Witches Don't Burn, Silly

Girl... What are Your Morals?

Seth lifted me up onto Hazel before sliding onto the horse behind me. His hands rested on my hips and we sat there silently for a second as I secured the bags with food and clothes to the saddle.

"Are you ready?" Seth asked softly. I stared up at our house, thinking of our little kids that we were leaving behind. I had kissed Joseph and Josephine before tucking them in for bed. I fed Iris before leaving her to Bertha.

I knew they would be well taken care of. Elliot and Bastian would be here to help them and so Would Bertha and the older witches from my village.

"Hey... my butterfly, they will be ok." Startled by the nickname I spun around to look at him. He seemed unsure as he looked at me. "They are in good hands." He lightly cupped the side of my face. "You need to worry more about us and the fact that we are going to be riding right into the capital of witch hunters. The kids will be safer here than in any other corner of the world."

"I know." I sighed. I leaned back into Seth, enjoying the warmth of his body as I tried to get my mind to relax. "I still worry about them. I don't want them to be worried or afraid for the future and what it may hold for all of us."

"I know, and that is why we are going to storm the capital and stop the king that is after their heads." I laughed a little at the way he said that because we weren't going to be doing any storming. "I love your laugh, butterfly, it's lovely." He rested his chin on the top of my head as he started Hazel out of the forest.

I tilted my head back to get a good look at him. His eyes shone in the moonlight like spun gold. I glanced at the gold thread between us, still in awe that it was there. I faced forward again, staring into the night that had fallen around the dirt path that Hazel followed.

I couldn't just teleport us to the capital since I had never seen it in person even if I could visualize the palace so clearly in my mind. Worry crowded my thoughts.

Worry for Tobias's family.

Worry for Joseph and Josephine.

Worry for all the witches that now reside in those woods.

Worry for the plans we have set out.

Worry for Seth.

"What are you thinking about?" Seth asks after several hours had passed in silence, while I had let my thoughts spiral out of control. I brought myself back to the present, hooking myself on the feeling of him pressed to my back.

"A lot of things are running through my mind, right now." I sigh as I think about all the things that could possibly go wrong in our future. "Do you think everything will really work out if we talk to the king, or at worse, kill the king to stop his reign?" My back tensed as I thought about killing the king, something just felt so... wrong about that.

"You don't want to kill the king? It bothers you, doesn't it?" Seth asked gently, his voice like a caress as he spoke to me.

"No... I don't want to kill him."

"Even if you have killed other men before?" I squeezed my eyes shut. Those men had done far less than I was willing to bet the king had done but it just twisted my stomach.

"I don't know, Seth, something about this just doesn't feel right to me. I can't explain why... it just makes me sick to my stomach even though he has been actively killing the witches for his entire reign." I gripped my skirt as my hands shook.

"We don't have to kill him, butterfly." He whispered and the new nickname warmed my heart. "Best case scenario, he agrees to our demands, worst case scenario we can keep him imprisoned."

"Alright, I am willing to do that." I felt his breath on my neck before he placed a gentle kiss on the crook of my neck.

"Don't worry. You will make whatever choice you feel is right when the moment arrives." I hoped with all my heart that he was right and that I would make the right choice and not just whatever I felt was right in the moment. "Don't worry, everything will work out at the end of it all."

His last sentence struck a cord of familiarity deep in my chest. As if I had heard those words some time ago and the fog of my mind was keeping me from remembering when and why I had heard those words.

"You are too sweet, Seth." He chuckled at that and we continued through the night in a much more comfortable silence than we had been in before.

I healed Hazel and Seth as we trotted through the night. I healed them a little extra as the night turned to dawn.

"Isn't dawn such a beautiful time?" I turned back to look at Seth as he smiled at the sunrise. "It's like a fresh start to every day and the colors painting the sky are just such a stunning aspect."

"I agree." I whispered. I was a little too stunned to speak any clearer as I watched the colors swirl and reflect in his golden brown eyes. He was my favorite part of the sunrise. He was the stunning aspect to the world.

"What are you thinking?" He asked. He has been asking so often lately, as if he was desperately trying to understand the way my brain works.

"I was thinking that you are beautiful." I said it in an almost breathy way as he turned those stunning eyes towards me. He gave me his crooked smile and I felt warmth rush up to my face. "Anyway!" I announced the word as I turned back to face the road.

He chuckled as he wrapped an arm around me. "You don't have to be so embarrassed after you compliment me."

I guess... I would need to get used to it so that I can compliment him forever.