Coven: a dark medieval paranormal romance (Witches of the Woods Book 2) (8 page)

W
illow galloped
through the dark trees, her body disappearing into the gloom, so she appeared to be part of the night itself. Trunks and branches whizzed by in a blur. On her back, I gripped the reins with fingers cramped and frozen from hours in the saddle, my sword bouncing painfully against my leg, and the bags of provisions Maerwynn had prepared for me rubbing against the saddle. The knife she’d given me sat in a leather pouch on my belt, and its presence weighed heavily on me- a constant reminder of the task ahead.

The trees began to thin out, and I could just make out a thin sliver of orange light breaking across the horizon. The sun was making her daily approach into the world. My eyelids drooped. I hadn’t stopped for sleep, desperate to put as many miles as possible between myself and Maerwynn’s lands. I didn’t want Ada to come out to find me, and if I met anyone on the road, I didn’t want to be associated in any way with Maerwynn.

Willow’s tongue hung out, and she snorted in protest. I slowed her to a trot, wrapping my cloak around my shoulders to ward off the last of the night’s chill. Now that the wind no longer whistled by my ears, I could hear a faint roar in the background. A running stream. Willow neighed, and nodded her head angrily. I slowed her to a walk and directed her head through a thicket of blackberries until we came out on the banks of a wide stream. I dismounted Willow and let her drink while I washed and filled both my water skins.

I was just replacing the stoppers on the skins and strapping them both on the saddle, when I heard a branch snap behind me. My hand flew to my sword. I looked up, scanning the line of trees for any sign of life, my ears trained on the slightest rustle or snap.

Nothing.

Sighing, I returned to my task. It was probably a fox or hare, making its way through the undergrowth. Willow finished her drink and snorted with satisfaction, her head shaking as she tried to dry out the water from her mane.

“You’re a beautiful creature, you know that.” I cooed to Willow as I stroked her mane. “I’m so pleased you’re with me—”

Another branch snapped. My head snapped up, and this time I caught a flash of grey darting behind a tree. The shape was too large to be anything but human. As silently as I could, I reached across Willow’s back, and grabbed my sword.

“Are you hungry, Willow?” I asked the horse, trying to keep my voice light and even. Willow nodded in reply. I took a step toward the trees, keeping my sword low, my body coiled, ready to lunge forward should the villain present himself.

“I’ve got some apples in the pouch for you. Just let me cut one up,” I spoke over my shoulder, using my sleeve to muffle my voice slightly so I sounded further away. I crept closer to the tree on the edge of the clearing, my feet light against the snow on the ground, hiding my approach. I could see the shadow of the man behind the tree trunk, the line of his broad shoulder hunched down as low as he could. A swift cut from my sword would have him thinking twice about spying on me.

With a cry, I lunged forward, swinging my sword down at the man’s exposed shoulder. With a cry he rolled to the side, and my blade buried itself in the tree. I yanked on the hilt, but it wouldn’t budge. I left it wobbling there, and leapt at the man, grabbing his collar and drawing my fist back to take the first blow.

“Argh!” The man raised his hands to his face, shielding his face with his hands. “Is this any way to greet your oldest friend?”

The voice sounded familiar.

“Tjard!” I cried, lowering my fist. He lowered his hands also, his familiar sparkling eyes staring back at me. I dropped his collar and offered a hand to help him up. “You idiot. I could have killed you.”

He grinned as he got to his feet, and took a bow. I slapped him on the back, realizing with a start just how much my heart soared to see him. Was I really lonely out here in the woods with only Willow for company?

Tjard tweaked the blade of my sword. It shuddered comically. “I see you have as much skill with the blade as always. I’m amazed you actually managed to sink your sword into
something
.”

“My aim is fine.” I growled in reply, cracking a smile despite myself. “I was only trying to spare your life.”

“And if I hadn’t moved when I had?”

“Then I would have taken your ears off.” I grinned. “Why have you come here?”

Tjard stared at me blankly. “Surely you jest? I thought it was obvious. I am joining you.”

I sighed. “Then you have come all this way for nothing. I’m no longer a Scharfrichter, Tjard. You are relieved of your servitude to me, and I’m not endangering a friend for the sake of my own personal quest. You should return to Maerwynn and Gussalen and live out your days as—”

“—as a slave in the Haven,” Tjard laughed bitterly. “I do not think so. Gussalen is very comely, sure, but she only has need of one of my swords. My arm aches to swing steel again. My place is by your side, Ulrich. It always has been. Frankly, I’m a little offended you just ran off without me in the first place. And besides, the very fact I was able to sneak up on you just now shows that you’re in terrible need of me.”

“Do you even know what battle I’m fighting?”

“Maerwynn didn’t say, but if I had to guess,” Tjard gripped the hilt of my sword, planted his feet against the trunk of the tree, and with a grunt, slid the blade free. “I’d say you were going to find and kill your father. That is to say,
we
are going to find and kill him.”

“Then why did you hide from me and stalk me in the shadows? Why did you not simply approach me on the road?”

“Because I know you. You would be so worried about putting me in danger, that you would have sent me straight back to that bloody Maerwynn.” Tjard handed me back the sword. “I was waiting until you needed me, like when you got your blade stuck in a tree.”

I grunted in reply, not wanting to acknowledge he was right. “Very well, then. What provisions have you brought?”

Tjard whistled. Through the trees trotted Sycamore, her long black mane trailing behind her. When she stopped in front of Tjard, I noticed her back was laden with sacks and pots. Tjard had ransacked Maerwynn’s stores – a dangerous, reckless move, one that would keep us well fed for the rest of our journey.

“I’ve also brought my whetstone.” Tjard grinned. “I’m going to need to get to work on that blade.
Someone’s
been using it to chop wood.”

“You rotten, stealing bastard. Maerwynn will never forgive me for this,” I moaned, running my fingers through Sycamore’s mane. She would notice the supplies missing that very morning. I wondered if all the miles placed between us were distance enough to protect us from her wrath.

“And that would be different, how?”

“A fair point.” I patted Tjard on the shoulder, then swung myself up on Willow’s back.  “Welcome back, my friend. Let us move quickly onward.”

“
I
don’t like this
,” Bernadine said as she brushed Aubrey’s hair until it shone.

“I don’t either,” Aubrey winced as the teeth of the comb caught the knots. “But we have little choice. We have only two more days until we lose our powers. We need to find a man, unless we want to be powerless.”

“Ada should be going. She’s the youngest, the prettiest. She should not leave this duty to you.”

“Ada is with Ulrich. She must stay faithful to him.” Aunt Aubrey said. “And thank you for the implication I am no longer beautiful.”

“I didn’t mean that. Stop being so sensitive—”

“I’m doing this, Bernadine, whether you like it or not.”

We were gathered with Maerwynn, Brunhild, and a few of the other women around the cooking fire, peeling vegetables for the evening meal. I listened to my aunts bicker, my stomach churning with guilt. Aunt Aubrey was going into the nearest village, in order to find a man to sleep with. It had been four days now since Ulrich left, which meant we were running out of time again. Aubrey hadn’t even asked me if I would do the duty, she’d simply saddled one of Maerwynn’s horses, and packed herself a meal of bread and cheese.

“It’s a pity we have no men here for you,” Brunhild said. “That would be a fortuitous arrangement.”

I blushed, and Brunhild laughed. She was referring to an incident the previous evening, where we were sharing a horn of sweet mead beside the fire. Over the past week, Brunhild and I found ourselves together more and more, and conversation flowed freely between us. She was two years my senior, with a wild mane of red hair that flowed all the way down her back, and sparkling blue-green eyes that revealed her thirst for mischief. She reminded me of Rebekah in some ways, but in one crucial aspect she was utterly different – she seemed to genuinely want to be my friend. With Ulrich gone and my aunts bickering, I needed that now.

Brunhild had been fishing for details about Ulrich’s dungeon. “I’ve heard it’s a real den of debauchery,” she said, giggling as she nudged my arm with her elbow. Apparently, I wasn’t the only witch in the Haven who had spent hours strapped on the rack in Ulrich’s presence. That made sense, as Ulrich told me he’d set free over a hundred witches. But it didn’t stop my body seething with jealousy at the thought of other women being in the dungeon. That was
our
place. I knew I was being ridiculous, for I had only recently come in to Ulrich’s life, but I didn’t like to think of him being with another, sharing with her the dark secrets with which he had so lovingly tortured me.

Wanting to change the subject away from Ulrich’s appetites, I asked Brunhild what the women in the Haven did for sexual release without a ready supply of men. “Oh, we have our ways,” she smiled. “Like Ulrich, we make do with what we have on hand.”

When I’d first seen the three male servants wandering through the Haven, I’d assumed part of their duties was to provide sexual services to Maerwynn and her coven. But when I asked Brunhild about them, she’d called one of them over and lifted his loincloth, revealing his naked thighs and a strange, twisted deformity where his cock should have been. The man was a eunuch.

“But then how—?” I was mortified. His face red with shame, the man yanked his cloth from Brunhild’s hands, and scampered away. Brunhild broke down in peals of laughter.

“Maerwynn’s carnal activities do not require men,” Brunhild told me, a salacious grin on her face. “She has taught me much about the sensual powers of women.”

“Do you mean the women make love to each other?” I was aghast. Rebekah had spoken about that sort of activity before, and rumours occasionally passed around the village of some Baron’s wife caught in bed with her maidservant, but I’d never really thought it was real. I mean, with Ulrich, everything sort of seemed to fit. How do things fit together when you’re both the same...

Brunhild must have seen my expression, for she grinned and leaned forward, running her hand up my thigh. “Don’t look so shamed, Ada. If you have any questions, I’m happy to teach you anything you want to know.”

“Um … no, thanks.” My cheeks burned with heat. Brunhild laughed gleefully. “I think I’ll just wait for Ulrich to return.”

“As you wish. You’ll miss out on all the fun, though.”

Now, watching my aunts fuss over Aubrey’s departure, the conversation with Brunhild came flooding back to me. I could feel my cheeks reddening just thinking about it. Brunhild reached across and squeezed my thigh, the corners of her mouth twitching upward. She looked so pleased with herself that the whole things suddenly seemed hilarious. I couldn’t control myself, and let out a bellow of laughter. This set Brunhild off, and soon we clutched at each other, consumed by giggles.

“What are you two cackling about?” Bernadine snapped. “This is serious business that Aubrey shouldn’t even have to do in the first place. It sounds as if Ada is well over the loss of her witch hunter.”

“You wouldn’t know a thing about it,” I snapped back, my good mood instantly vanishing. “You’ve never loved anyone in your whole life, have you? You don’t care that I’m hurting. That’s why you don’t care that Ulrich is gone. That’s why you’re so bitter and why you never raise a finger to help anyone—”

“Excuse me.” Bernadine fumed, her gnarled fingers twisting into claws. “How dare you accuse me of—”

“Ada, Bernadine, please don’t fight.” Aubrey sounded tired. “I don’t want to leave the Haven knowing you two are soured toward each other.”

“I’m sorry, Aunt Aubrey.” I murmured, instantly regretting lashing out. Bernadine made a harrumph noise, but didn’t say anything. Typical.

“That’s better. Now, please don’t discuss this any further. I’m going, and that’s final. Now, for the finishing touches.” Aunt Aubrey waved her hand over her face. When she took it away, her familiar, kindly face had disappeared. In its place a young, smooth-skinned beauty, a mane of wild red hair flowing down her back, similar in colour to Brunhild’s, but even more shiny and bright. The thin, wrinkled skin around her face and neck tightened and smoothed into a face so exquisite it appeared to be carved from stone. Her bow red lips parted seductively, and her round breasts heaved against her tight dress. I blinked, still struggling to believe that my elderly aunt could weave such complex magic, completely obliterating her own visage.

Aunt Aubrey fluffed up her new hair, and smoothed down the front of her dress. “How do I look?” she asked nervously.

“Like you just walked out of a whorehouse,” Bernadine snapped. Aubrey shot her a look.

“You look beautiful,” I told her, because it was true. Aubrey smiled, and I saw a flicker of my aunt behind the facade, something in the way her mouth turned up into a bright smile, or the icy blue eyes sparkling with intelligence. For the briefest moment I wondered if I wasn’t looking at a glamour at all, but a time capsule into the past, an image of my aunt as she had been at my age.

“Thank you Ada,” this strange woman with my aunt’s voice beamed at me. She wrapped me in her shapely, soft arms, planting a kiss on my forehead. “Be safe now, and do what Maerwynn and Bernadine tell you. They have a lot to teach you, if only you would listen.”

“I’ll do my best,” I whispered into her ear, knowing it was a lie. I certainly wasn’t going to do anything Bernadine said any more.

Aunt Aubrey let go of me, and without another word she pulled herself up onto the saddle of a beautiful white horse named Cloud. With a short wave and a nod to Maerwynn, who was at that moment walking purposefully towards us, Aubrey dug her heels into Cloud’s sides, and trotted away.

“I don’t like this,” Maerwynn said as she came to stand beside Bernadine, her eyes narrowing as she watched Aubrey gallop off down the path toward the village.

“That we can agree on,” said Bernadine.

“I wish Ulrich had informed me of this curse before I agreed to let you stay. It endangers my entire coven.”

“I’m sure it must’ve slipped his mind.”

“You said she did this before successfully, just a few days ago? Then you were lucky. This time she’s all alone. Who can say what she might meet on the road to the village? If anyone there recognizes her … I know it is unlikely, for we are far from your own village, and she weaves a convincing glamour. But still my heart is uneasy with this arrangement.”

“Aubrey can look after herself,” said Bernadine, although I thought I caught a flicker of fear dancing in her eyes.

“Of course, I’ve no doubt she can.” Maerwynn said, her voice dripping with all the doubt she could muster “But you know, Aubrey doesn’t have to do this. There might be another way.”

Bernadine looked first at Maerwynn, and then at me, her frown deepening. “Please. I know you’ve been dying to get your hands on Ada, but that’s a bit obscene. Besides, the curse requires a man, and although you desperately wish you were one—”

Maerwynn’s eyes flashed with anger. “That is not what I meant, and you know it. I speak of the curse. Have you tried to break it?”

“Of course we have. Before Ysmay died and
this
happened,” Aunt Bernadine held up her hands, the fingers bent into stiff claws by her arthritis. “Our coven tried every spell we could think of to rid us of the curse. But the curse is centuries old. It would take a powerful magic to break it. That’s more than we three alone can cast out, especially with Ada’s power being dormant.”

“It’s not dormant!” I protested. “Not anymore.”

Bernadine’s scowl turned to me. “Until you learn to harness and control it, it’s useless to us.”

“Would you like my coven to attempt to break it?” Maerwynn asked. “We have a large circle, with many powerful witches. If there is any hope of breaking it through the goddess’ power alone, then we will do it.”

Bernadine paused. “That could be something,” she said. “But I will not have you endanger any of your women on our behalf. My family has managed the curse for hundreds of years, we can endure it a little longer.”

Maerwynn rose. “Nonsense, it’s ridiculous a witch of your abilities should be saddled with this ridiculous curse, beholden to men in this vile way. It will be a full moon in two days’ time. This will be the perfect time to call upon the goddess and attempt to break the curse. I will inform my women and we can source the herbs we will need, and we will perform the rite as soon as Aubrey returns.”

Her statement hung in the air.
If
Aubrey returns, was what she really meant. I shivered, even though I was not cold.

Maerwynn didn’t wait for an answer. She whirled around on her heel and stalked off. Brunhild squeezed my knee again, this time the gesture was friendly. Bernadine stared off at some spot just over my shoulder, her brow furrowed, her teeth bared.

W
hen I woke
in the morning, Aubrey had not returned. My stomach churned with worry. “What could have happened to her?” I asked Bernadine. “Surely she would have finished by now?”

Bernadine held up a long, wizened finger, glaring at her digit as though it offered some answer. A flame appeared on the end of her finger, dancing from the tip of her nail as though it were a wick. “We still have our powers, so Aubrey was successful. I am sure she will be along shortly.”

She swayed on her feet, leaning heavily against her stick. I reached out to guide her arm. “Do you want me to help you down to breakfast—”

“I can do it myself,” Bernadine snapped, yanking her arm away from me. I flinched at the harsh words.

“Fine. I was just trying to help you. But I should have known it was pointless. You would rather die a miserable old woman than accept even an ounce of help from anyone. You didn’t even want Maerwynn to help us break the curse. We could be free of this requirement if you would only relent just a little!” I whirled around and stomped down the path toward the river.

“Ada, wait!” Bernadine’s voice sounded hoarse, worried. Did I detect the faintest flicker of emotion? I didn’t care. I kept walking.

Brunhild waited for me beside the unlit fire pit. She handed me a bowl of cold soup and a slice of bread. “I just heard that we’re going to get rid of your curse. Isn’t that exciting?”

“I’m not really sure,” I settled down beside her, dipping my bread into the thin soup and stuffing it into my mouth. It was so soft and lovely. One thing I could say for Maerwynn, she made certain her coven ate well.

“How can you not be sure?” Brunhild’s eyes widened as she bit into her own bread. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love sex, but being forced to have it every seven days is just ghastly. What if you were ill, or you had the bleeding, or the only men around you were all beastly?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what’s involved in breaking a curse,” I said. “It must be very difficult, because if it weren’t, my family would have banished it years ago. With this ridiculous witch hunt going on, I don’t want anyone put in danger because of me.”

“You’re too sweet, Ada.” Brunhild slurped up the last of her soup. “If it were me I would be hunting down the descendants of the guy who placed the curse and giving them a piece of my mind.”

The descendants
… For some reason, it had never occurred to me that the ancient witch who’d placed the curse on my ancestor Cedany had a family. But of course he did, and they would have inherited his dark magic and his lust for power. Were his descendants out there right now, oblivious to the chaos their ancestor had caused? Were they in hiding from Ulrich’s father, too? I glanced around the campfires with a new sense of apprehension. What if one of the ladies here was a descendant of the man who cursed my family?

“Did I say something bad, Ada?” Brunhild tapped my shoulder. “You look awfully serious.”

“Oh … no, don’t worry.” I shook my head. I needed to keep that thought to myself for a while. “I was just missing Ulrich, is all.”

After breakfast, I helped Brunhild to collect wild blackberries, the perfect activity to distract me from thoughts of Ulrich. The thorny bushes had completely overtaken one of the slopes of the valley, and they were a vital ingredient in many of the Haven’s dishes. Brunhild helped me wrap gauze strips around my hands to protect my skin from the thorns. When I was bandaged up, she showed me how to spot the choicest berries. “You look for the berries that appear plump and comely, much like your lovely figure.”