Bewitching My Love by Diane Story Page B

against the wall of the cave and watched her through the opening. She was sitting on a boulder with her dress pulled up, exposing her long legs to the rays of the moonlight. Her toes curled in the grass at her feet. She had her head back as she looked up to the sky and her red locks fell in layered lengths until they brushed against the rock behind her. Her skin was so fair that it looked as if it glowed against the darkness surrounding her. Her beauty captivated him; he realized he could sit contentedly watching her all night. If it weren’t so dangerous he would have.
    “ I don’t want to come in yet, Rowen, it is much too stuffy in there. Just a little longer, I’ll come in soon.” She’d caught sight of something shining in the foliage across from her and forgot where she was going with her questions about Mary’s baby. “I’ll be right back.”
    “ Fern, don’t go wondering off in the dark.”
    “ It’ll just take a second, I promise.” She slid down from her place on the boulder. “There’s something in the trees, I just want to see what it is.” It was shiny; maybe the old woman had dropped the cross she took from her.
    “ Alright fern, but I won’t be responsible for any animals that might want a bite of you.” When she didn’t come running back like he thought she would he decided to go after her, and was just standing up when he heard her swear.
    “ Ouch, Ohh, damn! Rowen, I cut my finger on a rock.” She stood looking down at her finger. It stung like sin. “I bet we don’t have anything to wrap it with, do we?”
    He reached her in seconds. Taking her hand he looked at it in the moonlight. “It’s not bad Fern, come on, we’ll tear a piece of cloth from your cape.”
    They were just ducking down to go back in the cave when Rowen heard the rustling of the trees where they’d just been standing. He turned and squinted against the dark, but there was nothing there. “Did you find what you were looking for, Fern?”
    “ No, by the time I got to where I thought it was, it wasn’t there. It must have been my imagination.” Her finger wasn’t bleeding anymore, thank goodness, the sight of blood made her woozy.
     
    “ I ask in the name of my child Mary Wilds that I, Elizabeth, be granted the power of love. I ask this for the good of Fern and Rowen. So mote it be. In no way will this spell reverse, or place upon me any curse. In this night and in this hour, I call upon the Ancient power. O Goddess Bride and Consort Bright, I ask thee now to bring your light. I have a need that must be met. I ask thee that I obtain the perfect spell for love. I ask the Universe to lend the power of all the correct astrological correspondences so they may enter this circle now to obtain my desire.
    Therefore, I specifically draw toward myself the power to bestow love. I give to Fern and Rowen a powerful love, not for me, but for one another. When each they look into one another’s eyes, there love shall be .” Her arms shook as she held the ingredients up against the night sky. “ I now proclaim this spell is done. The spell of love is mine! In no way will this spell reverse, or place upon me any curse! As I will, so mote it be! In this sacred space and time, We call now the Old Ones; the Goddess of the moon, seas and rivers; the God of the rayed Sun, of valleys and forests; Draw near us during this, our circle. For this love of Fern and Rowen, cannot be undone.”
     
    Elizabeth fell to the ground in a heap. The spell had taken all of her strength. It took her longer than she thought to get the girl’s blood, then she had to dry it before adding it to her mixture. It was late, she needed to go home and prepare herself for Mary’s trial. The love spell would ensure the fate of Jonathan and Sarah’s ancestors. Rowen would love Fern too much to let her hang. Her throat cracked with her weak laughter. “Stupid man, doth he not understand she will not be denied her