Ashputtel

IV: Asher

I looked out on the country side, chucking a rock across the small stream that moved through the clearing I'd come to see as a safe haven.

Here I wasn't Ashputtel, the worthless servant in need of taming, nor was I Asher the orphan in need of love. Here I was more than my experiences.

"Son, we'll have to go back soon." Mother warns, twirling her finger around some wild flower, turning it to sapphire before my eyes.

"Must we?" I question. "I don't see why we couldn't just kill them both or throw them out."

She shakes her head sadly. "The boys still believe I'm under that bitch sister of mines spell to keep me within their control. If it were just the two of them, I'd've done it years ago. If they were to die now we'd have her entire coven after us. They are a persistent bunch, and once they find out our magic specialties... It's safer to be in the shadows in control of the situation than to go straight into it without a plan." she advises.

I wanted nothing more to be free from those twins, but I knew she was right. Even both of us taking the two of them would be hard fought. None of my abilities have come to where the typical witch or werewolf would be at my age. I couldn't shift, and I could only do basic spells as well as my own ability, and that's only thanks to mother.

I thank my stars that I'd been too lazy to reach the top shelf for her tea several years ago. That's when we'd both discovered she'd been spelled without her knowledge, and since we've been putting up a charade that she's still under.

I clutched a rock firmly in my hand and when I reopened it, I found it to be a gold nugget instead. I could do smaller objects, but never anything big. Mom says it's a shame, but I think it's a blessing. No one wants another Midas on their hands.

I remember how confused I was at the time. I was only thirteen, not even able to cast a simple levitation spell correctly. The twins were staying three towns over to stay with some second cousin who insisted that they ought to get to know city life/ Francesca looked at me with confused, unfocused eyes, as if she was there but not truly seeing, looking at another time. Her sudden movement startled me and I'd nearly dropped a tea cup, catching it in the nick of time, but when I went to move it back on the platter, the entire cup had turned gold.

As soon as she grabbed her bearings, she pulled me into her room where she took an old rusted box from under her bed and within it was intricate sapphire works and a small spell book. She taught me everything I knew about the changing, even how to make it occur based on will rather than subconscious. She warned me that subconscious changes could be terrible, that they were ones without control.

From her I learned that we're Jewelers, a rare breed of witch able to do what alchemists only dreamt of. Mother made sure I knew it was a gift from the gods, something to be happy to have, but she also warned me to use my gift with caution. Everyone else was taught Midas' story to warn against greed, and for me that was a nightmare.

She told me she didn't tell her mate or my father of her gift because of what she'd witnessed as a little girl. Her aunt Marie was a Jeweler with a knack for diamonds, brilliant at using her powers to their maximum capacity. The coven revered her, they all loved h er, until she was too tired to make them some jewelry to sell in the market. That's when their true tones came out. Marie was only sixteen, and they'd broken her spirit. She died soon after, couldn't take the pressure they'd put her under.

It worried me that she couldn't even trust her mate with her secret. She was of status, as was he, they moved away from the coven, and yet she was still bound by the fear of her own magic making him do something terrible. Granted, the bastard had abused her even without that knowledge but with it, he'd've been much worse.

"Do you think I'll ever find a mate?" I ask her, breaking the peaceful silence around us.

She turns to me, with a warm smile. "Of course you will. He's going to be everything you've ever wished for. Smart, kind, handsome, trustworthy. Someone you don't fear, but love so hard it hurts."

I scratch my neck and purse my lips. "I'd be lucky to have half of that and a small removed farm that's always just nearly being grabbed by creditors because we're behind on taxes. We'd finally make a good living after a while, nothing too much as not to raise suspicion, but enough to live off of. I just want something that isn't Francis, I don't care if I'm dirt poor." I admit to her.

Her brows furrow at this. "You're worth so much more. You're the son of a Lord, and sure life hasn't been a walk through the garden these past few years, but it's still more than what you dream of, which is a bare minimum lifestyle with someone who's not exactly what you wanted, but he'll do. If you feel like you have to settle for your mate or you're being treated wrong in your mating, then you get on your knees in Aphrodite's temple and pray for a sign that things will get better, because you deserve more. There's nothing wrong with that life, some small town boy is dreaming of it right now, but he's not you."

She gets up, becoming ardent with her words. "Asher it's clear as day you want someone noble, someone who doesn't care about your talents because they are already rich enough to take care of you both and generations after you. You want someone who embraces the fact that you sometimes prefer fairies to people, someone that knows you don't feel the need to fill the air with mindless chatter, someone that knows you want words to have meaning and makes sure to tell you something new each day. You want someone who you can't help smiling at upon just seeing them, and Asher you deserve it."

I could see the concern in her eyes as she spoke, worried for me, simply being a second mother that I never thought I'd get the chance to have. "Asher you've been scared to trust so long that you're scared to be out of your element, out of control, and I understand that, but sometimes mating is a walk through the trenches. You know that something more will have a fight with it, and I think you should embrace that challenge. Don't let my past deter your future. Find your happiness in mate-hood, if not for yourself, for me."

"I promise you, I will." I reassure her. "Also, the teas out."

Her body tenses.

"It'd take a few days for them to send another, and in that time, the boys will find out. What're we going to do?" she questions, pacing.

"It's fine. I can fake a herbal mix that looks like it. It's not as if the boys are dumb enough to test it."

She nods her head, and helps me up, both of us packing away our picnic to head back.

"What do you want your suit to look like?"

"What do you mean? You've already sent for it to be made by the boys."

"That's for Ashputtel. This one is for Phoenix."

I stop walking to look at her.

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"We can't go as-"

"It's been ages since we've attended anything, and this is mandatory noble attendance. It'd look suspicious if the Montenaris didn't go!" she exclaims. "Before you even protest of us being recognized, you know that the harvest ball is always a masquerade. We block our scents as usual, stay far away from the twins and have fun. Your birthday is just before the first day, this is your biggest shot at finding your mate and leaving, so take it."

"Fine! But we're being styled by a tailor of my choosing."

She clapped her hands in delight and I wondered who truly was the oldest out of the both of us.