Elenis (The Witch of Laverlock)

Chapter 20 Witch or Healer?

Wulfric had followed lady Sarah out the of the keep, keeping close to her trail trying to keep a distance that she might not spot him. Thankfully the hound remained in the castle otherwise she would have known she was being followed.
He reached the perimeter of the woods taking the path she took. It was not hard to track her for she left visible footprints on the earths till he came into a dead end. He looked about him and found that there was no trace of her anymore.Bending low to the ground, he picked at the dirt seeing the position of her last foot trail when he heard a humming. Looking about him he tried to detect where the sound came from.
"Up here sir Wulfric Fitzwilliam" her voice was clearly above him and when he looked up he saw her perched on the branch of a tree. A teasing smile played on her lips as she watched him. "Looking for me?" She asked jumping down she landed on the ground with grace.
Any lady would have broken her legs for leaping from such a high perch but it did not happen with lady Sarah.
"You could say that" his words spoke volumes.
"I understand I gave everyone a fright when I disappeared four years ago" she said walking toward him until she was a foot away. "Tsk tsk! Did I cause you much inconvenience?" Her voice was teasing.
"You had your family worried" he said "Twasn't a wise you thing you did running off like that" he chided.
"So now you agree I ran off with Laverlock?" She laughed a bitter laugh that chilled his heart. There was nothing sweet or innocent about the woman who looked at him boldly.
"What happened to you?" He couldn't help asking.
"Are you speaking about my time with my brother or Laverlock?"she cocked her head to one side.
"Both" he declared evenly.
"There's much you don't know about your friend my brother" she started saying walking passed him , hair billowing against the gentle breeze "I would hate to disappoint you about him" she turned abruptly eyeing him skeptically. "The noble knight you know in battle who once saved your life is nothing like the man I know him to be"
"I find it hard to believe....." Wulfric said awkwardly searching for the words that would not come forth. How could his friend whom he thought of as a brother mistreat his own sister?
"Yes it is hard to swallow at first. There is much about our natures we do not understand. Take my own for instance" she paused walking around him until she was only inches away from his face "I saw in Justin a kindred spirit. A man with his own set of scars. He knew instantly the pain I was suffering and offered me sanctuary"
"By turning you into a crow?" Wulfric asked derisively.
She laughed at his question "He did not turn me into a crow, I became his familiar on my own. It just happened"
"It can't just happen?!" He exclaimed grabbing her arms he tried to shake some sense into her but she suddenly disappeared, leaving in his hands the gown she had abandoned. Before his eyes she had turned into the crow flying around him before taking flight into the sky.
He just stood there dumbfounded dropping the gown from his hands as if it singed his hands.

.....................................................................
They had trotted down a narrow path that was leading into a bend.
"Why did you come to the tourney?" Elenis asked.
"It was time for me to seek you out" Justin answered simply.
"How did you know where I would be?"she asked him point blank.
"I had a sense of it. You were older, you were starting to feel your inner strength and like a beacon it called out to me. You see, people like us have a strong sense of each other." He said.
"What do you mean by 'people like us'?"
He looked at her face seeing she had a million questions on her mind "We have an inner calling Elenis , you can sense it when it starts to awaken. It starts as a tingling feeling in your fingers or in your head" he started to explain.
"I only started to feel it when you or Wulfric were around" she revealed.
He frowned "You sensed it with him?"
She nodded sighing  "It grew and now I cannot control it anymore. This energy dances with my moods, most especially when I am enraged. When that happens I cannot control what happens to anyone that is around me" she said bluntly.
"That's only because you don't know how to control it yet." He replied "We are here" he announced.
She turned to what he was looking at when she realized that had reached a small shack. It was a bit run down but the roof had been rebuilt and a garden patch grew in front of it.
"This is where I was born. Welcome to my humble beginnings." He stated flatly frowning as he looked at it.
There was a slight tussle of leaves as they fell about. Turning to the trees that surrounded the place, she noticed they were starting to change in color.
"Come" he gestured toward the door, walking ahead of him, Elenis felt pin pricks of energy glide through her body. There was something about the place that wasn't quite right. Justin leaned forward to knock, the door opened within seconds, the healer emerged looking at the two of them in mild surprise.
"I'd din't think she would come" the healer addressed Justin but her eyes remained fixed on Elenis.
"I believe you've met Morgana recently." He said as he waited for Elenis to walk through the door.
Elenis looked about the room, feeling a sense of familiarity. The interior was not so dissimilar from her own hovel, only the roof was slightly lower and the shack opened out to a wider space, allowing for more room to move within. It had four Windows, two in front and two on the side. A pot was boiling on the hearth, it smelled like tea.
The healer eyed Elenis curiously, cocking her head to the side "You feel it don't you?" She addressed the question to Elenis.
It was useless to deny it, she had been hiding these feelings for the past four year but it seemed in Laverloch she did not have to "Yes I feel myself answering to a call of energy within this room."
"You have the right of it child, this is where she lived" Morgana went to the boiling pot, with the aid of Justin she lifted it and pour three cups of tea gesturing for Elnis to take one.
Elenis took the cup and smelt its fragrance before taking a careful sip. It was just ordinary tea but it made her calmer.
"This is good" Elenis smiled at the healer before taking a seat near the hearth.
"You've come for answers" the healer started saying as she sat beside Elenis, resting her back against the chair. Justin decided to remain standing, leaning against the window to look outside.
"You said she lived here, was it Lord Fitzhugh's mother?" Elenis inquired glancing briefly at Justin before turning back to the old woman.
"Aye, this was were she came to stay when she left the gypsies" the woman said.
"Was she part gypsy then? Is this why His lordship and I have a connection?"Elenis asked almost desperately, eager to find out why her energy fused with his.
The woman cackled shaking her head "Nay she was not a gypsy lass, she only travelled with them.  She was the spawn of a Druid priestess and the Earl of Warwikshire, a bastard she was. Her mother was banished for having lain with a man who had used her for his own interest. She left Warwikshire and travelled  with the gypsies. She was affeared for her life and that of her babe which is why she did it. There she met a man whom she took to husband and made him her father. Since she was a child Melissande was special. She had the gift of sight, she could commune with the spirits, talked to animals like they were her kin. But when her mother died, her father took a gypsy wife who could care less what happened to her. The gypsies loved her though. They revered her, gave her tokens and such but her step ma was a cruel vixen. When they came here she opted to stay behind partly to escape her step ma and also because she could see her future lay here."
Elenis listened to the tale with interest "if you say the gypsies revered her, how did they allow her to remain behind?"
"She found herself a husband, that's what she did. She was head strong like her son, if she got her mind on something there was no stopping her."
"You mean she married the elder Fitzhugh?" Elenis asked in shock "I thought he was already married!"
"Nay, nay, she married a woodsman, got himself killed that one! Gored by a boar! In order to remain here she had to find a way so she took to healing.  I was a scullery maid at the keep when I first laid eyes on her. She was summoned by the baron's son to cure his ailing father that's when she saw him." The woman turned to Justin and shook her head "she should have left him alone when she had the chance but like every young fool she feel in love despite the fact that he was already married. Oh she was a wicked thing, wanted the master's son so she kept close to the keep and taught me the healing arts. When the Baron got better she left the keep and came back here but it was too late for the son, he had lost himself into her."
"You make it sound as if she was a harlot!" Justin chided, but there was no anger in his voice. "I admit my mother was a wanton for having lain with my father, but she never once ensorcelled him. He came to her of his own free will until he got her with me."
Elenis shook her head "Either way you look at it My lord, she tempted your father and a married man he was, Tis no wonder his wife wanted her dead."
"He did not seek his wife's bed often after he and Milassande became lovers. Finally the mistress conceived but it was too late, the Baron was falling in love with Millisande. Justin was only three when they came here those noble men and took her from this place, dragged her across the town and strapped her naked against the pyre. She cursed those men and their families, seeing that her lover only stood to watch she cursed him too and his lady wife. Soon the lady of the keep lost the bade she carried and could never conceive again."
Elenis gasped looking at Justin with remorse "That must have been awful for you to see"
Justin's lips tightened slightly his features grew harsh as he was lost in his own recollection but it was only a fleeting moment. "I did see my mother dragged from here, but I did not watch her burn to death. Morgana took me away for a spell. She brought me to Warwikshire until my father came looking for me. He brought me back here to Laverlock and raised me as his son, even if I was a bastard.."
"What did his wife have to say about that?" Elensi asked .
"She was ill, never having recovered from her miscarriage, she lost her life a couple of years after my father brought me back. He never married again" Justin replied thoughtfully.
Closing her eyes briefly Elenis she blinked them open looking at Morgana with renewed interest "My grand aunt told me the tale of the healer that was wrongly accused of sorcery, she told me to come here and I'd finally be able to control this madness within me." Elenis stood  in irritation knocking the chair behind her to the ground "Why do I have to know this? How will her tale help me understand how to control this" she started backing toward the door.
"It's simple really," Justin said evenly "Tis because your her".
Elenis bolted out of the shack running wildly into the woods, as she ran, the trees started to shiver, a strong wind came forth and blew at the leaves, birds started flying from their nesting place chirping wildly. It was as if a storm had suddenly surfaced and was threatening to knock everything around her. But she continued to run, hearing the echo of Justin's voice in her mind. She could not, would not believe his words, it was impossible!
She ran until she stumbled on a stone and fell headlong into a muddy path. She raised herself on her elbows, tears crashing down her face as she screamed "Nay!" Horrified at the revelation.
She did not know how long she lay there in the mud but the voice which had echoed in her mind was suddenly upon her. Looking up blankly she saw Fitzhugh hovering over her, he bent down and picked her up in his arms. She did not bother to resist for she was struck dumb by all that she had heard. Hanging like a rag doll in his arms, she was numb to everything, even her emotions seemed to have subsided like the low tide of the sea.
She was being lowed to a straw bed, her body was in shock but her mind raced with thoughts that could not be quelled. Why would Justin claim she was his mother? What absurdity was that? How could it possibly happen? Why her?
"You've come for answers, why can you not accept them?" The voice was whispering to her but she dismissed it as her own thoughts until the boy appeared before her.
They were no longer in the shack but in the secret waterfall by Bricklow castle. They were both sitting on the embankment looking at the cascading water against the rocks.
"Was it all just a dream?" She looked about her in surprise. "Was I sleeping all this time?" She was wearing a green velvet gown with satin ribbons. She had worn this at the ball during the joust. Had she come here and dreamt everything?
"No, I took you back here so he wouldn't hear. You just remember this place and that gown most fondly." His blue eyes looked at her with curiousity.
"Your the boy I saw in the woods!" She said as realization dawned on her "What are you doing in my thoughts?" She asked.
"You just found out what you needed to seek. You don't seem to like it much" he shrugged turning to watch the river.
"What's your name?"
"Lucious" he smiled exposing a sweet dimple of his left cheek.
"Are you an angel , have you come to watch over me?" Elenis voice was hopeful, she needed the strength of God to get her through all of what she had learned. But the boy remained quiet "I need someone to guide me through this. This can't be happening to me!" She wanted to scream her rage but she was afraid of what might happen.
"Your energy does not work in here. You can control it you know, just like she did."
"She who?" Elenis stood up abruptly feeling suffocated from everything.
"The witch. She could control anything, don't run away from yourself, it will only get worse" the boy stood also and looked at her longingly before he disappeared. .
Elenis woke with a start her head almost bumping Justin's chin. She looked about her coming to grips with reality. The image of the dream stayed with her as she accepted the cup of water welcoming the cool water as it eased her parched throat. She was seated on an arm chair back in the shack, both Justin and Morgana were hovering over her as she leaned back against the arm chair breathing slowly.
"Feeling better?" Justin asked, concern laced his voice as he put a hand tenderly on her forehead.
"What you said earlier, I did not imagine it." Her voice was flat as she looked at Justin for answers.
"Nay you did not imagine anything."he replied gently.
Nodding her head in resignation she stood from the chair easily. "I would like to be alone if you don't mind"
About to protest, he felt Morgana's fingers grab his wrist he turned to her with a frown of irritation when he saw her give him a look that compelled him to acquiesce.
"You don't plan to run off do you?"
She gave him a sarcastic glower "Where could I possibly go?" She yanked the door to the shack open and walked to her horse which she mounted before she galloped away.
"I shouldn't have let her go alone" Justin murmured watching the lady disappear into the woods. "She may have need of me"
"I sincerely doubt that my lord" Morgana replied knowingly. If it had been anyone else to talk to him that way he would have had them flogged. The old healer held a special place in his heart. "She has to face her demons on her own, your guidance will not be welcomed yet."
"Then when!" He banged his fist at the door.
"When she is ready boy" she chided him "Not before then!"
"I grow impatient" he fumed pacing within the small shack in frustration.
"You will only loose her if you do not give her the time she needs to discover for herself what she is to become. I understand patience is a rare virtue but you will have to call upon it to win her."Morgana advised
"Always the wise one, old woman. I shall heed your advise for now."he sat near the hearth "I remember my mother's curse. She said she would return with vengeance as her purpose, could that be the reason why Elenis cannot control her powers?"
"Her rage does not only stem from the purpose of your mother, it stems from her own experiences. Perhaps the knight that has come with her has something to do with it."Morgana sat beside her lord and sipped her tea.
"Then I should be done with that imbecile" he barked.
,"Tis not for you to decide his fate but her alone."
"Their meeting was not a chance encounter, I see that now" he agreed
"Nay twas not." The healer sat back and they remained thus for a time, each in their own thoughts.