A Shade of Witch by Rosaline Saul

I stood in the shade of the old Oak tree, waiting for Jayden, looking up at the spire and the sun, which caused me to see bright spots in front of my eyes when I looked away.

He was late and I started to worry. With Jayden, it was as if we were always standing hand in hand on the edge of an adventure. I loved him, and when he asked my dad for my hand in marriage it was the happiest day in all my sixteen years.

I could not wait for us to move into the house he was building for us not far from this Oak tree. It was on the edge of the meadow, within the shade of a large Ash tree.

He surprised me from behind and I jumped with fright. Chuckling softly, he nuzzled his face in the fold of my neck, and wrapping his arms around my waist, he pulled me closer to his chest.

I sunk into him and for a short moment if felt as we were invincible against the world. The world and the inquisition could throw the book at us, and we would remain unbroken, always.

Nudging Jayden with the side of my face, he looked up and with trepidation, I watched a group of people walking in our direction.

Quickly, Jayden pulled me by the hand further into the forest behind us until we were camouflaged by the shadows.

As I stumbled through the dense foliage, I sensed something did not feel right. Every bone in my body was telling me something was terribly wrong.

“Wait, Jayden.”

He turned to face me. “It’s over, Heather. I’ve just heard my mother was convicted of being a witch and is to be executed, burned at the stake immediately.”

I reached for him. “I am so sorry. It is all my fault.”

He shook his head. “She will save herself. Keep the flames from her body, even if it looked to everybody as if she was burning. She would cloak her body until everyone had gone back to their boring lives, and then she would whisk herself away to safety.” He looked at me worried. “Yet, her wrath will be unfathomable. She will have her revenge on both of us.”

“Why did you tell me to put all blame on her?” I asked softly, hesitant to even say the words.

“I want to hide the truth, to shelter you.”

“You know? How?”

“Heather, I love you. There is nothing about you I do not know. I know your every truth.”

“But you know there will be nowhere to hide from your mother. She will be so angry.”

“Everything will be fine, Heather? Do not be afraid.”

“Stop it, Jayden. We should not have done this.”

The weight of his steps grew heavy. He was anxious and making no attempt to hide it. “And have you in the pulley? There was no other choice!”

My heart quickened with the feeling of being hunted. “What have I done?” I whispered.

He stepped closer to me, my back pushing against the tree behind me. “Heather. Do not blame yourself. With magic, my mother will escape. She will be unharmed. Angry, but unharmed.”

“Step back, Jayden. You are too close.” I was feeling claustrophobic and it felt as if my heart was hammering in my chest. “Jayden. What if she dies? I should never have done this… I am a murderer,” I shouted.

“You have not killed anyone,” he insisted.

“You are wrong!”

He made a sound of pure frustration, slamming his fist against the trunk of the tree we were standing next to. Then he stepped even closer to me, and before I could step away, he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

I shoved him away hard and turned away from him. “I have to fix this.”

He grabbed me from behind, his arms around my waist. “Wait,” he pleaded. “Just wait.”

I sobbed. “Let me go. You are making it worse. My dad told me when she was arrested, she warned you and I will never be together. She promised to curse me for all eternity. I cannot… I do not know if I will be able…”

He held me firmly to his chest and even though I knew each one of my kicks was connecting with his shins, he did not let me go.

“Will you stop squirming?” Jayden hissed in my ear.

I did. The fight was over. My will was deflated. After a few moments and many deep breaths, I calmed down, but the tears continued to stream down my cheeks. “We cannot escape this,” I whispered.

Jayden did not relax his hold on me. His forehead was pressed tightly against the top of my back, and even though I could not see him, I wondered if he himself was crying too.

For a long time, we stood like that, until I moved first, turning around in his arms, and wrapping my arms around his waist. “Jayden, I love you.”

Softly he planted a kiss on the top of my head. There was something to be said about loving someone. Every emotion felt more intense.

“What is that?” I asked as long tendrils of black mist snaked between the trees toward us.

His muscles tensed under the palms of my hands. “Shadows,” he murmured.

I shuddered.

“Did my mother take something of yours?” There was a worried tone in his voice.

I moved my head to look up at him. “She did. My promise ring. When I went to tell her how sorry I am, she gripped my hand between hers and when I pulled my hand away from her because she was making me feel afraid, she pulled it off.”

The look he gave me made me blink hard.

This was a desperate situation, utterly desperate. What were we supposed to do? Run through the forest? Run, and run, and run with nowhere to go?