Page 17 of Bewitched

Rhys was up early the next morning, anxious to leave on the journey. He stood outside, down at the Lake of Souls, waiting for the others to awaken. The sun was just rising, lighting up the Picajord Mountains, making them glow with tones of purple and orange. The birds chirped happily, and the scent of spring filled the air.

“It’s rather pretty here in Mura, I must admit.”

He heard a voice and turned to find Medea sitting atop a tall boulder, tossing rocks into the lake. The morning breeze lifted her loose, long hair, and then set it down again gently over her shoulders. She was a pretty girl with quaint features. Her skin was smooth and pale. She wore a purple velvet gown that made her ebony hair seem to glow in the early morning sun.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her. “And how did you get way up there?” It was a tall standing stone with smooth sides. Several of these stones could be found along the shore of the lake. They were high, steep, and slippery. There was no way anyone could actually climb them.

“I followed you,” she admitted. “And I didn’t climb all the way up here, if that’s what you’re asking. I just... transported.”

“Oh, that’s right. You can do that disappearing and reappearing thing,” he mumbled, turning back to look up at the sky. The rays of sunlight filtered through the air above the lake. The change in the morning temperature had caused a fog to slowly rise up from the water. “How do you do it? And what else can you do?”

It wasn’t two seconds later that the witch was standing right next to him. He jumped, startled by her sudden appearance.

“Did I scare you?” she asked with a giggle.

“I’m just not used to the way you do that.”

“It’s a much faster way to travel.”

“I can see that.” He glanced over at her, his eyes focusing on hers. In the sun rays breaking through the fog, her eyes looked to be even a lighter shade of brown this morning. Quite different from the darkness in them he had seen when she became angry. Up close like this, he could really see that she was still a very young woman. She had the innocence of youth about her, yet at the same time she held a dark, dangerous edge to her that he couldn’t explain.

Everything about her was mysterious, calling out to him, tempting him to find out more. He had never really known anyone quite like her.

Medea’s face was heart-shaped, and her eyes were deep set and shaped like almonds. Her cheeks were rosy and she had the cutest little button nose. However, the most enticing thing about her had to be her smile. It was pretty and inviting. That is, when she wasn’t trying to knock him on his ass. Her teeth were white and straight, and her full lips looked like they’d be just right for kissing.

“What are you staring at?” she asked, sounding suddenly uncomfortable by his perusal.

“You,” he answered directly, not even trying to hide the fact her was checking her out. Her cheeks blushed and her gaze dropped to her feet.

“So... are you saying I’m... pretty?” she asked, hope resounding in her words. She had a sing-song, captivating voice this morning, much like that of a fae.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Oh.” Her smile turned into a frown and she seemed sorely disappointed.

“Of course, I might have been thinking it,” he added with a grin. Her smile was back again as quickly as it had disappeared, and he had managed to do it.

“Were you? Thinking it, I mean.” There was no doubt that his playful, flirting nature was making her happy. Her lips turned up into a charming smile. He meant every word, but was somehow surprised by how well she responded to compliments. He hadn’t expected it at all from a woman who seemed to have such a hard edge.

“Tell me about yourself, Medea.” Rhys was intrigued and truly wanted to learn more about this woman from another land.

“Me?” Her eyelids flickered, and she seemed so surprised that he had asked. It was almost as if she were at a loss for words. That made him wonder if anyone had ever asked her this before. “Why do you ask? What do you want to know?” Her words started sounding suddenly defensive and Rhys almost felt as if he had done something wrong.

“Calm down,” he said, turning to face her. “I didn’t mean to make you so upset.”

“I’m not upset. Why would you think I am?”

“Oh, I don’t know. You are just acting like you’ve got something to hide.”

There was silence between them for a few minutes as they both stared up at the sky and said nothing at all to each other.

“What did you mean?” she finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Huh?”

“I mean, what did you want to know about me?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “Just normal stuff, I guess.” He peeked out from the corners of his eyes to notice her slowly dropping the walls she’d put up around her. Being a knight, he’d seen this before from those who had been interrogated before being sentenced or thrown in the dungeon. Aye, she was hiding something, he was sure of it. But perhaps this wasn’t the right time to ask about it.