Never Ending Youth {Queen Ravenna / Reader}

11:

I continue riding until I come across a small, yet inviting, village in a small clearing within the forest. I dismount Alice then make my way into the area of small shacks, stands, and farmland. I'm instantly welcomed by a group of about six children who, in all honestly, probably only came over to see Alice. They lead me to who I assume is the Village "leader".

"Hello, Sir." I say with a smile. The man nods with a smile of his own. "Hello, Miss. And what might your name be?" he asks. I take a deep breath. I start to get nervous. "Y/n Briar, Sir." I reply. He takes in my appearance. "You're Queen Ravenna's woman, aren't you?" he asks. I sigh and shake my head. " No, Sir. I'm not. Not anymore." I tell him. He stands and approaches me. "Alright. Well, why don't you stay here with us? We could use an extra Witch." he says.

My eyes widen. "I-" I starts. He laughs. "Why do you think our population is so small, Miss Briar?" he asks. I don't reply, I simply smile. "Come on, I'll take you to a free cabin." he tells me. I follow him through the centre of the village, Alice trailing along behind me.

We stop outside a small stone house. "Here, Miss Briar. Consider this your own." the leader tells me. I smile, a feeling of peace finally washing over me. It's been far too long since I've felt even remotely peaceful.

I tie Alice up outside. He opens the door for me. "Thank you." I say. I enter. "You're welcome. I'll leave you to it." he says. I nod. He goes to leave. "Wait, your name." I say. He turns back to face me. "Hugh. You can call me Hugh." he answers. I nod. "Thank you, Hugh." I say. He nods then leaves.

I study the details of the room. "Mm, cozy." I say as I walk inside a little more. It's very simple; bed in one corner, small table and chairs in the middle, shelves in another corner. My eyes stop on a small fire place over near the bed. I walk over to it, tossing my stuff on the bed as I pass it. I crouch down in front of it. It's clean as if it's never been used before. As I stand, there's a knock at the door. I walk over and open it. It's Hugh again. "I figured you'd want wood for the fire." he tells me. I chuckle. "I was just looking over the fire, so yes. Thank you." I tell him.

"Would you like me to bring it in for you?" he asks. "Uhm, yeah sure." I say. I give him room to enter. He walks over, a stack of about 15 logs of wood and small pieces of kindling in his arms. He places the wood right beside the fire place. He stands as he brushes the bark from his clothing. "I'm going to assume you know how to contrust and start a fire." he says. I nod. "Yes, I do." I confirm. He smiles. "Perfect. There should be flint and steel somewhere here. If not, you know where to find me." he tells me. I nod.

I thank him one final time as he leaves. It's relatively warm in the small house so I search for the flint and steel. I find it quicker than I thought I would. I construct the fire then head outside. I walk through the village, children and small animals running up to me as they see me.

As I'm talking to a few, of what I assume are teenagers, someone shouts at me. "Oi, green dress princess, come over here, will ya?" I look around me. It's a tall man, maybe 5'11, 6 foot. I look towards the teenagers. "Who's that?" I ask. They all shrug. "Some mental fucker. He's weird." one of them tells me. I sigh. "Are ya listening?" the man shouts. I walk over to him, cautious of his behaviour and body language. "Is everything okay?" I ask.

He looks me up and down. "Your the one that was wrapped around Queen Raverra's finger, or whatever here name is." he tells me. "Queen Ravenna." I correct. "And I wasn't wrapped around her finger. I was... helping her." I say, my heart stinging a little. He chuckles. "Ravenna, right. Why'd you leave? I heard she treated ya amazing." he says. "I needed a change. Couldn't mentally handle everything going on." I say. "Did she hurt ya?" he asks. "Not physically." I say, my voice quiet.

"What a bitch, aye." he says, shaking his head. I don't respond. "I'm Sebastian, but everyong calls me Sebby. You're a witch, right?" he asks. "Sebby, right. Yeah, I'm a witch." I tell him. "Are ya good?" he questions. "I mean, good enough to make myself immortal because I thought if I did Ravenna wouldn't kill anyone else." I say. His eyes widen. "My wife was a witch. Got me some witch kids. I ain't one. Don't know magic or nothing. Think you can help me teach them a thing or two? Even if it just be control." he proposes. I smile. "How powerful is their magic?" I ask. He chuckles again. "Powerful enough to scare the shit out of me." he says. I nod. "Yeah, I'll help. Yeah." I tell him. He smiles, his mouth missing teeth here and there.

"Amazing, thanks." he says. I nod. "Wait, what's ya name?" he asks. "Y/n." I tell him. "Y/n, got it. I'll tell me kids they got a teacher now. They'll be stoked." he says.

He walks inside a house about double the size of mine. As I walk away I can hear his booming voice. "Oi kids, I gotcha a magic teacher." he shouts. I chuckle to myself as I walk away.

I fit into the crowd nicely. No more 'Lady Y/n' which is phenomenal. I had started teaching Sebby's children how to control their magic about a week ago. Jamie, Zander, and Maeve are their names. Three teenagers. Lovely children. Powerful, too. The two boys struggle with control a little, but overall they're doing great. Maeve; she's excellent. Her control is as good as someone who'd been controlling their magic for years.

"Right, you three, I think that's enough for today. It's only been a week and you're all doing amazing." I tell them. They all smile. Jamie and Zander head inside. Maeve stays outside with me. "Y/n, are we going to learn spells?" she asks as she walks over to me. "I- you'd have to talk to your dad about that one, honey. It's not for me to decide." I tell her. She nods then walks inside.

A couple minutes later, I hear Sebby call my name. I enter the house, the three kids sat at the kitchen table. "The kids tell me they want to learn spells with ya, Y/n." he says. "I said only if you say they can. It's not my choice." I say. He looks to his kids, then back to me. "I say give it another week. I want to see how good at controlling their magic they are. If I can trust that you'll do a good job teaching them, then I say go for it." he tells me. I look to the kids. Excitement fills their faces. I look back to Sebby. "Are you sure? Spells can be hard on young brains." I tell him.

He breathes out. "How old were ya when ya learnt your first spell?" he questions. I close my eyes to think. "Sixteen, I believe I was." I answer. "All of them are sixteen or older." he tells me. "I'll only do it if you're happy with them learning some." I say. He nods. "You'll do a good job, I'm sure." he says. I sigh and look back to the kids who are all nodding. "Alright, but lets see how this next week goes first." I tell them.

The kids thank me and hurry outside. "Are ya coming to the bonfire tonight at the village centre?" Sebby asks. I shrug. "Oh, I might. Is it worth it?" he asks. "Abso-fucking-lutely worth it. Miranda down the way makes a beautiful lamb roast every time. She makes enough to feed the village three times over, but it's always gone by the end of the night." he tells me. My mouth waters at the thought. "Oh, if there's lamb I'll be there." I say. He laughs and hits my back gently. "You fit in perfectly. Lamb lover like the rest of us." he says. I smile.

That evening goes amazingly. Children are running around in the lantern-lit fields, the parents are sitting around a large fire. Miranda and her husband stand under a small lean-to, the small of lamb being carried around by the smoke coming from the area. I walk over to them. Miranda looks at me, her smile wide. "You must be Y/n. Sebby told me we'd see you sometime tonight." she says. I nod. "That's me. It smells amazing over here." I say. Her husband pops up behind her. "That's the lamb." he says, a proud look on his face. "Robert, make sure to save Y/n the first serving." Miranda tells him. "Will do, love." he says. I thank them both then walk over to the fire.

I sit next to Sebby who is surrounded by four others. "This is the girl teaching me kids." he says. The others study me for a second. "Your power is like no other." one of them tells me. "Thank you, I think-" I say. laughing nervously. "Yes, you are very powerful." another says. I don't reply.

Later that evening, as the chaos starts to die down, I head back to my wee cottage. I light the fire and get ready for bed. I'm happy again for what feels like the first time in decades.

A.N: The next chapter is the last chapter guys. I need to wrap this up before I bore myself lmao.