High Witch

“Hurry up with that. Three guests are leaving today. Don’t dawdle.”

Brayden nodded as he swept the kitchen. Alistair left the room, grumbling to himself. Brayden barely noticed. His mind was full of questions about Ariel.

He wondered about her past. How she’d grown up. Who raised her. Who she was running from. He was eager to visit her, but was busy all day. She wasn’t coming to the dining room to eat, he assumed because she was embarrassed in front of the other guests. He dealt with the people who were leaving, helped the maid sort out their rooms, and served the meals. After dinner he set up a tray of food to bring Ariel, knowing they needed to talk.

Brayden nervously knocked on her door, waiting quietly. He heard Ariel inside, then she opened the door. She smiled at him, her blue eyes twinkling, free of her glasses. He smiled back.

She stepped aside so he could go in, and he rested the tray on the desk. Several candles were lit around the room. She shut the door and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at her, suddenly nervous again.

He sat on the chair at the desk. His heart was beating loudly. She’d shut the door, so she must want him to stay for a while. The thought filled him with butterflies.

“Thank you for talking with me yesterday,” she said. “No one has ever really spoken to me about my magic before.”

He wondered about that again. He was about to ask her about it, when she stopped him.

“I want to know more about High Witches,” she said. “And I want to know how you know.”

He frowned. “My family...”

“But how do they know. I don’t get the impression that a High Witch is common knowledge.”

Damn, she was smart. He sighed. He had to tell her. She’d find out eventually. “Lenora, the woman I told you about in the story,” he began. “I’m — she’s...” Dammit. “My family is connected to her. I’m...her descendant. She’s my great-great-great-grandmother.”

He looked at his hands. Here it comes.

“You’re related to Julius?”

He took in his breath. “Yes. Distantly. Distantly, Ariel.”

Brayden stared at her, not wanting her to despise him. He wasn’t bad just because he was related to a devil. To his surprise she walked forward and kissed him gently. He felt so relieved. She suddenly gasped.

“Are all High Witches...related to each other?”

He grinned. “No, no. Trust me. We’re safe.”

She sighed with relief, then blushed. He laughed, standing up and putting his arms around her. She nestled close to him.

“What happened to them? Lenora and Julius.”

He shut his eyes, a chill running through him. He didn’t want to tell her that yet — it would scare her to death. “I’d rather not talk about that now,” he said. “That’s a very long story.” She stiffened slightly in his arms. He kissed her hair gently.

“I’d like to know about you. Only tell me what you feel comfortable with, but I want to know about your life. It would help me, to help you.”

She was silent for a moment. He sensed she was nervous. “There’s not much to tell,” she said. “My parents died when I was very young, and I was raised by my uncle. He’s not a warlock, so didn’t encourage me to use my magic growing up. When he saw how much trouble I had controlling it, he told me it would be better if I kept it hidden. He didn’t want to deal with the — repercussions. It bothered him.”

Brayden frowned. Bothered him. He decided he didn’t like this man.

“Your uncle — is that who you — left?”

“Yes,” Ariel said, “but it had nothing to do with magic. My uncle wanted me to get married to someone I’d never met. He said a man had asked to marry me, and he’d promised me to him. I wasn’t allowed to stay with my uncle anymore, and I wasn’t about to marry a complete stranger, so I fled. I don’t have a lot of money. Beyond about a month, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Brayden disliked her uncle even more. “We’ll sort something out,” he said. “You’ll be alright.”

She nodded, but he knew she wasn’t reassured. He stroked her hair.

“Do you want to sit down?” he asked. She nodded again. They walked to the bed and sat beside each other. He took her hand.

“We need to talk about training you. You have so much power, but it’s lying dormant inside of you. You need to be able to bring it out, but also be able to control it. I’ll help you as much as I can. The most important thing is to learn to protect yourself against anyone who tries to trap you.”

Ariel looked at him sadly for a moment, then put her arms around his neck, hugging him. Brayden was a little taken aback, then he held her. He loved the feeling of her softness against him. He felt her breath on his neck, and he trembled.

“I’m frightened,” she whispered. He stroked her back.

“It’s alright. Remember, you can do practically anything. You just need to be told how.”

She laughed softly. “Can you handle it?” she asked him. “I mean, if I really let go.”

He was quiet, imagining her using her full strength. He knew it would be astonishing. He wondered if he could handle training her.

“I’ll be there for you,” he said. She moved her head to face him, gazing into his eyes. She moistened her lips, and he felt his heartbeat quicken. He moved his mouth close to hers, then kissed her, softly at first, gently moving his lips against hers. She responded to him, sighing, curling her fingers in his hair. He held her tightly, increasing the intensity of the kiss, moving his tongue in her mouth. He inhaled her scent, breathed her in, tasted her. He desperately wanted her, and before he knew it they fell back on the bed. He told himself he should stop — she could become pregnant, it was too soon. But she moaned, and he could barely breathe.

He kissed her neck, then moved his lips lower. She kept sighing, her hands still in his hair. He made himself stop, lifted himself to look in her eyes. He was trembling.

“Are you sure?” he asked. She leaned up and kissed him. He didn’t hold back anymore.

Brayden awoke very early in the morning, lying on his back in Ariel’s bed. She was snuggled against him, her head against his chest, her arm across him. Her hair was flowing down her back. He let out a deep breath, feeling more content than he ever had before. He stroked her arm, and she murmured sleepily, moving her hand over his chest. He felt her wake up, move her head to look at him. He turned on his side, still holding her.

“Good morning,” he said, smiling. She smiled back shyly, touching his face. She nestled against him, her face in his neck. He held her closely, loving the feel of her skin against his. He ran his hand over her shoulder.

“Are you feeling alright?” he asked her. He was worried she would regret it. Worried she would be upset they rushed into things. It was her first time. He hoped she wasn’t in any pain.

“I’m fine,” she said quietly. She kissed his neck. He sighed with relief

“I didn’t tell you much last night, did I?” he said. “We became — distracted.”

She giggled. “There’s time,” she said. “There’s time.”

They lay there in silence, holding each other. It was early enough that he could stay for a while, before having to go to work. He wanted to absorb every moment.

“I’m so glad I met you,” she said softly. “Glad I didn’t marry that horrible man.”

He smiled. He was glad she didn’t marry him, too. The thought of her with someone else made him sick.

“You know what?” Ariel said. “I remembered something strange last night — a weird coincidence.”

He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “What?”

“The man my uncle wanted me to marry. His name was Julius, too. Isn’t that funny? It’s not a very common name.”

Brayden felt himself overcome with rage. No, it wasn’t funny! His blood began to boil. He hurriedly got out of bed, and began to put on his clothes.

“Ariel, get dressed. Now.”

She sat up, frowning at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Now, Ariel! We have no time. We have no time. He’s just playing with you — he knows you’re here, he knows I’m here, he knows...he’s doing it all on purpose!”

He stood there, shaking, so angry he had to stop himself from screaming. Ariel sat very still, looking at him. He tried to calm down.

“We need to get moving. We leave here, today.”

She remained on the bed. “It’s the same Julius, isn’t it?”

He shut his eyes tightly. Damn him.

“Yes, Ariel. It’s the same one.”