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Castaspella arrived at Bright Moon palace with the thought of the impending argument with Angella hanging over her head.
And fortunately for both their public images, the Queen went to receive her alone.
—Hypocrite— she began, folding her arms, expressionless. —Again, of course. This wouldn’t be the first time…
—No, no… Not this time— Angella stopped her, keeping her voice low. —I need you to interrogate her. Only interrogate her.
What?
—You mean- Why hold back on her? Don't we lose more by playing nice right now?— Castaspella scoffed.
—She’s not a threat currently. Not to us, at least— the Queen began. —She may have valuable information, but we need her alive to get it from her.
—Barely…— the Head Sorceress pointed out, rolling her eyes. —We just need her to be conscious and able to speak.
—I’m serious. She's much weaker than you think… In this state, even your more “harmless” magic could be deadly— Angella insisted. —And I know Adora will want to talk to her too, and I’m sure Glimmer will do anything to help her… If you don’t- If you just do that to get information out of her- It's too risky, let's understand the situation first— she sighed, seemingly tired.
—Right…— Castaspella reluctantly accepted. —Fine. Let’s go interrogate her and be done with it.
The women went on their way to the spare room where Shadow Weaver was being held and, the moment Castaspella went though the door, her entire demeanor changed.
Castaspella could act through anything, yet the moment she saw that woman, that traitor…
Just for a second, she had lost all her desire for deceit, she wanted to get rid of her forever, choosing safety over possible valuable intel.
Instead, she put on a frown and went in with the accusations. It was a gamble in a way… she couldn't tell what Shadow Weaver would do next but that had to be mutual; she would find out.
The woman who prided herself on her talent to recognize true skill, true power… could she see through this young woman’s façade?
Time to test it.
Pretending to be nothing more than Micah’s innocent sister, Castaspella followed Angella’s lead, merely dropping a hint or two, and soon got her answer.
She took note when Shadow Weaver called her “sloppy”. It assured her. All the misdirected underestimation was a cloak for her real weaknesses and Shadow Weaver turned out to be just like the rest of them; she could not see past the act, her disapproval did not hurt.
At the same time, however, the Queen’s assumption was right: the old woman was pretty much dying, and so Castaspella had to choose.
She could convince Angella to let her take the information they needed from her before she died, hiding the true cause of her death afterwards… or she could play further into the game and place her bets on Adora: take Angella outside, suggest they let her speak with the girl, probably get into an argument…
Now that Shadow Weaver took the bait, there was incentive to keep going, and with her best concerned expression, she asked the Queen for a moment to speak outside.
Shadow Weaver was left alone as the women left, coughing more, convinced she had little time left.
Something told her the solitude wouldn’t last long, if Adora was still as stubborn as she had always been, so she only had to wait for the girl to show up while the Queen and the Head Sorceress discussed outside.
How pathetic they had been…
Especially the Head Sorceress. She hesitated calling her that but it was clear that the title was all she had, so she would indulge the woman.
Was she really Micah’s sister, though!?
Her casting alone made her doubt that entirely. So focused on perfecting the moon phases that she ruined one of the outer lines, a mistake of first years!
She's seen it a thousand times, but never like this… a bent line almost isolated within an otherwise exemplar casting.
How could someone like that be the head of the Guild!?
Unless…
As an idea formed in her head, trying to answer her own questions, her amusement faded, replaced by a sense of dread.
Yet the woman had no time to keep reflecting.
Adora was finally there, just as expected.
After dropping quite a truth bomb over the girl, Shadow Weaver remained a prisoner in Bright Moon. While Adora took a moment, Angella decided she’d be kept there, and that was all…
Castaspella could finally leave, and soon found herself in her room, pensive.
She had been trying to distract her mind a bit, but it was impossible.
She kept thinking about one thing: Shadow Weaver was… telling the truth.
Besides the obvious mockery, which Castaspella had actually provoked on purpose, that woman didn’t really lie at any point. She was evasive, yes, but…
When she said she’d tell everything if she was allowed to see Adora, she was not lying.
She meant it!
What exactly should Castaspella make of it?
The woman was obviously treacherous, but… there was no game behind what she did this time.
Why!?
Why would she be honest?
She must've burned all her bridges with the Horde but was this self preservation or revenge?
It could be both…
Part of it seemed like she was crawling back to her last remaining ward. Adora, who was once a traitor to her, quickly became her precious failsafe.
Maybe… that sounded quite likely. Shadow Weaver would be the kind to only be honest if it served her purpose, but it was strange to think about that woman being honest for real.
They certainly didn't undermine her evil, the capability for manipulation: that proved to be true. But something about her didn’t quite match the stories she had heard about her.
Of course it didn't…
The council members trapped Light Spinner in the heartless villain cliché, cutting off any possible sympathy or identification with her at the fear of replication.
But Shadow Weaver is not a myth, not a single story…
She was a person, she knew that for sure now.
What kind of person?
That was still unclear. All she knew was that something other than mindless evil brewed within the woman.
Just thinking about it gave her a migraine and yet her mind wouldn't stop stringing together ideas of any possible hidden motives.
She knew her morbid curiosity would get like this.
Perhaps, she shouldn’t have participated in the interrogation…