Bennett Coven

Chapter 13

Leslie and Diana were the next to have to go home to collect their things. They'd only known each other for a couple days but the two only children gravitated towards each other. For years both of them had been searching for community and only found it in the rare pagan and witchcraft circles. Diana gravitated towards everyone in Virginia but her and Leslie actually spent the most time talking in between her sunrise and sunset meditations. The two witches agreed to help each other pack up. Diana was first and they were headed to Boulder, Colorado.

"You sure you can just leave your job?" Leslie drawled as they arrived in beautiful Boulder. The mountains were in the distance and the air extremely clean.

"Oh yeah. I get hired by people through referrals. I don't have any contracts. Perfect time to leave, actually," She said. They'd apparated near the back of her home. Diana saw the her little cottage and sighed in happiness. It was her home. She went into the garden gate where vines grew over it. Even Ursula looked amazed.

"I quite like it here." Ursula said.

"Right." Leslie said as Diana unlocked the door and walked inside. Plants covered a lot of surfaces and every wall seemed to have a bookshelf on it.

"Yu have amazing energy." Ursula told Diana. She'd rarely met a Merlinian or a Wiccan with the energy of the doula.

"Thank you." Diana said and grinned widely as she grabbed an old trunk out.

"You hear that often."

"I do. But I enjoy it every time I hear it. I've tried to radiate everything out of me." 

"You do. It's your magic. You calm people. Some people are not lesser in magic, their skills just lie in what has yet to be discovered." Diana thought her magic was low except when around normal spiritual worshippers.

Leslie helped Diana pack up her things while Ursula lounged, totally aware she could use magic. But she enjoyed the time in the space. "What happens to the house?" Leslie asked her.

"I have enough in savings to keep it. If I decide to stay long term in Mystic Falls I will think about selling it. But my grandmama bought this house. Feels wrong to sell it to someone who doesn't appreciate that."

"That's how I feel about my home. My great great grandfather bought it for his wife. It's a nice sized big house with two guest houses on the property. But its just so empty. Bennetts stopped having kids. My momma had trouble having me. She thought she was cursed."

"She had issues getting pregnant?"

"No, finding a man," Leslie said and they both smirked at each other.

"Girl, same."

"But you're so beautiful." Leslie told ehr cousin.

"I haven't always chosen the best men for me. Then I just got scared. I haven't dated since college. You're gorgeous. What about you?" Diana asked.

"Umm, not many lesbians in Covington. And none of them seem to be my type." Leslie easily announced herself to Diana.

"Well what's your type?"

"I don't know. I grew up here. Everythign I know is here. But it didn't make it easy. I was always odd. Just felt wrong to add andother thing to it," Diana nodded as they finished packing.

"Are we ready?" Ursula asked and they looked over to her, almost forgetting she was there.

"You really just sat there and watched us?"

"Well your space is good for relaxing." Ursula portkeyed the bags to Diana's room in Virginia. Then the trio were off to Kentucky.

They arrived to the view of a huge main house among the rolling hills. "Wow." Diana said. She thought her place was lovely. Leslie smirked.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice. But very empty. I have to find extra fifteen grand a year to pay someone to upkeep everything." They walked down the path.

"You have crops?" Ursula asked as she looked at the fields.

"Yes, potatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, onions, garlic, three different types of peppers including Scotch bonnetts, five types of squash and tomatoes." Leslie bragged as they went down the path filled with colorful vegetables.

"And you do it all alone?" Diana asked.

"People come help me with the harvest and again I have someone that does most of the garden upkeep. I pay him the fifteen thousand and he gets whatever crops he wants. I don't want to let it fall."

"Would you be open to elves?" She looked at Ursula.

"What? Like that little thing."

"Yes. My family has dozens of elves. We could spare two. I have four at my flat. Then you could use the crops in Virginia. The elves will transport them."

"But what about your laws?" Ursula hadn't explained much about the world of Merlinian Wixen but they all knew they had their own system in place.

"My government doesn't track elf magic. And they'll stay out of sight. Maybe work on the off hours of your guy if you want to keep him." Leslie saw that it was actually a doable idea and got extremely excited.

"That would be just lovely. Life saving."

"We'll have to bring them back another day."

They headed back and arrived in time for dinner at the big house. It was so loud. There was a R & B playlist playing at a low level but the roar of sounds came form the peolpe surrounding the table. "Aunt Ursula, Diana, Leslie, I'm glad you're back. Did you have a good day?" Morrigan asked as they sat down and began to pile thier plates. There were big platters of rice, meats, beans, plaintains, and breads including corn & flour tortillas and coco bread.

"It was lovely," Diana said.

"What about you, Leslie?"

"It was good. I'm glad I got my things." Morrigan nodded then went back to stuffing her face.

The day winded down and Morrigan was headed to her room when Naomi appreached her. "Good evening, Naomi, how are you?" Morrigan asked.

"I'm good. The lab is almost done. Set up in one of Ursula's tents."

"That's great. But I have a feeling that's not why you want to talk to me."

"I- We should sit down." Naomi said and Morrigan nodded then led her to Niki's study. Naomi.

They sat down and Naomi looked hesitant. "I can read your mind if you think it will make things easier?" she asked Naomi.

"No. I- My best friend since med school has been Nicolas. He's actually the only best friend I had. We bonded because we were the only two black students in our year. But also because we found out we were both witches. And now I'm here and he feels like he would love to be here. He's always been more of the witch than me. He left med school when he realized he couldn't secretly use magic to help his patients without risk of exposure. He began to practice herbalism and chakra healing. He wanted to know if we're open to having him here. Not in the house. But in the town. I suppose part of the coven in the way of someone to spend feast holidays. He'd be helpful since he does practice herbalism. He's a licensed naturopath. He's really good at it," she tried to say. Morrigan placed her hand on top of Naomi's to calm her.

"Let me pray about it," Morrigan told her. Naomi nodded.