Bewitched

Chapter 11 - Elvira

I'd always studied magic as a necessary evil. It was a means to an end. The end being removing magic from our lives altogether. Asha and I had tried some spells together, some small experiments between us two. But that was different from bewitching an entire coven - or just every witch who would get in our way. But if we managed to weaken them, then Malise could get us to safety.

"How are you going to make sure they won't track us or find us later?" I asked. We were still at the table and my back couldn't be the only one that started to hurt. 

"Just leave that to me. It's hard to explain, but I know what to do. There are certain spells I know of."

"It must be hard for you to go there again." She didn't seem eager to tell me about her time with the coven, or whatever had happened before, but I had a feeling it wasn't a happy story.

"I'll manage."

I felt for her. Despite my magic studies, I'd never learned much about how things were in covens, especially not this one. I'd never considered not all witches had the same way of life.

I'd never considered that witches could hurt each other, too.

"It's strange," I said, although I wasn't sure if I should be saying these words out loud. "I never realized you witches are so... You know..."

"Like humans?"

"Yes. I mean, I'd never met a witch before you, and I'd only heard the stories..."

"Asha's a witch."

Yes, she was. But she wasn't like... like witches. She wasn't like the stories I'd heard, like what I knew witches to be like.

But then again, neither was Malise.

"If it's any comfort," she said, "I never thought it was possible for a human to be likable."

"You knew humans?"

"I've been chased by them, trialed by them, almost gotten burned... None of them ever offered me a place to sleep, that's for sure."

"I'm glad I did. And I'm sorry I doubted you." I felt like it needed to be said.

"And I'm sorry for looking down on you. Now..." She pulled up her sleeves. "Let's get to work. With a bit of luck, we can leave tomorrow at first daylight."

I looked through the kitchen window, even though I knew I wouldn't be able to see much through the surrounding trees. It appeared to be afternoon. "How far away is the coven?"

"About a day on horseback."

"But we don't have a horse."

"I can charm someone into giving us one."

I had no doubt she could. I imagined her smiling at a man, and him being helpless to deny her anything.

I imagined her smiling at me.

I grabbed some ingredients before my mind could drift any further. I had no business thinking about such things when Asha was in danger. "Just tell me what to do."

"You slice these stems up. We want the inner parts."

"Alright." I grabbed the plants and a knife and got to work. I tried to cut the stems open, but they were coarse and my blade kept slipping. I cursed under my breath as I switched to my nails to try to peel them open.

Malise watched me work for a moment and an involuntary heat crept up to my cheeks. "You haven't done this often, have you?" she asked, though it wasn't really a question.

"I don't have magic." I put the knife down, my hands tired. "I avoided spells that required me to actually perform magic, so I never followed this recipe."

"And Asha couldn't help, either?"

"We agreed it's best if she uses her magic as little as possible. So, we only used potions and such. Things that I could perform, even as a human." I picked one of the stems up, examining it.

"Is she interested in magic?"

"Asha? No, I don't think so."

"Did you ever ask?"

"There's no need." Asha and magic weren't supposed to go together. That was the whole point of this - of everything. "Come help me, we're supposed to have this done by nightfall." 

Malise looked at me for a moment before getting up and walking around me. "Here, let me show you how it's done." She wrapped her hands around mine. "Take the knife."

I did so. I wondered if she could feel my hands shaking.

"Now, slice it like this..."

She showed me how to open the stems up and take the thin fiber at the core out. I tried to focus, I really did. But all I noticed was her skin against mine, her breath in my neck. The power she had over me was unfair.

"You think you got it?"

I swallowed and nodded.

"Good." She let go, leaving me aching in the strangest way. "The spell we're making from this, is meant to be used outside. Once I'm inside the castle, I'll need to use more compact spells, so we don't get ourselves hurt as well."

"What about the smoke spell you used at the witch trials?"

"Already working on it."

"Great."

The plan was for Malise to pretend like she'd returned to the coven. She said they'd let her in, and then she'd get Asha. The spells were in case someone would try to stop her on the way out - which was very likely to happen - and to help us disappear.

"You'd make a good witch," Malise said, which must have been the weirdest compliment I'd ever received. 'Good' and 'witch' didn't go together. At least, they hadn't.

"Thanks," I said, knowing my parents would despise it. But Malise hadn't killed my parents. She was... different. She got me thinking that maybe...

Maybe witches weren't so bad.