* * *
The sun satlow in the sky, tickling Tallulah’s skin as she walked through the snowy trees the next morning. Just over a year she’d had been here and had yet to meet anyone else. To be careful, she always masked her eyes. Concealing the otherworldly blue they naturally were, to a soft brown instead. Sending a silent prayer to the Mother that today would be just like any day spent in the forest; uneventful.
It didn’t take long before the birds found her. They always did. Their song bright and cheery despite the freezing wind that was stirring. “Hello, little ones,” she whispered. “You’re up early.” The bluebirds landed upon her outstretched hand and sang their lovely tune. She smiled as the birds took flight together toward the riverbank.
The water was almost unbearable to touch, but luckily hadn’t frozen over. She yanked on her trap. The basket shot to the surface with a violent splash of icy water. Though empty, she didn’t feel disappointed. She knew better. Mother Gaia had always looked after her, and today would be no different. Empty basket or not. She shrugged and placed the trap back, then headed for the clearing nearby where she’d laid a trap. Perhaps she could harvest some leftover beargrass from Autumn. It wasn’t the most pleasant to eat, but it filled her stomach, and she couldn’t afford to be choosy.
Halfway to the clearing, a shriek pierced the air. Tallulah halted in her tracks, the crunching of snow beneath her boots silenced as white puffs expelled with each breath.
Another shriek.
“Leave me alone!”
Tallulah froze. She spun on her heels and dropped her body low to the snowy ground.
Who was out here? No one waseverout here, especially in Winter. Davenport was a few miles away, but the merchant ships should’ve long since passed and the townspeople knew better than to get caught in this kind of cold. The best hunting was done on the opposite side of the forest. She'd ventured there once, only to be greeted by a group of men. Luckily, they didn't see her, too caught up on their most recent kill to notice an onlooker.
“Please let me go!”
The child’s screams raised the hairs on the back of Tallulah’s neck.
It is your duty to serve and protect the lives of those who live in Teravie.
Her memory drifted back to her schooling in Valebridge. How Enchantresses were an extension of Mother Gaia, and by being born with the gift of magick, it was her duty to help those without.
Except, they’d banned her magick and hunted Enchantresses. Lies spun and twisted by King Roman.
If she were to help, they’d see her. And if she were to be seen, she’d no longer be safe here. Her heart twisted into a tight ball, constricting, and pulling in each direction. Despite the gnawing feeling in her gut to turn and run, she'd decided it was in her blood to help, and so help, she must.
Leaving her basket, Tallulah sprinted through the clearing, toward the screams. Her feet carried her swiftly through the frozen grass, past the evergreen trees shrouded in white, until she reached the line where the forest met the sea. Crashing waves sounded from the side of the cliff while deep green pine trees towered to the left. And there, in the middle of it all, she saw what she dreaded most.
Royal Hunters.
Men employed to track down Enchantresses and bring them to Valebridge for a handsome bounty.
The men took turns shoving a small boy back and forth. Her lip curled. The boy couldn’t be over ten years. His face was dirty, his feet bare.He must be freezing. She clenched her fists at her sides, the rage in her heart multiplying by the second.
“Leave me be!” the boy shouted again, but the men were relentless. The image of King Roman’s grizzly bear displayed proudly on each of their cloaks.
“Tell us where to find her, and we’ll let you live,” a hunter snarled. He was a big man, both in height and in stature.
Her stomach dropped. She recognized that young boy from last Spring. He’d stumbled upon her garden shed next to the greenhouse. He didn’t ask questions, didn’t pry when he found her digging up the bugleweed that grew around the area. She’d sent him off with a bouquet from her garden to take to his mother and a basket of tomatoes and carrots. He looked hungry then, now he looked starved.
The men twisted and turned the boy’s arms at an unnatural angle. They had weapons at their sides, but Tallulah wasn’t afraid. Her body shook. Her jaw ached from being clenched so tightly.
“I told you already,” the boy screamed. “I haven’t seen any witch around here!”
Witch.Tallulah scoffed. If only she were a forest witch, mixing simple potions and casting wards, then maybe she’d lead a more normal life. Blend in with the rest of the humans. But alas, she was not. She couldn’t even use her magick to ward her greenhouse without the risk of hunters sensing her.
The boy shrieked again. Tallulah blinked, ripped back to the present. The hunters twisted his arms back, much too far. His yelps filled the forest and his pleads landed right in Tallulah’s heart. Without thought, she did something she hadn’t done since finding refuge in the greenhouse. Fingers flexing, she raised her wrists and called upon her magick.
She wasn’t entirely sure if it would come, given its restful state over the last year. It took only a moment before the vines flowed freely from her palms. Twisting and turning, the plant she despised yesterday now seemed like the perfect weapon.
The ivy snaked from her palms, carving a line in the snow, over the dirt and up the bodies of the hunters before they knew she was even there. Their eyes widened, their arms dropping from the boy. He met her eye briefly, giving her a quick nod before sprinting through the wood.
Tallulah stepped closer, letting her rage flow through the ivy, tightening around each of the hunter’s necks. She pictured King Roman, her heart maddened at the fate of the Enchantresses across Teravie. She squeezed and squeezed until the men’s faces were red. And then blue.
Their eyes bulged, and their mouths moved in soundless pleas. And then she stopped. Not able to bring herself to kill them, she retracted the ivy she’d summoned. It swirled through the grass and back into her palms as if it’d never been there at all. Both men dropped in tandem, gasping and choking for air. Before they could get a sense of what happened, she was running.
