The Vampire & Her Witch

Ollie struggled to force down a growing feeling of hatred and fury as he walked down the narrow steps leading to the cold cells of the Lothian dungeon.

He'd seen the cells before, many times. There wasn't an inch of the Villa he hadn't explored in the years past, whether it had been before the Lothian family arrived for the summer or after they left, there was always time to sneak into hidden places and secret areas where no one went.

The dungeons were one of the most neglected features of the Villa, and as far as Ollie knew, no one had used them since long before he was born. They were cold and drafty, even in summer, and water seeped in from the walls. There was only one tiny window that provided a whisper of fresh air and a glimpse of daylight in a place that was otherwise left as dark as a tomb.

As a younger man, he'd always found it a little spooky, but that had been when it was empty. Now, as he descended the steps, the smell of unemptied buckets of waste and unwashed bodies filled the air even before he entered the room, telling him everything he needed to know about the conditions Noomi and her infant son had been kept in.

"Stay back!" A rough, feminine voice called as the light from Ollie's lantern spilled into the darkness of the dungeon. "Stay away from me or, or I'll claw your face off and crush your bones," Noomi threatened, backing away from the doorway and turning her body to shield the baby in her arms with her body. "You know what 'demons' are capable of, don't you? So just move aside and let me go and… and you won't get hurt!"

When Ollie finally got a good look at her, Noomi's eyes were slightly sunken and her brown fur hung limp on her body, but when she held up a hand to protect herself, her claws were sharp, and there was no weakness in her posture. She might not know how to fight, but she was puffing herself up and threatening him with the fearsome reputation her clan had earned as if she were one of their greatest warriors.

"Noomi, it's Ollie," the young knight said, holding out one hand with his wrist facing upward and his hand bent back as far as it would go while his fingers splayed open as if he was holding an apple. "I visited your village in the spring," he continued. "I'm here as a friend."

"You're a friend?" Noomi asked, blinking in confusion. "Then, if you're a friend, where's Samira?" Noomi insisted as she started to back away from the young knight. He resembled the boy who had come to her village so long ago, but that boy hadn't been dressed like a human knight, and he didn't have the… presence that this young man did.

The boy in her memories had been earnest and uncertain when he followed the Black Merchant into their village, whereas this knight stood tall and proud, like a mighty tree that could hold up the weight of the world on his shoulders and provide shelter from any storm. So even though they looked similar, it was hard to believe they were the same man.

"Why isn't she here?" Noomi asked, stopping suddenly when her tail encountered the bars of her prison cell. "If you've harmed her…"

"I haven't harmed her, and I won't," Ollie insisted. "I swear it to you on my honor as the Cypress Witch. May the Mother of Trees strip me of my power if I've lied to you," he said, hoping that the Heartwood clan's reverence for the Mother of Trees would cut through the distrust that held her back.

"You, you're a witch?" Noomi said, unconsciously lowering herself to both knees with wide-open eyes as she realized why the young man felt like he had such a great presence. She felt as if she was standing in the presence of a great tree, one with roots that sank deep into the soil, surrounded by cool water and deep shade.

No one in her village had ever met a real witch before, but there were stories passed down from hundreds of years ago. Stories about the powerful witch who taught the Heartwood Clan how to feel a person's heart through the wood they shaped and even taught them powerful sorcery they could carve into the wood, though many of those secret spells had been lost in the long years since the Mother of Trees rescued their clan from disaster.

"You're a witch who serves the Mother of Trees," she whispered as her tail began to twitch, rapidly thumping the cold, stone ground behind her as her emotions threatened to overwhelm all sense of reason.

She knew, of course, that it wouldn't be the same Mother of Trees as before. A new person became the Mother of Trees every few centuries, but the Heartwood Clan had long held hope that one of the next great witches to bear the title would choose someone from their clan to join her coven. And now, now she was standing in the presence of someone who was part of that coven! She really had been rescued.

"I am," Ollie said, kneeling on the floor in front of her and extending his wrist. "I'm also a friend of Old Nan, Milo, and Juni. I won't hurt you, and I promise, I'll take you and your son to the Mother of Trees as soon as we leave this place. She's waiting for us just outside the walls. So, can you trust us?"

"Can you bring me to Samira?" Noomi asked hesitantly. "I won't feel right if I haven't seen her safe," she said. She had to make this man, this witch, understand that Samira didn't belong with the cruel humans of this castle. Now that her rescue had come, she had to do what she'd promised Samira she would and explain that she was a friend who needed to be rescued, too.

"Of course I'll bring you to her," Ollie said solemnly. "If you're willing, I'd like you to be present when we bring her to the Mother of Trees. I think that, if she sees the two of you together, it may help my lady to accept Samira and her child."

"Why would the mother of trees be worried about Samira's child?" Noomi asked with a frown. Surely the Great Witch who meant the most to the Heartwood Clan would be overflowing with gratitude for a woman who had protected the captured mother and child, wouldn't she?

"Is it because it's also a child of Owain Lothian?" Noomi asked as it occurred to her that they might see Samira as an enemy just because of the identity of her child's father. "I hate that man, more than anyone in the world," she said sharply as her tail thumped the ground furiously.

"But Samira and her child have nothing to do with him," Noomi pleaded. "The child won't inherit the father's wickedness, we'll see to that," she promised. "Samira and I, if you give us the chance, we'll raise them up right. You won't have to fear that they'll turn into some kind of monster that would threaten our people."

"Oh?" Ollie said, blinking in surprise at the fierceness and determination in her voice when she spoke of helping to raise the other woman's child. "You intend to stay with Samira, even after you escape? She said that you called her your Lady Jailor not that long ago."

"That was before, I knew she was a prisoner too," Noomi said. "But the past few months, we talked about breaking free. We said we'd build a burrow by a lake somewhere in the Vale if the others from my village would take us in. And if Old Nan and the others can't accept a human there, then we'll find a place to be by ourselves."

"She helped me when I didn't have enough to feed myself and Saku," Noomi said with dropping whiskers. "I haven't paid her back for saving us yet. So, if I can pay her back now, I will. If the Mother of Trees will be angry with her, then I'll beg for mercy for Samira," she said. "But what Owain Lothian did to Samira… It's not her fault. The Mother of Trees shouldn't blame her for it."

"It's not that simple," Ollie said with a heavy sigh. "The Mother of Trees is the real Ashlynn Blackwell, the woman that Samira was pretending to be. And Owain Lothian, he nearly killed Lady Ashlynn before she learned how to use her powers as the Mother of Trees. So, it's complicated."

"No, it isn't," Noomi insisted, standing up as straight as she could. "Samira was foolish when Owain Lothian took her, but she was just a serving girl in his castle. She couldn't have said 'no' if she wanted to, and she's learned what kind of man he is now. If I explain it, then the Mother of Trees will understand," she said with the same level of certainty she would have in saying that the sky was blue and water was wet.

"So take me to her," Noomi insisted. "Take me alone if it would be better, and I'll explain it to her myself. I, I promised Samira when the attack started that I would explain that she was my friend so she could be rescued too. If, if I have to explain that to the Mother of Trees herself, then I will."

"All right, I'll take you," Ollie said, smiling at the courage the young mother displayed. "I'll take you to Samira first, and then we'll all go together. Once she sees you and your little one and hears how Samira cared for you, I'm sure it will work out."