Behind The Wooden Door Read Online Free PDF

rectangular table across from Cornelia as she mixed a pink powder and yellow liquid together in a cracked wooden bowl. She looked away from her concoction and up at me. She smiled her toothless grin and pulled a knife out from under the table.
    Tristan unsheathed his sword and aimed the blade right at the woman’s throat.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked.
    “I require some of her hair to clear the way to her future,” she said before she handed the knife to me.
    I took the knife and watched Tristan as I cut a small lock of my hair. He lowered his sword but didn’t return it to its sheath. I gave her the black strands and the knife and watched as she placed it in the bowl with her syrupy potion.
    The witch-like woman took a candle from its holder and lit the hair lying amongst the watered powders. It burned away quickly, and thick, black smoke filled the carriage. Cornelia leaned into the smoke and inhaled deeply.
    Her body slammed back into her chair , and she grabbed hold of the arm rests. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and her voice came out in a raspy sound.
    “A room full of metal will bring you great agony along with the slamming of a door. Your heart will break and nothing will matter to you. Not until you realize you have something to live for. There will be continuous bloodshed in your kingdom brought not by the soldiers, but by your own hand.”
    We’re going to lose the war, I thought as I stared at the woman. Why else would I fall into depression? If we lost the war, everyone in my kingdom would die, and I would have nothing to live for. I wouldn’t have anyone. And I wouldn’t be a princess. But something she said made no sense. I was not a murderer.
    “Madame Cornelia, I’m sorry but what you have said can’t be true,” I told her as I stood up from the wooden chair. I suddenly wished I had listened to Tristan after all.
    “It is! I have seen it! It is to happen,” she replied.
    Her fingernails dug deep into my arm as I tried to pull away from her grasp. She was strong to look so frail.
    “Then explain it to her,” Tristan said.
    He pushed the woman away from me.
    Madame Cornelia smiled at Tristan and moved closer to him. He didn’t retreat from her, but I could see his chest rising and falling quicker than earlier. Before Tristan had time to react, the woman had reached up and snatched a few strands of hair from his head.
    “What the hell!” he yelled angrily as he placed his hand on his head where Cornelia had stolen the hairs. “Why the fuck did you do that?”
    “I’m curious to see how your story ends, young man. With that attitude of yours, it probably won’t end well,” she said.
    She threw the hairs into the bowl and lit them.
    She leaned into the smoke again and grabbed onto the edge of the table. When she spoke, her voice had the same croaky sound as before.
    “You are a great warrior and can foresee everything on the battlefield but not the things that happen elsewhere. You will find yourself changing into more than just a soldier. There will be great agony for you as you die for the greater good.”
    Death. That was Tristan’s future. I looked over to where he stood. He was silent and still as he stared at Madame Cornelia.
    “Do you just tell everyone that comes to you that they’re going to die?” Tristan asked.
    “I do not lie about what I see. Parts of the two of you will die sooner than you think,” she replied and pointed at us.
    Tristan curled his nose and looked down on the woman. “Not only do you look mad, you are mad! Lanie, let’s go!” he said.
    He forcefully grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the carriage. I looked over my shoulder at Madame Cornelia as I followed Tristan through the trees. Maybe she was just a crazy lady or maybe…
    “Aissur, are you not at all afraid about what she said?” I asked.
    I tried to keep up with his pace, but his long strides made it nearly impossible.
    “Why should I be?” he