The bowl in the fire sizzled, capturing all of their attention.
"Oh, Queenie, dear," the Witch said, her voice keeping the tune of her hummed song. She reached to her hair and twirled it around her fingers. "I need a bird."
The Queen bit her lip. With a deep breath, she stood and went to one of the many cages to choose one of the trapped animals. The cage erupted in sound when she opened the cage door. It was as though they knew what was coming. Closing her eyes, she reached in and picked a fowl at random. She opened them to find she had pulled out the dove, her favorite. The Queen went to kneel beside the Witch with the bird caught in her hands. The Witch finished the pine doll, setting it down in front of the Queen's knees. She reached into some nearby sewing that looked as though it had not been touched in years and pulled out a long, thin needle. Taking the bird from the royal lady, the Witch silently offered the needle to the Queen.
"You know you have to," the Witch said plainly at the Queen's hesitation.
The Queen took the needle murmuring "Take a life to give a life."
"You did learn something," the Witch gasped mockingly. The dove fidgeted in the Witch's hands, cooing unhappily. The Witch adjusted her grip and managed to calm the bird at the same time. The Queen prepared herself for what she had to do.
"We have not discussed your price," the King pointed out, stopping his wife.
The Witch brushed away his comment. "We can discuss that later."
"What is it you want for doing this? The kingdom?"
The Witch looked over her shoulder at him, her dark eyes glowing. "Why would I want that?"
"Then, what is your price?" he said, trying to curb his anger. He was tiring of her cryptic responses.
"You do not need to worry about it," the Witch explained, returning to the dove. "It won't be anything extreme. It will be something you can live without. And you don't need to worry about paying now. I must be sure you have what you want first. I will come to collect it when the child is in your arms."
The royal couple exchanged looks. "How will you know?" the Queen asked.
Without looking away from the bird, the Witch replied, "You seem like you need a pet. Aggie has just given birth to a new litter. Might I suggest the runt?"
The King looked at the dogs on the couch and the stared back unblinkingly. The silver dog was lying on her side, guarding two small puppies that matched the golden and silver adults exactly. The king was hesitant to approach the dogs and compared the pups from a distance.
"They are the same size."
The Witch annoyingly looked over her shoulder at the King. She scrutinized the King narrowly. "Look closer."
The King rolled his eyes. Swallowing his discomfort, he kneeled down to get closer to the animals. He stared at the two puppies and they stared back with new eyes. He still did not notice any difference in their size. He became frustrated thinking the Witch was purposely trying to confound him. Suddenly, he felt a tugging on the end of his cloak accompanied by a miniature growl. The King turned around and spied a tiny pup playing with the loose ends of his cape. Completing the threesome, the puppy's fur copied the copper color of the third adult dog. Even without comparing it to the other puppies, he could tell that it was the smallest of the three. The King picked up the miniscule dog and held it in front of his face. The young dog licked the King happily.
"Why are you giving us the dog?"
The Witch sighed, still waiting for the Queen to act. "You know it's going to lose its potency," she pointed out, annoyed, before moving to the King's question. "Because, as you said, I cannot afford to take care of so many dogs. So I figured, why not send him to a good home. Give him a warm bed, a decent meal every once and a while, do whatever you feel is right. He will be a very loyal dog to you. And, as an added bonus, whenever you go into labor," she pointed to the Queen, "he will come and fetch me. It's that simple."
The King looked at the puppy and the dog licked him again. The Queen chuckled quietly. The royals met each other's eyes and came to a final decision. The Queen took a deep breath and shifted her grip on the thin needle. The Witch stared at the Queen with eyes that said 'are we finally going to do this'. The Queen answered with resolute seriousness in her face and quickly and smoothly pierced the dove's heart with the needle. The bird shrieked and went limp in the Witch's hands. Blood dripped from the needle sticking out from the back onto the heart of the pine doll on the floor in front of the women. The Witch set the dove off to the side and pulled off a few feathers that she weaved into the doll as well.
"Focus on your wish," the Witch murmured and threw the doll into the bowl of simmering ingredients. The mixture popped and began to smoke. The Witch added lemon, saffron, ginseng, and quite a few other ingredients the King did not recognize into the bowl. The Queen left the fireside and returned to the rough chair she had originally been sitting on. The King went to her side and took hold of her shaking hand. Everyone in the small cabin focused on the smoldering pot in the fire place. The Witch worked in silence, the royal couple not daring to disturb her. They waited quickly losing track of the time. It could have only been a few minutes, but it still would have felt like hours to them. Eventually, the smoke coming from the pot began to lessen and the Witch poured the mixture into a strainer. After pouring it through the sieve nine times, she poured the thoroughly dried mix into a small green pouch. She handed the pouch to the Queen.
"That's it?" the King asked.
The Witch nodded. "You both have to take some. A pinch before bed every night until it runs out. I suggest mixing it in with some tea or something because I have no idea what it tastes like. And keep doing what you're doing. It won't work without that."
"Thank you," the Queen whispered sincerely. The Witch nodded and met the King's eyes.
"I will thank you when it works."
"Fair enough," the Witch granted. "Now I expect you're anxious, so go."
She waved them out of her hovel and watched as the royal couple disappeared into the night, without looking back.
"Well that was fun."
The golden dog that appeared at her side nodded once in agreement.