- Why do you think Ivrim didn’t erase your mother’s memories? – this question haunted him.

- I also thought about it, but I could only find one excuse for it. My father was already cheating on my mom back then, and maybe he considered himself a greater threat to me, so he asked the elf king to erase only his memories. My mother would never have caused my death, which is not true of my father, who fell victim to Lillian’s charms. - She replied with a sigh.

- It turns out that your father is not so bad, wanting to protect his own child. - Raphael grinned ironically and Thea nodded.

It was difficult for her to forgive him instantly, after so many years that he simply avoided her and was ashamed of her, but now she could at least know the reasons for this, which meant there was a chance that sooner or later her hurt feelings would be able to be reanimated.

They returned to the others when Raphael announced their new route and everyone started packing for the road.

Urum approached Thea with a thoughtful and slightly upset look. He was visibly confused and focused.

- Nicole is not well. – he said, confused.

- Where is she? – without specifying the details, Thea followed him into his tent.

She had no time to be surprised that Nikki had spent the night in the tent of Urum, with whom they had fought until the first blood the day before. She fell to her knees in front of her lying friend, from the corners of whose eyes hot tears flowed.

Her body was burning with fever and she was shaking with chills. Wrapped in several layers of fur capes, she was a living, trembling pile.

But before Thea could open her face, a heart-rending scream, mixed with madness and agony, rang out from under the pile of fur.

Throwing off all the furs at once, she found Nicole curled up, tucking her knees to her chest. Her arms wrapped around her head and every movement caused excruciating pain.

Urum walked around Thea, coming up from the other side and putting a warm bag of heated salt to Nicole’s ear.

- She has an ear infection. – he said, clutching the warm bag and stroking Nicole’s shoulder, comforting her. – She must have caught a cold on the way here.

Well, of course it was, because Nicole was too proud to ask someone for clothes and completely froze to the skin. Stupid stupid Nicole.

Nicole tried to open her mouth to say something, but instead there was another scream that attracted even Raphael.

He entered the tent, glancing at everyone present until his gaze lingered on the witch writhing on the floor.

- Is she dying? - Raphael asked, having absolutely no sense of tact. - I suggest we bury her quickly and move out. We’re wasting time.

Urum bared his teeth and a growl escaped from his chest, at the delusional decision of the vampire, who did not even bother to find out the cause of the disease.

Thea sighed, pushing away a sharp surge of indignation and anger, flaring her nostrils, grabbing a huge gulp of air.

-God, Raphael, you’re an idiot. - she ground her teeth. – Just get out of here.

She waved her hand, pointing him to the exit, but he only twisted his face in bewilderment, completely not taking into account that his behavior was discourteous. But instead of going out, he fit into the corner of the tent, tucking his legs in the lotus position and nibbling the corner of his lower lip.

He was wondering when Nicole would eventually stop making these ear-deafening screams and decide to go to another world, leaving everyone in peace and tranquility.

Thea ran her hand through her friend’s hair, whispering soothing and encouraging words to her as her hands began to heat up under the healing magic that tickled her palms.

Her skills were still far from perfect and sometimes failed, but now it was necessary to act urgently and without delay, without thinking that something might go wrong or not work at all.

And completely drowning out extraneous sounds around her, she formed a kind of soundless cocoon, concentrating only on the spell that escaped from her lips and the flow of energy that she passed through her hands.

The sparkling radiance enveloped Nicole’s head like a water balloon, dulling her pain, while Thea continued to conjure over the main cause of her condition.

Acting with stretching movements, Nicole felt something burst in her ear and this caused a new surge of unbearable pain, even though Thea tried to numb her with magic.

A thin stream of blood gushed out of her ear, followed by a yellowish liquid with some streaks of blood, and Thea panicked. At that moment, her concentration broke and she took her hands away in horror, thinking that she had done something irreparable.

Fortunately, at that moment Adeline arrived, who was already aware of what had happened and immediately ran for her bag, which contained potions.

- You did a great job. – she encouraged her friend, taking her place. – It’s just otitis. Quite a dangerous disease, but the main thing is to start treating it in time. Her eardrum burst because of the pressure you created. But don’t worry, it’s good, so the outflow of pus will be better and her condition will soon normalize.

Adeline took out her wand and pointed it at Nicole’s ear, causing the pus to gush with renewed vigor. She wiped off all the leaking fluid when she was done and dropped a few drops of the healing potion into her ear.

- This remedy has a bactericidal effect, and will also help to remove swelling from the inner ear more quickly. – she concluded, pleased with her work.

Healing magic was the second favorite subject in the witch school, after potions, and she could certainly be proud of being good at it.

The sounds of Nicole’s sobs stopped and she fell into a deep soothing sleep, restorative for her condition.

- She needs time to fully recover. In this state, we can’t take her with us. Thea said, looking at her friend with regret.

- I’ll stay with her and we’ll catch up with you later. - Urum said without hesitation.

His firm determination caused emotion in Thea and Adeline, while Raphael only grunted and clapped his hands on his knees in an instant rose to his feet.

- Well, since the funeral is postponed, I’ll save the funeral wreath for someone else. – Thea noticed with horror that he conjured a wreath of red flowers decorated with a black ribbon and held it ready in his hands.

With a wave of his hand, a sharp and powerful gust of wind pushed Raphael out, but he regrouped and landed on his feet, straightening up to his full height and shaking the snow off his trousers and raincoat.

- How impulsive everyone is. – he snorted, thrusting his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

- Are you sure you’re going to be okay? - Thea turned to Urum.

- It’s not a problem, she’s a witch, which means she can open the portal as soon as she wakes up. We’ll catch up with you, don’t worry. – he assured her, instilling confidence and she nodded.

***

Hara returned to Eastheve at the moment when the news of the death of the king swept through the neighborhood.

He was a purely nominal person on the throne because of his illness and in fact his son, the Crown Prince, ruled the country. But his fate, as you know, was sad when he died at the hands of the bliars, attending the not-unknown ball in honor of the birthday of Queen Rilya Lilian Dinua.

And so Eastheve was left without a ruler, which means the witches were in a vulnerable state, if not for the fact that Lilian personally had a hand in the death of the king.

He was a worthless and insignificant little man for her, so there was no point in keeping him alive.

Since most of the territory of Eastheve was inhabited by witches and only a small part by ordinary people, Lilian resorted to self–ascension to the throne and this caused a flurry of unrest and discontent on the part of people who regarded this as the absorption of Isthev by Riliya.

But who would Lillian be if she couldn’t shut up those chattering, indignant mouths? It took her only a few dozen of her loyal followers and some of time to destroy everyone who was dissatisfied with anything.

She no longer tried to act quietly, without attracting attention. Her demeanor abruptly changed to a more open one, as if all the fear she could ever have felt had lost itself, revealing to the world the true essence of Lillian, of whom she was proud.

If her mother were alive now, she would not approve of everything that is happening, but because of her great love for her own mother, she only honored her bright memory with a wish for the kingdom of heaven, believing that her mother died at the right moment so as not to see Lilian’s elevation.

Now no one could condemn her, point out her lowly position among the other races. She didn’t hesitate to deal with anyone who could criticize her in any way.

In fact, there was no longer such a country as Eastheve, now it was all one territory, whose borders were glued to Rilya.

The feeling of admiration for herself did not leave Lillian and she rejoiced in every slightest detail that strengthened her power and totalitarianism. There was only a minor detail that still hindered the implementation of her plans.

Horel Rivaldi.