by Mona Hanna
“Oh! I didn’t realize… I didn’t know that you two had woken up.”
“That’s alright,” Brayden said. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Hallie blushed and moved to get out of Sean’s lap. He kissed her once more, not letting go of her, and she giggled and they both stood. They all sat at the table, Sean across from Ariel, and Hallie across from Brayden.
Ariel took a deep breath, preparing to tell them about her dream. “I want to tell all of you something,” she said. “It was something I saw in my sleep. It was an… experience. It was wonderful. It was about all of us, all the High Witches, including Erica.”
Ariel smiled at Hallie fondly, and then told everyone what she saw. She was a little nervous—would they understand? Would they believe her? When she finished, everyone was silent. Ariel held her breath, waiting to hear what they thought. No one spoke for a little while.
Then Hallie brought her hand to her face and wiped away a few tears. “That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard,” she said softly. “We’re going to be alright, Ariel. We’re all going to be alright.”
Hallie burst into tears, and Ariel felt her own eyes become moist. She looked down, overcome with emotion. Sean stood up and put an arm around Hallie, and Ariel looked over at Brayden.
He was gazing at her with such love in his eyes, it took her breath away. She smiled, feeling she was about to cry, and Brayden leaned close to her and kissed her on the cheek. He held her face in his hands, gently kissing her lips, her cheek, her eyelids. He rested his forehead against hers. Ariel sighed happily. “I love you so much,” Brayden whispered. “You’re the most amazing woman in the world. I love you and Erica with all of my heart.”
“I love you too,” Ariel whispered back.
Eventually she leaned back, and Sean sat back at the table. Everyone began to eat from the plates of cold meat, different cheeses, and bread. There was a jug of cider and some fruit for dessert. Ariel was ravenous and ate quickly, feeling like she hadn’t eaten in days. Everyone ate quietly, the silence pleasant and relaxing. Ariel felt so much better. So happy, so contented. She looked at Hallie next to her, and the girl smiled, looking so lovely and sweet. Ariel smiled back, then saw Sean looking at her. He had a serious look on his face, and Ariel stopped eating, knowing he wanted to speak.
Sean took a deep breath. “Thank you for saving me.” He looked at her with intense pain in his eyes. “I can’t thank you enough. I was barely sane when we came back here, so I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier. But you’re amazing, and I’ll do anything to show you how grateful I am. I’m so glad we met you, and I’m so glad Hallie has you as her friend. Glad we both have you as a friend.”
Ariel looked down, embarrassed. “Take care of her, Sean,” she said, gazing at him and wanting him to understand. “The only thing I ask of you is to be there for Hallie. I know you two love each other, and that’s the most powerful thing there is. Don’t ever be apart.”
Sean looked at Hallie, leaned over, and kissed her. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
Hallie blushed, and Ariel’s heart filled up. She looked down again, hoping Hallie and Sean would always be together. It broke her heart that she would have to leave them soon, but she had a feeling she would see them again before too long.
Chapter 21
“I don’t want to go,” Ariel said, sitting next to Hallie on the settee a week later. Brayden and Sean were sitting in the armchairs. Ariel and Brayden had spent the week with Hallie and Sean, just relaxing and getting to know each other better, but it was time for them to go back home. Ariel was homesick but also sad at the thought of leaving Hallie. “I don’t want to leave you,” Ariel said. “I’ll miss you so much. You’re the only one who understands what it’s like, being the way we are. I wish you lived closer, Hallie.”
Hallie frowned at her, looking so upset. “I don’t want you to go either. But I want to visit you. Can I visit you when your baby’s born? I want to meet your little girl.”
“Of course!” Ariel said. “You’ll be her aunt, you know. I want you to be in her life. I want all the High Witches to be together.” Ariel gave Hallie a big hug, then sat back.
Hallie looked at her closely and took a deep breath. “There’s something I want to give you. Just wait here a moment.”
Ariel watched as Hallie went to her bedroom and came back holding a black leather book.
Hallie sat back down and handed it to Ariel. “This is a journal Nicholas had with him a lot,” she began, her voice filled with nerves. “On… on the day we stopped Nicholas, I went back to his house when everyone was asleep and found it in his bedroom. I suspected the journal had information about us, as Nicholas always had it with him. I looked through it briefly—I didn’t read anything specific—but I think it belonged to Julius. I saw your name in it. I thought it could help you learn the truth about what happened when you were a child.”
Ariel gasped a little, putting her hand to her chest. “Oh, Hallie,” she whispered. “Oh…” She turned the soft, worn book over in her hands, then opened it. The pages were yellowed with age and filled with dark ink in a harsh scrawl. Ariel flicked through it, seeing dates at the beginning going back dozens of years. This really did belong to Julius. He had been looking for High Witches, recording stories and leads about them in the book. Ariel looked at the pages towards the back and saw her name. And Hallie’s.
In the same part of the book.
Julius had found them both at the same time.
He had picked Ariel.
The realization hit her hard. She might have been spared the test! She didn’t wish it on Hallie, but, oh, she might have been spared! She would never forget what she’d been through. Her nightmares would be forever filled with the pain she’d suffered, feeling herself dying, knowing her life was ending. What she went through the day she saved Sean was horrific and terrifying, but she’d had hope in her heart that she would live. When she went through the test, she had no way of knowing she’d survive. And Julius’ machine had caused her unimaginable pain, pain which she would haunt her forever. She would never forget it. She never would.
Ariel looked back at the book, at the entries about her, and glanced through them. Julius had mostly written down theories and rumors, and then she saw a page where he’d written about speaking to an elderly man about her.
Finally found a man who actually saw the accident Ariel was in where her parents died. The man, named Peter, lived on the street where the accident happened. He said the horse leading the carriage was struck by a heavy object, got spooked, and sped away. The driver couldn’t control the horse and the carriage smashed into a tree. The driver was killed instantly and so were the two adults inside. But the child’s parents had covered the girl with their bodies, shielding her from the impact.
Peter had helped get Ariel’s parents out of the carriage, and they pried the three-year-old out of their arms. She was screaming so loudly and no one could stop it. Peter said no one could believe what happened next—the girl kept crying, louder and louder, then the air grew very hot. A harsh wind blew around the carriage, lifted it up off the ground, and slammed it back down. The wreck immediately caught fire, not a small blaze but a raging inferno covering it completely. A woman from the village carried the girl away, but she could be heard screaming down the street. Peter said no one could explain what happened, but everyone there believed the girl caused it.
No ordinary child, even a child of magic, could control the wind like that, and she also started a fire. Proof Ariel is a High Witch.
Ariel looked over at Brayden. She handed him the book, and he read the same page she had read.
He sighed. “So that’s how he knew. Are you alright? Reading about what happened?”
She bit her lip. “I never knew how I survived. They saved me. My parents saved me. My uncle never told me. He mustn’t have known. I feel even sadder that I lost them, Brayden. They really loved me.”
She began to cry sof
tly, and Brayden stood over her, putting his arm around her. Her parents had loved her. She couldn’t remember them. Until Brayden, she’d never really experienced love. But they had protected her. She vowed to always protect her little girl. And she was more proud than ever she was naming Erica after her mother.
***
A short while later, Ariel and Brayden moved to the door, and Brayden picked up their bags.
“I’ll write to you,” Hallie said. “I’ll tell you everything that’s happening. And I want to hear from you.”
“You will,” Ariel said, laughing softly. She gave Hallie and huge hug, then stepped back from her, holding her hands. Brayden and Sean shook hands, smiling at each other, and Sean opened the door for them. They said a final good-bye, then headed for the center of town where they could get a carriage and begin the journey back to where they would board their ship.
Ariel’s heart broke a little as they walked. She’d achieved her dream: she had found one of the other High Witches, and she had helped Hallie and Sean. She had told Hallie who she was and taught her to use her powers. She had done what she had always wanted, and no one went through the test. Ariel was happy and felt such love for her new family. But still, her heart was sad.
“Are you alright, Ariel? Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m going to miss her. I’ll miss both of them.”
“You’ll see them again,” Brayden said. “I know the trip is horrendous, but it’s manageable. Sean was at sea for years, so he can handle it, and Hallie can heal herself with her magic if she gets seasick. They’ll be in our lives.”
“I hope so,” she said. “I just can’t help but feel part of the journey is over. My dream of meeting all the High Witches is partly finished, and I feel an emptiness. I want to do more. I want to be part of something big.”
Brayden looked at her as they walked. “It’s not really enough, you working with me and my mother. I know you’re proud of what you do, but it’s not enough, is it?”
Ariel bit her lip, then glanced at him. “No,” she admitted softly. “I love you both, but… no. I want more.”
“Then you’ll have more. But I think your biggest challenge is coming up in, what, a few months?”
Brayden grinned at her, and Ariel smiled, putting her hand on her stomach. Little Erica. Her greatest love; her greatest joy.
She laughed. “I can’t wait to teach her!” Ariel said gleefully. “I can’t wait to train her! And she’ll never be ashamed of who she is. I’ll make sure of that.”
Brayden smiled. “As long as she doesn’t get too confident. Can’t have her blowing up the house if she doesn’t get her way.”
“Brayden!” Ariel exclaimed. “She won’t be spoiled. She’ll be perfect. And you know what’s lovely? Hallie is like my sister, and Erica has a sister out there—the other High Witch. She’ll be close to Erica’s age, only a little older. We have to find her. We have to protect her, too.”
“Raising a High Witch and finding another? Sounds big to me,” Brayden said. Then he stopped walking, put down the bags, and looked at her. “There’s so much you’ll do, Ariel. So much that will happen for you, for all of you. You’re not destined to brew potions, and I hardly think Hallie is destined to work as a scribe forever, although she wants to go back to it right now. You’re going to change things, I can feel it. I know it. You’re amazing, and there’s nothing you can’t do. But not because of your power. Because of your heart.”
Ariel stepped towards him and kissed him, holding his face in her hands. She looked at him closely when she pulled back. “You’re going to be the greatest father in the world,” she whispered. “And I love you with my whole heart.”
He smiled crookedly. “And I love you with all of mine.”
***
Hallie lay in bed with Sean that night, resting in his arms. They hadn’t said anything for a while, both exhausted. The past week had been wonderful but tiring. Both of them had just relaxed after Ariel and Brayden had left, not really speaking much, just spending time alone. Hallie thought about just drifting off to sleep but wanted to ask Sean something. She was nervous but had to get it out. “Sean?” she asked. “Are you awake?”
“Yes. What is it?”
She paused for a moment. “We haven’t really spoken about… I mean, what we’re going to do next. We’ve spent nearly all our time with Ariel and Brayden, and you didn’t bring it up, and I didn’t bring it up, and I don’t know what…”
Sean turned on his side and looked at her, still holding her. He kissed her on the forehead. “What would you like? What do you want for us?”
She looked away, suddenly shy, not able to say what she really felt.
Sean kissed her forehead again, bringing his hand up and burying it in her hair. He sighed deeply. “Should I tell you what I was thinking?”
Hallie looked at him. “Yes! Oh, yes.”
He smiled. “I don’t want to pressure you, and I don’t want to crowd you. I haven’t said anything because I was giving you time to rest after all that’s happened. But what I’d like is to move here, to your town. I want to stay with you. I did carpentry work before I left to go on my uncle’s ship, so I can always go back to that. I don’t know where you want me to live, but I want to be with you, Hallie. There’s no point in me going back home—where you are is home. And you’ve made a life here, and I don’t want to take you away from that. I don’t know if you’ll get your old job back, but even if you don’t, you’ll find something else. All I want is to spend my life with you, every second, and well, I’m yours if you’ll have me.”
Hallie gently kissed him on the mouth before looking into his eyes. “I love you,” she said. “Everything I said the day before what happened with Nicholas, I meant. I’m yours too. It would be madness for you to live anywhere else—I want you here, with me, forever. I never want to be apart from you. Stay with me. Please stay.” She hugged him tightly, the thought of him being anywhere but with her making her heart break.
He held her closely, whispering in her ear how much he loved her. Finally he pulled back, smiling at her, his eyes twinkling. “People will talk, us living together without being married,” he said, grinning. “How long should we let them talk?”
She suddenly lost all her breath, her heart starting to beat faster. “What do you mean?”
He kissed her softly, tenderly, then placed a kiss on her neck. “How long before you marry me, Hallie?” he whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
“You haven’t asked,” she said, her heart fluttering.
He kissed her neck again. “Should I correct that?”
She wanted to kill him for teasing her, but she could barely breathe. “Oh, Sean…”
He kissed her, the longest, deepest kiss she’d ever had, clutching her to him while his tongue slid against hers. She sunk her fingers into his hair as his hands moved over her body, and then he reined kisses down her neck, her chest, finally stopping to stare at her. She bit her lip, desperately wanting him to ask but frightened he wouldn’t.
He gently took her hand, brushing it with his lips before gazing into her eyes again. “I’ve loved you since I was eight, since the day I first saw you. I used to imagine marrying you, even when I was a kid, but I never told anyone. Least of all you. Every time someone was mean to you, it broke my heart, hence me punching half the boys in our town. I love you so much, and there’s not a single soul in this world I could love more. You’re sweet and kind and beautiful and have the biggest heart in the world. You’re so strong, and if our children have half your strength, half your heart, they’ll be the luckiest people in the world. And I do want children with you. I want everything with you. I want to live here, but as soon as we can, I want to marry you, want to tell everyone you’re mine. I don’t want to spend a second without you. Nothing will ever keep me from you. So will you, Hallie? Will you marry me?”
Hallie kissed him, a long and slow kiss, wanting to show him her answer, but he stopped, gazin
g at her. She could see the anticipation in his eyes. She smiled at him. “Yes, I’ll marry you,” she whispered. “Oh, Sean. Of course I’ll marry you.”
They kissed again but didn’t stop. They made love all night long. Hallie knew they’d make love for the rest of their lives.
Epilogue
Brayden paced the front room of the house, Ariel’s cries as she was in labor making him so anxious he could barely stand it. She was in their bedroom with the midwife and his mother and Aunt Sophie, and all Brayden could do was wait. He felt helpless, useless, and had to keep stopping himself from barging into the room. It was his child being born! His baby! He couldn’t bear the sound of Ariel in pain, and his heart ripped in two every time she cried out. He kept pacing, his hands clasped firmly behind his back. He couldn’t stand the waiting. Then he heard it.
Ariel gave a final loud scream, and a baby’s cries could be heard, high and shrill. Brayden could hear the women exclaiming and ran towards his bedroom, dying to go inside. He waited impatiently. After a while, Brayden’s aunt opened the door and gestured for him to come in. He walked inside and looked over at Ariel.
She sat on the bed, her hair damp with sweat and her face looking exhausted, holding their tiny baby in her arms, wrapped in a white cloth. The midwife and his aunt were tidying up at the foot of the bed, and Brayden’s mother stood beside Ariel. Brayden rushed to her side, leaned over, and kissed her on the forehead.
“Ariel, you did it,” he said and kissed her head again. “I’m so proud of you. Oh, my love.”
His wife was crying, and Brayden wiped away her tears. He looked at his child—so small, her skin pink with dark hair on her head—and he fell in love immediately. He reached his hand out, almost scared to touch her, and brushed her cheek with his thumb. He felt tears fall from his eyes also and put his arm around Ariel. “She’s here,” he whispered.
