Killing The Queen

2

{Connie}

"Shhh, you idiot, don't let anyone hear you!" Connie quietly giggled towards her partner in crime and best friend, Arrow, as they made there way through the crowd. They had been up since six in the morning pick pocketing the unsuspected victims in Lillith, the small town next to Connie's home in the woods. Many of which were watching the execution, it seemed rather unpleasant, but it hardly mattered for now Connie held a sack jingling with quince. 

Connie jogged over to Arrow, who smiled slyly. "How much you get?" 

Connie shrugged innocently, "Oh you know, just like a hundred quince." She held up her bag as proof. Arrow laughed, as they ran down the streets of Lillith, past the old houses, and crumbling buildings.  The village was boring, and honestly like any other village. However Connie knew better than anyone else that the people of Lillith were packed with quince, and she loved to steal it. 

Connie's family wasn't poor, her mother Lucinda was a witch, with no need for quince, and her sister Ivy worked in the town as a milkmaid when she wanted anything that Lucinda couldn't make. Connie wasn't a witch like Lucinda and Ivy, she had been brought into their family after being abandoned in the woods next to Lucinda's cottage. Connie honestly liked her life, but her criminal activity just came naturally. 

"See you later Arrow!" Connie called, as they made their way to the edge of the village. While Arrow and Connie may have been best friends, they kept their homes lives separate. Arrow lived on the northern side of the shadow forest, and Connie on the southern. They would do some light theft, split the quince, then go their separate ways.  It was easier that way. 

"Later Connie!" Arrow yelled back as Connie headed on her path. The woods were damp, and thick, with large pine trees that arched up into the sky. It was quite cold without the sun, which was being blocked out. No animals lived around those parts, which for safety sake was great for Connie. 

After a while of shivering through the trees, Connie arrived at her cottage. It was covered in moss, and vines, blending right in with the forest. A small light flickered from inside the tinted windows. 

"Mom!" Ivy's voice echoed through the small cottage, as Connie stepped through the door. "Why do I have to?" 

"Oh Ivy, don't be a thorn. Do as I say, now off you go, you'll need rest." Lucinda's jolly laughed bounced back, and Connie heard Ivy stomp off to her room. "That girl, always has to pick a fight." Connie rounded the corner to the kitchen where Lucinda sat boiling something deep violet in her cauldron. It smelled of velvet and carrots. "Connie my dear, you're back, how was Lillith?" 

Connie sighed, sitting next to her mother on a old wooden chair. The kitchen was by far the biggest room in the cottage, with a rust stove, large pots and pans, and witchy junk piled around the room. There were dozens of candles hanging upside down from the ceiling, each one with a different colored flame. Exotic plants were draped from the walls, off chairs, and on other objects. It always smelled differently, never quite good or bad. All the chairs were from different woods, and made very differently in a way that looked very odd. But everything still seemed sewn together in a warm and welcoming way. This was Connie's home. 

"It was good, normal boring village stuff." 

"Good to hear it, now it is quite late, and the moon is not in a good mood. I would suggest you get off to bed now." Lucinda said merrily, "sleep well." 

Connie nodded, slipping into the room she shared with Ivy, and shoving the quince under her mattress. Suddenly, as she fell onto her bed, she thought back to the village. Why was there an execution? What was going on? But her eyelids felt heavy, and before she could think any more she dipped into a deep slumber.