Her Green Eyes (Rapunzel Retold)

The Hexes

The Hexes

"I'll be back soon, don't worry." He said, and kissed her forehead, "I love you, never forget that." He whispered. She tried to meet his eyes, but turned away, hiding behind a curtain of wheat blonde hair. He paused, hand half outstretched, but thought better of it, and left, their cottage door swinging in his wake. Once outside, he began to feel the chill of the night air, hearing the rustling of leaves as the deer flew past on feather light feet. The forest was beautiful in the dark, though he knew he mustn’t pause in the dappled moonlight; Dame Gothel was not known for her forgiving nature.

Loving Silene had never been easy. She was free of spirit and entirely headstrong, so sure of herself and her own opinions she had not paused to think about her own mistakes… But he could not pretend he deserved no blame, it was both of their faults and now they were living with the consequences: a life of secrecy and no contact with anyone outside their forest. As if in agreement, an owl hooted gently, and ruffled its feathers, eyeing him meaningfully.

He had stolen her innocence, unmarried, and worse, while she was engaged to another man. Their indiscretions had led to the sentenced of being burned at the stake, his family disgraced and hers mortified. He remembered the iron bars between his fingers, in the dark, damp cell, shackled to the walls, gasping for untainted water. Fortunately Silene's sister helped them escape, though it cost her the breath in her lungs. Silence was dragged away and stoned to death in the village square for aiding criminals, left to spend her last moments slowly bleeding to death, her blood staining the cobbles forever red. The colour never washed away, a constant reminder of her selflessness, and the brutality of people.

And now, with his and Silene's child due in three months, they were forced with the prospect of her giving birth with no help from a surgeon, and alone in a run-down cottage. As if he didn't have enough to deal with, but she had begun craving the Rapunzel plant. It was a plant known for its magical properties, known as a plant of destiny. It was rumoured that all who ate it would be beautiful, talented and fated to great things. Possession of a Rapunzel and was therefore only grown by Hexes.

He remembered his days back in the village, and the Hexes who gathered there. He still remembered their names; Sole, Luna, Stelle, Tramonto and Alba, the five physically beautiful young women whose power was so great it scared even the most powerful of humans. He only ever saw them wearing their hooded, red floor length cloaks, their eyes an unnatural green, not dissimilar to the leaf of the oak.

They had little to do with society, and many people mistrusted them greatly. They barely spoke, and kept mostly to themselves, on the fringes of the community seen out of the corners of people’s eyes, until one day Alba went missing. She was rumoured to have run away with a human man and had children, and when the man returned, years later, declaring her dead, this was deemed almost certainly true.

Hexes often inspired desire in human men, though Alba was the first he had heard of to return the affection. He, personally, had felt neither lust nor an aversion to them, though it was true that almost everyone else did, and as far as he knew, neither did Silene. He had always suspected her and her sister to be of Hexe blood, their green eyes for one thing, and very powerful human-magic, the most powerful in a human he had ever seen, though they both denied this vigorously. He had learnt not to bring it up.

The subject of Hexe magic was taboo; humans and Hexes were not meant to mix. Hexes, though incredibly magically powerful, were condemned to a life of sisterhood, naturally repulsed by emotions and affection, they lacked the basic kindness in a human soul, and so were never truly happy. They wandered the earth dissatisfied and aloof, segregated from society. Humans however, though weak and feeble, able only to perform simple magic and live to perhaps a century at best, were so filled with passion and emotion that their short firework lives were explosive, if meaningless. The union of a Hexe and a human could create a dangerously powerful combination, and was therefore forbidden under ancient law.

He was nearing the garden of Dame Gothel, the beautiful Hexe who preferred to live alone, rather than in a coven like most of her kind. She was much older than the pentad he had grown up around, though in appearance she was no less youthful. She had been around for millennia, tired and bored with life. As the moonlit garden came into view in the clearing, his palms began to sweat. He had done this before, but could he do it again? Dame Gothel was no idiot, and he was beginning to doubt himself when he finally reached the cold, hard stone.

Make it quick, he thought, and dug his feet into the rock, clinging to the ivy for support. His breathing quickened, and he pulled up to the top of the ten foot wall. Why? Why the Rapunzel plant? He thought desperately, jumping into the magic-rich garden. Glancing around, he saw all manner of vegetation, and many were said to be incredibly beneficial, he could do whatever it was he wanted with such items, however he was no thief, and all he wanted was to satisfy Silene's longing... It was considered incredibly dangerous to deny a pregnant woman the food she craved, the health of both Silene and their unborn child possibly depended on this Rapunzel plant.

Dame Gothel could not blame him, could she? This, he did not know, but he comforted himself with the thought that if he were in her place, he would not punish her for satisfying a pregnant woman's needs. He found the plant quickly, he had done this twice before, and pulled up only as much as he needed; he would not steal for personal gain. The only thing he ever took from anyone, he so wished he could give back, but once stolen, he could never give Silene this back.

Putting his prize in his bag, he attempted to calm himself before scaling the wall a second time. Breathe, he thought to himself, when the child is born you can repay her a hundred fold, work for her, give her gifts, and she would never know you stole the plant. Never. That is what he thought.

He was just sliding his foot into a crack in the stone, when he felt himself be pulled backward by his collar. Falling flat to the floor, he scrambled to turn round. There stood Dame Gothel, eyes dimming from the yellow of a casting spell to green once more.

"What did you take?" She asked, but before he could answer, her eyes glowed yellow yet again, and his bag flew from him so quickly and tore itself to pieces, and he felt a small slash sear its way into his neck, a product of the spell.

"A Rapunzel plant? Why?" She asked, but yet again her eyes glowed yellow, and he felt a searing pain inside his brain so excruciating all thought was wiped from his head, he forgot everything, even his name, while the red thing stared at him, until her eyes returned to green. Cool, calming green. He clutched his head, only realising he had been screaming when he stopped. She must have read his mind.

"Your mind is strong, you must have felt quite some pain." She said, no emotion in her voice. "I will not kill you and your woman, and neither will I kill your unborn child." She said, suddenly, her perfect lips dead of any kind of feeling, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"But that does not mean you will go unpunished. I am incapable of love for any human I have yet met, and I shall allow you the plant and your lives, in return for your child. I have desired one for some time, and the punishment for a Hexe who breeds with humans is death at childbirth. I do not wish to die, but from watching Alba's children I desire a baby more than anything else." She said serenely.

"I cannot agree to that! My child! My love and I, without the child banishment would all be for nothing!" He cried, but Dame Gothel was not finished.

"Choose carefully. You have stolen from me- should you do as I ask, you shall all keep your lives and be free to marry and have countless other children, but choose against me, and you will lose everything. Silence died for you, will you prove it to be in vain?" She asked, and her red cloak billowed around her.

"Shall I ever see my child again?" He asked, desperate. Dame Gothel considered.

"After surrendering your child, you shall see it on the Summer Solstice each year, but no more. Do not try to see it, boy, it may well be the last thing you ever do." She said, and her eyes glowed yellow once more, but not in a spell, in the threat of one. He was no fool, he grudgingly accepted her terms, and returned to Silene to tell her the news.

They had but three months. The countdown had begun.