Keeping a watch on the western borders wasn't a problem for Iona. It had been three days since she heard the news that Etaya and Aed Ruad had started their journey from Vilinski. Their armies would reach Draoidh in the next two days. Despite all the portals that they would take to shorten their journey time, the grounds of Sgiath Biò had grown tougher than before to cross and even she didn't know why. There was perpetual gray that overhung over the expanse, clouding the sun to the level that it looked like twilight. 

After visiting Circe, Iona was assured that Circe would keep relaying the latest information about the wizard kingdom. Circe had told her that the marriage would take place two days later and that was the time to strike. She had gathered all the dark forces she could. 

In the blackness of the night, she watched these dark creatures as they slithered out of their resting positions beneath the boulders, inside the caves and between the crevices of the mountains—wherever they could get the comfort of Cimmerian. They moved like smoke, sinuous and choking. Some hobbled and splayed like puppets made from bones that jutted everywhere and controlled by strings of a madman—their twisted appendages and black-fanged jaws danced so crazily that it was repulsive to the point of vomiting. 

She called these dark creatures, Diumbe. Right now, the Diumbe were swarming around the hill she had crested. They crawled up to her and purled along her skin, up her spine, and neck as they licked her neck and grazed her back. "My pets," she said adoringly. "Just two days more and then the world will be ours." A high-pitched screeching emanated from the Dimube that could make the ears of living bleed. They wrapped around her body like lovers, a writhing, spiraling, gibbering mass of mayhem. 

The dark witch became one with them and danced in the same mad way they danced around her. She looked up at the sky and raised her hands up. "Master! Come and embrace me. Come and be one with me! I need you today. I need the comfort of your arms, of your soul. You have to come back!" 

The clouds hanging overhead thundered and lightning forked its way down. It struck the ground with a blast—an acknowledgement from her Master that he was around her, that he was overlooking everything. 

Iona was sure that by the end of this, she would win the kingdom of Draoidh, she would kill all those who came between her and her ambition to rule the world. She was too strong a force to be dealt with and no one could stop her. Once the fae princess was going to go back to Vilinski, even the king and queen could not stop her. The only man she was afraid of was her brother. But the idiot never knew the potential of his powers. Iona looked at the electricity that struck the rocks several yards away from them. It was her Master who had shown her the true potential she carried. 

A cacophonous laugh later, she clicked her teeth with her black claws and said, "I need to feed. Let me go and get something for you, my pets." She was going to hunt men or women or animals in the Lore and get them to eat with her Diumbe. She also planned on visiting Circe, who hadn't summoned her for two days and that was the only thing that was worrying her. 

The Diumbe crawled back in their places allowing the dark witch to leave. Iona floated in the air and turned into a dark swirl. Like a serpent, she flowed in the air and soon reached the outskirts of Draoidh, the walls of which were invisible to a normal man, but to her eyes—they stood tall and were protected by hundreds of spells, ancient and new. She swirled around the walls for a long time, making sure that she didn't touch the spells. She waited for Circe to summon her because that was the only way she could cross these spells. Circe had to use the necromancer magic and the portal beneath her home to summon her. Without that she couldn't enter. 

Iona continued to swirl around the walls until midnight, but Circe hadn't summoned her. The plan was that she was going to stay in the tunnel beneath Circe's home and strike when the time was right. The basin in which Circe would mix her blood in water, acted like a mirror. It showed what all was going on in the various places of the wizard kingdom. 

Circe had broken off the stones of various buildings. After mixing her blood with the water, she would drop the stone of the building and it would come into view. Then she would chant her spells and call the dark witch. In the entire kingdom, only Circe was strong enough, knowledgeable enough to summon Iona. And her main issue with the queen was that despite being so talented, she was only the Minister of Education. Initially when she was younger and had started, the queen gave her important junior portfolios and she always appreciated her talent. However, as and as time went by, Circe's ambitions grew. She started demanding heavier jobs. She wanted to become the Minister of Defense and Finance together. But Adrianna wasn't in favor of it. When it was time for her promotion in the ministry, Circe was handed the charge of Minister of Education, which was a low portfolio compared to what she sought. 

Bitterness found roots and she had to give Adrianna the taste of her medicine. When she went to ask the queen as to why she wasn't chosen as the Minister of Defense or Finance, the queen replied that her profile suited the current position. The queen also made it clear to her that if she wanted, she could stay as the minister or leave the job. It was something Circe was not prepared for. Revenge came in the form of Master, who had once come to meet her when she had visited the human realm. 

He had said, "We need a favor and we can grant you a favor." In his black clothes and long black cloak that fluttered on his ankles, the Master looked like a devil incarnation. 

At first Circe was scared, because she had been knocked unconscious while she was returning and was bound and gagged in front of him. 

'Wh— what do you want?" she asked as soon as her gag was removed. 

"We want princess Iona," he had said. "The plan will be relayed to you later. And in return, you can avenge the queen." 

Circe was shocked as to how did he know about it, but she was too scared to ask, because if a witch like her could be taken hostage by him, he was truly something. "What would you want in return?" she asked. 

"Only Iona."

--- 

At this moment, frustrated for lack of commitment, Iona swirled her wat back to the hill she had made her home from the past few days. She made sure that she hunted several animals and carried them with her for her Diumbe, who all enjoyed eating the bones and sucking the blood from the bones. 

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