Assassin's Curse (2 page)

Skirting the lighted sections of the city streets, the shadow moved wraith-like, gliding along on its journey, full of purpose and intent.
 
It finally stopped at the mouth of an alleyway and leaned into the darkened walls, staring at its destination—a small hut nestled amongst its neighbors.
 
The faint hue of candlelight cast through the veiled window of the hut stood in stark contrast to the surrounding blackness.
 
It was a shining beacon, drawing the skulking shadow forward like a moth to a flame.
 
Closing on the hut, the figure leaned up against the window’s glass and peered into the room.
 
Through the seam of the window curtains, the shadow spied its quarry: a young mother and father playing and laughing with their two infant daughters.
 

The mother turned and moved to the window, parting the curtains slightly to stare into the pitch-black night.
 
Her brow was furrowed as she looked out the window, but the shadow had moved, melting into the gloomy blackness, leaving the mother a view of the street, empty and dark like her worries.
   

***

Miriam DeLongo was startled when she saw a ghostly shadow outside the window of her small hut.
 
She had been jumpy and nervous all night, but there was something outside that she definitely saw.
 
She glanced over to Tomas, but he was playing with the children.
 
He saw no shadows.
 
The girls had captured his full attention as they laughed and played together.
 
Miriam moved to the window and crouched slightly to look out the glass.
 
She saw nothing but her own reflection staring back.
 
She had a beautiful face that was nearly perfect in its symmetry, but tonight her reflection showed a face fraught with worry.
 
She stood up and pushed her blonde hair out of her face, revealing a pair of eyes that were beautiful for a totally different reason.
 
She had the light-golden eyes that marked her as a worker of magic and witchery.

A subtle brightness filled the window and she glanced out again, watching as the moon poked through a thin layer of clouds.
 
It was full and beautiful, one the locals called a witching moon.
 
Miriam was a powerful witch and this moon should have been a fitting portent to the beginning of her new life.
 
She had made the painful decision to leave the coven of her sisters and live instead with her beloved fiancé and their newborn twins.
 
She wanted to raise their girls in a peaceful environment with Tomas, the man she was to marry next week.
 
Magic was fraught with intrigue and inherent dangers and she wanted no part of that for her girls.
 
    

But with all the portents pointing to joy and happiness, why did she feel a foreboding sense of danger?
  

That damned prophecy
, she thought to herself.
 

She turned from the window at the peals of laughter, watching Tomas as he held the two girls and twirled them in a tight circle.
 
The babies screamed with joy at the ride and Tomas laughed along with them.
 
Miriam couldn’t tell who was having more fun, her soon-to-be husband or her children.
 
The innocence of their laughter tore at her heart.
 
The scene was perfect and she wanted to freeze it in time: the happily ever after, right out of the fairytales her mother had told her when she was a child.
 
She tried to shake off her black mood, but her sense of dread stuck with her and she worried all the more.
 

Tomas looked over and saw the grimace on her face. “What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she replied, smiling and shifting the subject.
 
“They love it when you play with them.
 
I can feel the happiness gushing from them.”
 

“Of course they do,” he said teasingly.
 
“They know who their daddy is.
 
I don’t need any
special powers
to feel how happy they are when we play together.”

Tomas held the girls until they calmed down before moving over to their crib and gently putting them down.
 
A small moue of protest was all he got for their abandonment.
 
He caressed their brows, comforting them with his touch.
 
He tucked their blankets around
them,
fastening each one tightly with the two pins he had brought this evening.
 
The pins displayed the crest of the noble Berkshire family, as was fitting for the newest heirs to the Berkshire house.
 
He smiled down at them once more before turning his attention back to their mother.
 
He looked closely at her and saw tension in her furrowed brow and the set of her shoulders.
 
She was trying to hold something inside, but it was radiating from her like a fountain of anxiety.
 
He could only guess that the impending move to his family estates was at the root of her stress.
 
The initial meeting that Tomas and Miriam had undergone with his mother did not exactly go as he had hoped.
 
In fact, it probably could not have gone any worse.
 

Tomas was the heir to his family’s seat and would be appointed next year as the Count of Berkshire.
 
His mother had aspirations for a woman of noble birth, one equal to his status, to be her son’s wife, not some “
witch of low, undignified birth.
”
 
Miriam had been mortified at his mother’s callous words and had fled the house in tears.
 
Unfortunately, living anywhere but on ancestral lands would not be appropriate for the future count.
 
As much as he wanted to grant Miriam’s every wish and desire, this was one thing he could not compromise on.
 

“Turn around and let me get rid of some of that tension,” Tomas said, kneading Miriam’s neck and shoulders.
 
“Still worried about the move, Love?”
 

Miriam didn’t answer immediately, instead enjoying the feel of Tomas’s strong fingers as he worked his own brand of magic.
 
The knots in her shoulders slowly eased and she relaxed back into his embrace.

“It’s hard right now,” she said.
 
“First, I left the coven with barely a word.
 
There were quite a few of my sisters there that will be disappointed when they find I’ve taken a husband and will not be returning.
 
And then there is your mother.
 
You know she doesn’t particularly like me.
 
For the gods’ sakes Tomas, she said I would be the ruin of you.
 
How do you think that makes me feel?”

“My beloved Miriam,” Tomas said softly, nuzzling her ear.
 
“It doesn’t matter what she says.
 
Next week, we will be married and you will be the future Countess of Berkshire.
 
Together we will raise the girls in the style you all deserve.
 
Trust me; we will be the envy of the nobility.
 
As for the coven, you will be visiting your
sisters
whenever you want, or invite them to visit the estates.
 
Either way, you won’t be leaving anyone or anything behind.”

Miriam turned and gazed lovingly at the wonderful man holding her in his arms.

“I love you so…”

The sound like the crack of lightning pierced the night as the hut’s front door came crashing inward.
 
They both jumped and stared at the menacing specter standing in the doorway.
 
The figure threw back her cowl and glared at the young couple.
 
Miriam gasped as she recognized Elizabeth, one of the elder witches of the Constantine Coven, standing before them.
 
Apparently, leaving the coven had done more than disappoint some of her sister witches.
 
Elizabeth stood in the doorway full of righteous anger, and she was an intimidating sight to behold.
   

“What a touching scene, the two of you holding each other so lovingly,” the old witch sneered.
 
She pointed her finger at the young mother.
 
“Miriam, you should know better.
 
This little love affair is over.
 
It was doomed the moment you gave birth to those twins.
 
I should have never let you out of my sight once those babies were born.”

“Elizabeth,” Miriam cried, alarmed at seeing the elder and hearing the twins begin to fuss.
 
“What are you doing here?”

“What do you think I’m doing here?
 
I’ve come to get you and the babies and return you to your rightful home.
 
Do you think the coven would let you waste the gift of these twins on some flight of fancy like him?”

“Wait, please,”
Miriam
pleaded, grabbing Tomas’ hand.
 
“You don’t understand.
 
We love each other.
 
We are to be married and want to raise our children together.”

The elder witch’s sneer turned to contempt.

“You gave your pledge to the coven, girl.
 
You and the babies will not abandon your fellow sisters.
 
You’re returning with me.
 
This boy may be the heir to the Berkshire throne, but he shall do so without you.”

“Please, Elizabeth,” Miriam replied, stepping toward the twins’ crib, hearing them crying within.
 
“I don’t want to return to the coven. I want to stay with Tomas.”

“That is truly pathetic.
 
I certainly had higher hopes for you.
 
Did you know that his family has a disturbing and angry history when it comes to our kind?
 
Did he bother to tell you all the dark, ugly secrets his family hides?
 
Would you endanger the safety of your children to the likes of them?
 
I think not.
 
Gather your things; we are leaving.”

Miriam stared helplessly at Elizabeth.

“Oh, you are one to talk, Aunt Liz,” Tomas said, stepping between her and Miriam.
 
He recognized Elizabeth, his mother’s older sister: the older sister who had abandoned the family years ago and pledged her life to the coven.
 

“You’re right in the middle of those dark, ugly secrets,” Tomas continued.
 
“You talk about pledges and abandonment with such righteous indignation, but it was you who was supposed to be the Countess of Berkshire, not my mother.
 
You’re the one who disavowed your title and family rights when you joined that coven.
 
You may be the most powerful witch there, but you’re still my mother’s elder sister, the one who ran away and left us.
 
So, do not preach to me about abandonment.”

Tomas’s revelation of Elizabeth’s past momentarily stunned Miriam.
 
It had been many years since anyone had stood up to the witch elder, and even longer than that since anyone had brought up her ancient past.
   

“You have no idea what you are talking about,” Elizabeth said.
 
“They are coming with me.
 
Now get out of my way before you get hurt.”

“They are not going anywhere,” Tomas said, rushing to a small table and picking up his scabbard.
 
He pulled his sword from its sheath and repositioned himself in front of Miriam and the crib, sheltering them both from the wrath of the old witch.
 

“Boy, I am warning you.
 
You have no idea how important those two little girls are to the world.”

“I know how important they are to me and that’s all I need to know.”

Miriam stepped up beside Tomas and took his arm.

“Tommy, please do not threaten her,” she implored.
 
“She’s a very dangerous witch.”

“Enough of this,” Elizabeth commanded, looking at Miriam.
 
“Gather your things.
 
You and the children are coming with me now.”

“You’ll take them over my dead body,” Tomas declared, pointing his sword at Elizabeth’s chest.
 
It was probably a foolish gesture, a sword against a witch, but he would not stand by while this woman--related or not--threatened his family.
 
Besides, he didn’t really think his own aunt would cause him any physical harm.
 

“As you wish,” the old witch replied.
 
With a swirl of her arms, her cloak fell back.
 
She focused on Tomas and pointed her hands at him.

“
Noooo
!” Miriam screamed, realizing immediately what Elizabeth intended.

Miriam jumped in front of Tomas, and conjured a wall of air to shield them both from the elemental blast Elizabeth threw at him.
 
Without a thought, Miriam threw her own hands forward and launched a counterattack.
 
Elizabeth was so surprised by Miriam’s actions that she barely had time to deflect the attack.
 
As it was, part of the blast caught her and slammed her back against the open door.
 
She slumped down, hurt and barely moving, but she was able to throw another feeble blast.
 
Miriam deflected that one as well, or so she thought.
 
While Miriam gathered her strength for another attack, she heard a moan behind her.
 
Looking back, she saw Tomas slumped on the floor, holding his chest.
 
The deflected blast had found its mark despite her best efforts.