Chapter 14: The Prisoner and the Witch II
1648 Words
For three days now, Hazel has been on edge. David can tell she can sense something is about to happen, and though he wonders about it and has even asked her more than once, she doesn’t seem to want to share it with him. He has learned that when she gets secretive like this, it means she knows something and doesn’t want to give too much away for fear that it will influence the outcome. Better the future you know than one you never saw coming, seems to be her philosophy.
They sit together on her bed holding sticks that she had him harvest using a special tool from specific trees in the woods behind her cottage, and she is teaching him how to make some sort of protective charm using the special twine that she crafted herself. He knows she has woven spells into the twine, and though the spells are far beyond his ability to even comprehend let alone try to emulate, he can sense their protective energy. What he doesn’t know is who the charms are intended for.
She has been quiet for some time, muttering softly under her breath, and then suddenly she snaps to attention and looks at David, her eyes wide with whatever thought has just popped into her head.
“Did you pack the herbs from the drying rack out back? We’ll need those.”
“Yes, Hazel. Everything you asked me to prepare and pack has been packed, and it is all sitting there by the door.” He gestures to the stack of luggage and supplies he carefully placed there earlier in the morning. “I wish you would tell me where you think we’ll be going, though.”
“You’ll see soon enough. Be ready to answer the door. We need to be prepared because they won’t be wanting to wait around for us.”
He knows better than to press her further because it will just be a waste of his breath. He makes a sound to acknowledge her warning and turns back to his work, winding and winding the twine around the sticks in the pattern she showed him.
A short while later she looks up again, her body tensing.
“Now, David. They’re coming now,” she announces. “Help me put these things away and then you head to the door.”
He does as he is told, helping her clean up their crafting supplies and stow them in her tote bag, and then stands from the bed and makes his way to the door. Someone knocks just before he makes it there, and he quickly takes the last couple steps and swings open the door before the knocking is finished.
Two guards stand just outside the door, the one who had been knocking still frozen with his hand in the air.
“Whoa,” he comments in surprise.
His companion clears his throat and looks past David at Hazel standing just behind him. “Hazel Azurath? We’ve been sent to collect you. The Alpha wants you to stay with him for the time being. Hurry and collect your things.”
“We’re ready,” she responds simply, gesturing to their luggage and supplies. “If you gentlemen could help us carry these things, we’ll be on our way.”
“How does she do that?” the first guard mutters under his breath.
The other man ignores him and shakes his head at Hazel.
“The Alpha said nothing about bringing him. Just you,” he argues.
“He comes,” she insists. “I have seen this all in my dreams, and he needs to be there, or we will all regret it.”
“We don’t improvise the Alpha’s orders,” the second man begins to protest, but his companion stops him with a firm hand on his shoulder, arguing, “We should just take him and let the Alpha deal with them. She obviously knows more than we do about what this is all about. She even knew we were coming.”
With a nod and a sigh, the second man concedes, and both men set about gathering the packed belongings and loading them into the SUV they brought to retrieve her. David and Hazel step up into the back of the vehicle, with the two guards resuming their seats up front. The ride back to the Alpha’s mansion is quiet, but only Hazel seems content and comfortable in the silence.
Once they arrive, the guards assign a servant to the task of unloading the luggage and taking it to the guest room that has been set up for Hazel. Then they lead Hazel and David directly to the Alpha, who is alone in his office poring over some reports.
“Alpha, we have retrieved the witch,” one of the guards announces. “She insisted on bringing her companion.”
Alpha Preston looks up from his work and regards the four people before him. He seems bored and dismisses the guards with an authoritative wave of his hand.
“Good. I’ll take it from here.”
Once the two men have left his office and closed the door, the Alpha’s demeanor grows a little more intense. He glances at David briefly before turning his attention to Hazel.
“I assume you know why I have brought you here?” he asks.
“I do. I won’t be of much use to you in the coming days if I’m way out there with nobody paying me any mind. Oh and,” she looks down and reaches into her tote bag, pulling out the charm she was working on before and holding it out to the Alpha, “you’ll need this for your wife. Have her hold it for a bit, then hang it above where she sleeps. Just a little extra protection.”
Alpha Preston takes it from her with a concerned frown. “Why does my wife need this?”
“Hopefully, she won’t,” Hazel responds. “I just had an urge to make it and she was the one who came to mind while I did it. I try never to ignore the signs.”
“Indeed. I’ll give it to her,” Alpha Preston promises, himself a believer in Hazel’s interpretations of “the signs” and ability to predict the future. She has yet to steer him wrong.
“Now, about him,” he nods toward David, his frown deepening. “I don’t know how I feel about having an outsider in my home.”
“He was an outsider decades ago. Now, he is my closest friend, and has grown vitally important to my work,” she argues, not feeling the need to explain the ways in which David’s knowledge and abilities allow her to expand her repertoire. “And most importantly, I’ve seen bits and pieces of what is to come. I have a strong sense that he needs to be here, though I haven’t seen the rest yet. It feels close, though. I should know soon.”
“Hmm,” the Alpha responds while he thinks on the matter. “I’ll allow it, but he stays with you. You’re responsible for him.”
“Of course,” she agrees.
David decides to remain quiet and let Hazel do the negotiating. He is impressed at how she seems to have a way with the Alpha and knows he does not share this talent.
“And if you see anything in your dreams that I need to know, be sure to tell me immediately,” Alpha Preston demands firmly. “Actually, if you see anything at all, bring it all to me. I’ll decide what’s important.”
“Of course,” she repeats. “I don’t know details yet, but I can tell you that your instincts are right on target. Something is coming, though I couldn’t say what,” she lies, hoping that the small sprinkling of the truth will be enough to tide him over and satisfy his suspicions for now.
“Come to me when you know more,” he reiterates, “but for now, consider yourself a guest of my home. Get comfortable in the suite I have set aside for you, and if there is anything you might need, be sure to let one of my servants know. But my hospitality does not come without strings, of course. If I have need of you, I’ll send for you, and I expect you to drop whatever you are doing and come immediately. Understood?”
“I understand perfectly. Thank you, Alpha. It is my privilege and honor to serve you, as always,” she says with a slight respectful nod.
Alpha Preston dismisses them both and a servant leads them to Hazel’s guest room. David is struck by the faintest hint of a familiar scent as soon as they enter, a scent he has been deprived of for the past twenty years, and his wolf begins to stir for the first time in a long time. The scent is so slight that he can’t be sure that it isn’t just something he is imagining through pure force of will and wanting, yet he finds comfort in it. He takes it as one of Hazel’s “signs” that the path he is on is the one that will indeed lead him back home to his family.
- Writer
