Witch, Wolf, Woods

CHAPTER 2: AFFINITY TESTING

After dressing, Katja grabbed pastries from the Essen Hall for a quick breakfast, then hurried into the meeting, or Treffen, Hall, where the other six-year-olds were already starting to take their places on wooden benches as two elder witches looked on from the sidelines.

Affinity Testing took place four times a year, on the seasonal solstice or equinox, and after a child turned six, she underwent testing at the next change of seasons. Katja had turned six at the end of June, and she was grateful the Autumnal Equinox had finally arrived.

At precisely eight o'clock, Sprechen Olwyn strode behind the podium. The Sprechen was the witch who served as the coven's leader and spoke on behalf of the Hexen, and a different one was named every new moon. The red-haired witch cleared her throat, and the room fell so silent, Katja doubted the woman would even need to apply an amplification spell to her voice.

"Good morning, witchlings," smiled Sprechen Olwyn. "Today is a very exciting day, and I know you're all eager to discover your affinities."

Katja nodded, swinging her boots back and forth below the bench in nervous excitement.

"Seeing as how we have quite a few participants this equinox, we will divide you into two groups," Sprechen Olwyn explained, gazing out at the assembled children. "Over the next few days, you'll complete a series of tests. I can assure you the tests aren't painful or scary; they're simply designed to reveal your affinity.

"While all witches can cast certain spells or brew certain potions, each witch has an individual affinity, unique to her, that allows her to interact with the world around her in a special way. Affinities benefit both the individual witch, as well as our entire coven."

She spoke further on the importance of community before inclining her head and saying in a reverential voice, "For each of us; for all of us."

"For each of us; for all of us," repeated the young witches.

Sprechen Olwyn then dismissed them, and with that, it began, the elder witches swooping in from the sidelines and organizing the children into two groups before heading off in opposite directions.

Katja found herself in a group with four other children—Elise, Mila, Rosamund, and Liesel. It wasn't as if she didn't know them; after all, they'd shared the same bedroom for as long as she could remember. For some reason, the children born to the Hexen witches were always girls, and regardless of whether they had just a mother or an entire family, all children lived the first decade or so of their life in the dormitory, a practice intended to foster friendships.

But Katja had never felt especially comfortable around any of these girls, and so she trailed quietly after them as they chatted and laughed, following a woman named Tante Bettina into an open, light-filled room made almost entirely of windows.

Until a girl turned eighteen, it was customary to refer to witches older than herself using the title Tante, even though the two people usually weren't actually related, but the term reiterated the importance of relationships and strengthened the bonds of the coven every time it was spoken.

"Listen up!" said Tante Bettina, clapping her hands loudly for emphasis. The cluster of girls immediately fell silent, and the witch clasped her hands behind her back and squared her shoulders, looking more like a general addressing her troops than a blacksmith speaking to children.

"While I'm sure you each have your own idea of what will happen this week, allow me to assure you the next five days are going to be challenging," she said without further preface, her gaze moving over each girl.

The mood among the group immediately changed as the girls looked at one another in surprise. Most of the Hexen had spent the past month telling them how wonderful this week would be.