Saturday, May 19, 2012

Story Snippet: Witches & Warlocks

Writing snippet from an untitled story involving Witches and Warlocks. Not a final piece, simply musings.

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“A girl!”

Mixed reactions filled the room, half cheering, the rest cursing. The women began herding the men out, no longer were they needed with the babe not being a boy.
Anna-Lisa couldn’t help but feel guilty. They had been so sure it would be a boy… how could they have been wrong? “I’m so sorry Luc… I thought for sure…”
He was already shaking his head, smiling as he took her hand and kissed the back of it, “A simple mistake. We will try again, and it will be a boy. You did so well, Lisa, and she’s a lovely little thing.”
She didn’t quite believe him, knew how much he had wanted a son, a child to raise. To keep.

Her eyes fluttered shut as Luc, too, was shuffled out of the room, a hush falling over the room before there was a sudden scramble. Anna-Lisa looked on in confusion, not understanding. They were warding the room, ensuring none could enter… but why? Confused eyes sought out her mother, seeking answers, and she was given a smile.
“Almost there. You’re half done already, precious.”
“Half…? What do you mean half…” Her eyes widened as she trailed off and the pain hit her again, and then she knew. They hadn’t been wrong, they had simply overlooked the girl, focused solely on the boy… Tears hit her eyes, relief flooding her. Twins. A boy. Luc would be ecstatic…

Why had they made the men leave? The boy would have to be handed over. Witches couldn’t raise a warlock…
“Oh, Mama, you can’t! Call Luc, bring him back! You can’t keep the child from him!”
Goddess above, what were they thinking!?

Some were shaking their head, murmuring to each other, giving her irritated looks, or looking at her as if she were some stupid child who didn’t understand.
She understood better than any of them. This would ruin them. They barely managed to co-exist with the Warlocks and now they were going to start a war between them…

Luc!


 --
 

“I was so sure it would be a boy…” Luc murmured to himself. Anna-Lisa had admitted to him she wasn’t ready for children, that she wanted a boy so she would have a bit more time before needing to care for a daughter. That had been more than fine with him. The both of them had done spells, sacrifices, asking for a male child. The entire coven had been doing everything they could to help… of course the witches would want a girl, but he thought, with Lisa siding against her coven, they would hold the favour.

Evidently they hadn’t done as well and the Goddess had won over their God.

“You must have been blinded by your desire for a son.” His father never seemed to have a useful thing to say to him…
“Both of us though? We were both so sure… It just seems so strange for us to make such an error.” It just didn’t sit right with him. They weren’t weak little castors who didn’t understand their craft. They were the strongest of their lines, heirs, unstoppable together…

“Something’s wrong.” Luc said suddenly, “She’s in pain. Different from before…”
His father gave him a hard stare, as if trying to determine how in the world he could possibly know, before it dawned on him, horror quickly replaced with fury.
“What have you done, Luc? What did you and the Witch do?”
“We bound ourselves. We’re stronger for it, and-”
“You’ve tied yourself to a Witch! It was one thing to insist on marrying her, but this is going too far!”
Luc snarled, eyes darkening, before his head snapped up, gaze locking onto the door. Something had gone terribly wrong…

Anna-Lisa!”

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