Witch Hunters

Maeve hadn’t seen Liam in a few days but she knew that no harm had come to him due to a simple spell she cast upon him to rack his whereabouts. After he had walked her home the last time she had smoothly ripped a tiny sliver of cloth from his tunic shirt and cast the spell that very night. She needed to know when he was near her just to make sure she wasn’t practicing in his presence. She couldn’t afford to have him find out because it would surely mean her death. So, she cast the spell. But, it also helped in making certain he was all right while hunting the evil witches. She could feel if he got hurt – or worse – and other than a few bruises, she knew him to be quite fine.

The spell translated any wound inflicted on Liam, on her. It made her grandmother suspicious that morning when she saw a few cuts up her arm and a slight bruise on her shin. She brushed it off as injuries sustained while tending to the herbs and hoped she wouldn’t be pressed for it any further. It might had been a dangerous spell to cast should something more serious happen to him, but it was a price she willingly paid. Having herself bonded to him, something she had never done before, also made it harder for him to become injured in the first place. The wounds on her weren’t severe in the least so she wondered how bad it could have been had she not cast it.

Outside of tending the garden and casting spells she shouldn’t, she had been tracking the evil in the woods unbeknownst to her grandmother. She had been feeling suffocated by it ever since her meeting with Liam and knew the witches must be making their way further through the woods. It was in the air, making it heavier and harder for Maeve to breathe. She had yet to get very close to the source of the evil, but she had found a spot where it appeared they had camped on the outskirts of the forest. From the herbs and the remnants left behind, she also knew that they were up to something big.

As she made her way through the woods she felt Liam’s presence close by and found him in the clearing they often met in. She had planned to sneak up on him but she stepped on a twig and cracked it, alerting the great hunter to her presence. He whipped around, axe in hand and visibly relaxed when he saw her. “Maeve, you scared me. You should never sneak up on an armed man.”

“I am sorry.” She said, stifling a chuckle. “I have not seen you in days.”

“I know … I came to see you today, to let you know that everything is all right. And to, uh, make sure that you were … all right, I mean.”

“Oh yes … I’m fine.”

“Good, good … that is very good.” He mumbled, scratching the back of his neck. “Would you care to walk to the lake with me? It has grown quite hot and I could use a swim.”

Maeve flushed from head to toe. She knew that she couldn’t get in, or explain why she was wearing a long-sleeved dress on a warm day, but the thought of watching Liam swim and perhaps even look carefree for the first time since she had met him was too much to pass on. She agreed with a soft nod and allowed him to lead the way though she knew where it was better than he did. She didn’t ask, but Liam offered up how the hunt was going and talked about it with her freely. He didn’t feel like he needed to hide anything from her and found it all too easy to give her details.

Maeve could tell he seemed to relax even more having gotten all of it off his chest by the time they made it to the small lake. It sat in a tiny meadow in the center of the woods – a cave sat back behind it with a very small stream spilling over and into the lake below. It was very serene for the few townsfolk that ever dared to venture there. Because they all suspect her of witchcraft and she resides in the woods not many people ever went there. It was quite the secret place that even she had forgotten about until Liam brought it up.

“I found this place while scouting for the witches yesterday. My feet just … carried me to this place. Have you ever been somewhere you are so certain that is foreign to you but it feels as though it’s as comfortable as home? This place … the town, this meadow … it is like I know it.”

“Did you grow up in a place like this?”

“No.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Not even a bit close.” He shook it again to dispel his thoughts and gave her a smile before dropping his weapons to the ground. Shortly after that Maeve watched in both shock and amazement as he stripped out of his cotton shirt and tossed it down, removing his boots and ran into the lake.

She had never seen a boy half naked before and Liam’s physique was what she assumed would be perfection. She had watched him chop wood but she had no idea his arms would be so large and sculpted. Not to mention his broad chest and defined abdomen … he looked as though he could be one of the mythical Greek gods, basking in the daylight and floating on his back in the shimmering water. She didn’t snap out until she heard him call her name. “What?”

“Are you not joining me?” He teased at her dazed face.

She shook her head and merely sat down at the edge of the water, kicking off her boots and dipping her feet in the cool, refreshing water. “I think I’d better stay here.”

“Are you afraid?”

“No, but it would be highly improper.”

“There’s no one out here, Maeve. We are in no court and there is no one to judge us.”

How to tell him that if she removed her dress he would see the exact same cuts on her own arm and the exact same mark on her leg that he had on his own body? She couldn’t … there would be no way he would shake it off as coincidence because he was much too bright for that. “I just think it would be best for me to stay here … And anyway, what if you get a cramp and need saving?”

“Well, I am quite glad to have you there should I need saving. Though, you make a much prettier damsel, if I do say so myself.” He said, swimming towards her to where the water touched just below where his trousers set on his hips. He reached for her hand and before she knew it he had flipped her over his shoulder and walked back towards where the water grew deeper and tossed her in.

Maeve stood up spitting out water but laughing at the same time. “I cannot believe you did that! You are no gentleman!”

“No, malady, I am a hunter.” She swung at his chest but he caught her hand and pulled her into him. He used his free hand to brush some of her wet hair from her face and gazed down into her bright and fiery eyes. Where they had been the color of foliage, they were now like the sun. “And you are beautiful.”

Maeve flushed scarlet but didn’t try to remove her hand from Liam’s. Hers looked so tiny and pale in comparison to his large, strong hands. “Liam … this is -”

“As I told you … there is no one here, no one but us.” He bent down and gently pressed his lips to hers. He dropped her hand and cupped her head pressing his lips more firmly to hers. He felt a spark – something ignite within him and he knew he had been right all along. Maeve was special … she was who he was meant to be kissing. Be it in a meadow or a church, he felt a kinship to her he had never before experienced and in that kiss there was nothing but a sense of belonging and need.

He needed her. He just didn’t know how much.