pieces of wall art and the sheets. She almost teared up when she laid her eyes on her new backpack and pen case. Never in her live, and she meant never had she received something that was just for her. When she was little, she always got stuff that she needed to share with her sister. Which never happened, because Medea took the toy or game all for herself. And threw a pamper tantrum when Evanora wanted to take it, thinking of it. It was probably around that time that her family placed her under the stunning spell. To make sure that she knew her place, and that was around the same time she grew to love books. True they were not just for her, but Medea would rather hurt herself before opening a book willingly. Which funny enough she now had to, because Evanora was no longer there to do her homework. So books were the only gifts she was able to keep all to herself.
"I see that someone got spoiled big time." A man with brown hair and bright green eyes came into the room. "You most be Evanora, Heliot already told me that you were here." Kayne's mother stood up from the couch.
"I am sorry dear, but I needed to act fast." She said, he gave her a smile. Laid his hands on her shoulders and sighed.
"I am not made love, but please tell me everything." He said and she did. Kayne filled in the blanks, while Evanora sat quietly. She didn't want to interfere, and some of the stories, well it was still hard to believe that it was all about her and not somebody else. "Shit. I am so sorry this all happened to you, Evanora." He said.
"Me too, young lady." Heliot said, from the trashhold. "I do not trust white witches, for my own personal reasons. Your mother was the only exception to the rule, if I am being honest. But this is a new form of low. Stunning your own family member to obedience, humiliating you to such a degree that it borders on torture." Evanora looked at her hands. "I will stop there, I can see that it makes you upset, and I am sorry that I went this far."
"It is not your fault, mister Heliot." She said softly. "It is what has happened to me, and I am glad that I am out of that situation. I still have trouble believing that my own family would do something like this." Every one in the room nodded softly. "But then again, I am the first black witch in the family. The second one in my mother's family, so..."
"That is still no excuse." Kayne said. "My family is known for their powerful black witches, but my cousin Cleo is a white witch and she is not being treated badly at all." Heliot nodded.
"I forgot about mistress Cleo, but she is still so little." Heliot said, his voice was softer and warmer. Star contrast then it was before.
"Dad, can you go over Evanora's stuff? It is currently in your office, but we want to make sure that there is nothing on there that could harm her." Kayne said, and his father, Dillon Le Rouge, nodded.
"Of course, I can with her permission of course. But now, can the two of you bring all this stuff to Evanora's room?" He pointed to all the stuff that cluttered the living room. Evanora jumped up, ready to make an apology for the mess. "No, I do not want to hear it. You have done nothing wrong, but now it should go where it belongs. In your room, in the closet, on your bed, on your floor and on the wall." He smiled when saying this. Showing that he meant it, her father never smiled at her like this. Never. She had seen him smile towards Medea, but never towards her. She didn't want to tear up, over something so small as a smile. So she quickly grabbed the first items that were near her. "Evanora, I am a therapist. From tomorrow on, you and I are going to talk." He said. "I have a feeling that you are needing it." She nodded slowly, before leaving the room. Her hands filled with stuff, she was being followed by Kayne and Heliot.
********
The posters hang on the walls, the clothes were neatly folded in the closet. Except for one outfit, which she currently wore. It was a small dress, Bordeaux red and it was hers. The men had cleared her room while she changed, and once Kayne came back he himself had changed clothes. Wearing simple black jeans and a dark grey hoodie, which made his eyes more vibrant. They had changed the sheets on the bed, and Kayne was busy with installing some updates on his old laptop. Which was indeed an upgrade from her old one. While she packed her stuff out of his backpack and placed it into her new one. Placing her pens and pencils in the new case. There was still a lot of stuff still at school, in a magic secure locker. The book she has being reading on the bus was among them, but she however found the notes for the new protection amulet. She smiled, it was funny that she created all kinds of amulets to protect herself from her sister's magic. Now that she thought about it, why were they learning how to make protection amulets? That was beginners stuff.
"Kayne?" She turned around. "What was the subject of your black magic studies? At your old school, I mean." He frowned.
"Channelling, we were learning how to channel another witch. The same as you. Why do you ask?" He asked and she held up her notes for the protection amulet. His eyes went as wide as saucers. "I already found it strange that you were focussing on that. I need to tell mom." He rushed out of the room. She grabbed her black magic books and they were all about making amulets. Was this also part of the stunning spell, if so, then the teacher were on it.
"Evanora, is there something wrong. Kayne just told me that you asked him about the subject for black magic class." Kayne's mother entered the room.
"It is because I am still stuck at making various amulets. These are my books for black magic class." She said, and gave her the books. "And all I can remember is the teacher talking about making amulets and which herbs we can use instead of blood." His mother looked confused.
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"That is indeed strange, because making amulets is beginners level magic. I can sense that yours are very powerful, don't get me wrong. But it is still the basics. At your age, you should be learning to channel another witch, conjure up spells, with herbs, salt and yes with blood." His mother said, she looked at the book. "I am going to call the school tomorrow, because if this has being happening, then it is worse than I thought." She walked away without another word. This was all kinds of levels messed up. She grabbed Kayne's black magic study book and started to read the first chapter. What the hell was she missing all this time, after a couple of pages she knew the answer. A lot. Kayne came back into the room.
"Kayne, do you have a lab I can work in?" She asked. "I need to make an amulet that helps me study a lot faster, and one that is going to protect me from any more stunning spells." She held up the recipes for both, he looked at her and then nodded.
"Come with me." He said. The walked through the hallways, which were covered in dark brown wood. Chandeliers with fake candles were hanging from the ceilings. There was some art hanging on the walls, but it was nothing more than a strange oil painting here and there. The lab however was a large green house, filled with various plant and herbs. In the middle of the glass building there was a witch circle, with two benches. A huge barrel filled with salt was standing against each one. "I am going to light the fire under the cauldron, while you gather the ingredients." She nodded, it didn't take that long to gather everything and with Kayne's help it didn't even take that long to make the amulets.
"Ohh, you two are in here. Making amulets." His mother looked at the recipes. "I see, well both can not hurt at all. The school was not aware of the stunning spells. But they were indeed told to keep Evanora on an information diet. So during this week I am going over everything you need to know about your own magic." Evanora wanted to curse, no she wanted to do even more, only she didn't know what.
"I am so sorry." She said, that was the only thing she was able to say. Although, she had nothing to be sorry for. Kayne's mother apparently knew what she meant, so she didn't say anything about it. "I will be a good student."
"I know you will be, sweetie." Kayne's mother said. "Alright, dinner is almost ready and then it is time for us to talk about what is going on."
********
Dinner was for once in her life, warm and delicious. Most important thing of all she was able to eat everything without being afraid of getting sick, or ending up dead.
"Evanora, sweetie. What do you know about your black witch ancestor?" Kayne's mother asked. Evanora grabbed the class with pumpkin juice and took a sip.
"Only that she was a black witch." She replied. "I do not know her name, I do not know what has become of her." Kayne's mother nodded slowly.
"Sweetheart." His father cut in. "Did you honestly believe that they would tell her? That would mean that she had the ability to fight back." Fight back, what was he talking about? Why would she ever fight back. "And then there is the fact that they kept her stunned, and in the basic level of her black magic studies."
"Mom, dad. Please tell us what is going on? Because right now the two of you do not make any sense whatsoever." Kayne said, Evanora nodded. His mother sighed.
"You, are right sweetheart. I am sorry, but this is not an easy story to tell. What I am going to tell you is the story of two witches, Kalliope Vandran who was a white witch and Onyx Vandran who was a black witch. And like Medea and you they were twins. But unlike you and your sister, they were the best friends. It was in the time that we lived in harmony, under the rule of the witch king and queen. The title that belonged to the Vandran family for generations. So Kalliope and Onyx were princesses. Here is where the story gets tricky, the discussion about who was going to rule after their parents. Was something that was being discussed often, the white witches wanted Kalliope as their queen and the black witches wanted Onyx as theirs. This all resulted in the Black and White war, from which we all know the outcome. The white witches won, and Onyx lost her life. But Kalliope was so heartbroken that she refused to rule, ending the reing of the witch king and queen. But she vowed that there will be a queen once again, when she and her sister are reborn. But who will become queen is not set in stone, because there can only be one." Evanora blinked with her eyes, she knew about the Black and White war, she knew that her mother's family once ruled over the witches. But she didn't know about the provicy, if she even can call it that.
"So the Razor family is betting on Medea to be queen of the witches?" Kayne asked.
"I do not know about Bevan, he was never a believer in such a thing. But I do not doubt about Madam Razor." His father said.
"But why couldn't they ruled together?" Evanora asked. "They were sisters, and best friends." Kayne's father smiled.
"It was the people, who didn't want that. I have no doubt that the sisters were toying with that idea as well. But then there is the rumor that Kalliope killed Onyx to end the war." His father said. "It is also not clear which side started the war either, black witches say that it were the white witches, and the white witches say that it were the black witches."
"So you all think that Medea and I are Kalliope and Onyx reincarneted? And one of use needs to defeat the other to determine who is going to rule the witches?" Evanora asked. Both his father and mother nodded.
"Your mother, also believed it as well. Sweetie, from the moment she found out that she was pregnant with twins. She feared that this would happen, and she was right to do so." His mother said.
"But what if I do not want to rule?" Evanora then asked, and Kayne's mother sighed.
"I am afraid that you do not have a choice in the matter, sweetie. Your grandmother, has being preparing your sister for this battle for a very long time. And now I am going to do the same for you, so that you have at least a small chance of winning, or better yet surving the fight." Evanora looked at her empty plate, this was a bitter pill to swallow and she was not sure if she wanted all of this. But Kayne's mother was right, her grandmother has being training Medea. And Medea would kill her if she had the chance, so she needed to be prepared for the worst.
"May I be excused?" She asked.
"Always sweetie." His mother said. Evanora turned around and rushed out of the dinner room and up to the flight of stairs. She landed belly flat on her bed, ready to cry. But she didn't have anymore tears left. There was a knock on her door and Kayne entered.
"Evanora, I am sorry. But I wanted to give you this." He said, she pushed herself up. He was holding an old teddy bear. "Your mother gave this to me when I was a baby. I want you to have it." He placed the bear on the corner of her desk. "Maybe it will give you some comfort." He turned around.
"Thank you, Kayne." She whispered. He gave her a warm smile while he closed the door.
"Rest well. Tomorrow we will start those black magic drilling sesions." He said and the door closed. Evanora got up from her bed and took the bear in her arms. It was not the first time, she wished her mother was here and it wouldn't be the last time.