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Chapter One – Witches Aren’t Wicked
I’m a witch, or so I’m often told, but I’m not dangerous. I’m not wicked. I’m just a girl with an ability. An affinity for magic, if you will. The issue is, magic is outlawed for women in the Delgosi Isles, which is where I live. Wizards are common amongst the villages around us, but we must hide. If we don’t, we could be imprisoned. We could be killed.
My sisters and I slowly found one another, drawn to the missing elements in our own magic. The elements we control are part of us, coursing through our veins like blood. Something that started with just two of us has grown into a coven of six strong witches. We nourished it, made it our own. Our strengths, our weaknesses, our bonds, our powers. Everything between us shaped what is not only a coven but now a family.
‘Are you coming, Flo?’ I hear from somewhere behind me. I’ve been so lost in my own thoughts recently that I forgot we were even practising this afternoon. All my concentration is on the trial, the movement. The war. It doesn’t matter what you call it, we need to be prepared for anything.
I grab my coat and make for the practise space in the woods. The same practise space we’ve been using since we decided to fight the monarchy. The one right in the middle of Eastfall woods.
Eastfall woods has two main entrances. One to the north and one to the west. We use the entrance on the north side of town, the one used as a shortcut to Midhallow, the next town over, so it’s less noticeable than using the entrance on the west. Anyone could be passing through, and we don’t want to get caught.
There’s a rickety tree about five minutes down the north woodland path, take a left when you get there and continue straight off the road until you reach the viburnum patch. Just beyond that is where you’ll usually find us.
When Drusilla and I finally arrive, the four other girls have already started their individual practice. We each have spells that we want to master so we all have the best chance of united success. Me? I’m trying to tune into the spirit sight. I want to be able to see things that people without the gift can’t. I want to see the spirits of the dead and the souls of the living. I want to live in both the past and the present. To gain the spirit sight on demand you must be as one with your environment. You have to learn to shut out all external noise and just listen. Listen to the whispers of the gentle wind, the swaying green grass, the emptiness of this dimension and the depth of the next.
I will get the hang of the spirit sight. It’s just an incantation. Just a couple of words to recite. Visus spiritus.
I’m slightly distracted by the sounds of Ottie trying to nail invisibilia next to me. Invisibilia does what it sounds like, it makes you temporarily invisible.
I’m half inclined to turn around and help but I can’t make the spell work for her. We met when she was young and she was already better than any of the wizard’s apprentices I knew. Magic is tricky, and unless you have a mentor, it is one of the most difficult skills to learn. Witches don’t have mentors. I know she gets embarrassed when she can’t pick something up quickly, so I decide to give her a little break.
‘Are you okay?’ I nudge Ottie’s shoulder in a friendly you can talk to me kind of way but she doesn’t seem impressed.
‘I’m fine, it’s just taking me longer than I want to get this spell to work.’
‘Show me what you’re doing, maybe I can help?’
‘Like I said before, I’m fine. You have your own spells to learn. It’s already November fifth.’
It’s been exactly five years since I lost my parents.
Devastation hits me at full force.
‘I’m sorry, Flo, I didn’t mean to upset you,’ Ottie whispers over my shoulder. She lost her parents too, we all have. It’s one of the reasons we ended up together.
‘It’s okay, you didn’t mean to. I completely forgot that today was November fifth.’ I sigh and turn back to her, ‘Do you ever feel like you’re forgetting them more each day? Your parents.’
‘I’ve forgotten what my mum looks like… looked like. What she sounded like, what she smelt like. I feel like I’ve almost lost her completely. Not as much as my Dad though. Addy was always closer to him. I remember when he used to take us out on the water. He loved sailing. We used to pretend that we were pirates looking for treasure. I wish I could remember more detail but every passing year more and more memories fade.’ Her breathing gets lighter, almost as if it had lifted a weight of her chest.
‘Well then, let’s make them proud of you both.’
I hear Addy shuffle over from where she’s practising undas ruinae, which literally means ‘waves of destruction’ in Latin. You’ll soon learn that Adelaide is our inventor, our atomic bomb. ‘I heard you talking about your parents. I’m sorry it’s been so long since they were taken from you.’
‘Thanks Addy. It means a lot. My mum would have really liked you.’ My heart used to shatter into a million pieces when I thought of my parents but now it just breaks a little more each time.
She turns to her older sister, suddenly less mournful. ‘I know you can do this. You’re just as determined as Mum used to be, maybe even more so. She wouldn’t let a couple of bad tries stop her. You just gotta keep going.’
I see a sudden twinkle of understanding in Ottie’s bright eyes as she grabs her short hair and ties it up in frustration. Ottilie Lambert has a peculiar look about her. She’s petite with deep chestnut hair, which she keeps cropped just below shoulder length, holding the kind of shine that I long for on my blonde hair. She has a face that looks like it has been pinched in at the nose, but her forest green eyes are wide. They look just right against her olive skin.
She prepares the spell, commanding the air around her. ‘Invisibilia.’
Suddenly, she sparks out of existence.
Then she’s back again.
It was less than a second, but it worked.
It really worked.
Even if it was just a moment, it’s the encouragement Ottie needs to continue.
I know now, with the determination of these girls, we can win this thing.
Witches Aren’t Wicked – Hannah Baldwin
£9.99
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