"Unfortunately, our time has come to an end." The witch said.
The tea's warmth still lingered in the air, but the words cooled it all the same. Outside the hut, the forest remained unnaturally still, as though it listened with the same attention as the four guests inside. The Witch's expression carried no panic, no urgency, only the quiet certainty of someone who had learned to treat endings as scheduled things.
"I suppose your allotted time in this world is over?" Ludwig asked.
He kept his cup in hand, fingers resting on porcelain as if the simple act of holding it proved he wasn't shaken. Yet his eyes did not wander; they stayed on her, careful and narrow, like a man gauging the edge of a rule he could not break.
"It is indeed as you believe. The noise from those above is getting fairly loud. I must go." She said she stood up, and in her hand a small ring appeared. It looked like it had an emerald for a stone on it. More like a lover's ring than anything else.
