Spinning Shadows
Gretel couldn't believe her eyes, her simple one-room cottage near the edge of the Dark Forest was surrounded by numerous soldiers. All armed with swords and spears, some of them were raised towards her. She blinked a few times, it was not that she didn't have seen this before. But she has done anything that warned this response from the King's man. She took one step back, knowing that the door was not going to hold them back. There was nowhere to run, nor hide. She glanced over the helmets that covered all their faces, except one, and that one was off the captain. A man she thought to know well, because he always accompanied the prince and her, as he visited her. Sir Jules, Prince Helios's best and only friend. A man that Helios promised her that she could trust, and she did trust him. Something that was hardly won, but there was no compassion inside his eyes. No form of apology or remorse, only cold-blooded hatred.
“Gretel of The Black Forest, I am here to arrest you for witchcraft. In name of our King George the Second, and his son Prince Helios.”
by Nightcafe
Sir Jules said. Witchcraft? Oh, no, they were going to burn her, as they did with her mother. Not that there were no grounds to his claim, there was magic inside her body. But she never used it, not when her twin brother was dying from some kind of illness. The only reason why she knows that she has magic and can use it is because her mother told her that this was the case. And that she probably had inherited this gift, or curse, from her father. So how does Sire Jules know that she had magic?
“I am charged to bring you to the castle's dungeons, where you will await your trail. Which will be ending with you burning against the stake. There is nothing you can say or do that will change your fate. So I suggest that you come with us, quietly.”
by Nightcafe
He didn’t say willingly, which would never happen. But he was right, she had seen it a few times, there was indeed nothing she could say or do that could change her fate. So she gave him a simple nod, and stepped forward with her both hands raised up into the air. A few soldiers rushed forward, and grabbed her hands with brute force. Something that was not necessary, she came willingly after all. The placed her hands in a special kind of handcuffs, and then they placed a gauge inside her mouth. All the things she might need to use magic, at least to their knowledge. She was not going to correct them, not that she could at this point. Once they did all that, she glanced once more to the cottage that was her home. A place where she had felt safe, for the first time in her life. But like everything that was good in her life, she was bound to lose it. The soldiers started to drag her, through the streets, where the villagers who knew her could see for what she was. Or what the soldiers made her out to be, she didn’t look at their faces. Afraid of what she might see, fear, hatred, and some might pity her. But none of them shouted at her, which normally would happen when a witch was presented. Maybe they didn’t believe the accusation, which was good. She noticed that they walked past the church, and she looked up for the first time. Her gaze glued onto the usual spot, the grave of her twin brother. Tears sprung up into her eyes, she wouldn’t be able to visit him, nor will she be buried close enough to be near him. It was forbidden to bury a ‘witch’ onto holy grounds. She hadn’t noticed that she had stopped walking, until a rough push at her back made her trip over her own two feet. The soldiers started to chuckle, when she smacked against the hard cobblestone road. The only one who didn’t laugh was Sir Jules, who know that her brother was buried there.
“Take a good look at it, witch. Because the two of you will be separated forever.”
by Nightcafe
He then frowned,
“maybe we should dig him up and burn him as well. Now that he is dead, there is no way of knowing for sure that he was a witch as well.”
by Nightcafe
She turned her tear filled gaze towards him, not believing her ears. Digging up a grave was a sin, a greater one than practicing witchcraft. Even menacing it was grounds for imprisonment, but Sir Jules didn’t seem to be bothered about it. Maybe that is a law he can ignore.
“Easy, easy, witch. I am not going to do it, I am not a monster.”
by Nightcafe
Says the man that betrayed her trust. He then pulled her up from the ground, and pushed her slowly forward.
“Be mindful of your feet.”
by Nightcafe
The walk towards the castle was long, or it seemed longer than usual.
“Gretel!”
She looked up, and saw him standing near the gate. His golden blond hair seemed to glow in the early morning sun, his hazel eyes were filled with confusion and pity.
by Nightcafe
He pushed her forward. What resulted in a response from Helios.
“Jules, what is the meaning of this?”
by Nightcafe
But Jules didn’t reply, he still pushed her.
by Nightcafe
“I am simply doing my job, Helios.”
by Nightcafe
He finally snapped.
“Something you should have done, when you learned about her sins.”
by Nightcafe
Helios looked confused.
“She is a witch, her mother was burned for witchcraft. Her brother and she fled, were captured by another witch. Who she somehow killed, and now her twin brother passed away from an unknown illness. Do the dots connect, or do I need to spell it out even more.”
by Nightcafe
Helios still looked puzzled.
“That doesn’t make her a witch, Jules. Although, I have to say, now that you point all the facts, it seems rather odd.”
by Nightcafe
Helios then looked with narrow eyes at her. Those hazel eyes, once made her feel safe. Safe enough to tell him her life story, and Hansel didn’t die from an unknown illness. The doctors told him and her that is it had something to do with their past. The witch that captured them had stuffed him with all kinds of sweets. So much that his body wouldn’t be the same afterward, the sugar levels in his blood were always battling it out, and it ended up with him losing that battle. The condition, according to the doctor, was rare. But it was not some strange illness, that Sir Jules makes it out to be. She would have pointed that out, if she was able to speak. But the rest of what Sir Jules said was true. Helios shook his head, and sighed.
“Did my father order this?”
by Nightcafe
“Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”
by Nightcafe
Helios again shook his head.
“Then there is nothing I can do about it, I am sorry, Gretel.”
by Nightcafe
She lowered her head, already afraid that this was the case.
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Compelling read!