The High Priestess of Shadows

Chapter 9

"Time to wake up," Will said gently prodding her side. This was routine for them now. Everyday the meeting would go on so late that he refused to take her back down claiming that there would be too many guards so they would have to spend the night in his room. Every night he would come in when she was plagued by nightmares and they would stay together. 

"Are you ready?" he asked as Lilly slowly opened her eyes and stretched. It suddenly came back to her. The rebellion, the witches, and the spell. They would have to cast it today.

He frowned looking at her with his eyebrows scrunching together in concentration. "What color are your eyes he asked?" 

"My eyes?" she said in confusion. "Why are you asking about my eyes? We have more important things to deal with!"

"I could have sworn they were green last night and blue the first time I saw you. Now they’re gray."

"If you must know they're a weird mix of blue, green, gray and a little yellow. They change between the ones you just named. Everyone thinks it fluctuates according to my mood but I don't really know," she said slightly exasperated. "Now can we move on to more important things?"

"There's nothing left to talk about," he said. "All that's left to do is get the witches out and cast the spell. There isn't anything else we can do but wait."

She sighed. "I have never been good -at waiting and now... There's just so much at stake. The rebels lives, the Coven, everything is hanging on whether or not I can chant a spell fast enough. Sometimes I wonder why I was chosen to be High Priestess." She sighed again her eyes a mix between gray and blue. 

"How are High Priestesses chosen anyway?" Will questioned. "Someone must be psychic to have picked such a great leader for the witches."

"The last High Priestess, my mistress, had a vision but I've heard if of there being other signs to mark a person as a future leader," she explained ignoring the last part. 

"Who was your mistress? Did you like her?" he asked trying to distract her and get her to talk a little at the same time. 

"Gwen was... unique. She has her own way of doing things but somehow, when she did something, even if it was something- that defied the laws of nature it would always work out for her," Lilly said. "She was strict but I loved her like a mother. She was always fair and didn't rush into things. I wish I could have had patience like hers. Once, when Mark and I skipped our lessons she caught us playing a prank on someone. I can't even remember what it was but I remember that she didn't yell at us like we expected but she was completely calm and fair with us."

"You pranked people?" Will asked shocked. "You seem more like a serious person than a trickster. The twins are the jokers here. One time they got different people in our class to start humming during a lecture. When one person got caught someone on the other side of the room would start humming and when they were caught someone at the back started. It drove our teacher insane but it was funny as hell."

Lilly laughed a little. "Ari and I convinced our entire class to help us annoy our teacher once. We would all randomly switch seats when she turned around. After about an hour she literally walked out when no one would admit that they weren't in our  their own seats." She paused looking thoughtful. "Actually, she might have walked out due to the fact that we all started randomly yelling stuff in Latin"

That's how they passed their day, just telling stories about their friends and families and otherwise enjoying the others company. Until the sun started to set casting a golden glow over everything its light touched . That's when Lilly started to get nervous again. 

"What if I can't do it and we all get caught?" she asked. "Then what will we do?"

"It'll be fine," he said reassuringly. "We have to go meet the others now. Come on."

They snuck through the fortress with Lilly once again disguised and managed to make it out the gate without getting more than a passing glance from the guards on duty. When they were out of sight of the fortress Lilly started running through the forest. She didn't want to get away but just needed to run. 

"What was that?" Will asked when he finally caught up with her. 

"Sorry, I just had to feel wind and watch the trees blur past me. Am I making sense? Maybe needing to feel connected to the earth is a witch thing but I had to feel nature all around me after weeks of being trapped," she said grinning happily. "Does that make any sense to you?"

"Not really," he admitted. 

"I didn't think so," she said. "So where will this Circle be held?"

"We didn't know what kind of spot you would need so we have to find one now." Lilly took off immediately and scaled the tallest tree she could find. "What are you doing?" Will yelled. 

"Scouting for a place," she replied shading her eyes and looking around. They were in a well hidden valley far from the city. She spotted several animal trails but no clearings that were big enough; there was a spot that she couldn't quite see from her perch so she leaned forward a bit alarming Will when she nearly fell. There. The perfect spot, hidden from the fortress by huge green trees but visible once in the forest itself. 

She was grinning like mad by the time she scurried down from her seat. "Found it," she announced already walking in that direction. 

"Where at are you going now?" he asked trailing behind her. 

"To prepare," she replied. "We can't hold a Circle without the proper purification and protection." She stated it do bluntly like it should be obvious even to him but she was still smiling and had a teasing look in her eyes.