Page 3 of The Powerless Witch

“A serpent’s fangs lie hidden behind a smile made of dead promises. For within the folds of jealousy, betrayal lies in wait.” Her voice was low and raspy, as if her throat was clogged and the words could barely get out. I looked at our mother, who stared at me with concern in her eyes. “The Reaper’s call draws nigh, where mortal paths all come to an end in the realm of darkness…”

“What does that mean?” The hair on my neck rose, and I shuddered.

My mother sucked in a sharp breath, then whispered, “Death.”

The word had barely left her mouth when the door flew off the hinges with such power that it soared across the room and slammed into the wall. I watched the table below it topple over, the crystals and parchments scattering across the floor.

My mother was beside me in an instant, pushing me toward Sybil as the first figure stepped into our home. I gawked when I recognized the old, wrinkled face of the leader of our coven, her flock of elder witches filing after her. My mother eyed them cautiously but didn’t bow her head. She also said nothing about being excluded from the group she usually led as the Head Witch’s Second.

“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded while the women surrounded us. Her magic nudged me, and I wrapped my arm around Sybil’s middle, carefully guiding her out of her chair. She didn’t resist, although her eyes remained milky white while she stared into nothing.

“We are here to uphold the First Rule that your daughter broke,” the Head Witch announced, moving her piercing black eyes to me. I gulped at the power behind them, at the deadly promise they conveyed. “She will be trialed and punished in accordance with…”

“Where is your proof?” my mother interrupted, raising her hand in the direction of another witch who had taken a step toward the table. Several of the bones adorning the wall flew toward the woman, latching onto her neck and shoulders and yanking her back. Once she was pinned to the wall, the dead fingers squeezed her windpipe hard enough to make her stop struggling.

More of the bones in our house started to rattle, woken by my mother’s power, and the rest of the witches froze, looking at their leader for orders. The Head Witch glared at her Second.

“I asked, where is your proof?”

Lifting her chin, the Head Witch raised her hand, motioning with her fingers. A figure stepped by her side, pushing her hood back. I stared at Medina with shock until the sting of betrayal burned so hot that it turned into a fire that almost consumed my soul. It devoured my love for her first, moving onto the memories of a childhood full of laughter, games, and happiness. When I met her gaze, I saw the same reflected—an emptiness filled with cold spite, widening the chasm between us.

“Shadows loom where the roots of the blood tree wither, and the flame whispers of the end in the winds of fate. Yet a new beginning is budding in the earth, fed by death and sacrifice,” Sybil whispered, her grip tightening on my arm as she raised her glossy eyes to mine. I knew she couldn’t see me, but I still shuddered from the finality in her voice. I had no idea what her words meant, but I didn’t like the sound of them.

The room grew silent, but even with every witch’s gaze on us, my mother kept hers on Medina. “Your mother would have been so ashamed, child,” she spat.

My friend flinched as if she had been slapped, but then she raised her chin defiantly.

“My mother would have wanted to protect her Coven,” she said in a trembling voice, glancing at me. “Celestia is with a child. A male child,” she blurted, her voice shaking despite her stoic expression. “I felt it. It must be purged before it’s too late. For all our sakes.”

A few of the witches hissed, narrowing their eyes at me. I resisted the urge to cover my stomach, clenching Sybil’s shoulders instead. Just when I was about to say that Medina was wrong, my mother spoke.

“My daughter is just eight weeks pregnant. It’s impossible to tell the gender of the child yet. Her powers have not increased either, and she has shown no new abilities.” Shock rippledthrough my body as I stared at the back of her head. She knew. She already knew, and she hadn’t said anything. I couldn’t see her face, but the way she raised her chin told me she was looking at the Head Witch. “You’ll condemn a young, bright witch and her child because a jealous little girl felt something? Is this how the Coven does things now? Because if it is, I want no part in this travesty.”

A muscle feathered in the Head Witch’s face as she leveled her burning gaze at my mother. The latter didn’t even flinch, holding it and giving just as much back.

“This isn’t about jealousy, it’s about duty. Your daughter hid the truth from us.”

“She did not!” I had never heard my mother’s voice this cold and threatening, never seen her speak to her superior with such a challenge. “The only wrong she did was falling for a boy who couldn’t keep it in his pants. Isn’t that right, Medina?” Medina paled when my mother turned her gaze to her. “How about your child, hmm? You knew that imbecile would choose Celestia over you because you have nothing to your name. The only reason he’s even interested in either of you is because humans crave power and in this place, our magic is the only strength that matters. They can’t possess it, so they need a witch to wield it for them, to protect them from their enemies. You thought you had him in your grasp because he got you pregnant, but when you found out my daughter carried his child too, you realized you can’t win against her. But if she lost his child, if she was marked for having conceived a male, nobody would want her out of fear of history repeating itself. Was that your plan?”

My heart plummeted as I gawked at my friend while she desperately tried to keep her stoic expression. Despite everything my mother said, I let my magic flow through me, focusing on the young witch across the room. A moment passed, then two, and I sensed it. A second heartbeat, coming from within her.

No, this couldn’t be. This child couldn’t have been Noah’s. Noah wouldn’t do that to me. He loved me! My mother was rarely wrong, but maybe Medina got pregnant from someone else and was planning to use the baby to force Noah to marry her.

“How could you?” I gasped, taking a step to stand beside my mother.

Medina’s throat bobbed, and she squeezed her hands into fists.

“You’re wrong. My only concern is for the Coven. And it’s not my child that threatens it.”

As the words settled in the heavy silence, the other witches took a step forward as one.

“Nobody touches my daughter,” my mother warned, looking back at the Head Witch. “Not before we are sure. If that child is a boy, I will slice his throat myself when he’s born.”

Hesitation passed through the women while they looked between my mother and the Head Witch, and for a second, I thought she’d relent. I held my breath, waiting for her word because part of me knew that my mother would fight until her dying breath if her superior ignored her plea. But could she beat them all? Even with my help? What if my father, who was nothing but a fragile human, got caught in the crossfire? What of Sybil, who couldn’t even protect herself in this state? Were their lives worth less than the child in my belly? What if it really was…

“Beware the harbingers of chaos.” Sybil’s hoarse voice filled the room, and I looked at her, only to have her finger pointed in my direction. “Unbound and unchecked, they shall unmake the world and plunge it into ruin.”

My breath caught as the words echoed in my head over and over again. No, it couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t. Not my child, not my daughter...

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