A Wicca's Tale Book One: Beautiful Magic

Records

 Chapter Six: Records

I was warm, warm and comfortable. The bed I was sleeping in was feather soft, better than any bed I’d ever been in before. I sleepily opened my eyes and stared in confusion. Luna? I thought. My arm was around her and she was pressed against my bare chest. She was breathing softly, as if sleeping deeply. I couldn’t see her face, only the back on her head, since she slept on her side. The light coming through the curtain was thin, so it must’ve been early morning.

I slowly removed my arm from Luna and glanced around the room. I tried to remember where we were. Alquilo? I thought. I wasn’t really sure anymore. We’d been moving around for about three weeks since I’d met her and we’d stayed in about four towns. We’d been at this inn for only a day, and I had a feeling that we would only be here for as long as no Fraters de Fax showed up.

They’d been in every town we’d stayed in so far, and even though we’d only seen glances, it sent chills down my spine every time I caught sight of them. Just thinking about them and I got paranoid and scared. I could still hear their footsteps, and the screams as they---. I shut my eyes against the pain. Will I never forget it? I asked myself. I had nightmares about them for days after I fled my village. Recently though, the nightmares had occurred with less consistency. I told myself that it was because I had been moving more and more away from my town, but I had other suspicions.

I got out of the bed carefully, so I didn’t wake Luna up. That girl can sleep through anything. I thought. It usually took me ten minutes in the morning to get her out of bed, and even after that she was sluggish. I walked silently over to the mirror on the other side of the room and began to wash my face from the basin beneath it. The water ran in streams down my face and drops splashed onto my skin. I’d taken my shirt off again during the night, but I knew Luna wouldn’t mind. After about a week of shirtless sleeping, she’d stopped commenting on it.

Finding my boots and my shirt, I quickly pulled them on and quietly opened the door to go to the inn’s tavern. They served good food here, and their ale was alright. And, despite what I’d told Luna before, I wasn’t all that into drinking a lot. I mostly drank when I couldn’t stand to be conscious in the real world any longer. I sat down at one of the tables and waved a serving woman over.

“What’ll it be deary?” she asked flashing me a smile and puffing out her chest a little. Everywhere I went, it was all the same. Women, regardless of age or beauty would stare at me and try to show themselves off. My friends had been jealous of this before, but it wasn’t all that great for me, who wants some unattractive brutish girl breathing down your neck every second?

“Just some eggs thank you,” I told the woman trying not to make eye contact with her. Disappointed, she walked away from my table towards the kitchen. I slouched a little in my seat and tried to get comfortable.

“Well, you’re up early.” said a voice behind me.

I turned around and saw Luna. She was disguised as a boy once again, but that didn’t make her any less impressive. People not knowing the truth would look at her and see a very pretty boy who hid under a hat, but I, knowing the truth, saw her for what she truly was, a beautiful girl. I could see her blue-purple eyes under the shadow of her hat, and the slight curves where my old clothing didn’t quite hide her shape. She was growing into her curves more every day and I feared that soon we wouldn't be able to hide them at all. “I could say the same for you.” I said answering her question.

She smiled tiredly and sat down across from me. “I woke up when you left,” she said. “I wasn’t sleeping very well anyway.”

The image of her sleeping against my chest popped into my head. I shook it off. What is with me this morning? “You looked like you were sleeping just fine," I said aloud.