Rowena knew better than to come close to Elda unawares, so she made it obvious of her approach as she walked to the entrance.
"I have been expecting your visit for a long time, dear leader of the Southern coven" came the rasping voice of Elda.
Rowena walked in silently. She noted the spell on the ground. It has been walked all over on, staining the whiteness, and most of its parts have already worn out but she knew exactly what it was for.
Elda was soaked, which means she has been out. Her robes were a tangle of ash-grey linens and tattered old velvet's, layered like bark over bone. Her hood sagged over her brow, casting her face in shadow save for the glint of her milky white eye. Rowena recognized the runes stitched in dried blood lining her sleeves, pulsing faintly ; and the necklace of beast teeth, and tiny glass vial. The old ways of non-confrontation.
The old witch began taking off her soaked robes.
"Elda, please " Rowena said with casual annoyance."Don't be rude"
Elda chuckled but didn't stop.
Rowena recoiled when the robes fell and her eyes darted to the ground, a shiver running through her. A mottled skin overwhelmed by deep wrinkles and knotted joints. Her mind raced with revulsion at the unhidden decay.
She walked away, looking anywhere but the direction of the naked old woman. A cauldron was bubbling over a fire and when she got closer, the sharp scent of a joint-pain brew stung her nose. From the corner of her eyes as she walked on, she saw Elda's painful and slow movements as she picked up the robes and walked towards the part of the cavern where another robe and some clothes were drying under a haze of fireless smoke. Why she suddenly 'grew a conscience' and choose to live like this, Rowena was yet to understand.
"You said you were never going to interfere" Rowena said, picking up a sealed jar of beast teeth, turning it in her hands.
"And I haven't," Elda replied, pulling on a smock—once white, now yellowed and ripped.
"I know of your letter to the king, Elda" Rowena said, her tone casual, but her words barbed.
"That was because of the moon-wolf." Elda replied. "Was it your doing?"
Rowena considered her for a moment. "No" she said simply, walking away again. "But I know of it"
Silence stretched as Rowena prowled the cavern, inspecting Elda's crafts—jars of curious herbs, bones, and charms—while Elda watched, her expression unreadable.
"I saw your handiwork on the boy when I read him" Elda finally said. "The last time you did that, the south fell"
Rowena's fingers tightened around a jar, then set it down with a clink. She faced Elda. "Is that how you knew to save the king?"
Elda's eye widened, and she lurched forward, her voice rising. "You put that in a king?"
Rowena didn't answer. Her eyes met Elda's for just a moment—then she turned away again.
"Rowena that will destroy the coven!" Elda cried. "Enslaving a king?! If word of this gets out, every king, every noble in the continent will come for us till we are destroyed! What are you doing?! You know this! There's no way the coven knows about this"
"It's fine," Rowena said coolly, brushing her fingers over a rune-etched stone. "It was pulled out. Destroyed. Somehow."
Elda's brow furrowed, confusion etching her face. "That's not possible" she said. "It can only die on it's own, and that will take at least a year"
Rowena finally faced her. "Which is why I thought, if there's anyone that has found a way it would be you"
Elda considered her.
"You've grown careless," she said, her tone almost pitying. "He's using you."
"Let me worry about that" Rowena said, approaching. "The true reason I came here is about the king"
Elda said nothing.
"I know Helene must have told you something." Rowena pressed. "What is so special about the boy that was enough to make the lost demon of Drakoria turn against the blood of Hohenberg?"
Elda held her gaze. "She has said nothing of the sort to me"
Rowena knew she was lying.
"You know I will find out" she said softly.
"I hope you do" she said genuinely. "But something tells me it's already too late"
Rowena smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She turned toward the exit.
"Rowena, he cannot be trusted" Elda said when she reached the threshold.
"Of course not" Rowena said, turning to Elda. "But what do I have to lose. The alternative is worse than death. You know this"
And she was gone.
Elda was quiet for moments. When she was sure Rowena was gone she began the astral projection spell. At the end of it was Helene.
"What is it?" an exhausted Helene asked.
Elda let out a breath. "Fine. I will tell you"