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The Magic of a Woman (Traveler and nightsorceress)

Her touch was mesmerizing. Lucas wanted her to keep holding his hand, but she left and it was as if the air all around him died. "You don't have to die, Aurora. In the past the king has been lenient and granted clemency to those who swore off the witchcraft. You could do that and move to the city. You wouldn't have to be alone."

He couldn't imagine not seeing another person for five years. How did she manage to survive on her own?

"The fact is, that though you are a 'good' witch, witchcraft is against the law. Everyone has to obey the law, even the king." Lucas shook his head. "If we don't uphold the law then the entire society falls apart, Aurora. You must be able to understand that." He coughed, the talking straining his ribs and making him feel light-headed.
 
Aurora saw him start to hurt again and went to her tray and got more purple liquid handing him the vial "witch craft is not something I merely do, it's who i am. There is no other way for me to live. My power courses through my veins just as blood moves through yours." She paused and waited for him to drink "and the only reason why it's against the law is because you king does not understand it and refuses to"
 
He flinched at her statement. "The king does understand it. Witches killed his wife and nearly killed his son. He understands that it allows a coward to hide in his home while he send evil spirits to choke the life out of innocent people."

Lucas looked at Aurora. She wasn't what he expected to find when he followed the poachers through the forest. Indeed, the other witches he had encountered had been cruel people, sending power surging through the air to strike good knights dead.

"Aurora, you've been kind to me and I don't want to see you hurt. Help me to understand what the difference is between a good witch and a bad one. Perhaps I can convince the king to change his ways when I get back."
 
Aurora looked down as he spoke of what happen to the king. It was awful and cruel she would agree to that but it still didn't give him the right to kill innocent people. She looked back at Lucas, she searched his eyes seeing if what he said about wanting to understand is true. "Alright I will help you understand the difference between good and evil, if you promise me a few things. First you will wait until after you are healed I don't want to do anything to impact you recovery." There was true concern in her eyes. "The second when I do show you you enter into this with a open heart and open mind or else you will never be able to tell the difference."
 
He shuddered involuntarily under her gaze. There was something about her eyes that mesmerized him. "I promise, Aurora. I give you my word."

He accepted the vial again, knowing what it was for. "What is in this?" He asked, drinking it down. He wasn't as weak anymore so he didn't fall asleep from it's pain-relieving properties. As they sat together he thought about all that she had done for him.

"When this is over I want to pay you back for your kindness. You've done more for me than anyone would be expected to do."
 
She felt relieved when he promised to her conditions. "Mostly herbs and flowers all have natural pain and healing properties, it just knowing how to exact them and combined them that makes it powerful. Which is mostly what witch craft is." She smiled softly. She knew he was not going to grow as tired as he did before which meant he was starting to heal more.

"You do not have to worry about paying me back, I am just glad to see you are going to make it, I have to say when I first saw I was not sure even my powers could save you." She giggled a little and smiled warmly at him
 
Two weeks passed. Pleasant weeks, despite Lucas' injuries. Every day saw him growing stronger. He talked with Aurora and tried to understand her. It was difficult, though - his entire life had been spent learning that witches were evil, that they were only meant to burn at the stake if they didn't repent. It was nearly impossible to wrap his head around the idea that she was a witch. It was easy to know that she was good. Everything she did was good.

Lucas was finally able to get out of bed on his own and to walk around. He was slow, but he was mobile. Had Aurora not found him in the forest then he would certainly have died.
 
Aurora was excited when saw him start to be able to get out of bed on his own. She knew he was healing. As the days past she started to encourage him more to get out of bed so he kept up his strength. She knew it wouldn't be long until she could take him out into the forest and show him the wonders that were there.

Since he was starting to feel so well she wanted to make a nice dinner for him something other than the soups and stews he had been eating. She was in the kitchen making a slow roasted duck with roasted vegetable and a berry pie for dessert.
 
Lucas was able to move slowly. He could pick up a piece of firewood and add it to the fire, but he couldn't pick up much more than that yet. He missed the strength that once coursed through his body.

When he went into the main room of her home he could smell the wonderful meal that she was preparing. "That is fit for a king." He walked over and leaned on the table to take the pressure off of his ribs. "Is today a special occasion?"
 
Aurora smiled when he came over to see what she was making "I guess you can say that, I figured since your well enough to start moving around your own you are well enough to enjoy a real meal that's not soup or stew." She was stirring a sauce for the duck but then walked away to check on the pie and the spoon in the sauce just kept stirring on its own.
 
"That sounds great." He watched her walk away, then he looked back at the pot and saw the spoon stirring itself. That made him jump in surprise.

Hesitantly he waved a hand over the spoon, then around it. No wires. No invisible lines. He peered at the thing from several angles. "Does it... do you have to keep thinking about it to keep that going?" He looked over his shoulder at Aurora. "How?"
 
Aurora did realize at first what he was talking about but then she saw him looking at the spoon. She giggled a little "I did when I was first was learning how to do things like that however with practice I learned how to imprint my will on objects as if telling it what to do so I wouldn't have to focus on it." She then looked at him "sorry if it startled you I didn't even think about when I did it I am just use to use my magic. It make it easier to live here on my own."
 
"I'll bet," he said, awe in his voice. "What other kinds of things can you do? Like... did you use magic to get me here when you first found me?" He walked over to the table and sat down since he couldn't be on his feet too long without getting sore.

He was still enthralled with the spoon. "Hilde would love to know how to do that. She's always burning the porridge in the castle kitchens."
 
As they sat at the table she smiled was kind of excited to hear the awe in his voice and not fear. "I can do all sorts of things. Hmmm let me see" she looked around the room a bit and then smiled. Suddenly a bottle of wine and two glasses lifted off the counter and floated through the air to the table. The glass were set of each of them. The cork came out of the bottle and then the bottle filled his glass and then hers before coming to rest on the table.

I used very little of my powers to bring you here mostly I used your horse, however I did have to use my powers to get you on and off your horse, you are heavy" once again she giggled.mshe was very happy young woman
 
He took in the information and looked at her as if she had grown an extra arm out of her body. In truth she was more extraordinary than that. She could move things without touching them! It was phenomenal.

Lucas already knew that witches could choke the life out of someone from afar. That was what happened to the queen. This, however, was world-changing. "With all this power, why have the witches never risen up and rebelled against the crown? You could certainly defeat armies with the power of even ten united witches!"
 
"What would war solve except to prove we are the monsters everyone thinks we are." She looked down "however I can not promise what the witches who practice darker magic would do. They are not going to stand by and be killed much longer. We have held them back as best we can however there more than expected"
 
He considered it as he swirled his wine in the glass, watching the legs ease down the side of the glass as the liquid settled into the glass. Perhaps there was a rift among the witches, a divide that could be exploited if the need ever arose. Certainly the witch who had killed the queen had been evil; she had had the darkest of hearts, and was said to have been envious of the queen's beauty and good fortune in conceiving a boy child. It was all hearsay and rumors, though. Lucas was just an infant when the events occurred, and the stories were whispered in hushed tones, as if the mere mention of them would bring bad luck upon any who uttered the sad tale.

"Do you have a hierarchy? I mean, is there a, ah... leader among the witches? Or are you are simply individuals who act on your own?" He took a sip of the wine as he waited for her reply. Even though he was a guest, he still felt compelled to learn everything he could about the witches. His training was deep; even out of his armor he had the heart of a knight.
 
Aurora bit her lip and looked down "my father was for this region. I should have followed in his foot step but I was so young when he died no one wanted to put that on me. No one else wanted the job. At this point so many of us have gone into hidding their hasn't been much communications."

She rose from her chair to check on dinners everything was finishing nicely. Suddenly plates and silver came out of the cupboards and drawers and set themselves at the table. Aurora moved to take the duck out and let it rest. She tuned filled a bowl with her roasted vegetables set them on the table. Once the duck had cool she carved it and poured the sauce over it before setting in on the table I front of him "I hope you like it"
 
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