25.Our pet witch

Garance knew it was a risky move on her behalf, but she had to make it. She could tell their talk calmed Sky down – for now. But how long would it last? It was clear the Night Witch wouldn't be able to trust her like she did before. Chances were high Sky would still continue visiting them, because she needed those books. But she wouldn't relax anymore, she wasn't naïve enough for that.

Actually, Garance was hoping to win Sky's deliberate help. She'd been showing that girl rich life long enough to make her get used to it. She didn't like the fact Sky kept returning to Beata's house for the night, but she decided it wasn't too important. Who would miss a chance to live like a queen, to rule this place? Sky was also sentenced to life, she had to be interested in changing her position here!

But she wasn't. Garance could see that stupid Night Witch didn't even doubt it. Sky wasn't ready to set up the Grand Master, and that was final. Garance took her chance and failed. After that leaving Sky alone would mean losing her altogether. Garance had to address to urgent means of control.

She was as careful in teaching Sky to accept presents as in everything else. The first things she gave her were completely harmless. Garance knew Sky would check those dresses, she was ready for it. And once she noticed Sky started trusting her more, she gave her magic artefacts. Of course, Sky had no idea about it, and it was really hard to detect their power until they were activated.

The most powerful artefact was the necklace of the white agates she was wearing. It was a short one, going around Sky's neck like a collar. It was a beautiful little thing presented to Sky by Freesia, so the Night Witch wore it gladly. She had no idea it was a control artefact – until it became too late.

Garance knew she had to hurry. Once she decided to act, she had to be merciless about it, or her plan would fail altogether. She had spent hours activating the necklace. But once the spell was over, it actually worked. Sky understood something was wrong at the last moment, but at this point, she wasn't strong or experienced enough to change anything. Judging by what Garance heard about Aydelline, that demon would be able to fight the spell off even during the daylight. But Sky was no Aydelline, and she fainted in the middle of the library.

When Garace was sure the Nigh Witch was unconscious, she hurried to her limp body. It was already evening, the time of her power was ending, and Sky's time was beginning. Garance didn't want her to break the spell instinctively, and she had to make sure it didn't happen.

Freesia and Abelia were already by her side, she needed her family's help in such an important matter. Abelia was as calm and indifferent as ever, Garance knew she could rely on her sister completely. Freesia was obviously nervous, she was too kind for her own sake. But Garance was confident she had complete control over her daughter, nothing else mattered.

"Turn her around," Garance ordered.

Sky collapsed face down on the floor, but she didn't hurt herself. That was good: Garance needed her face as pretty as ever. Now Abelia and Freesia turned her around, laying the Night Witch on her back on the floor.

"Is she okay?" Freesia asked shakily.

"She's just asleep, that's the best the control artefact can do without assistance. But we'll correct that."

"How?"

"Watch and learn, little one. Abelia, open her mouth!"

Unlike Freesia, her sister knew exactly what was going to happen. Abelia parted Sky's lips gently, opening her mouth. Garance kneeled next to the fallen Night Witch. She put a small golden bottle adorned with emeralds and rubies to her lips. Thick white fluid poured from the bottle into Sky's mouth, and the Night Witch made a gulp instinctively.

"What's that?" Freesia frowned.

But Garance was too busy casting her spell, she had to use her energy until the daylight was here. So Abelia answered instead of her:

"It's control potion, it works together with the necklace she's wearing. Through the necklace, we can make her follow only the simplest commands. But with the potion, we'll make her our puppet."

"It that really so simple?"

"It's not simple at all," Abelia shook her head. "Both the potion and the artefact are extremely expensive. And one dose wouldn't be enough. For complete control, Sky would have to be taking it for days. But it's fine, only the beginning of this process is hard, when she can fight back. After today, she'll be drinking it like a good little girl!"

The twilight became thicker, darker, the day was over. But it couldn't change anything: the spell was over, Garance made it in time.

Sky opened her eyes, and Freesia moved away from her with a gasp. She probably thought that something went wrong and the Night Witch would fight them now! But the two experienced witches remained calm. They saw Sky's green eyes were dull and unfocused, nothing like what they used to be. Garance smiled contently: the Night Witch was deep in trance, her mind completely gone, only her body active at this point.

"Get up!" Garance told her.

Sky obeyed her without a pause. The Night Witch stood up and froze in front of her new mistress. Even though Garance couldn't use her own magic during the night, she still had full control over the necklace, and that was enough.

"Wow…" Freesia stared at Sky in shock. "Is she going to follow all of your commands, Mother?"

"Not yet, only the simplest ones so far. But we can't waste any time, we need to use those days wisely to prepare."

"Prepare for what?"

"That's none of your concern. I'll tell you what to do later. Right now, it's time for you to rest, go to your room and sleep."

She highly doubted Freesia was going to fall asleep, she could see her daughter didn't want to go away. But Garance didn't want to get her involved in this just yet. Freesia could start feeling sorry for Sky, and that was unacceptable.

So she waited for the youngest witch to go away, and then turned to her sister:

"Keep an eye on her."

"She won't do anything," Abelia shrugged. "You're like a goddess to her, she wouldn't dare to go against you! And even if she wanted to… What can she possibly do to you!"

"She can contact the Night Witch's friends and tell them the things they shouldn't know."

"What can two weak witches do to us?"

"They can make some noise, and we don't want that," Garance explained. "Of course, if we want to continue using Sky, we'll have to get rid of everyone who knows her well. But right now it would attract the attention of the Grand Master."

"And we wouldn't want that!"

"Naturally, we want him to remain calm till the last moment. But tonight we don't have to worry about Freesia, Beata and everyone else. I have a different task for you."

"What is it?"

"I need you to contact Remus of Sophiro immediately and get him into our house as soon as you can. You need to be very careful about it, make sure few people know about it. In the best case scenario, it should only be you and him."

"Remus?" Abelia frowned. "Are you sure about it?"

Garance could understand her doubt. On this island there wasn't a single witch who liked Remus of Sophiro! It's very hard to like someone who believes you're nothing but a piece of dirt. It wasn't like Remus actually hated witches, but he despised them, he would never consider any of them equal.

So Garance would gladly avoid working with him if she had a choice. But that was possible only if Sky agreed to help them on her own. Using the magical control made things way more complicated… To bring her to the Grand Master, they'd need an ally inside the castle, and Remus was the only one who would agree to do something that low.

That didn't mean Garance was going to trust him. In the future, she'd need to find a way to get rid of him too. But right now, he was a tool she couldn't ignore.

"Get Remus here, now," she repeated. "I'll take care of everything else."

"As you wish, sister. What are you planning to do now?"

Garance stepped closer to Sky and toucher her chin gently, making the Night Witch raise her face. That girl was as beautiful as ever – even without any make up and in that modest gray dress she still put on sometimes, though it annoyed Garance. They gave her so many wonderful dresses!

Well, now she could finally get rid of that worthless piece of fabric herself.

"I'm going to prepare our little pet witch for meeting a special guest tonight," Garance smiled triumphantly.