"Are we ready to go?" Seth asks me. I fiddle with the makeshift carrier. I tried to use a blanket, wrapped around the baby, to hold her against me comfortably but I am worried it's too snug. I nod absentmindedly as he continues to talk. "Mariposa?" He places a hand on my shoulder, making me jump. "You are panicking too much."
"I'm not panicking." I huff. "I'm just trying to make a carrier out of this blanket. I've seen the women in my village do it all the time, but it seems too tight. How do they do this?" I grumble as I mess with the blanket more.
"The baby looks plenty comfortable." Seth tacks on. "Stop messing with it, Mariposa." He grabs my hands. "You are taking your anxiety out on a blanket." He rubs his thumbs on the backs of my hands. "Just take some deep breaths until you feel better."
I do as he says and inhale deeply. After a minute I looked back up into his eyes. "Sorry, I'm scared of going back home."
"I know." He smiles at me, a rich smile, as sweet as honey and just as thick. Kindness radiated from that smile and I pinched myself to remind myself that it is just Seth. "The last time you were there, they were burning you at the stake." I looked down at my hands. Tears welled up in my eyes but I bit them back. "Hey, it's ok." He cups the side of my face and raises it so that I am looking at him.
"Are we sure that we are unrecognizable when we wear the rings?" His hand was warm. A single tear escaped my eyes and he wiped it away quickly.
"Yes, no one will know who we are. We will be perfectly safe." Several more tears fell down my face, they were cold like ice as they streaked down my face. "Hey, it will be alright." He pulled me into an awkward hug as he tried not to squish the baby. I started to chuckle.
"I think the hug was unnecessary." I smile up at him and he gives me a gentle smirk. "Well, we should be heading out, don't you think?"
"Yeah." He sighs. I climb onto Hazel and he climbs onto the horse right behind me. The moonlight made him glitter and glow. His warm colors contrast in the dark and cold light. I leaned back against him as we headed out.
The sun was shining directly over us now. Luckily, it was fall. The air was crisper and there was a cold light breeze. Unfortunately, I did poorly in the cold. I shivered again as another breeze went by.
"Are you cold?" Seth asks me again and I shake my head.
"I am fine." I smile up at him as goosebumps sprout along my arms. I didn't have a single long sleeved dress. Since I ran away in the dead of summer I only thought to grab my summer dresses and when I went shopping for myself it was still summer. Considering that it just started getting cold this week I didn't think it would already be this cold.
"I don't believe you." He grunts as I shiver again. Then his giant cloak is being wrapped around my shoulders. It was so warm and carried his scent, the same smell that roses carried in spring. "There, now you won't be shivering anymore." I looked up and he smirked at me.
"Thank you." I grumbled. I readjusted the baby as she woke up. I took her out of the carrier and sat her up, careful to hold up her head even though she seemed to be able to do that on her own. Her wide blue eyes took in all the scenery around us. Her pink hat started to fall off. The tiny hairs that she had were dark silver. I swallowed harshly.
"What's wrong?" Seth asks me.
"You've noticed Iris's hair right?" I pull her hat back on so she doesn't get too cold. He nods. "It's too close to my hair for comfort."
"What do you mean?"
"My mom was never caught or killed but the fact that this baby has silver hair, something I have only seen in myself and my mother, and purple magic, I was starting to think she might be related to me." I look at the dark purple magic in the baby. I could finally see my own magic and am still astonished that I never could. My magic was the same light purple as my flames but it pulsed and grew like a living creature and it reached out and responded to this baby's magic.
"Her hair isn't the exact same, though." Seth tries to persuade me against my ideals.
"Maybe, her father was from a witch's family and the DNA mixed weirdly." I try to find a solution. "Maybe it's just dark because she's an infant."
"What color was your mom's magic?" He asks instead.
"I don't know." I pull the baby close to me and she starts to coo. "But, if you look at Adeline and Elliot, they look the same and their magic is the same." I tried to recall a more clear memory of my mother. "Although, I don't remember exactly what my mom looked like." I grumble as I look at this baby. "Something else that's strange is how her magic calls to me. I started getting a small tug around other witches but this baby pulls at my strings so hard. I can't just ignore that."
"Well, who knows, maybe she is your sister." Seth offers.
"Maybe, but I am old enough to be her mother." I sigh as I stare into the baby's eyes. She reaches for me and I let her touch my face. "We need to find some older witches. Taking care of so many children is exhausting for me."
"How old are you, Mariposa?" Seth asks. This wasn't the first time he asked but it was as if he was just double checking or straight up didn't believe it.
"Twenty." He hums as he rests his chin on the top of my head. "How old are you, Seth?" I still didn't know.
"Twenty-one." I hum at his response. "So, you just became eligible when you found out about your powers?"
"Yes, actually, that was on the same day." He froze. "It was my birthday, one of the village elders had come to congratulate me for becoming a young woman. Then, my dad visited and we had an argument. Then, Sally popped out of the bushes and scared me while I was crying." It was so strange revisiting that day. "I didn't really care that it was my birthday." I smiled up at Seth. "I just wanted to work in my garden and it wasn't like I had anyone to celebrate it with."
"Wow, you dad is trash." Seth grumbles angrily. "I can't believe that he didn't even try to celebrate your birthday. Not to mention, he is a count!" Seth was angrier about this than I was. "Counts are supposed to throw big balls for their daughters to announce their eligibility!" I laughed at his little outburst. "What's so funny?"
"You." I leaned against his chest and tilted my head up to look at his face. "You are really getting this upset because my dad didn't make my twentieth birthday special and that is funny to me." I smile up at him and he calms down.
"Alright." He mumbles. We continue to ride in silence.
YOU ARE READING
Witches Don't Burn, Silly
FantasíaMariposa is a young woman in a secluded town. Her mother was a witch and ran away when she was younger. Her father went crazy because of this and began burning young women under the pretense that they were witches. Mariposa didn't agree with these w...
