Page 86 of Dreams of Magic
Raven shook her head, “Witches can access all of the elements in small degrees. But my specialty is water, just like you. And of course, healing.”
Kenzie did remember then, “So what about the animals, can you tell me more about that? They don’t gravitate to me like that. Is it a water thing?”
“Partially. It’s also a witch thing. We tend to be in sync with nature. Water is a calming element so that makes it an even stronger pull. Witches draw humans as well if we aren’t careful. You are a werewolf though, a predator by nature, so it is different.”
Raven sighed as she took a sip of wine. “When I was sixteen, I met an older man who I thought was very handsome. It was 1705 so the times were obviously different than they are now. He didn’t know I was a witch, and I didn’t tell him, but he was drawn to me.”
Raven got up and went to open the window. After taking a deep breath of fresh air she continued, “He fell in love with me and would sneak to my bedroom window at night to steal a kiss. Back then, even a kiss was scandalous. My father would have killed him if he’d known. One night, he came to my window when I wasn’t expecting him, and he saw me doing magic. Nothing crazy. I was floating some water droplets around my room, like a little dance. I liked to do it to practice my control. And it was just fun.”
She plopped back into her chair and took another big gulp of wine, “He freaked out and told the town leader about it. They called me a witch and dragged me out of my home in my pajamas the next morning. My mother and father let them take me and they hid in the woods. They watched as the man beat me and ripped my clothes off looking for a witch’s mark. That’s not actually a real thing, so when they found nothing, they said I must have hidden it with magic. Technically the only visible proof is our eyes, and when around humans we do disguise them. But finding nothing, they let me put my nightgown back on then paraded me through the town and to the river.”
“Why didn’t your parents help you?” Kenzie couldn’t even fathom not helping her. She knew it must have been risky, but Raven was their daughter.
Raven turned her face away from Kenzie, but she didn’t miss the sheen of tears in her eyes. “They left me to my fate and disappeared out of fear of being caught themselves.”
“I am so sorry Raven. That’s awful.” Kenzie took Raven’s hand, hoping to offer what little comfort she could.
She shrugged, “They did what was best for them. After I was led through the town, they put me in the stocks for two days. People threw things at me, beat me, ripped my hair out. They did not give me any food or water, nothing. But in the morning and the evening of both days, they asked me to confess my crimes. To purge myself of my sins. I didn’t say a word the whole time. On the third day they tied my hands and feet together and threw me over the cliffs on the edge of town, into the roiling ocean below.”
Kenzie gasped, “Monsters! You were a child!”
“By this point I was seventeen. Before the man caught me, he’d courted me for six months. My birthday was the second day I spent in the stocks. So, nearly an adult. And I should have been smarter.”
“So how did you survive the ocean?” Kenzie was sitting on the edge of her seat now.
Raven smiled, “The fools threw me into a body of water. At first, I panicked and tried to thrash around to loosen the ropes, but it was no use. They were so tight. I couldn’t swim and I held my breath as long as I could. So, I gave up. I was so exhausted and starving. My whole body hurt, so I stopped fighting it.”
She sighed, “That’s when I saw the Goddess. She came to me and told me to hold on. To believe in myself, my gifts. She told me to keep fighting. So, I breathed in a huge gulp of water, and it burned down my throat, choaking me. But I didn’t drown. I pushed the water back out of my body and somehow, I formed a bubble around myself. Suddenly, I could breathe again.”
Entranced now, Kenzie took a sip of her wine. It was so incredible. “In my little floating bubble, I slowly started to loosen my ropes using my teeth. It seemed like it took forever, but finally I got my wrists free, then my ankles. And staying in my bubble, I swam to the surface. At that point I was suffering from hypothermia on top of everything else. Sadly, my bubble couldn’t keep me warm. I don’t remember if I swam or if I passed out, but I woke up on a beach several miles from the cliffs, with a woman kneeling over me.”
Raven rubbed her arms like she was cold. Kenzie figured she was remembering the details as if they were happening now. “The woman was a young widow. She’d lost her husband a few years before in a shipping accident. She was so kind, and she took me in, nursed me back to health. If it wasn’t for her, even after escaping the water, I would have died. After I was better, she let me stay with her for a while. I hid what I was and stayed with her for two years. Eventually I decided I needed to head out on my own. Now here I am.”
Kenzie wiggled a little closer on her chair, “That’s incredible! Do you know what became of the woman? Did you ever see your parents again? And why would you nearly dying make other witches not like you?”
Raven chuckled, “Lots of questions. So, the woman who helped me actually went on to marry again a few years later. I checked on her from time to time to make sure she was okay. I saw my parents again. They apologized profusely, but I just couldn’t forgive them. They are still in Europe somewhere, but I don’t keep track. And the reason the other witches don’t like me, is because I exposed them and in doing so put them all at risk. The man who accused me, he went on a witch hunt after that. Unfortunately, the women he accused were all innocent. Killed by lies and suspicion. And it was all my fault.”
Kenzie was already shaking her head, “No it’s not. He chose to be a monster and that is not your fault. A crotchety superstitious man had nothing else to do but terrorize women. That is not on you. He got a taste for blood and used witchcraft as an excuse.”
“That’s exactly right. He became a sadist. Very few people know this but, many years later, I found him. He didn’t even recognize me. By that time, there was nothing redeemable about him. When I found him, there was a fourteen-year-old girl chained to his bed. He had beaten and raped her multiple times. I freed her, then I slit his throat. All without a single drop of magic.”
“Good. He got what he deserved.” Kenzie believed that wholeheartedly. She wasn’t usually an eye for an eye person, but some people could not be saved. Too often, people like that get away without consequences. Perhaps it made her a bad person for thinking it, but she was glad Raven had killed him. If she hadn’t, how much more pain would he have caused?
Raven nodded, “Yes. But that is why I will never be fully accepted by others. Witches have a code, and even though back then there were not strict laws governing us, it was still frowned upon.” She shrugged, “Luckily, I’m not much of a people person, so I am happy being left alone by the others.”
Kenzie didn’t quite believe that. The way Raven said it was like she was trying to convince herself, but her eyes were sad. And that said more than her words did. “Well, you will always have a place here. You have friends here, even if we’re not witches.”
Raven pulled her into a quick hug, “Thank you Kenzie. You’re very sweet.” When she pulled back, a few tears had escaped down her cheeks, “Ah bollocks. Now you’ve done it. Come on then, back to work.”
After that, they refilled their wine glasses and hit the books again with a renewed purpose.
Kenzie
Two days later her patience was starting to wane. She and Raven were both sprawled out in overstuffed couches in Raven’s living room, which had looked completely different yesterday.
Yesterday, Kenzie decided to bring Fiona with her to Raven’s. She had been leaving the poor kitty alone too much and she felt horrible. Raven, of course, was ecstatic and Fiona immediately took to her.
So, when they got here today, Raven had redecorated for her house guest. The living room was now decorated with an assortment of cat and mice figurines. There were pictures of Tom and Jerry all over the walls, the couches had a pattern covered in colorful balls of yarn, and there was a cat clock hanging on the wall. She found it very creepy because the eyes moved back and forth constantly in rhythm with its wagging tail.