Cuckoo in the Coven

As soon as time was mentioned, they both looked subdued. It was hanging over them.

“Well, you know what they say about orchards and getting a good harvest,” Celeste offered with a chuckle.

“What would that be?” Cullen asked.

“We pagans believe making love in the orchard will bring about a bountiful harvest.”

Cullen’s eyebrows lifted, and he looked at Sunny with interest.

Sunny laughed. “We’ll bear it in mind. Thanks, Celeste.”

Celeste chatted and watched them together for a while, marveling at how Cullen had adapted to his situation. Most of all, her heart warmed at the sight. They were very much in love. Her matchmaking work was done, as solid as if she’d stitched together the patchwork of their lives.

The magic here was now all their own.

She left them to consider her comments about the orchard, having a quiet chuckle on it as she walked home.

Even as she crossed the meadow, returning to the town, a familiar barrage of questions re-entered her mind. While she was with Sunny, it was crucial to reassure her. Once she was alone, doubts assailed her. Were they teaching Sunny everything she needed to know, and in the right manner?

Her thoughts flitted back to a conversation she’d had with Sunny’s grandmother, several years before. Hanna’s concern was Sunny being introduced to her magic in a practical way, rather than theoretical. She’d certainly been thrust into the deep end, following her dreams, and she’d coped well. Sunny would’ve dismissed much of what she was taught had it been by the book. She was a level-headed, down-to-earth young woman, and Celeste respected that. When Sunny grasped the breadth of her magical ability, she would make a very practical and grounded witch, who would not use her powers unjustly or recklessly.

By the time Celeste reached the town, the streets had grown quiet as dusk descended. The smell of the incoming tide was high in the air as she walked past The Cauldron and went down to the shore, intending to gather fresh seaweed as it swept in on the tide. However, the magical look of the sky caught her attention and she paused on the jetty before taking the steps down to the beach. Light glimmered on the horizon. Any moment now it would vanish.

“What a beautiful image you make,” a male voice announced, “looking out so wistfully at the fading day.”

Celeste turned on her heel, seeking out his image.

Fox was right behind her.

“Are you rendezvousing with a lover, hmm? And, if so, who is the lucky chap?” He gave a low chuckle.

How did he manage to sneak up on her? Normally she became aware of his presence before he materialized. She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, meaning to discourage him. She didn’t like it when he prowled at the edge of her territory, creeping up on her without warning. “What are you doing lurking around here, Fox? Your time is not yet nigh.”

“Observing. It’s rather entertaining, watching your efforts to tutor the girl.”

She pursed her lips, trying to contain her emotions before she replied. Of course he was observing, up there in the house on the hill, seeing all that went on in Raven’s Landing. The trouble was, she couldn’t get anything done if she thought about it too long. So she didn’t. She blanked out his presence as much she possibly could.

Right now though, she had to warn him off. The deadline loomed.

“Don’t underestimate the depth of affection between those two souls, true, deep and loyal affection. There’s a bond between them you wouldn’t understand. Not even I can pretend to have ever known such a bond.”

It felt good to pay him back in some small way for all he’d put her through. But even as she stood there despising him, she craved him too. Her entire body ached to be against him again, to be serenaded in his arms as they rode the night sky together.

Fox shrugged. “A deal’s a deal. I intend to take what I was traded.”

“Sunny is part of our community now.” She said it with more confidence than she felt. Sunny was headstrong and independent. “We’re in tune with the elements in a different way to you. Our power may not be as immense, but it grows and thrives. We are patches in a quilt put together by a community who cares.”

“What a pretty picture you paint.” He smirked, then gestured fluidly with his hands. “Away with you, Celeste. You were fun to be with at one time, now you’re just an annoying do-gooder without a cause.”

With that he was gone, leaving her wavering unsteadily at the edge of the incoming tide. Celeste swallowed.

As ever, the ache in her heart was immense.

She felt oddly hollow too, threatened, and fearful.

For a long moment she stared out across the dark shoreline, and had to battle the urge to stride into the cold, dark waves and end it all.

I’ll never be free of him, she acknowledged. Never.