Excerpt:
“So, Gilbert, how
is my little apprentice?” Sue had such a soothing
voice. For
Gilbert’s part she was the antithesis of what a witch
should be.
He had witnessed so many hangings or burnings at the
stake of gals
who were definitely not witches. Some of the people
back then had no
sense in their heads. It was just pure hysteria.
The only genuine
witch he had ever known was Sue and only after
she stumbled upon his
home in the forest that he refused to give up
since his untimely
death. Sue saw it as a perfect place for a witch
to get away from
any living person.
As for Gilbert, the
woodworker’s son, before his own death, he
watched his friend
Cecily taken away from his run down village.
Cecily and Gilbert were
often antagonistic towards each other and
they both were constantly
exchanging insults. This was the way of
children who took a liking
to each other. She actually was a second
cousin and it was thought
the two were destined to be husband and
wife. However, the priest
came, stirring up the villagers into
accusing Cecily as a witch
because they saw her grappling a frog
that fascinated her down by the
old pond. Considered unladylike,
they took her and tied a stone
around her waist before pushing her
in that same mucky body of water.
It was a test to see if she was
truly a witch. Of course, she
drowned. Gilbert screamed at them to
stop. They just ignored his
cries. When she was proven not
a witch, they just tossed
her dead body to her grief stricken
father and didn’t offer any
condolences or anything.
A month or so later
he had his mishap with breaching the royal
walls and it was “off
with his head”. Gilbert went straight to his
parents to let them
know what happened, but with his body dead
they would never hear him.
Never would they know the truth. He
always hoped to be reunited
with his parents and Cecily in the
afterlife. The boy never found
them, especially since Gilbert
avoided leaving his boyhood home and
had haunted it ever since.
Sue came along and
she sensed his spirit in the house. With a bit of
magic she
strengthened his ghostly form so she could hear him
when he spoke.
Gilbert made up the name Prince Poppycock out of
sheer amusement. He
hoped that if he ever was born again, he
would come back as royalty
instead of the crappy peasant
conditions he was originally thrust
into. The witch would come
and go, actually living in the city a few
times under a guise. She
tried her hand at marriage. Her husband
dared to rough her up, but
he had no clue of her powers. The faux
prince would sometimes
look at the fool strapped to a wall down in
the cellar, moaning for
centuries as Sue ate one chunk of his flesh
every year. Using some
kind of magic to slow his aging process and
to keep infection from
doing him in, that man moaned every day for
death.
Looking at Ruthie in
this mirrored dungeon, she was a girl that
reminded him of his dear
friend, Cecily. He vowed not to be as
antagonistic with her in case
she was ever done in by the ignorant
fools of her day. So far, none
of the guards, as he saw them,
mentioned trying to kill her, but he
was keeping his eye out for
that. Those idiots wouldn’t believe
her about his actions and he
knew that. Gilbert thought of what he
would do if they locked her
in a worse dungeon than this one. At
least her mother could be
with her.
He responded to the
witch. “She’s been put into a dungeon with a
mirror by the
authorities. They believe she is responsible for
killing her own
father and grandparents.”
“And…let me
guess who the real culprit is…the one who calls
himself Prince
Poppycock.”
“Well, of course.
Do you know what her own father did to her?”
“Yes…I told you
he could not be trusted with the girl. Her wicked
grandmother hated
her for no reason. I think accusing her of
witchcraft.”
“Something like
that. Her grandfather was planning on
dishonoring her. He was going
to do the most unthinkable.”
“Yes, I knew he
would do that. He had done it to her before.”
The ghost boy stood
on his feet while on the table. “That is
despicable. Ruthie had
also revealed that to me just this evening.
And they chop my head
off. I’m totally happy to see him get what
he deserved.
Dishonoring a little girl.”
“You have done
well to protect her. I’m guessing Ruthie may be in
big trouble,
however. They won’t believe her if she tells the truth. I
foresee
that they will lock her in a prison for children. She will be
the
youngest one there.”
“I will put a stop
to it, Witch. I promise you that.”
“Don’t worry.
That may be a good time for her to be a permanent
resident with us.
Being only a child, it’ll make it so much easier to
raise her now
and have her accept my offer of apprenticeship when
she enters her
teenage years. I will bring her to live with us.”
Gilbert grinned
bigger than he had in ages. “My word, Witch. That
is so grand.
Sue. I love her. I need to somehow come alive again.
She could be
my mate.”
Sue just chortled
under her breath. “Well, she’s too young for love
now. But, in
her teen years, she would be more than ready.”
One thing Gilbert
did mention, “You know what, Sue. I think these
people have a much
better way of communicating instead of using
a magic pot. It’s a
phone. Perhaps we could get one.”
“Hmm…I’m a
little old fashioned. I think my way works just fine.
Keep an eye
on her. Protect her, but do be wise. The girl is already
in enough
trouble. Don’t make it worse with too many dead
people.”
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