We managed to steal plentiful supplies from the Molossia's shops whilst the citizens were still at the circus. It turns out breaking and entering was another thing Maedel excelled at. In fact she was probably better with a lockpick than a sword... perhaps not as good as she is with a bow though - we all know how amazing elves are with bows, afterall!
On the other hand my brother was not quite as... subtle... as Maedel in his burglary, preferring to throw bricks through shop windows and clamber inside rather than pick a lock. I looked on, nervously, still not quite comfortable with thievery even if it was for a good cause.
I turned to the little monkey, Morgana, who still held my hand "M-maybe we should leave some money?" I asked.
"Eee ooo ooo eee," was her excited reply.
"I suppose not..." I said and turned towards Connie who was rummaging through some discarded fruit, her piggy instincts getting the better of her. Perhaps sensing me staring she turned around, bits of apple dripping from her snout. I looked away pretending not to have noticed.
Soon we had several sacks of food and Maedel and Andrew had found some swords and we were ready for our journey and it wasn't long before we reached the forest outside of town and set up camp. It would be ten more days before we reached Madame Majique's cottage and it would have been much longer if we hadn't had an experienced ranger like Maedel to guide us.
The cottage was a simple, unassuming place. The roof was thatched, the walls cobblestone and a small chimney sat atop the roof with a whisp of purple smoke rising from it. A small barn was off to one side and what looked like the fence to a pig pen could be seen behind the cottage. This was most definitely the place and I had a nasty feeling that one or more of us may be in that barn very soon.
"So do we just knock on the door?" Maedel asked.
"It is the polite thing to do." I replied.
"Oh... so no smashing windows then?" Andrew sounded disappointed and I frowned at him.
A loud and haughty voice rang out from inside the cottage, "No need to knock. I already know you are here. Come inside, we have much to discuss."
I looked at Maedel, she looked at Andrew, Andrew looked at Connie and we all gulped simultaneously but went in nonetheless.
The inside of Madame Majique's cottage was a strange, exotic place, very unlike Morgana's home which was rather rustic. Sure, there were the requisite book shelves filled with volume after volume of spellbooks along with the standard witches cauldron but it was much more ornate. Each book shelf was made up of a foot tall, stone statue that held aloft the shelf above. There were nude male statues on the left and nude women on the right of the shelves. The black cauldron was held a loft by three black, metal male statues that carried the thing on their backs a small fire burned beneath it center. As I stared open mouthed at the naked statues, wondering if they had been people once, It took me a moment to realize that large snakes slinked across the shelves and on the table tops, carefully winding around any potions and beakers that lay scattered about them. I shuddered and turned away to see large, carnivorous looking plants growing up the walls. They looked like flowers with teeth or the fly traps I'd read about in books as a child. This was very unlike Morgana's place.
Madame Majique lounged across chair her legs dangling over right side, her elbow on the opposite arm and head rested on her fist. She had dark, wavy hair that may have been green but the lighting was dull. Her clothes were green and plant-like with two pink flowers suggestively positioned on her bosom. An ugly looking lizard lay on her thighs.
"So what brings you to my home and why should I let you leave," the witch sad, bluntly.
"There's a bit off a crisis going on in the West Kingdom," I began.
"and Molossia," Connie piped in.
"A talking pig!" Madame Majique perked up, "tell me who might you be?"
"I-i'm Princess Connie of Molossia, Ma'am," Connie squeaked, "I got turned into a pig by Morgana the witch."
"Ah Morgana! I should have known. How is she? I trust she's doing well if she's up to those old tricks again?" The woman asked.
"Actually, she's right here..." Maedel patted the monkey on the head.
Madame Majique's eyes narrowed. "You can't be serious?"
"It's a long story but I'm Princess Sara of the West Kingdom and my mother-in-law the Queen is now a jester who is Queen of a bunch of clowns that used to be nobles," I blurted out hoping to stem any retribution that might come for what happened to Morgana.
I could practically see the witches blood run cold. "Oh. Oh no." she said and leapt from her chair to her feet. She quickly poured vials of pink and green liquids into the cauldron which bubbled and steamed before all the colors of the strange soup began twirling like a whirlpool. She held her hands over the cauldron and the colors separated until there was a clear image. It was the West Kingdoms capital and it was full of clowns painting the palace in garish yellows, reds and blues like some giant childrens toy.
Madame Majique rushed over to a bookshelf, grabbing one of the smallest books, more of a booklet or pamphlet really.
"There was a prophecy not so long ago. Everyone thought it was a joke or just some nonsense spouted by an old coot. It said that a plague was coming, a plague of fools and none would be safe from joining them and bowing to the Clown Queen. it sounded so stupid that no-one believed it. I heard the so-called prophet went mad and began to dress like a clown, saying it was the only way to not become fool! The prophet said that the Clown Queen would have the most power to change the whole world into some daft joke. Of course, no-one believed it....