Unnatural Love- A Short Story

The Herbalist

"Rosemary, make sure you follow all the instructions I've given you. No forgetting to apply alright?" I say, fumbling through the cabinet for the last ingredient. My eyes scan over every label until I find the correct one, my eyes lighting up. "There you are.." I whisper grabbing it and stepping off the ladder. "Rosemary..." I tease, my light green eyes gliding over to the middle aged woman in the room.

"Oh - Of course Lady Duvernay." I shake my head at her slightly. What was I going to do with her? I walk over in a light glide to the table, taking two tablespoons of the herb I had mixed up in the jar applying it to the mixture already on the table, as i start to mix it. "What did I tell you about speaking to me so formally?" I ask, the air light and the atmosphere encouraging.

"I-I do apologize my lady. I mean Lady Cirilla." A small laugh escapes my lips. She would never learn. Feeling the mixture was well ground I scoop it into a cup, sealing the lid on tight as I walk over to her.

"Apply on any sore joints you have three times a day. Within a few days it should help to clear things up." I say pushing it into her hands. "This should be enough to get you through the next few weeks." She looks up the surprised evident on her face.

"Oh, but milady, I couldn't possibly cover the price of this today. I only brought enough for one weeks-" I hold my hand up stopping her from continuing.

"Doesn't matter. Giving you this now allows you to have what you need. I know that coming all the way out here can be taxing on your joints. A little extra can go a long way."

"T-Thank you for your kindness I-... Your husband is a lucky man to have you." I pause as I had not been expecting her to bring him up. "Where is he about now anyway?" She asks kindly as she puts the spread I gave her in her bag. I recover from the surprise and give her a sweet smile as I tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"Away on business. He should be back soon." I was well aware that was what I told her last time but she did not question it. "You should be off before the sun sets. It can get awfully cold and the last thing I want is for you to catch the flu. Then I would really take issue with how well you take care of yourself." I tease. I start to shut the door but she turns around quickly with one last word of advice.

"I was meaning to warn you earlier. Be wary. There are rumors going around that you are practicing the dark arts. I told them that's impossible, a sweet girl such as yourself would never-"I shake my head at her. "I appreciate your worry but it's not something you should concern yourself with. People will think as they wish. Do not worry over such small things." I give her one last confident smile before waving her off. I would concern myself only with the matters at present.

Hello all!

I just wanted to say that i'm extremely excited to be working on my writing again. As you will discover from my previous stories my writing has matured (At least I think it has?) And the ideas I have to write about have only grown.

A huge thank you to all my followers who have stayed with me all this time and i promise to make it worth it to all of you. I realize this chapter is extremely short compared to my usual works, but this chapter was more or less a introduction to the story.

Updates will be every Saturday night.

Love you all! Please leave comments as I am extremely excited to be back and writing!