Cloak of Darkness( return of vesna book 1)

Chapter 2 Havah

"Hey wytch!"
The rock bounced across the stream scaring the fish away. Fish that was supposed to be her supper. Bowing her head she grit her teeth, a vein ticking at her jaw as she tried to avoid snapping at the young girl.
"I'm talking to you wytch !"
The voice was a shrill in her ears, clenching her hands she tried desperately to ignore the rising temper that was threatening to consume her. Her empty socket twitched behind the black patch that covered her ruined eye.

Finally she turned to the obnoxious girl, a royal from the mortal house of Pretoria. She stood beside a bolder almost as tall as her, hands fisted to the sides of her thickened waist.

"What did you call me?" Her voice was calm but those who really knew her understood that tone.

"I know your a wytch. You make potions that heal the sick and Mary told me you can cast a love spell. I brought coin".

The girl no more that fourteen or fifteen had the sense to look nervous, perhaps even slightly terrified. The blue dress she wore was tight around the bodice, clearly the corset may have been laced extra tight to expose her chest.
One side of Havah's lips quirked upward as she scanned the girls unimpressive feature with her good eye.

Yes she would have been pretty, almost, had her skin not been blotched with roseatia. Mouth thin, chin rounded and nose dwarfed by puffy cheeks her only redeeming feature were here eyes fringed by think lashes, they slanted at the sides just like most of the Pretorian royals.

"Who spun the tale?" Havah's patience had already been stretched.

"I heard the maids whisper about you." The girl looked nervously behind her before facing her squarely.

"They were mistaken. However did you find me?" Havah pulled at the string hiding her disappointed sigh as she waded back to the embankment.

"I followed you," came the nervous reply," please wytch I must.... I need the potion."
Havah turned sharply almost knocking the net from it perch. "I'm not a witch so stop calling me that.  My name is Havah, whats yours?"

"Roslyn." The girl swallowed slowly as Havah approached, abandoning the net.

"Why do you seek a love potion? Who is for?"

"I can't tell you." There was fear in Roslyn's eyes as she looked away from Havah's face.

"No name no potion!" Havah made it a few feet into the woods when the girl called her back. Biting back a stinging curse, she refused to look at the girl.

"Wait!" Her brow beaded with sweat as she regarded Havah
"Look I don't have time for this!" Turning to walk away, she heard the rustle of footsteps .
"It's for Theodore Landers." The name slipped out with a sudden nervous rush.

Without turning around she waved to the girl to follow. "A love potion could be very leathal. Are you sure you know what your asking?"
"Very sure. Will you help me?" The girl sounded desperate.
Havah did not bother to respond until they came within view of the shack where she lived, and waved once again for the girl to follow. They walked in silence as Havah weighed the request in her mind.
She hid her surprise at the name of the heir to the Kingdom of Mullbroke, one of the smaller human kingdoms. It was meant to be a vast land holding that spanned hardly a several thousands of acres until the Landers family came into powers and annexed several hundred acres. The Landers were known to be rather extravagant despite the scarcity that surrounded the mortal realms. Their people were starving and yet the mortal family had been lavish. She had only visited once, when one of the royals was to deliver a baby but that was a year ago. The other male heir was already married. Not that she really cared one way of the other.
As she neared the small house she heard her own footfalls, turning back to face Roslyn she found the girl had remained far behind,  close to the fencing.
"Well?" Irritation laced her voice. In truth the girl was consigning herself to a major disappointment but Havah wouldn't let her know that.
Hesitantly the girl approached Havah until they stood side by side. They paused briefly before continuing on their journey.
The sound of chimes signaled their arrival as Havah held the door wide enough for Roslyn to precede her.  Once inside she motioned for the girl to sit among one of the chairs surrounding a round center table.
Havah pushed the curtain back to reveal a tiny kitchen where a lady sat stirring something in a pot.
"Good your back.  I hope you brought......" the woman stopped in mid sentence as she regarded Havah and the young girl . Havah only shrugged at the arched brow of the woman as she leaned against the wall.
"I brought a customer, her name is Roslyn." Havah grinned. She observed the woman, as she got up from the stool and picked a rag to wipe her hands. "This is Jutu, she will have what you need."
"I thought..." Roslyn began her face crumpled with what looked like a grimace.
"I don't do those things, I told you." Turning to Jutu's curious glance. "This  one needs a love potion for a certain boy she fancies". It was said calmly but the mockery underlying the tone was audible to those that truly knew her.

Jutu smile widened as she gazed at the girl, honey brown eyes  sparked with open amusement as she glance at both girls.

"A love potion?"

"She called me a wytch, fancy that!" Havah retrieved the dagger from her holster and began picking her nails.

"Havah's no witch," Jutu corrected turning to her friend with an apologetic smile. Ignorance was the worse type of poison that fueled the mind of the innocent.

Roslyn glanced from one woman to the other, Havah noted her upper lip had started to sheen with sweat.

"They told me she was," there was remorse in the poor girl's face. "They told me she could make potions for anything."

"That would be me making the potions," Jutu revealed. "Havah gets to deliver them ,I can see why they made the mistake. Now tell me why you want the love potion ?"

Glancing nervously at Havah. "I need to make him like me enough to ask for my hand in marriage."

Jutu suppressed her laughter. "I see. Roslyn is it? Your from the royal house of Pretoria, your uncle is the king. Your royal title alone  will allow you to marry anyone you fancy."
"Not for Theodore Landers." The girl replied defensively.

"Ah!" Havah watched Jutu nod in understanding before asking for the girls hand after briefly glancing at her palm, she stared at the girls face. "Do you love this Theodore Landers of the kingdom of Mulbroke?"

"Yes. I wouldn't be here if I did not." The girl, despite her fear, spoke with an almost admirable conviction that could have fooled anyone only Jutu was no fool.

She disappeared for a moment behind another curtain before emerging with the vial the girl desired refusing the coin that was offered. The girl disappeared in a rush, the two women watched her departure in silence.

"You saw it too." Jutus voice was soft reminding Havah of a power she possessed but did not care to acknowledge.

Havah walked to the window resting her palms on the ledge as she stared out seeing the girl disappear through the fencing. Indeed, she did witness the girls fate without having to look at her palm.  Her aura swam in front of her like a translucent glare that almost made her wince.
"Foolish chit, as if that potion is the answer to her her woes. "
"A reprieve then?"
Havah turned to face Jutu. "Perhaps, but she's blinded by her illusion.  Such is the stupidity of the young.  There's more to life than just chasing after that boy.  What a waste."
"It's their culture, they are raised to prepare for their marriages, bear children and take care of their homes."
"Not that it truly matters. I'll have to head back to the stream, that girl scared our supper away."
Havah left the shack and bounded back to the stream, the net remained where she left it, still empty. Shaking her head in frustration she looked about her before pressing her finger into the shallow and twirled causing a small ripple. Lifting her finger she blew the ripple toward the net, the ends of her hair touching the surface of the water. As she lifted her head the net filled with several fish.
She had vowed not to use magic and she rarely, if ever, did. The thought of having to wait for their supper to surface was more unbearable so if she broke her vow the means were justified. That's when she heard the crow.
She stumbled back falling on her backside her head darting around as she tried to follow the sound when her gaze landed on the bird perched upon a nearby tree. It's obsidian eyes blinked at her for a moment before taking flight barking a sound that was rarely heard in the human realms.
There had been no birds in Pretoria for over a year, seeing a crow of all birds did not bode well with her.  Ever since the Icor snakes came to settle on the outskirts of the kingdom most of the wildlife had dwindled. For the snake was vicious and ate most of the game.
So far no mortal humans had lost their lives to the beast that lurked for the dark Fae had warned them that the snakes would serve as a warning for travellers.  Luckily the mortals had heeded the warning and stayed well away from the marches where the snakes thrived, but the wild life were not so lucky.
And with most of the the game being used as food by the snake, the people of Pretoria resorted to the streams for fish and other aquatic life. Vegetables were planted and wheat was grown in abundance. King Silas had made it a point to feed his people to keep them from starving but for how long?
Havah gathered the food and made back for the shack.