Chapter 8
2300 Words
~Melissa~
Of course, I had to break my ankle when I was sneaking around! It can’t happen to any one else in my family… nooo… they all heal before anyone would notice!! I sit waiting for some sort of special boot from the moon they want to put my foot in so I don’t move it. Now I’m not going to be allowed to go anywhere!!
Frank “Melissa! Are you okay my love?”
And there it starts.
Melissa “Yes, I’m fine, I’m just waiting for some magical boot from the moon that will apparently heal my foot.”
The girls burst out laughing
Frank “What’s so funny?! Your mother’s hurt!”
Glinda “It’s called a moon boot and it doesn’t come from the moon mom, it’s not magical. It’s just easier to use than the old cast they used to put your foot in.”
Laughing at me earned all three of them a zipped lip!! At least now that I didn’t have to concentrate on hiding muddy clothes, I could focus on pain control. A nurse finally arrives with this moon boot and I nearly die! It’s enormous! Unfashionable and just plain ugly!
Nurse “Ma’am it’s this or a cast.”
Melissa “Ugh! Fine, at least with this I can take a shower?”
Nurse “Yes ma’am, a short one without putting weight on this foot. But it is preferred you take a bath so there is no chance of possibly putting weight on the foot.”
Melissa “Okay, can I please leave now.”
Nurse “Not yet ma’am, the doctor still has to write your script and sign your release papers. You are lucky that the break isn’t one that required an operation.”
Melissa “UGH!!”
Frank “Now, Melissa, calm down. You were the one sneaking around in the dark without your guard. You can’t take out your frustrations on the poor nurse.”
Circe “You were sneaking around?!”
Glinda “Without a guard to protect you?!”
Tabatha “Breaking the rules??!!!!”
~Frank~
I. Should. Not. Have. Said. That.
All three girls start talking at once reprimanding their mother and I get the look from Melissa warning me that I’m going to get an ear full for revealing her secret. Thankfully the nurse arrives with a packet of pills and a document to sign… and a set of crutches. Melissa rolls her eyes as soon as a wheelchair arrives. By now I’m the one wishing we can get home already…
Melissa wants to protest against the wheelchair but as soon as she steps on the foot, she immediately takes my arm and climbs in without further protests. Helping her into the SUV I can see she is in terrible pain even with her spell.
When we get home, I pick her up out of the car and carry her bridal style into the house up the stairs, and to our bedroom. The girls stopped bugging her, seeing her in such pain, they get her medication and water and bring it upstairs for her. None of us can handle our family glue in such pain.
Circe “Mom, is there anything we can do to make it better for you. Can we call the coven?”
Melissa “No my darling, we all have to save our energy. I was an i***t hurting myself now of all times! I’m sorry if I took it out on all of you. I’m angry at myself. This is the last thing we need right now.”
Glinda “Mommy, you rest. We will take care of you. I’m sure they won’t dare attack us.”
The girls look at me for confirmation and I nod. None of us believing it of course, but for now, we are trying to stay positive for Melissa’s sake. She is magical and her injury won’t take that long to heal, even if she isn’t a wolf.
Frank “Come girls, let’s give your mother a chance to rest. She must be tired.”
Shoeing them out of the room while they try to protest.
Circe “Dad, what if she was injured and couldn’t get back home? Out of all of us, she should be the one who has the most protection.”
Frank “Ha! You try telling your mother that. No, my girl. You all have to make peace with the fact that your mother is an adult and will do what she thinks is right. Not what you lot think is best for her. I suggest you listen to her or have you forgotten how things go when we don’t huh?”
Tabatha “Yeah, I don’t want to be the witch’s council, especially now that she is hurt.”
I roll my eyes.
Glinda “What are you all talking about? You were all just fussing about mom and now you have changed your points of view?! Mom broke her ankle… how is she going to fight?”
Frank “Sweetheart, your mom has… talents you haven’t seen. We were all just getting her to rest. But believe me when I tell you that this was just the kind of thing to make her angry enough to take out half of the council.”
Glinda “Mom?! No… I don’t believe you… Mom won’t hurt a fly… besides, she is just a witch, she isn’t a wolf.”
Glinda waves it off and closes her bedroom door. Oh, my darling girl, you still have so much to learn about life and your mother especially.
~Radagast~
She accepted the appointment without thinking about how it would make me look after I told her not to!! My mistress a council member! Becoming a member without undergoing training… It’s unheard of!
Slamming my room doors when I walk in, I grab the crystal bottle filled with golden liquid, pour myself a drink, and swallow it in one gulp. Letting the hot fluid warm me from inside. Pouring myself another I shoot it down my throat just as fast, slamming the glass down on the counter.
She lied to me! All this wanting it to be perfect and the private discussions with the Councillor. It was all so she could convince them to make her a member. I’m sure of it. Now she is taking over my protection arrangements. Is she trying to make me look incompetent? Or maybe she is trying to make me look weak?!
I want all of them for their energy! I don’t need her taking over everything! When I have her other sisters, she will join them in the dungeons for this betrayal!
~Willow~
I can feel his anger directed at me looking down from his terrace into the forest searching for me. I know that the decision by the council has made him furious but how was I supposed to refuse them? He of all people should be happy for me… no proud of me!
I decided to put his petty irritations aside and concentrate on the task at hand. We move through the forest finding strategic places for the different soldiers and deciding who will work which shifts. I explain the workings of the pack to them and what to look out for. To make sure everything is in order, I check the waterfall before returning home.
This close to the pack, I can feel the magic radiating off my family. Taking in their energy, I feel something is wrong. What could be wrong? Is one of them hurt? Who could be hurt? I need to find out? A cold rush of adrenaline rushing through me burning through my skin. What if it’s mom? I could care less about my sisters, but if it’s my mother.
I can’t think about this now. If anyone is hurt it will give us the advantage. Turning around I walk back to the castle. I chose my side and now I have to stick to it. Radagast loves me and they don’t. I was never part of their little special group of dogs! Only mom understood.
Storming into the castle one of the servants tells me that Radagast is looking for me and I thank them. Preferring to go to the kitchen to check on the food and the cleaner staff to check on the arrangements for the rooms. I walk through the passages, knocking on some of the bedroom doors and when I get no response, I walk in to check that the room has been attended to.
Beds are made, windows opened for fresh air, and closed where requested. Bathrooms sparkling at all times. Everything that would be expected of a household like this. On my way to his room, I walk into him in the passage.
He grabs me by my arm where it has now started turning purple.
Willow “Oh sure, just go ahead and show everyone how you abuse a council member!”
It slips out without thinking and I see the rage grow in his eyes.
Radagast “My mother was a council member too, and that didn’t stop my father from dumping her a** in the dungeons when she misbehaved! These…” he waves at my bruises “are just marks showing you are mine. MINE, do you hear me!”
I cringe at the smell of the alcohol on his breath. Things are really getting bad and I am starting to wonder if I want to stay around never mind allow him near my sisters.
Willow “Radagast, you better start pulling yourself together and fast or you might just lose your place in the council. You are becoming a disgrace!!”
I rip my arm from his grip, turn on my heel, and walk away. He takes two steps, catching up to me, gripping me around my waist.
Radagast “Don’t you dare tell me what I should and shouldn’t do! I took you from nothing and made you who you are!”
Willow “Oh, get over yourself!! You could have probably gotten away with that around Isobel! Not me! I made myself! I am a strong woman I am because of me! Not you! Now go sleep it off like you always do, while I run the household!”
Fury burning in my eyes while my hands start icing over.
Radagast “If it’s a fight you want, I can give you one!”
He takes a fighting stance and tries calling lightning, but I freeze the bolt and it hits him on top of his head knocking him out like a light. Okay, that wasn’t entirely the plan… shrugging my shoulders I turn around and walk away… but he deserved it and I sure as hell am not going to make sure he gets to bed this time.
When I walk into the dining room, I find Wendy giving a servant orders on a lunch order for two. Realizing my presence when the servant bows to me, Wendy goes silent.
Wendy “Oh, Councillor Willow… I was just arranging lunch for me and one of the other trainees.”
I step closer smiling.
Servant “No mistress, you asked for it to be for Master Radagast… I remember because you asked for his favorite food.
Wendy gives the servant a look that would have killed him if she possessed the right training.
Wendy “No, you must have misunderstood. Willow what kind of establishment are you running that your staff can’t even get a simple instruction right?!”
Willow “You are dismissed.”
I smile at the servant, giving him, a thankful nod and he disappears quickly.
Willow “Councillor Willow to you Wendy, and I believe what my servants tell me.”
Wendy “WHAT?! This is ridiculous! Why on earth would I want a private lunch with the Master of the castle without discussing it with you first?”
Willow “Oh, I don’t know, why would you? Why are you arranging anything in this castle when I am the mistress and everything should be arranged with me?”
She blushes bright red having been caught out in another of her devious plans. This little girl is always trying to get in somewhere and me receiving a pin without training has now probably made her think that Radagast is her way in. I don’t care how horrible he is towards me. She isn’t getting him.
Willow “I suggest you return to your tutor Wendy. You are on tonight’s shift and I’m sure that if our weak point turned out to be you the council would not look kindly on it. Who knows, you might even be banished!”
Her anger burning up from her throat into her face she huffs and leaves the dining room, turning left instead of right which is the way she should be going. I will have to keep my eye on that one.
My next stop in fact is the library where the students are busy with their classes for tonight and as expected she is absent.
Olivia “Hi darling, you haven’t seen Wendy perhaps?”
Willow “Yes, I have, and I sent her here, just a couple of minutes ago.”
Olivia “She couldn’t have gotten lost. She is one of the best students with the tracking spell. You seem upset, is it Wendy?”
Willow “How did you guess?”
Olivia looks around the room at the other girls who have gone silent.
Olivia “Oh, just a feeling. Come, I will help you find her. Time she is punished again.”
Willow “Again?”
Olivia “Oh, you have no idea… let’s go find her.”
- Writer
