Betrayal and Yearning_A Fantasy Romance

by Eve Redmayne

  It was difficult, but Willow forced the frown from her face. “Not in control? Yeah, I’d say so. Now get dressed.” She tore the charred nightshirt off and walked to the wardrobe where she yanked on her buckskin breeches, linen shirt, and a pair of warm, woolen socks. Shirttail loose, she descended the ladder, leaving Jessica alone without another word. It was time to get to work. The girl needed training, and fast.

  ***

  It took a moment before Jessica rose from the cold floor and began a mental inventory of her condition. Her bottom ached where she’d landed, her face hurt like hell from the deep cut, and her fingertips were blackened from playing with fire. She added nothing to wear to her growing list of problems. The gown and shift she’d come in were too filthy to contemplate, but the borrowed nightshirt barely skimmed her thighs. If only she had a pair of jeans.

  Legs stiff, she peered over the loft. Willow sat before the hearth, scraping flint and steel together. Jessica turned back to the bedroom. The pitched roof hung low and the furnishings were simple, yet sturdy. Willow’s wardrobe caught her eye, and she pried the door open with one finger. She’d already taken so much, could she ask to borrow clothes, also? Well, she couldn’t very well walk around with her ass hanging out.

  With every move, the floorboards creaked. Jessica bit her lip and alternated between looking in the wardrobe and watching for Willow. A gown the color of citrine sat folded neatly in the cupboard with underthings besides. Jessica stroked the silk, noticing the intricate embroidery across the bodice and along the edges of the detached sleeves. She shook her head and bent closer.

  Tucked into the far corner, beneath a stack of leather pants—clearly too small for her—Jessica spotted a simple, wool dress. It was plain but better than wearing a nightshirt all day. She slipped it on, hoping it wouldn’t offend her host. It hit her mid-calf, leaving her ankles exposed. She tugged at the snug bodice then shrugged, it was better than the alternatives.

  Frozen feet prompted her to pull on a pair of striped stockings. In for a penny, in for a pound.

  Sheepishly, she crept down the ladder and waited behind the chair near the hearth.

  Willow glanced up between feeding tiny flames. Her face creased into a frown. “I forgot you only had what you came in.” She huffed noisily and worked until the fire blazed.

  When Willow rose, she shrugged a slim shoulder. “Pantry’s bare. I’ll go to market later.” She brushed passed Jessica to grab her boots and nodded at Jessica’s outfit. “Next time, ask first, alright? It’s an affront to take something from a witch without asking. We’re collectors. Our livelihood and security depend on it, and thievery is something we do not abide.”

  “So, you’re a witch then? I wasn’t sure when we avoided the witches on the way here.” Jessica’s stomach twisted as she closely examined Willow, her freckles ablaze against winter-pale skin.

  “You don’t know I’m a witch because you’re a human. Then again, you have such power.” Willow squinted and stepped closer until they stood nose to nose, she on tip-toe. Her hands skimmed just over Jessica’s body, hesitating over her heart. Head cocked to the side, she whispered, “What are you?”

  What was she, indeed, Jessica wanted to sneer. According to Braum, she was a dwarf, but that seemed far-fetched. “I don’t know,” Jessica finally responded, pinpricks of energy jabbing under her skin.

  “I want to help you,” Willow said and took a step back, her hair a twisting mass of red curls. “But I need to see how much control you can maintain while under duress if we’re to live together. Do you mind performing an experiment with me?”

  “No, I don’t min—”

  Willow charged, catching her by surprise. Though smaller than her, by far, Willow shoved hard against Jessica’s chest and knocked her to the ground.

  “Stop it!” Jessica shouted, scrambling to her feet, one hand clasped to her stinging cheek. She looked at the blood staining her hand from a snapped stitch, and her eyes got hot.

  “Fight it,” Willow urged before kicking her swiftly in the shin. “Don’t let the magic take over.”

  “Oww!” Jessica wanted to fight the unrelenting force. She willed herself to fight. But it was no use. Her eyes clouded over in a haze of fury. Her hands lifted, and Willow suddenly sailed through the air, a gust of wind sweeping her off her feet.

  Willow crashed through the drying herbs, hanging from the rafters, soared passed the enormous oak table covered in vials and books, and landed hard against the split stable-door, throwing the bottom-half open.

  She groaned. “Maybe let’s wait a bit before testing your ability to resist?”

  In three strides, Jessica closed the distance to Willow—now scrambling for the door latch. But before she could grab her, Willow managed to open the door and stumbled backwards into the yard, arms up.

  Gown whipping about her in the still, dawn air, Jessica followed. On an angry howl, she summoned a tree branch using nothing but a quick, upward tick of her finger and flung it at Willow.

  Willow ducked, narrowly avoiding having her head bashed in, then charged. She caught Jessica about the waist, dragged her to the ground, and quick as a shot, punched the cut spanning her face.

  Several more stitches snapped.

  Pain pounded through her face as Jessica tried to make sense of what was happening, but the unreasonable anger flared. All she knew was that she needed to destroy everything. Willow included.

  Willow… she paused. What was she thinking? Willow was helping her. She didn’t want to hurt her… but the thought fled as her entire body shook with the impulse to kill, to burn, to destroy everything in her path.

  Jessica tried throwing the smaller woman off but found her arms unwilling to move. Above her, Willow smiled triumphantly, her hair twisting and curling about like red serpents.

  Through clenched teeth, Willow whispered something Jessica didn’t understand, the words tripping off her tongue. An incantation, she realized.

  Held captive by the spell, Jessica strained until she summoned every ounce of strength within and managed to stand. “Die!” she bellowed, almost smiling as Willow shrank back, fear tainting her green eyes.

  “This isn’t you.” Willow’s voice shook. “It’s the magic controlling you. Don’t do this.”

  Cruel laughter echoed deep within her throat as Jessica retrieved the branch from earlier and smashed it against the side of Willow’s head. The solid THUNK it made on contact was oddly satisfying, and she smirked as the witch lurched downward.

  When Jessica moved to strike again, the bear ambled forward, separating her from the fallen woman. Jessica screamed in frustration, “MOVE DAMN YOU!”

  The bear stayed put.

  Jessica dropped her club to pummel the creature with her fists until a voice tunneled through the insatiable anger, Enough!

  Her hands dropped, and she hung her head until the burning impulse to destroy subsided. “Oh lord, I need help.” Her voice sounded small. The all-consuming magic demanded the worst from her. Unreasonable. Powerful. Deadly. She had to get control.

  Willow staggered to her feet and wiped blood from her ear with the back of a wrist. She held her hands out in a peace offering and Jessica took them, chest heaving and blood dripping down her face.

  “Want to figure this out together?” The witch swayed where she stood, but her eyes burned. “Then we do it my way. Remember, there are consequences to using magic. You can’t just wield it without becoming altered.”

  When Jessica nodded, Willow brushed a drop of blood from Jessica’s chin and brought it to her face. She smeared a red line across her forehead and said, “Upon your blood, I will help you.” Then explained at Jessica’s quirked brow, “Blood’s a powerful medium. It intensifies the Craft.”

  Willow wiped some blood from her injured head and marked Jessica’s face in the same way. “With my blood will you be helped.” She shrugged. “Besides, I have my reasons for aiding you. I’ve got some problems and no real solutions, other than running away—an
d that opportunity’s closed and not opening anytime soon. Maybe with your help, I’ll get my shit figured out.”

  “Thank you.” Jessica swallowed tears of relief, grateful she wasn’t alone.

  “After we tidy ourselves up, training begins. I can’t have some possessed, magical killer living with me, now can I?”

  “Well, it sounds really bad when you put it that way.”

  Directed to sit on the porch, Jessica winced as Willow re-stitched her wound. The women then switched places, and Jessica yanked several splinters out of Willow’s ear.

  “Next time just hit me with a rock,” Willow griped, as Jessica dug for the last one.

  Then they stripped in the chill morning air, wrapped blankets around themselves, and washed their blood-soaked clothes in the river.

  “Your man’s going to come looking for you, you know,” Willow said abruptly as they knelt on the riverbank.

  How did she know what Braum was to her? Heart hammering, Jessica wrung out the dress and said coolly, “He’s not my man.” Then turned away so the witch wouldn’t see the panic in her eyes. The dwarf meant nothing to her… now. What if he came for her? But, he wouldn’t, given what she’d done to him. He should be running for the hills. And if he didn’t? No, she was too messed up to even contemplate seeing him again.

  “Oh right, my mistake,” Willow said, heavy on the sarcasm. “Did I say, man? I meant husband.”

  Jessica’s stomach flipped. “How’d you know?” Had she done or said something to reveal her secret? She’d hoped to never see Braum again and make her way back to Earth. Would the witch make her go back to him now she knew they were married?

  “Because you’re a changeling—a human transitioned to dwarf. Something that only happens after a human marries someone from Orygin.” Willow’s tone was matter-of-fact, a knowing smirk lighting her face. “Now, tell me everything so I can really help you.”

  Jessica swallowed convulsively. What if Willow decided she wasn’t worth the bother? Could she even trust her? “I’m just somebody who needs a friend in the worst way.”

  “Look, you’re a dwarf now,” Willow said bluntly. “A dwarf who’s married to Braum the Merciless.”

  Jessica’s eyes widened as she set the dress down. Merciless? She’d never heard him called that before. What else was there she didn’t know about her bloody husband?

  Willow continued, “He didn’t earn that name by being benevolent. His enemies quake when they but hear his name. Does that sound like the kind of man who’s just going to let his wife go?”

  “But I didn’t—”

  “Make no mistake, whatever happened between you two will not stay in the past. You need to be prepared if you don’t want to go back.” Willow glanced at the sun. “You left him in bad shape, so, if he survives, we’ve got time to train before he comes looking. But, he will come.”

  “I don’t want him anymore.” Jessica rubbed over her arms, trying to still the sharp pulses of energy. How could they want each other after all that had happened? All belief she’d had in him disappeared after he’d tricked her. And he sure as hell couldn’t trust her. She’d become possessed and left him for dead.

  Willow choked on a laugh and grabbed her hand. “Calm yourself! You can’t let the magic dictate your actions. It’s volatile and expressing itself through violence and fury. Remember, it’s just energy that you can learn to control.”

  Jessica stood and stumbled away. Her world was falling apart. “I don’t know how to control this… this…”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  With nothing else to do, Jessica sat and revealed everything. When she came to the part where Braum tricked her into speaking the marriage vows, Willow cursed.

  “No wonder.” Willow shook her head, fists clenched, and stood, jerking the blanket tighter. “Goddess preserve us from idiot dwarves using magics they don’t understand!”

  The vehemence in Willow’s voice startled Jessica. As the witch fumed, her hair twisted about itself as though it had a will of its own.

  Eyebrows knit in concentration, Willow sat and explained, “The ceremony he used is a fae binding spell. Fae magic is ancient and unpredictable and is still used by all races. In the case of witchcraft, it’s evolved to suit our own needs, but the dwarves,” she shook her head, “the dwarves are almost a-magical. In fact, I’d consider them almost as bad as humans.”

  Again, the witch stood, her red hair twisting in agitation. “The thing to know about the fae is, they’re tricksters. They kidnap babies and replace them with gnomes. They inhabit mortal bodies and make people do things they normally wouldn’t. They make deals and play pranks—”

  Jessica interrupted, “But I was told the fae no longer live in Orygin, so how can that be?”

  “They can come and go. Anybody who knows anything knows that. But you have fae magic in you now. I don’t know how that is, but it’s there. You are magic. My guess is some latent magic remained after Braum performed the binding spell and it attached to you.” She shook her head. “And now you’re brimming with a power that’s manipulating you. It’s wild and feeding off your emotions—especially anger. Either you learn to control it, or it will control you.”

  Suddenly cold, Jessica wrapped her arms around her chest. It all fit. The power seemed to manifest when she was highly emotional or needed something for her well-being. But, could she learn to use it at will?

  “Well, little dwarf-fae, what do you think?” Willow smiled, her voice carrying a hint of excitement. “You’ll be my pupil and I the teacher, as well as vice-versa?”

  How was she going to teach Willow anything?

  Arms shaking with effort, Jessica watched the boulder wobble in the air as she manipulated the wind carrying it. Willow had drilled her all morning, assessing her abilities. It was one thing for the magic to just burst forth and another to repeat the same task again, and again, until she could do it on command.

  She clenched her teeth, fighting passed the fear threatening to tear her apart. This power, it meant a complete change to her life, who she was as a person. And she couldn’t just ignore it. It was a part of her now, bubbling below the surface, demanding her attention.

  “We need to test your strength,” Willow had explained, eyes aglow. “See how much endurance you possess.” This resulted in Jessica levitating the biggest boulder they could find and holding it.

  “How long?” Jessica asked, voice strained and shoulders burning, as the crushing weight of the boulder forced her arms down. “I can’t… support it any…”

  “Oh, I’d say a good,” Willow paused to consider, “three minutes or so.”

  The boulder crashed to the ground, and Jessica collapsed to her knees, sweat streaming down her face. “That’s it?”

  Willow snorted. “You’re upset you held a boulder the size of your pet over there,” she nodded at the bear, napping in the sun, “for only three minutes? How many people do you think could do it at all?”

  “I don’t know,” Jessica grumbled, rubbing her arms. “I have nothing to base this off. I don’t know if I’m a good witch or a bad witch, or if I can just go home if I kick my heels together and wish really, really hard.”

  “Let me ease your mind,” Willows snapped, “you’re no witch.”

  Jessica tilted her head at the outburst and watched as Willow turned her back to her. The witch raised both hands in the air, appearing as though she struggled to hold something. Carefully shifting back to face her, Willow mouthed silently and dipped her eyes.

  Jessica’s arms shot out as she looked down. Now hovering several feet above ground, Willow had levitated her without her knowing it! “Put me down!”

  “Stop fighting!” Willow hissed, only breaking her spell-casting for a half-second, during which time Jessica shot downward. Due to her precarious situation and the urgency in Willow’s tone, Jessica ceased struggling, dropped her arms to her sides, and held her breath.

  Willow grinned and eased her quaking arms down. But her
strength failed at the last moment, and Jessica plummeted the last few inches, landing on her feet.

  “That was amazing!” Jessica said, then bolted to catch Willow as she fell. “Are you okay?”

  Chest heaving, Willow managed a half-smile and wiped sweat from her brow with a shaky hand. “I’m fine, just give me a minute.” She lay down, cradled the back of her head, and tipped her gaze to the sky. “I’ve never levitated anything bigger than a cup or an egg from across the room. To have kept something your size up for that long, well,” she chuckled, “you’re learning how to control your magic, and I’m observing the currents your magic makes and configuring new spells based off your powers.”

  Jessica shook her head, not understanding.

  “Your fae magic is what it is. It’s unchanging. You can summon certain abilities but can only do what you can do. Witches, on the other hand, we influence what’s around us using spells or potions, but we cannot coax magic from nothing.”

  She motioned toward the boulder, five feet from where it originally sat. “I felt the vibrations when you lifted the rock, combined them with my knowledge and abilities, and created a new levitation spell. Witchcraft’s more than an innate ability; it’s a skill that requires constant tending, but because of that anything’s possible. We can do anything if we but learn.”

  “I had no idea there were so many ins and outs to it.”

  Willow laughed at that and stood, still gasping for each breath. “That’s enough for today,” she said, fanning her face.

  A sudden breeze caught up the moist tendrils at Willow’s neck. She sighed, then scowled at Jessica, moving her hands, and directing the wind towards her.

  “Be careful. You don’t have an infinite supply of power. Once it’s exhausted, it’s gone until you rebuild your energy. And you never know when you’ll really need it. And this”—she indicated the refreshing breeze— “is just excess. Wonderful excess, but excess. Now, I’m going to head to the village for supplies. You stay here and practice.”

  Jessica leapt to her feet. “I’m coming with.” She wasn’t going to stay behind this time.