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“My daughter’s married to all the men in her coven but she’s been to hell and back several times over. My sister kidnapped her when she was little and my wife died not long after. I spent years trying to find her and all that while she was being abused by own goddamn flesh and blood. She was lucky enough to find her coven on her own but that wasn’t where her trip to hell ended. Not by a long shot. She’s younger than you but she’s one of the strongest people I’ll likely ever meet in my whole life.”
I stared at him with wide eyes and rapt attention. I did not understand why he was telling me these things but I’d really like to learn more about his daughter if he was willing to tell me about her. Her life sounded fascinating to me. Almost like she were a heroine from a novel and I adored books. I just didn’t get a chance to get my hands on them often. I was lucky I had been taught how to read at all.
“I imagine you’re a bit like my daughter,” he mused quietly.
It was doubtful. His daughter not only sounded brave but she was obviously a very well loved young woman. I was neither of those things. I had never ever been compared to someone with bravery before. I’d never been brave myself before, and I had never, not once, been loved before in my whole entire life.
This man was intense, this was true, but he had no idea what the hell he was talking about. I was happy for him that his daughter sounded like a cool chick though. A cool chick who’d clearly been through a whole lot.
I was nothing like that. He was, unfortunately, mistaken.
He sighed heavily, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. I honesty had no idea why he was bothering to tell me any of this. And maybe I really didn’t need to know any of it in the first place. It wasn’t any of my business.
“And, my significant other, well, the female one… you see, we’re a bit of an odd coven, all about the love. And there’s a whole lot of love to go around between all of us. Well, we’ve all been through a whole lot, myself included. But, our female? Her entire family was murdered by people who’s entire purpose in this life is to murder witches. She was the sole survivor. Where she ended up after that was with people who tortured her and she is very lucky to be alive.”
Yeah, I wasn’t so sure he should be telling me any of this because none of it was any of my business and it was all really horrible. Or, at least it sounded like it had been.
I wished he’d stop talking immediately. I didn’t ask him to because that would be rude. He kept speaking anyway and at this point I wondered if he was actually talking to me or simply speaking because there were things he needed to get off his chest. Who better to tell your secrets to than a stranger?
“She ended up with the Council. Have you ever heard of them before? Well, they abused her, drowned her, and left her in a hole to die. She came to my daughter in a dream and I went and fished her out of her hole.”
Holy moly. If he didn’t stop over sharing and soon I might actually have to be bold and tell him to because I didn’t want to hear anymore about this poor girl I didn’t even know.
But, really, there were some things you just shouldn’t share with strangers and I felt like every single thing coming out of his mouth was one of those things. And, really, why was he sharing them with me in the first place, what did he get out of it? We were strangers, he’d just met me and all he knew about me was my name. A name I hadn’t even told him.
“You’re really not a talker, are you?”
I looked over at him to find him staring right at me.
He wasn’t wrong. I tended to observe or day dream more than I ever talked.
But none of that would have mattered where he was concerned because this man was no-one to me and, again, we were not supposed to converse with strangers.
“When you’re ready to talk I’ll be here ready to listen. I will tell you that winter is coming on fast and what I’ve been able to observe from them already they’re quickly running out of food and the ground is blackened with something foul, nothing will ever grow there again. The younger men are somewhat bullies and they are starting to turn against everyone else. Pretty soon they’re going to overthrow and overrun everything and everyone.
“I don’t know what exactly happens after that but I can guess, and if you’d like me to I’d be more than happy to fill you in. But I bet you’re not going to like hearing about any of it. I also would like to know if I should expect to find anymore innocent people tied to trees so I can have the guys keep an eye out for them.”
That was a whole lot of information I hadn’t expected to hear out of him but given how much he’d shared already about the women in his life maybe I should have.
What was going to happen to my sweet friend Plume if those idiots were allowed to carry on how they were? She was so old and fragile, I worried she didn’t have much time left as it was. I’d never forgive myself if something bad happened to her. She was by no means my responsibility and we weren’t family. But she’d been my only friend, and that meant something to me. I desperately wanted for the sweet old woman to be safe.
But it had been ingrained in me for so long not to ever talk to outsiders.
No matter how hard I tried to open my mouth it just didn’t seem to want to work.
I shook my head at him sadly.
What the hell was wrong with me?
“It’s alright, sweetheart. You’re safe here. You don’t have to be afraid while you’re here. Or ever again, for that matter.”
He was wrong.
There was always something for a witch like me to be afraid of.
6
Raven
