The beautiful woman uncrossed her legs and got up from the regal chair she was sitting in. With one hand, she continued to lovingly stroke the broad side of a sharp jeweled dagger that she held as she spoke to the scared young girl in front of her.
“Leeza,” she sighed as she shook her head gracefully, “we both now that you are bound to answer me. So, will Stephen be a problem to me?”
Leeza nodded her head sadly as she looked up from the floor. She was standing in front of Lady Madeline in the observatory room of her castle, despite the fact that she wished she was anywhere else but here. She watched Lady Madeline soak this information as anger filled the lovely woman’s cobalt blue eyes. Leeza could tell how angry the new castle ruler was by the way her grip on the dagger hilt tightened. Her long light blonde hair flowed behind her in waves as she began to pace back and forth in thought.
“So that brat will probably try to claim the throne one day,” she said bitterly as she continued to pace. Even in anger, she still displayed grace and proper breeding. Her curvy hips gently swayed back and forth as she walked with her long legs. Her right hand was placed on the side of her narrow waist. “Will he be my undoing?” she asked angrily.
Leeza bit her lip as she shook her head in affirmation.
“How...will...he...do...it?” she hissed slowly as her eyes narrowed in fury.
Leeza wanted to lie or run away from the horrible woman, but she couldn’t. When the lady had first arrived to the castle as Lord Dunmore’s new bride, she had rescued her mother from some castle guards who were trying to be rough with her. As a result, her mother thought that the new lady of the castle was a good and kind angel, and in repayment, vowed that she and her blood would always serve her.
What her dear mother didn’t know was that Lady Madeline knew that Leeza’s mother was a witch and had staged the incident to harness her powers for her own. However, Lady Madeline didn’t know that her mother never knew how to access her powers. Unfortunately, her powers were just enough that she was able to bind herself and her bloodline to the will of the evil lady.
Lady Madeline was furious when she discovered she couldn’t use Leeza’s mother for her own gain. Then, she found out about Leeza. Leeza’s mother had an ‘accident’ the next day and the good hearted lady of the castle let the fifteen year old orphan live in the castle as her maid.
A tear slipped down Leeza’s cheek as she told the lady what she forsaw, “he’ll do it with the help...of one of your realm’s witches.”
Lady Madeline howled in anger as she momentarily forgot her breeding. She brought the tip of the dagger to Leeza’s throat before saying, “Are you that witch, Leeza?”
“No, Milady!” she stammered before running out of the room massaging her throat as Lady Madeline dismissed her.
“If that brat hadn’t run away, I wouldn’t have to worry about this mess,” she said to herself as she brought the tip of the dagger on her full bottom lip. She smiled beautifully as she remembered how she thrust the dagger into her new husband’s flesh. At that moment, she became the ruler of Dunmore castle and the surrounding lands. But if Stephen came back to reclaim the throne, she may have issues with the castle guard. Right now, they were fully loyal to her, thanks to her female wiles, but many might be swayed to Stephen due to damn loyalty to his father.
Right now, she had her most trusted guards searching for the eight-year old brat with the instructions to make sure he would never be found.
“Jacob!” she called to her loyal guard standing outside her door. He swiftly entered to her call. “Gather some of the remaining guards. I want you to go on a witch hunt,” she said fondly as a gorgeous smile was placed on her lovely face. “and make sure every last one of them is dead.”
Lydia stirred in her sleep and awoke. She had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen. She looked over to her sleeping husband and then to her sleeping baby daughter. Looking at her daughter made her feel better and smile. Lydia wondered what her daughter’s power or powers would be, since the toddler had not yet displayed them. What ever they were, Lydia knew they would be great because both Lydia and her husband were both witches. Their union was unique since male witches were almost unheard of.
“Lydia!” she turned to the door that just opened. Her mother stood in the hut’s opening looking frightened. Her husband immediately awoke.
“Witch hunters!” her mother hissed. “One of my friends told me that there are guards looking for witches! It won’t be long before someone points us out for gold,” she continued softly as she remained in the doorway.
Lydia and James both looked shocked. There was a time where witches had lived in fear of being murdered for their gifts. They had thought those days were long gone, especially under the kind rule of Lord Dunmore. Although not many witches existed, those of them that did lived an open life instead of hiding. The village folk understood that they followed rules to use their powers by and were not evil. Lydia had the power to levitate, which was hardly a violent power, and James had the power to heal wounds, which helped many survive unfortunate accidents, especially the blacksmith. Her mother’s gift was the ability to identify lies, which made her an important asset to the magistrate.
