Chapter 229: The Origin of the Striga
Foltest was safe in his castle, sitting before the long dining table in his resplendent dining hall, lit by the gentle light of a magical chandelier. He was enjoying his breakfast, while Fercart of Cidaris, one of the new royal consultants, was making his report.
"Your Majesty, enforcing martial law on the temple area has been a great success. All heretics near the plaza have been chased off. Vizima's people have turned away from the path of evil, returning to the embrace of Lebioda, Eternal Fire, and Melitele. If I may say, it is impossible for the Lady of the Lake to expand after this."
Foltest chewed on his succulent chicken and wiped the grease off his lips with a silk handkerchief that had silver lilies embroidered on it. "Thank you, Master Fercart, but this is not enough." He pushed his chair back and paced around the table. "Did you forget what I told you?" He shot Fercart a glare. "Fine. I suppose I shall repeat myself. Vizima is my territory. Even Melitele has to play by my rules. That seductress has killed the leader of my knight order and the previous consultant. She must pay the price."
Foltest picked his knife up and speared it into the roasted chicken. "I trust sorcerers enough to let you spread magic across Temeria. Over all these years, I've given your brotherhood enough coins to purchase a kingdom! I think I have the right to issue you an order." Foltest looked at Fercart sharply. "I want to see her body!"
Fercart felt his heart skip a beat, and he stared down at the ground. "Your Majesty, I apologize, but we are unable to do that."
"And the reason is?"
Fercart answered genuinely, trying not to anger Foltest, "The three of us have been investigating Lake Vizima every day as of late, but we found nothing unusual. She might have left the place. Perhaps her believers have told her of our plans, and she hid herself."
That was not a total lie. It wasn't every day the Brotherhood of Sorcerers could come in contact with a legendary creature like the Lady of the Lake, but they knew she was a part of an ancient clan. If they tried to kill one of them, they would make an enemy out of all nymphs of all lakes in this land. The sorcerer would never do anything so rash.
Foltest snorted. A long, long silence later, he said, "She escaped my grasp this time." There was a look of regret on his face.
"Your Majesty, I guarantee that as long as we're in Vizima, she will never step into this kingdom."
Foltest was giving the sorcerer a look of interrogation. Fercart could feel his back getting wet with sweat, and then Foltest said, "How's Adda doing?"
Fercart heaved a sigh of relief. "I don't sense any magic coming from the princess. I don't think she's been working on the church, but still, she did make contact with the Lady of the Lake." Fercart advised carefully, "Are you sure you should let her do whatever she wants?"
"She's going to cut ties with me if I keep stopping her from doing anything." Foltest sighed. "Just… don't force her into a corner."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"And one more thing." A pause later, Foltest said hesitantly, "How's the medicine coming along?"
Fercart looked at Foltest for a moment. He had heard of Foltest's unsightly private life. Like most kings, he loved to sleep around. Even the people caught wind of his affairs. For example, Princess Adda was the product of an incestuous relationship between him and his sister. There was also the rumor about him having many mistresses, a lot of which were his underlings' wives. "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you once again: is it a boy or a girl?"
"A girl." Foltest sounded disappointed. He suspected that the baby turned out to be a girl because he did not have Azar's medicine with him.
"Very well then, Your Majesty." Fercart said, "I guarantee that the Brotherhood's potion will grant the princess great health, beauty, and vitality."
***
Abigail was taken to a house in the trade quarter. "You're telling me this girl is the priestess of the God of Omen?" Adda pointed her barbed whip at Abigail, who was shivering in a corner. The princess twirled her hair with her other hand. "I've seen them before in the books. They know a lot of curses." Adda frowned, and she touched the pendant that was hanging around her neck. Geralt gave her that after he lifted the striga's curse so it would not relapse. "Never thought an evil cult was hiding right under my nose. How'd you find her?"
"It's a coincidence, really." Roy told her about how they found a hidden chamber while they followed the trail of the fleders' bodies. When Roy got to the end of the story, Adda's eyes shone.
"Just what we need! A prayer room! The Lady of the Lake has blessed us!"
"Wh-What do you want to do?" Abigail curled up. Even though she had no mana, she was still cuffed with dimeritium cuffs. A look of horror filled her face, as if she were a helpless girl.
Adda smiled at her. "That depends on you, girl. Introduce yourself, God of Omen's priestess. How old are you? Where are your parents, family, and friends?"
"I…" Abigail was feeling nervous from being stared at by Adda and the witchers. Eventually, she said, "I had my fifteenth birthday last month. I told them about that. I'm an orphan. I have no friends or family. All I have are my fellow believers. I was adopted by my teacher, the previous priest in Vizima." Sadness welled up in her eyes. "But she died two years ago."
"You're an orphan, and you're a beautiful one at that." Adda was starting to get really interested. She flicked her hand and swung her whip around, circling the girl. "How'd you make a living in Vizima before you were adopted? The local gangs wouldn't have let you go. Selling you to a ranch in a remote village would’ve been the best outcome for someone like you."
"I-I helped out at the temple area. At a laundry lady's house." Abigail bit her lip. She knew she could not escape, so she said honestly, "The lady and her family kept me safe from the gangs for years. They're all believers of the Great Weaver. They inducted me into the church, and my teacher adopted me after that."
"The Great Weaver? You mean the weaver of fate?" Adda stared at the calluses on Abigail's hands.
"Yes. The Lionhead Spider weaves the web of fate. It controls the fate of humanity."
"Don't glorify an evil god." Roy cocked his eyebrow. "Your fellow believers fed the gangsters to the fleders, didn't they?"
Abigail's silence was all the answer they needed.
Roy continued, "And since you're the priestess, you also have to hunt for your human sacrifices to feed the Lionhead Spider's guards, right?"
Abigail was beautiful enough to seduce a few perverts into the sewers.
"That much is obvious," Adda said. She used to act as Vizima's enforcer for a while. She knew how the lower echelons of Vizima lived. "Vizima is Temeria's capital. It's the most essential stop of the kingdom's trade routes. Countless outsiders come and go every day. We can't look into every missing case, especially when they're so few and far between." Adda approached the girl. She held Abigail's chin and forced the girl to face her. Since the Church of Virtue needed an underground base, the God of Omen would have to leave. Adda would show no mercy, especially when she bore a grudge against them. "Now be a good girl and tell me: how many believers are there in Vizima?"
Abigail blinked, and she turned her head away.
"I am the princess of Vizima." Adda's face tensed. She threatened, "One order is all it takes for my knights to capture all the little spiders in this city, and then I will cut them all down right in front of you."
Abigail trembled. Her jaw dropped, as if she were shocked.
Adda crouched down and closed in on the girl. "But I won't do that if you're willing to work with me. You have half an hour."
***
"Do you need my help, Your Highness? Using a sign on her would save us a lot of time."
Adda froze for a moment. "I'm glad you didn't, Roy. Take it from me. Never use your sign on any god's priest to control their minds. If their god is alerted, you could die."
Roy nodded. No wonder the Elder Blood stopped me from casting Axii. "So what will you do to her? She's…" He pursed his lips and swallowed what he wanted to say. There's no way a fifteen-year-old girl can be so weak and useless, especially in this world. She's hiding something.
"I'll weed out all the God of Omen's believers. The Church of Virtue needs a place to call home." Adda pursed her lips. "If the believers are willing to repent, I will show them mercy and grant them exile. But…" She tensed up and announced, "If they refuse to accept my offer…"
"Be careful, Your Highness. Some of the believers can cast curses. You don't want to cause any more problems."
"Of course. I know their abilities well." Reminiscence gleamed in her eyes, and she paced around the room. "The striga's curse, the one that was cast on me, is related to that spider. The goddess has mitigated its effects, but I can still feel it lingering around my soul. I've seen Ostrit's letter before. He loves my mother, and yet he cursed me. The letter talked about fate multiple times. It means something. It means the God of Omens could have been the one who taught him that curse. Lady Vivienne cured me of my cravings for blood, but she could not completely lift the curse."
Resolve appeared in her eyes. "I need to find a way to fully lift this curse, or I might relapse. And Abigail might just be my ticket to a full recovery."
"The God of Omens is related to your curse?" Roy stared down and fell into his own thoughts. Ostrit, the Church of the God of Omens, the curse on Adda and her mother… Roy connected everything and came up with a hypothesis.
More than twenty years ago, Foltest's minister, Ostrit, fell in love with the king's sister. She was Adda's mother, whose name was also Adda. However, when he found out that the king took his lover for his own, jealousy engulfed him, and he cast a curse on Adda and her offspring. Adda died of difficult labor, and her offspring turned into a striga a few years down the road. She brought disaster to the land, and the people of Vizima lived in fear. Eventually, Geralt came and lifted the curse, though he was severely injured in the process. Since then, the princess lived as a human.
Roy had been haunted by a question for a long time. Ostrit was a minister of Temeria. How did he manage to curse Adda's mother? He never gave his life up for that curse. That question was answered today. The Church of the God of Omens had been hiding in Vizima's sewers, and Ostrit was one of the Lionhead Spider's believers.
He asked that god for the curse and caused a string of tragedies. Roy finally found the answer, and he sighed. The God of Omens cursed Adda, albeit indirectly, and now the fate of its church rests in her hands. How ironic.
Adda was rubbing her neck. She was reluctant to talk about this anymore, so she ended the conversation. "I'll handle Abigail from here on out. Roy, you guys must be tired. Get some rest. Are the materials enough for you?"
"Yes. Thank you for helping us," Roy said.
"Just tell me if you need anything." She patted his shoulder. "The church and the lady will need your help eventually. I hope you won't refuse us."
"Of course not."
***
***
