justwriting-stuff

[justwriting-stuff]

"Didn't you hear? Witches don't Burn"

That’s not really how she had planned the night to go. Being burned at the stake sounded way less fun than having a  nice dinner and then reading in bed. As the fire started, she looked at the small flames that were darkening the big chunks of wood. It was starting to warm her feet. She tried to move away. 

“We made sure the rope is tight, you will not get away this time.” 

She smiled. She started to remember how they had been chasing her high and low, they had gotten close a few times but never near enough. Not until today. She was fine with how things had turned out. She used to be a doctor, healing those who needed it, because that’s what you do. You help others when you have the power to do so. At least that’s how she was taught. People would be coming to her with a broken arm, she’d mix marigold, eucalyptus and jasmine, she’d recite a spell and apply it to the arm, in a few seconds the pain would be gone and a few minutes later the bones inside were as good as new. From headaches to open wounds… she could heal most of the people who came to her place. However… she could not go against death. She could ease the pain of the dying, give them a little bit more time but that was all she could do. And it was enough. No matter how sad she was, no matter how much she hated not being able to heal them, the truth is: she did her best and that was enough. People never complained.

At least, at the beginning. Then, she met with the lord’s daughter. The young lady had chronic pain. The healer prepared a potion, and as she was doing so the lady was looking around the shop in awe of all the plants gathered here. Plants from all around the land and far beyond. Acquired through years of bartering with merchants. She asked many questions. 

“Where is this one from? What’s the purpose?How do you know what to use?” 

And the healer happily answered each one of them. Many people come to her, many are curious but that light in the lady’s eyes, that’s something she seldom sees. An interest far beyond what she came here for. She took the potion and went back to the castle. A few weeks later she was back with her bright smile, coming for a refill. It had been so long since her life had been this painless. It was warmer, happier. Once again she was curious and looked at the other woman with such attention. Her fern green eyes were filled with so much enthusiasm, she had freckles over her pinkish plump cheeks and her smile… oh her smile was radiant and contagious. Without realizing it, just looking at her made the shop-owner smile. That woman made every room she walked in warmer, sunnier. It could have been raining in the dead of night, that would not have mattered. 

In the weeks that followed, she started to come more often, even though she wasn’t buying anything, she’d ask questions, at first it was only about plants and then it started to be more and more about the owner. 

“By the way, I’m Camelia, what about you?” 

Of course the healer already knew her name, she was known around here. Her father wasn’t much appreciated. Too selfish, too self-centered and too arrogant. How could such a man have such a sweet descendant? 

“Tabitha.” 

“What's your favorite flower?” She’d ask.

 “I don’t have one.” 

All her answers were short and direct. Camelia did most of the conversation and that was okay. The short blond girl was really talkative and most people didn’t listen to her, lack of time and interest in what she had to say. But Tabitha liked hearing her voice, listening to her words while working. Having her around became normal. Without her, the shop was too silent, too empty. The cracked wooden floor seemed greyer and older, the green of the plants was less bright, less colorful. The windows looked like they were letting less light come inside. Camelia was just human but she brought so much life into this place. Without realizing it she had become part of the shop. 

One afternoon, as it was raining outside, the two women shared some tea. Well, the lemon tea that was sitting in Tabitha's cup had long turned cold. She had forgotten about it. Too involved in what Camelia was saying, too amazed by her beauty. No one else was here, just the two of them. No one to bother them. The dark haired woman rose from her chair and slowly bent over toward the blond. With her hand she lifted her chin and softly kissed her rosy lips. She hadn’t given much thought into her actions. She had wanted to do that for so long, and no one was there to stop her. Not even Camelia, who actually pressed her lips a little harder against the other woman’s. It was soft but it felt so amazing. When they let go, they stared at each other for a second and giggled. They kissed again, with more passion this time. She wanted more of the peachy young woman and since no one was going to go through that heavy rain, they were free to be with each other. It was quite late when Camelia left, as the rain was starting to slow down. But even gone, her smell, the feeling of her against Tabitha’s chest was still present and somehow, the place was still lively after the lady left, so was the smile stuck on Tabitha’s face. For weeks, they kept this going, for weeks they were both oh so happy. 

One morning, Tabitha heard quick and heavy footsteps. Her lover came barging inside the shop, letting the door wide open and the wind engulfed inside the room blowing away papers and the dried herbs Tabitha was using. The blonde was panting heavily from running but also from crying. Her cheeks were red, eyes already swollen, her tears were wiping away her natural beauty and all her joyfulness was gone. She didn’t make the shop brighter and warmer today. Before she even spoke Tabitha felt anger grew within her core. Who dared to make her girl cry? 

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry Tabi…” She said between heavy breaths. 

“It’s okay, what’s going on?” 

She came toward her, putting her hands on the crying woman’s shoulders. Whatever it was, Tabitha would fix it. 

“They are coming… my father’s men… they are after you!” She was sobbing even more. 

“He wanted to marry me off… I refused… I told him I loved you.. a woman. He got angry.”

Really? It didn’t seem to bother anyone else. As she finished speaking, the tinkle of armors started to be heard. 

“Don’t worry dear. Let me take care of that.” 

Four men arrived in full armor, looking straight at Tabitha. 

“You’re under arrest for brainwashing the Lord’s daughter.” 

How could they be so serious while saying such foolish things? 

“That’s a weird word you used for loving… and by the way her name’s Camelia.” 

She is not her father’s belongings. 

“We have orders to bring you in for unlawful witchcraft.”

 blablabla. They drew their sword as the dark haired woman rolled her eyes. What were they expecting? A few swords weren’t going to do much against her. It would have been insulting… if she didn’t know how simpleminded they were. They launched at her, she didn’t need much to avoid these brutes. She managed to caress with her fingertips the forehead of one soldier. As she moved her fingers, the soldier moved along fighting his peers. He was much better as a puppet than an actual soldier. He fought much better under her spell. THAT is manipulation. Soon the three men were on the ground, defeated. She grabbed the sword of her puppet. 

“I have something for you.” 

She went to the back of her store and grabbed a little vial. She came back with a smile on her face. 

“See… I don’t appreciate being attacked but what I hate even more is people bringing tears to such a beautiful face.”

 She let one drop of the liquid fall in the mouths of the soldiers on the ground. 

“So here is my warning to all the people who will try to take my love away from me.”

 The three men started to moan in pain as their limbs grew shorter, and their skin turned from white to pink. 

“Go and warn the lord that this is what will happen to him if he defies me again.” 

She sent the puppet away along with the three pigs oinking right behind him. She turned around and got back to Camelia, she wiped out the tears on her face and kissed her. 

“Stay here, and no harm will come to you, I promise I’ll protect you!” A promise she well intend to keep. 

For a few days, they lived together and no one came to bother her, but then, in the dead of night, soldiers came, and attacked them. Now, they were many more than the first attack. Tabitha got up, and tried to push them away, they got to Camelia… barely awakened. With one swift of her hand, a strong wind came out of nowhere, and the soldiers that were after the blonde were propelled against a wall. 

“Run away and hide!” 

An order that Camelia followed. As long as she was safe, it didn’t matter what happened to her. She might have been strong, but there were too many to fight and one got to her. His sword pierced through her skin on her right side. He then grabbed her arms and locked it behind her. She couldn’t move properly, and without the freedom to move her hands around she couldn’t use her magic. They brought her back to the castle and quickly announced that she would be burned at the stake at dawn. How cliché. But Camelia had had time to flee and that’s all that mattered. Tabitha was locked away in a dirty cell, hands still locked away behind her back, her wound still bleeding. It was painful, she could have used some treatment, but she was quite certain if she had asked a guard he would have told her to fuck off. As the sun settled down, she was taken to the court of the castle, and put on the pyre. A few courtsmen and women were there, impatient while a few villagers had come, their expression was more sorrowful, some were even crying. What a waste of tears. The lord came, he was full of pride, his allure showed how egocentric he was. 

“Witch, it’s time for you to die. You stole my daughter, with you gone, I’m certain she’ll be back to her right mind.” 

What a dumbass. Did he realize how stupid he sounded? His excessive taxing, his stupid laws, anything to get richer, and now… He also believed his daughter was his puppet. He didn’t deserve to rule this land.

“You’re daughter isn’t yours to control.” 

Talking about her, she showed up among the crowd, she ran to her father’s feet begging him to stop. 

“Camelia, don’t cry honey… Everything's gonna be okay!” 

She tried to reassure her. But she did not listen, she grabbed her father’s robe and he violently pushed her away. How could a parent be so insensitive to their child’s pain and sorrow? With one nod toward the guard who was holding the torch, the man threw it in the pyre. The flames were warm under her feet. What really bothered her was the pain at her side, the wound was not deadly, but still it really hurt. She pulled on the rope, but she could not loosen it. 

“We made sure the rope is tight, you will not get away this time. Witches are not welcomed here anymore!” 

She smiled. As if it was a problem. The flames got bigger and bigger, her dress was starting to burn, and so was the cordage that was preventing her from moving. What an idiot. The people in the crowd started noticing something was wrong, but not him. There was no screaming as the flames reached her skin, no burning marks, no fried chicken smell. Her arms were quickly freed by the flames. Her smile got bigger as his expression changed from self-satisfied to shock. It seems like he did not expect her to free herself. Yet, her calm attitude should have been a clue. 

“Didn’t you hear? Witches don’t burn.” 

As she was speaking, the fire around her swirled around her arms, dancing alongside her fingers. She opened her arms and the fire surrounded the court people. All so well dressed for an execution. That really pissed her off. They started screaming as the fire surrounded them. The lord screamed for her to stop, as if she would, after all he did just try to murder her. She got closer to Camelia, helped her get up. “See! I told you everything would be fine!” She kissed her on the forehead and wiped her tears away. “Let me deal with them!” She called for her soldier puppet again and ordered her to go get two potions from her shop. On horseback, it wouldn’t take long. Some villagers came toward her, saying how happy they were that she survived. She thanked her for their kind words and ignored all the screaming, and insults from the court, still locked within the fire prison. Tabitha was never a huge fan of killing, she could have become one of those sorcerers who fights for the lord who offers the best price, but that didn’t sit well with her. She much preferred to heal those who needed it. However, she knows how to fight and would do so to protect the people she loves. Camelia was standing by her side, holding her hand tighter than ever. Somehow, still worried for her. The puppet came back. She applied one of the mixture to her wound which started to heal. She sighed as the pein left her body, finally! As for the other bottle, she grabbed a few bottles of wine and mixed the two liquids. 

“Grab your glasses, those who want to go through the fire will need to drink this wine!” 

A few hands movements later and the wine was within the fire and to ensure everyone would drink some, she made the fire a little bit bigger and a lot hotter. In a few minutes all of them had drank some wine, and soon all of them started to turn into pigs. 

“I really like this spell.” 

The fire went off, leaving just a dark trace on the ground. Tabitha grabbed a pig. 

“This one used to be your father I believe… Do you want to keep it?” 

At least now… No one would bother them. And if someone felt like their love, or magic was something wrong, it would be Tabitha’s pleasure to reveal their true form. 

A couple of months later, the castle had been plundered by villagers and no one lived there anymore. Everyone seemed fine to be leaving without a lord to tell them what to do. The minister took care of punishing and imprisoning those who harmed others. When something needed to be done in town, everyone gave what they could to help with the work. As for Tabitha, she went back to healing people, making potions to help others, and Camelia became her delivery person. They lived above the shop together with their pig. The different farmers that took care of the other pigs were congratulated on the quality of their ham… Apparently it was the best in all of the land. Turning men into pigs has always been a basic spell in witchcraft. The two ladies were quite loved in the village, even though Tabitha was still not a big fan of big gatherings, and small talks, every time there was a party, Camelia dragged her along, happily talking and dancing with just about anyone who was willing to spend some time with her, and the witch just looked at her, smiling. She did give her one dance, just once. And when they went home that night, they cuddled in their bed, and as her wife fell asleep in her arms, she thought to herself that if someone was to ask her again which flower was her favorite, from now on, she’d definitely answer the camelia.