Bewitched

4 Old friends

The carriage slowed down, bouncing a few times before the horses finally stopped moving completely. Aurora’s breathing stopped as well, fearing what was waiting for her outside.  She had spent the past days locked in this box and couldn’t wait to get out, but wanted to stay hidden inside at the same time.

“We’re here.” Said guard number one with a sly smile. The other one had a somewhat guilty expression when he saw her reaction.

“So, what are they going to do to you?” He asked her, his eyes showing a little worry for the restrained witch in front of him.

The truth was, Aurora didn’t know what they would do to her. They were unpredictable and she had no powers at that moment.

She was powerless, scared and at their mercy but she wouldn’t show that to the others.

Holding her head high, she glared at the first guard and answered the other one.

“Honestly, I have no idea. I ran away from there years ago.”

“Stop chatting with the damn witch you i***t!” The first man scowled his companion. “We need to go, ….now!”

Before she could realize what was happening, she was being dragged out from the carriage and thrown to the ground.

Her messy black hair didn’t allow her to see anything, but she could hear them.

“Well, well, well…..hello Aurora.” Said a deep voice from afar.

Aurora finally managed to get back on her feet, but her hands were still restrained and her leg was still wounded, so it wasn’t an easy task.

When she looked around, she could see they were on a clearing by the road, probably somewhere around the witches’ land border.

She couldn’t see any mountains, which meant they weren’t too far in the north. The forest around was thick though, contrasting with the no-man’s-land they rode through on their way here.

She hoped something would give her a hint where they were, but the place looked like any other place around the Witch Kingdom.

When her hopes sailed away, she turned her head to the men speaking. They were slowly closing in, taking their time.

There were just two of them but she could see another carriage with a few guards on the other side of the clearing.

Turning her attention to the two young men, she frowned.

She hadn’t seen them in years but she knew very well who they were.

“You haven’t changed much, little Rory, have you?”  asked the older one, narrowing his violet eyes at her. “the same messy hair, the same posture, …”

He wanted to continue, but she didn’t let him.

“I’m older than the both of you, you idiot.”

His face drastically changed and if looks could kill, she would be six feet under.

“Just by a few months!” It seemed like her attitude drove him mad, his fists were flexed and there was a prominent vein on his forehead, peeking from under his black messy hair.

The other one had been quiet so far. He looked a few years younger than the other two but visibly resembled his companion. His hair was slightly lighter, a rather darker shade of brown, and his left eye was brown, whereas his right one was violet.

Despite being the youngest, he was the tallest of the three.

“Hello, Orm.” Aurora greeted him, ignoring the first man which visibly made him even angrier.

“Hey, Rory.” He said, his arms folded across his chest. He had an indifferent expression despite his words. An outsider would think that he was her friend, calling her nicknames but she knew that wasn’t the case.

“I didn’t think you would be able to hide for this long, no one did.” He added, his eyes showing a hint of respect.

She scoffed and tried to wiggle her arms in the restraints.

“It wasn’t that hard, everyone hates you guys too much to let you roam their land looking for me.”

Orm looked behind her to the guards that brought her here and said in a stern voice. “We will take it from here.”

He took out an envelope and walked pass Aurora to give it to one of the guards.

“A letter from my fiancée to her mother. I have been instructed to remind you it is for queen Raina’s eyes only.” He said, none of them aware of the fact that Raina was no queen and that she and her husband had been dead for days now.

The guard carefully took the envelope from his hand while nodding his head. It was clear he was uncomfortable in front of the young boy.

They were witches after all and who knew what witches could really do.

“It’s time for you to go,” Orm said and the guards were out of there as fast as they could, leaving the two young men laughing at their fear of them.

Orm looked at his older companion and his face turned serious again. The other man nodded and Orm grabbed Aurora, leading her across the clearing in a not so gentle way. “Come on, it’s time to go home.“

She hissed as he buried his fingers to her skin, but they soon stopped in their tracks as a group of people walked out of the forest.

“Are you f*****g kidding me!?” Yelled the man walking in front of Aurora, his temper taking over once more.

“Calm down.” Orm hissed, tightening his hold on Aurora.

He, however, didn’t plan on listening. He took a fighting stance, shaking his hands a little bit.

“Come on! Come on if you think you can take me!” he yelled across the clearing but more and more people were going out of the trees. Men and women alike, none of them saying a word.

Orm quickly dragged Aurora to his short-tempered friend and clasped his arm which was already pulsing with magic.

“Don’t! We need to get out of here.”

“I know, but we can’t take all three of us!” he hissed at Orm, ready to fight, his blood full of adrenaline. He was sometimes too hot-headed for his own good.

“We need to leave her.”

“What!? No! She’s coming with us.” He disagreed.

“We need to go or we’ll get killed and you know it.”

Orm took out a dagger as he said that which made the people around move faster and Aurora tried to move away in fear but to her surprise Orm pushed her away, making her fall to the ground once more.

He cut to his own arm, both of the men mumbling something and in the next second, they were gone in a dim flash of light.

Aurora rolled onto her back, groaning in annoyance. It seemed like she would be spending today cuffed on the ground.

She sat up and let out a breath of relief at seeing that her two nightmares were gone. Her relief was short-lived though, because about thirty people gathered around her, looking down at her like she was some kind of a criminal.

“And what do you want from me?” She asked, annoyed.

“You should be grateful we saved you.” Said a man, walking pass his other companions.

He was wearing heavy armour and had a sword by his side. She rolled her eyes at seeing him again. He wasn’t exactly her favourite person.

He looked older then she remembered, and much smaller, or maybe she was taller. It was hard to say.

His hair started to show some grey but his frown looked still the same, even though he was around fifty now.

“Yeah? You saved me? So I’m free to go?” Aurora asked although she knew the answer to that question already.

“Not exactly. You are coming with us.”