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Chapter Twenty-Four - Gabe Morelli

The Year 1515

Pee Dee Settlement, NC

"I have to say, Gabriel, that if it weren't for your hunting skills, half the people in this settlement would go hungry," Zaif commended as Gabe loaded another deer onto his farm cart.

"While perhaps they may not have as much meat," Gabe replied from behind with a grunt, "the witches are more than capable of growing their own crops."

Zaif nodded reflectively at this from the seat of his cart. "It would be a valuable union: the witches such masterful gardeners and the vampires such skilled hunters. It's a shame the witches wouldn't overlook what you truly are if they ever found out."

With the carcasses secured down, Gabe strolled towards the front of the cart. "Lucky I have a ring that suggests otherwise," he said, holding up his hand in evidence, "and very lucky that I know some humans who can keep that information to themselves."

Zaif laughed, knowing that Gabe had no choice in the matter. He was one of the few humans in the settlement that Gabe considered a friend after discovering Zaif was incapable of being compelled---something he had done to feed on other humans in the area. Upon this discovery, Winifred conducted some tests on Zaif, confirmed he was not a witch, could not confirm why compulsion did not work on him, and immediately berated Gabe for feeding on the human settlers and forced him to live on a diet of animal blood ever since.

"Besides," Gabe added, smiling. "I have one witch who's willing to overlook what I truly am, and I consider myself extremely lucky for it."

"Not just any witch either---the founding witch," Zaif said, referring to Winifred. "Now if only you could tell me the secret to winning the hand of the founding human's niece."

"Sorcha?" Gabe asked, raising his eyebrows. "I'm afraid you might be no longer to her taste."

Zaif jumped down from the cart, facing Gabe in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Lana. Have you not met her yet?"

Zaif shook his head.

"Sorcha took her in, as well as her infant daughter, Cecily" he explained. "She informed me that Cecily demonstrated magic while she was back in Wallachia. Her father, who was also a witch, was so terrified of being exposed that he reported her. But they managed to flee and ended up here almost a season ago." Gabe then spoke in a more gentle tone. "Sorcha and Lana have become very close. I suspect they have formed a... romantic attachment to one another."

"Oh," Zaif said, lowering his eyes. The news broke him. He'd been in love with Sorcha since they'd journeyed over together three years ago. For a while he was sure she felt the same about him. He and his cousin had been working hard for her uncle, Henry Pagan, for many years, and they yielded far better crops in the New World than they ever did back in England. He thought it was only a matter of time until he proved his worth to her.

Gabe placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. "I understand that you were once close with her, Zaif, but Henry paid for your passage over here and he has treated you like a son ever since. It seems he has other plans for you. He already told Sorcha that he has agreed for you to marry a woman who is the same... color as you."

"I've heard nothing of this," Zaif swiped Gabe's hand away. "Henry cannot claim to treat me like a son and then consider me unsuitable to marry his niece because the color of my skin is not to his liking."

Gabe sighed. He naturally agreed with him. It wasn't as though this new union between Sorcha and Lana would be acceptable to Henry either. "Even if that were not the case, Henry would still deny you her hand in marriage. It's the witches who ensure the fertility of his land and it's one of them he wants you to marry."

"Then let my cousin, Omar, have that burden, not me." Zaif pulled himself back up onto the seat, taking hold of the horses' reins. "Thank you Gabriel. I am going to speak to Sorcha."

Zaif didn't wait for a reply from Gabriel as he then led the horses towards the direction of Sorcha's home. Part of the reason he had enjoyed making trips on the farmers cart to collect fresh game from Gabe was because his land was so close to hers. Not too long ago, Sorcha would have invited him inside and they would have spent so long talking that Zaif had to invent excuses for why he had returned to her uncle so late. He hadn't been inside her home since before Midsummer, and now he understood why.

He stopped near to Sorcha's half-timbered cottage, tethering the horses' reins around a vertical wooden post in the ground, and made his way towards her door and knocked. It only took seconds for her to answer, but when she did, she immediately stepped out from her home and pulled the door ajar behind her. It seemed Zaif was still not being invited in.

"Sorcha, can I enquire about the young ladies staying in your home?" Zaif asked, immediately getting to the point. He had visited her almost every day throughout the summer; there was no need for greetings and pleasantries.

"What do you mean?" Sorcha asked defensively, her arms splayed across the door, ensuring he was blocked from entering.

"I mean Lana and Cecily," he clarified. "Why have you not told me about them?"

Not wanting Lana to overhear, Sorcha secured the door behind her, took Zaif by the arm and led him away from the house. "It's not that I've wanted to keep secrets from you, but I've not wanted my uncle to learn of her."

"You don't trust me not to tell your uncle?" he asked, offended.

"Of course I do, but Lana's very protective of Cecily. She barely even leaves the house," she explained. She cast her eyes backwards towards the house, keeping her voice low. "There's also news of a settlement of vampir not too far from here, looking for one of their own that they lost contact with some time ago. They have a witch with them, but she is old and unwell. It could be that they are trying to track their old companion. It could be that they are seeking a new community of witches to find one to replace her. We can only hope it's the former so that they bypass us in their search."

They would find both either way, Zaif realized. He took Sorcha by the shoulders. "The companion that they are looking for is among us."

"No, that's not possible," Sorcha gasped.

"He's not like the rest of the vampir, he wants to protect us." Zaif considered how true this was. The vampir always protected the humans in the New World. There was already a lack of human blood; they had no choice but to ensure their survival. But the witches were a powerful threat only worth destroying. Would Winifred be one of them? Would they be looking for an experienced witch, or one much younger, like Cecily? Could Gabe's influence on the vampir protect them both? There was only one way to find out. "Can I ask you something, Sorcha?"

"Yes, of course," she replied.

"Do you love Lana?"

The boldness of the question took Sorcha by surprised and she fidgeted nervously with the cuffs of her sleeves, unsure whether to disclose how she felt, or whether she really knew how she felt. "I have... great affection for her," she began. "Though perhaps not as great of an affection as I once held for you."

"Once?" Zaif asked curiously.

"I mean before my uncle informed me that he was arranging your betrothal," she explained quickly, not wanting to discuss it further. The news had devastated her and she didn't wish to revisit those feelings. She had already grieved and moved on. So she increased the confidence in her tone. "Lana makes me very happy, Zaif, but I'm aware it cannot last. I offered her a safe place to stay, but she always said she will be gone before the vampir arrive, and now it seems that time has come. I know she has to leave for her daughter's safety, but I have considered going with her."

Zaif couldn't help but panic at this possibility. He didn't want her to leave. Even if the vampir did claim their settlement, they were human: both Lana and Sorcha would be kept alive. Except Cecily wouldn't; not unless someone could convince her to be spared. Gabe would no doubt convince the vampir that Winifred was the one who needed to be saved, but what if he also vouched for a small child? An infant couldn't be much of a threat, surely.

Sorcha interrupted his thoughts, sensing his distress. "I don't want to leave you, Zaif, but there's no other way."

"There is another way," Zaif said with more conviction than he truly felt. "Tell Lana to go and speak to Gabriel Morelli."