Adelaide was caught in a rabbit snare. Of all things. Of ALL things she could have tripped into on her way out of the woods from completing her ritual, it was a snare. She supposed it was lucky it was a rabbit one, only her foot had got caught in it. If it had been a bird trap, it could have been her neck. Did bird traps like this even exist? She didn’t know.

    “And where do you come from, woman?” A deep voice sounded from behind her, and Adelaide whipped her head around, blonde hair so light it was almost white flying around her shoulders. There was a man just a few feet away, a hunting rifle propped against his shoulder and his arm lazily resting over the butt of it. 

    “Nightmares and shadows.” Adelaide spat, then actually spat in his direction. “Leave me be, I’ve done no harm.”

    “Didn’t say you had, now did I?” The man moved closer, leaning his gun against a tree and crouching beside her, grabbing her caught foot with a firm grip and yanking it towards himself to undo the snare. “How’d you end up in my trap?” 

    Adelaide pulled her leg back as soon as he let go, scrambling to her feet, remembering with embarrassment she was still skyclad and her dress was folded in her bas- oh her basket! Where had it landed? She looked around hurriedly, spotting the basket and all its contents scattered across the little clearing. Instead of answering the man, Adelaide stooped to gather her things, tossing half burned candles and bundles of herbs into the basket, scooping her dress to her body and holding it there. Not that it mattered, this man had already seen every inch of her. 

    “I asked you a question, miss, and seeing as this land belongs to me, I would like to know what you’ve been doing on it.” Upon looking up again, Adelaide noted that the man’s countenance had shifted. He’d been curious and even friendly before, even if his touch had been rough, but now he was commanding. Overbearing. Adelaide turned her violet eyes away from his blue. It was too piercing, too direct. 

    She had taken a half a step away, still not answering, when the man reached forward and grabbed her basket, pulling it sharply to him. “Sir! Release my things at once!” She snapped her fingers, expecting him to fall in line with her power just as every other man had thus far, but he only lifted the basket closer and peered in, chuckling.
“Another witch. Come to do coven work on my land so you can keep trying to push me off the island?” He hadn’t lost the commanding presence, but now he was amused. He plucked a bundle of herbs out of the basket and crumbled it in his fist. “It’s not going to work, witch. I’ve built my own wards.” 

    The mention of the coven sparked rage in Adelaide’s heart, a rage she’d thought she’d tamped down years ago. But it caught fire, and Adelaide spat at the man once again. “A hex and pox and all manner of horrid things on the coven. I’d never do their work for them.” She leveled her gaze with the man’s, narrowing her eyes and clutching her dress tighter to her chest. The man grinned, slowly, darkly.

    “Well now. I never expected to hear anything like that from a citizen of our fair isle.” He adjusted her basket so it rested over his arm, picked up his gun, and held out a hand to her. “Allow me to help you out, miss. I can take you to my home and we can get you cleaned up and fed, as apology for catching you in my snare.”

    Adelaide’s eyes narrowed further, eyeing the outstretched hand. The man was right when he said that ill will towards the coven was rare. She’d been the only person she knew that harbored it, until now. She knew why she harbored it, too. What had the all-knowing and all-generous, beloved Faodail coven of witches done to this man to make him feel as she did?

    “I can promise I won’t snare you again, miss.” The man’s voice caused her gaze to snap back to his face, and he swiped off his hat, showing a short crop of golden blonde hair. He was working some sort of magic, Adelaide could feel it. He was trying to make her trust him. It was the same sort of power she used to get food and shelter, hopping from house to house across Ceangal. The man pressed his hat to his heart, beckoning her with his outstretched hand, and against all logic and warning, Adelaide took it.

    She had been hungry all day and hadn’t tried to find a bed or hearth to warm yet, so why not take one when it’s offered? This man had freed her from the trap, he was offering food and a bath, she could surely charm him into letting her stay the night in his house. Or bed, if she was charming enough. Or if she charmed him… he’d only crushed one bundle of herbs, and she had a couple candles left. Plenty of supplies for that sort of magic. 

    He kept a hold of her hand the whole way through the wood, guiding her around roots and other traps he’d set to catch whatever game wandered by. She thought once or twice about dropping his hand and running away, just because she wasn’t used to un-charmed kindness, but he still had her basket. They reached a small house not too long after leaving the clearing, a two-room structure by the looks of it. A lean-to where a horse stood idly and chewed on some hay was right next to the house, and not too far away, a fence surrounding a little pasture and shed where a couple of cows grazed. It was a very small farm, but well kept. Adelaide wondered what this man’s wife would think when she crossed her threshold, naked and dirty and holding her husband’s hand.

    But inside, there was no wife. There was no one. The man lived there alone, and he sat Adelaide down in the chair closest to the fire, striking the flint on the hearth and reigniting the wood leftover from whenever he’d lit it last.

    “There now. You wait a bit and I’ll fill up the tub for you.” He left his hat and gun by the door, setting her basket on the table, and went into the other room. He returned with a large metal tub, and left her alone with it while he took some buckets outside, presumably to fill. Adelaide had bathed indoors only once before, when she’d gotten trapped outside in a snowstorm and had to magic and charm her way into the closest house. She’d decided that since she might die from frostbite she may as well have a nice last night, and enthralled the family to pamper her. Their tub had been a little bigger than the one she was looking at now, and the wife of that family had kept the water hot by adding more bucketfuls when it cooled. Adelaide had even convinced her to share some precious floral-scented soap, using up the whole bar and scrubbing her skin and hair as clean as she could get.

    Adelaide sat in silence, watching the man heat the water in the pot over the fire, then carefully swinging it out and tipping it into the tub. He did his work similarly, and not a word passed between them until the tub was filled up and steaming. 

    “In you get, then. Give me your dress, I’ll get the mud off.” He was reaching for her again, and Adelaide stood, letting the dress fall away from her body where she’d clutched it, handing it to him and striding past as if he were but a servant. He chuckled at her. “You’re used to making others bow, aren’t you, witch?”

    “And so are you.” She stepped into the tub, easing her body into the hot water as it reddened her skin and made her nerves scream. It was far too hot, but like hell was she going to get up now. She heard the man leave again, and she whispered to the water to cool. It obeyed, and she relaxed, letting her arms lay along the rim. She felt as if she could fall asleep here, warm and away from the coven’s many, many eyes. The man said he’d created his own wards, and spoken ill against the coven as well, so that meant his wards likely kept them out. Adelaide pondered this, twirling her fingers in the water and humming to herself. She didn’t hear the man come back in and lay her now-brushed dress on the table.

    “Still warm?” He asked, crouching next to the tub. In any other situation, this was improper, unmarried man sitting next to an unmarried woman skyclad in the tub. But Adelaide had already decided to use this situation to her own advantage, and she opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at him, turning to rest against the edge of the tub, her breasts pressed purposefully up against it.

    “Just lovely, sir, thank you.” She all but fluttered her eyelashes at him, and he smirked, standing up and sitting in one of his chairs. So her charms would only work so much with this man, then. He reached for her basket again, and Adelaide fought the instant urge to dive out of the tub and wrench it away from him.

    “What sort of spell did you need to come all the way out to my land to cast?” He seemed genuinely curious, but Adelaide heard the thread of knowledge in his tone. He knew what sort of spells were cast around this time of year. This was a test. So she gave him the answer he wanted.

    “It’s Ostara, of course I’m casting spells to bless seeds and welcome back the springtime.” It was only partially a lie. She had been blessing seeds, but those seeds would grow into poison if she tended to them properly. 

    “And you needed my land for that?”

    “I can’t practice on coven land.” Adelaide rested her head on her arm, the other dangling over the rim of the tub. She wanted to roll her eyes at him. He already knew the rules of the island, why did he want her to recite them?

    “Why’s that?” He was turning one of her candles in his hand, holding it to eye level as if inspecting it. “What have you done to them?”

    “I could ask the same of you.” She nearly spat at him again, her defensive habits rearing up, but held her tongue. Her brows knit together, fists clenching as she thought of the night Ladine had told her – in no uncertain terms – Adelaide would never be welcome as a member of the Faodail coven, unless she changed her manipulative ways. Adelaide’s eye twitched at the memory, wanting to shout at the crone, wanting to demand to be heard, demand entry into the ranks, but she’d been cast out. “I asked to join them.”

    “Is that all?” His tone was light and curious, with another thread of something else underneath.

    “They told me never, and cast me away.” It was a light version of the story, leaving out all the bits about Adelaide trying to charm various members of the coven and those surrounding them, ending up in a scandalous affair with one of their husbands. He hadn’t been very fun, either.

    “Hm. How unfortunate, given the level of your power. They would have had quite the force on their side.”

    Adelaide looked over at the man, who was now looking directly at her. For the first time since she’d gotten caught, she felt shy. He wasn’t just looking at her body, she knew he was looking at her aura, her power. She simultaneously wanted to blast him through his own door and beckon him closer. What a dangerous line to tread.

    “And what now? How will you use your power?” He asked, lifting his eyes to hers. He still held that candle in his hand, rubbing a thumb along one of the half-melted sigils she’d carved in the side. “Continue to slip in between shadows, stealing handouts and charming your way into beds of men you’d rather have nothing to do with in the daylight?” He did know her then. He knew exactly who she was. Her eyes narrowed, pulling her power and energy closer to herself. He chuckled. “I’m not going to take it from you.”

    “Then what do you want?” The water was starting to cool, and Adelaide pulled her legs closer, curling up in the metal tub.

    “An alliance.” 

    She scoffed.

    “No, I mean it. You have power and knowledge, and you’ve already planted your wicked plants on my property. I have power, but less knowledge. Teach me what you know, I’ll make up a bed for you here, feed you, and we can work together on taking our revenge against Angus and his pet witches.”

    Adelaide watched the man as he spoke, he tossed her candle lightly into the air and caught it, over and over, watching her back. Then she tilted her head. “Just room and board? That’s all that’s in it for me?”

    He chuckled, setting her candle on the table and moving to crouch beside the tub again. “I did mention revenge, right?”

    “You did.” She smiled, slowly, and reached a hand out to him. “Adelaide Walker, nice to meet you.”

    The man ignored her hand and reached forward to gently take hold of her chin instead, leaning closer. Adelaide could feel his breath on her face. She wasn’t sure if she was meant to enjoy it or not.

    “Constantine Mortmore. You and I are going to create beautiful magic together.”