Chapter 495: A Seed for Ollie (Part One)
"Cypress Witch?" Ollie asked, cocking his head to the side as he tried to puzzle out what the title meant, his breath forming small clouds in the chilly mountain air. A pine needle drifted down from above, landing on his shoulder as the forest creaked and settled around them.
Knights were often given titles for deeds of great valor and those titles could only be conferred by powerful lords like a Marquis or Duke, or even the King himself. But to be granted such a title at the beginning, before he had even accomplished anything, it had to be different somehow.
But she’d called Heila the ’Willow Witch’ and the ’Willow Whip, Champion of the Arena’... That was a title earned through dangerous battles wasn’t it?
"Each witch in my coven will bear a seed of witchcraft," Ashlynn explained, unlacing the top of her dress to reveal the faint scar that vanished into her impressive cleavage, seemingly oblivious to the effect her action had on the flame-haired young man.
Ollie’s eyes widened momentarily before he quickly averted his gaze, fixing his attention on a distant tree while heat rose from his collar to the tips of his ears. His hands, previously relaxed at his sides, suddenly seemed impossible to position naturally, and he finally clasped them in his lap as he shifted his position akwardly to conceal the reaction from his traitorous body.
"I take a seed from a specific tree," Ashlynn continued, seemingly oblivious to the young man’s distress, "and nurture that seed next to my heart until it is ready to be given to the witch who will bear it."
"I’m the willow witch because my seed came from an Ancient Willow tree," Heila said, providing a welcome distraction from Ashlynn’s unintentionally provocative display, or at least it was welcome until she traced a finger between her own humble breasts, pulling the fabric of her dress tight against her bust and revealing the top of the fading scar on her chest.
"The seed is what allows you to connect to the energy of the world and direct it’s power. It also bestows it’s own mark of the witch on you once it’s grown into a permanent part of you."
"Oh," Ollie said, trying to look thoughtful as he stared at the ground to escape the near scandalous actions of both women as he focused on what they had to say, slowly coming to understand the meaning behind some of their earlier words.
"So, when you said that you could transform a person into a witch, you really meant it. Just like when," he started to say only to cut himself short when he saw Heila narrowing her eyes at him. "Similar to how people are transformed into vampires, but different, because, um, vampires are transformed into predators while witches are transformed into part of the natural cycle of life?"