“Double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble!” chanted the evil witch Nicole as she pulled a small vial of love potion from the rats’ nest of hair piled atop her head and dribbled a few drops into Corey’s cup. A purple mist rose above the glass and then dissipated as Nicole filled the cup with water. She then hid the vial back in her hair and started towards the yard.
She stopped along the way to check a mirror to ensure that the spell she’d cast, hiding her true snake-like appearance was still in place. It was. The reflection merely showed a young blonde girl who looked quite harmless. None could know the true ugliness that lay beneath that facade. The reflection brought a smile to her face. The spell was far from perfect however as normal human expressions often came across oddly contorted, but it was adequate. She looked out into the yard and saw her target. “I’ll get you my pretty!” she whispered as she slid the door open and walked over towards Corey.
“Here you go, Coreeeee,” whined Nicole as she found her victim in the yard.
“Just set it down there. I’ll get to it later,” said Corey as he played pool with James, a naïve flunky possibly hiding a great secret.
“Pleeeeease, Coreeeee,” whined Nicole. “Drink just a little nowwwwwww, for meeeee.”
Nicole feared that Corey was becoming immune to her potion as she’d been forced now to use more and more to keep him in line. It didn’t matter much now as soon her task would be done, but she needed him compliant for another week.
“Pleeeeease, take one little sip for meeeeee, Coreeeee.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll take a drink,” muttered Corey walking over and taking a sip. He then quickly turned and returned to the game with James. Nicole knew her potion was still effective as James, who had taken but one small sip from Corey’s bottle earlier in the year had fallen head over heels in love with the maiden Natalie. So powerful was the potion that even now, many weeks later, the spell was just beginning to wear off.
Likewise both Paul and Victor had drunk from Corey’s bottle one day and had fallen for each other in an odd, though often amusing bond. Now though, at this most crucial of times in her plans, her grip on Corey was perhaps weakening.
She’d need a new fool to use to help further her standing, but which should it be? The maiden Natalie would have been a natural ally for her being wise beyond her years and keen of mind, though suspect of heart. But that keenness of mind posed a great danger to Nicole, for even though Natalie suspected Nicole of being a witch, she was lacking proof. Were she to get closer to Nicole it is likely she would get the proof she needed. To be exposed at this late a date would be disastrous. She removed Natalie from the list.
There had been many that had suspected evil hid beneath that naïve blonde outer appearance. The first of those had been a man named Jozea, who some believed to be the Messiah. He had publicly declared Nicole a snake. He somehow had been gifted with the ability to see beneath the façade at the beast that lurked within. She’d been fortunate to be able to have him banished before others adopted that belief.
Others too had more recently seen the true beast that lurked beneath the facade. Oddly it was the women who were hardest to fool. Davonne, Tiffany, Bridgette, and most recently Michelle, all had seen the truth and been banished. The fair maiden Zakiyah had been the only woman not to sense the true beast that hid beneath the façade. Nicole’s apprentice Paulie had however stolen some of the love potion and used it to befuddle poor Zakiyah and have her fall in love with him. This betrayal was so great that Nicole had helped to see that both had been banished.
Now Nicole had to choose between James, the naïve, somewhat addled, flunky, with whom she’d made a secret alliance earlier, and Natalie, the beautiful, but dangerous young woman for an accomplice. She watched as James followed behind Natalie like a love struck fool and made her decision. It was to be James that would join her in acquiring her prize. He would be the easiest of the fools left to dismiss when the time was right. With that decision made, Nicole circulated among the others spreading lies and rumors about the fair maiden Natalie. Soon none but James, still addled from the love potion, would have anything to do with Natalie. Her banishment would follow shortly.
With Natalie’s banishment, only four would stand in the way of Nicole achieving her prize. James, the befuddled fool, Corey her hand puppet, in more ways than one, and the last two, the town crier Paul, whose shouts could be heard throughout the land, and Victor the handsome jester who found the façade of Nicole attractive and who seemed to long to be near her.
Nicole smiled to herself at the lack of competition these fools held, and wondered which to take with her to the end? Corey had been loyal throughout, but her hand had tired from fondling him and he had the personality of a goat. A creature a friend of his had once attempted to set afire not knowing it was protected by an enchantment. That enchantment had transferred the personalities of the two so that Corey was now more goat-like than human and the goat more human. Nicole found herself wishing the goat was here instead of Corey, but it wasn’t to be. So goat-like had Corey become that he would eat anything that was placed before him. Spoiled meat that was rank of scent? He gulped it down with gusto. Did she truly want to take such a foul, smelly creature to the end?
Then there was Paul. He was useful as the crier in spreading rumors and gossip that benefitted Nicole, but his voice was tiresome as were the endless retellings of his stories, all of which she’d heard a thousand times and none of which she believed to be true. He might be the easiest of all to banish as none were interested in his endless retellings any longer, but he was immune to their disinterest and continued on, and on, and on. Banishing him would restore some quiet to the region.
Victor was handsome, strong and a physical threat. His flirtiness with the image Nicole had cast upon herself led her to believe he could be easily manipulated, a suspicion she’d tested several times already to great effect. But was it smart to take one so physically strong to the end?
And then there was James. He was neither strong, nor fit, nor handsome. His personality, while somewhat better than Corey’s, was not charming in the least. His intellect was sorely lacking. In fact, he among all had been completely blind to Nicole’s evilness and trusted her with all his heart and soul, even more than he trusted his beloved Natalie. So foolish and gullible was he that he even ceded what little power he’d had in the game to her earlier.
Nicole adjusted her hair and knew the answer. She would see to it that Victor and Paul were banished then later choose between James and Corey. She’d tolerate goat-boy for a bit longer and then see how things played out. Her prize was nearly within reach. All she needed was for her façade to last just a bit longer and she’d rule the land. A broad smile spread across her face as she adjusted her hair once more to be sure the potion hidden within it was still safely stashed. Soon, all of this would be hers to do with as she pleased and there was nothing, nothing that any of them could do to stop her.
Then, just as all seemed settled a loud voice, seemingly magnified many times over, louder even than Paul’s, rang out and proclaimed over and over again, “Nicole and James are in an alliance forged long ago!” Nicole scrambled among her pawns, dismissing the words of the fool, but Natalie sensed the truth in the words and felt betrayed by James who had pledged his undying love and support to her and her alone. So great was her frustration that she considered banishing herself at the thought that she been made a fool the whole time they’d been together.
Nicole feared that this announcement would rally the others against her, but no, they were so under her spell that none, other than Natalie took much notice. Nicole smiled to herself once more. Even a foreign interloper could not harm her in this sport. The game was hers to win and none could stop her.
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