Frozen Summer

Chapter 8

Once again, Isabella found herself on the ground, under Richard. She knew what was gonna happen, and might as well enjoy the little bit of pleasure of the moment. She waited for his kiss, but it never came, she opened her eyes only to see him laying down next to her, simply smiling while looking at him. She got on top of him, caressed his face that looked as hard as diamond but felt as smooth as silk. She wanted this man, he made her feel warm, for some reason she was attracted to him even though he seemed so dangerous. She took his shirt off, caressing the forms of his pecs, going down the line of his abdominal muscles. She leaned forward, acting on instinct, biting his ear lobe, slowly going down his neck. She was the one in control. She locked eyes with him, she kissed him and felt an intense pleasure flowing through her, she wished it never stopped....

When she woke up, she was in sweat but not for the same reasons as usual. What a dream, it felt almost as if for a moment he really was here with her. She slept so good she wished she could go back but today she had a few visitors coming for their regular medications. She painfully managed to push her blankets aside and got up. Opening her windows, she smelled the fresh air from the morning, Winter had arrived. As she let the cold air into her lungs, she thought that it had been a few days since she was sleeping better. After eating a quick breakfast composed of pears and nuts, she started her day by preparing the needed products for today's customers. She received them during the day and it went all as planned. A week passed without incidents after she forced Richard out of her house, she wasn't as scared to come out of her home. Actually she had hoped to bump into him. As she was going to her usual clearing she felt like her days were becoming boring, maybe she appreciated this slight change in her rhythm. Just when she had this thought, as if god himself heard her. She saw a hooded silhouette, hunched over flowers,he was there, she knew he heard her but she didn't say anything, she sat a few meters away from him. There was silence between them, when she turned her face towards him, he was looking at her, with his usual charming smile. She smiled back at him as she felt relieved he didn't hate her.

" I didn't take you for the flower type of person " she said, coming closer to him.

" Well I don't find what I want, do you ? " he said, completely facing her.

He had a fresh scar on his cheek, she didn"t want to mention it too much, she simply wanted a calm discussion with him.

" I always come here for the same things, camomille, nettle and sage, I've been asked for a particular recipe by a certain someone so i'm collecting those already ". She had a slight pause." Richard, can i ask you something ? "

" Well you just did " he said mockingly.

" very funny mister hunter, nah but seriously, what is the thing that you want me to do for you since you didn't flinch a few weeks ago ? ".

This time he was the one pausing, he then told her in the most serious way possible.

" I want you to accept to have dinner with me ".

She froze, she became as red as her hair, she technically couldn't refuse, and she didn't really want to refuse.Trying to seem unfazed she answered him as calm and confident as possible.

" Alright, seems easy enough ".

" Then it's settled, i'll see you tonight at sunset, i'm looking forward to it Isabella ". He got up and walked away, disappearing into the woods. Even if she didn't say it back, she was impatient too.

She collected the remaining herbs she needed and headed back home.

When the night came, everything was ready, dinner was ready, she was waiting for the knocking on her door. Nervously fiddling with a strand of her hair she realised she never had dinner with a man in such context. Then it came, a faint knock on her door, when she opened the door she took a little step back. Richard looked nervous, he wasn't smiling, he had his hands behind his back. He slowly walked closer to her, her heart was starting to go in a panic " what if he really wants to kill me ? What if he simply stabs me now ? " her mind was going berserk and it all came crashing down when he spoke.

" Here, this is for you ". He was presenting to her a blue dahlia, the kind you only find on the highest point of the mountain, it is said to be even above the clouds so the sun always shines on it. The flower was like radiating, she was mesmerised by it.

" So that's what you were looking for this morning " She said looking at him.

" Well yeah, i wanted to find something special, because I thought I had to somehow make it up to you for whatever i did to you. I apologize for my familiar attitude and I should have understood that it made you uncomfortable. "

He didn't seem to be lying, he was worried that he had done something wrong, it made Isabella feel even more sympathy for him. She took the flower out of his hands and put it in a pot.

She then decided to risk it all, she was tired of this. She placed the pot on the table in front of him.

"Richard, I need to tell you something, sit down please".

She put her hand above the pot " blessing of nature, grant me the power to quench thirst, aqua ". A small sphere of water formed above the pot and started pouring into it, once it was filled, Bella looked at Richard, anxiously awaiting for his reaction. He was looking at the pot, when he finally looked at her he was still smiling but she didn't know if it was good or bad yet.

" I had suspicions that you might be a witch after our previous encounter. You saw my tattoo didn't you ? " .

She simply nodded, still wondering if she was about to die right this second or not. He had a slight sigh and looked at her in the eyes.

" Now it's my turn to show you something then ".

Still seated Richard looked around, noticing each of the candles that were lit up. He focused and imagined all of them going out. Suddenly a strong wind opened the door and windows and put out all of the candles. Isabella looked around and then looked at Richard but he had vanished from the chair. She panicked as she was thinking her last moments had arrived.

" Over here "

She could hear him but not see him, he then emerged from the shadows as if he just appeared out of thin air. He clearly wasn't just standing right here a second ago, could he teleport ? What kind of strange spell was this ? She could barely see his face in the darkness of her home until a small flame manifested at the tip of his finger that he was holding in front of his mouth as if he was telling her to stay silent. He was still smiling, as he got closer to her he accurately directed the little flame in the direction of each of the candles and lighted them all.

" Not bad huh ? I'm a bit out of practice but i can still perform some spells ".

She was properly shocked, she had never heard of a male human able to make spells. For some reason most magic users are women or demi humans. Human males never get any magic powers. She regained her composure and asked the burning question.

" So why do you have this witch hunter tattoo from a kingdom that hates witches and anything magical related if you yourself are a magician ? "

He sat down and invited her to also take a seat.

" I was indeed in the army of Fardug and enrolled into the witch hunter division but nobody knew I could use magic. I always used to hide it, it always caused troubles for the people around me so i rarely spoke about it. In fact, you are the only person that knows that is still alive. "

" But why did you even enroll into this special division if you knew what they would do if they ever discovered your abilities ? "

Richard marked a pause, he layed further back into the chair.

" I wanted to be acknowledged by someone important to me, but before I speak about this person, we need to go a few years back. I cared about this person the day I discovered my powers and on the same day, was the first time I ever killed."