• Book Two-Elizabeth

    Chapter Eleven-Elizabeth

    I woke up and quickly scanned the room. Despite the fact that I didn’t see anything, I was always weary of what could be in the shadows. I tried to sit up and realized that they had chained me by the ankle. Well, that’s what I got for trying to run the last time they had taken me out of my cell; but did they really have to chain me while I was in it?

    I had already been here for a year; ever since my seventeenth birthday, when I told the healer woman I lived with, Moira, that I could hear the thoughts of those around me. I feared that she would think me a witch, but instead, she told me that she knew of a place where I could learn to control my gift. Moira had never given me any reason to distrust her, and she had taken care of so many people in our village, that I followed her willingly.
    Our journey had taken us a fortnight by horseback; farther than I had ever been from our little village before in my sixteen years, and we came to this large dark citadel far into the mountains. The last night before I was handed over to the druids, Moira and I were sitting beside our little campfire, having already eaten, and as I looked across the fire, I saw her lips softly murmuring ancient words of healing while she rubbed her calves. I had never asked her where she had learned these teachings. The elders of our village had frowned upon her strange ways, called it witchcraft in whispers, so no one had ever known about my gift. Looking up at the dark castle a days ride away, I couldn’t help but shudder.
    “Moira?” she looked up at me.
    “What is it Eliza?” I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.
    “Are the rumors true? Are you a witch?” She seemed surprised at first, then sighed.
    “I was hoping this day wouldn’t come,” she murmured, stretching her legs out so that her feet were closer to the warmth of the fire. “Elizabeth, there are things in this world that you know nothing of…that you should have…lived among from your birth. You’ve know from infancy that I am not your mother, but that I helped birth you.” I nodded, and she held back for a second, as though what she was going to say was going to hurt one of us. “You’re mother was a very skilled, very powerful witch. She hunted forbidden creatures before her marriage to your father…”
    “And my father?” I was hanging off her every word at this point. I had never heard anything about who my parents were, and this was like a breath of fresh air after the staleness of ignorance.
    “I shouldn’t say anything else. We have an early start in the morning. You should get some sleep.” I ground my teeth. She couldn’t do this to me.
    “Moira, please…who is my father?” I begged, but to avail. She was already wrapped up in her bedroll. Frustrated, I sat up and stared into the fire. My mother was a witch…so didn’t that mean that I was as well? To be a witch was a crime against nature, and was punishable by death. It was against everything I had learned in our village. How could I be a witch and not know?

    I believe I fell asleep sometime during the night, because I woke when Moira shook me in the early morning. We didn’t speak as we packed up our camp and started for the castle. I could feel her gaze on me every once in a while, and I would look the other way. She wasn’t the only one that could be reclusive. It was midday when we stopped again to eat.
    “Elizabeth?” I didn’t answer, but continued to stare at my meal. “Elizabeth, this is the last time we get a chance to talk before we part…won’t you at least look at me?”
    “Why should I? You’ve lied to me my entire life, and then you hide the one thing I want to know…” I wiped a small tear from my face. “Give me one reason to listen now.” She sighed.
    “Your father…died before you were born. I only knew your mother after. She never told me of your father. It was too hard for her to talk about him because he was her soul mate, and he was gone. What I can tell you…is that he must have been an extraordinary man to win the heart of your mother. She was my best friend.” It wasn’t until her voice cracked that I noticed she was crying.
    “Thank you. It’s nice to know something of my parents. What I have to ask is…why didn’t you tell me about this before?”
    “Would you have believed me? Or would you have thought me mad?” I bit my lip, knowing the answer all too well.
    “Alright, I understand,” I admitted. I tugged absentmindedly at my boot laces.
    “Here,” she said, digging in her saddlebag, “I think it’s time I gave you this.” She held out a beautifully intricate onyx and silver necklace, and I couldn’t help but let my jaw drop in surprise. I took the necklace and traced my finger along the silver pentagram carved into the onyx. Something this exquisite must have cost her a fortune.
    “But why…?”
    “It was your mother’s. She wanted you to have it.” I looked back down at the necklace before I clasped it around my neck. She forced a smile and gave me a hug before we packed our things back on the horses.

    The druids had welcomed me with open arms. They treated Moira and I like queens; giving us the most lavish things we could ever ask for. We had the softest beds, the best food, and our every whim was met without delay. That is, until the full moon came.

    “Elizabeth?” asked Garthor, the head Druid, that night at dinner.
    “Yes?”
    “I have something to ask you. Where did you come across such a lovely necklace?” I touched my mother’s amulet where it hung from my neck. I hadn’t taken it off since Moira had given it to me. It was the only thing I had of my mother.
    “It was my mother’s. She died when I was born. That’s how I came to live with Moira. Why do you ask?” Garthor grinned, and I flinched inwardly at the sense of evil behind it. Moira was watching him carefully beside me, and I could sense her fear, which kept me on my guard.
    “I know it well. I’m the one that made it for her. Your mother came here for her training when she wasn’t much younger than you. She was my favorite pupil.”
    “My mother was a witch, not a druidess.” I watched him as I answered, and his grin faded a bit.
    “That is true. But it was her greatest wish that you would train here with us. We’ve been waiting for you for a long time Lady Elizabeth.” The room was quiet; all eyes watching Moira and I. My fingers traced the amulet’s pentacle while I thought.
    “What exactly would that entail?” I asked carefully. Garthor sat there, scratching his chin, looking from me to Moira and back.
    “Nothing more than a small ceremony. A…sacrifice…if you will.” He licked his lips, gesturing to one of the younger druids; a handsome man in his early twenties with a smile on his face. “Jared will be your partner, should you agree. But keep in mind that once you give your word, there is no going back.” There was something about the way he said it that made me shudder.
    “I’ll have to think about it, and let you know in the morning,” I said, pushing away from the table as my appetite suddenly turned to repulsion. Garthor nodded solemnly as Moira joined me as I made my way for the stairs as fast as I could.