COLOURS || Seth Clearwater

EIGHT

July, 1304

Kane passed on early that morning.

Lucinda was heartbroken. Leon did his best to console her, but there was nothing he could do that would heal the fractured pieces of her heart.

"I could have done so much more," the red haired witch whispered into Charlotte's shoulder, sobs breaking past her lips as one of her only friends rubbed her back in a soothing manor.

"You did all you could, Lucinda," Charlotte reminded her. "Now we must bury him; we must let him be at peace." Another sob broke past her lips and a warm hand rested on her shoulder.

"Thank you for trying," Alec whispered quietly, and the red head looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm sure he wouldn't want you to feel this way, Lucinda."

"At the moment, I do not feel anything at all," she swallowed thickly, her voice cracking almost every other word.

"Dorian believes he will be able to arrive as early as tomorrow," Leon told her after Charlotte and Alec moved outside to give Lucinda time with the body.

"It seems I will be unable to meet him then, I suppose," she muttered darkly, gently running a finger along his jaw, her once bright blue eyes not once straying from his peaceful expression.

Her eyes were a storm grey now; full of rage and agony. Lucinda had discovered many many years prior that the colour of blue in her irises changed depending on what mood she was in.

"You are leaving this soon?" Leon asked, only mildly surprised. She nodded, swallowing thickly.

"I cannot bare another moment in this damned village without him, Leon," Lucinda whimpered, tugging violently on her hair as she slowly climbed onto her feet. He placed a gentle and comforting hand on her shoulder, which made it all the more difficult for her to keep her emotions at bay.

"Then may you be safe," he murmured, and another sob broke past her chapped lips.

"You as well," she whispered, and watched as he lifted Kane from the bed and carried him to the door.

"Give her a moment," Leon whispered to Alec and Charlotte, his own voice laced with tears.

When the door closed, it was as if Lucinda had been crushed by the silence.

And she broke.

She collapsed to the ground on her knees, almost doubling over on her self.  She had one hand tugging violently on her red hair while the other gripped tight at the front of her chest, right over her sternum. Sobs and gasps and cries flowed from her lips, but it was as if she could no longer breathe, as if her lungs had collapsed; as if she were drowning.

"Make it stop!" Lucinda managed to gasp out, one sharp intake of breath after another being the only air she could breathe. Her mouth was opened in a silent scream of agony as she bent over her knees, her hand falling from her hair and landing palm down with a slap on the wooden floor.

"Please, just, make it stop hurting." Lucinda sat by herself in the cottage, her breathing ragged as she stared at nothing.

She laid there, tears falling from her eyes and landing on the floor as she sobbed, her arms wrapped around her middle. Slowly, she climbed to her feet, not an ounce off feeling written into her features, and she exited the house.

"Lucinda," Alec murmured quietly, and she completely ignored him.

She couldn't feel anything at all.

"Help me lower the body please," she muttered, staring blankly at the man she still loved with every fiber of her being. Alec and Charlotte stared at her in surprise. They knew that when she lost Kane that she would change; everyone did when they lost some one. But they hadn't realized it would be this bad.

"Are you sure?" Leon asked quietly, only to receive a look of pure anger from the witch. "Alright then," he murmured, and helped Lucinda lower the body into the grave Alec had previously dug. She used her magic the gently push the dirt into the grave

"I will be back," she muttered, walking stiffly into the forest. "Rowena, be my eyes," she murmured.

"The wizard is dead!" The miller cried out to the other villagers, and they all cheered. "Now we must kill the witch!" Cheers echoed out through the center of the town, and Rowena flew over to land on Wilfred's shoulder.

"Why must we kill the witch?" The old man asked, and silence fell upon the people of Harpoon.

"Because we must rid our world of pesky magic," the Miller answered after a moment of thought. "Magic does not belong with our people, and those who practice it must pay." Rowena squawked loudly, drawing the attention to her.

"That's the witches bird!" Someone cried, and immediately the villagers raised their bows and pitchforks.

"Kill the bir—" someone yelled, and their voice was silenced by Rowena's talons slashing his throat before they finished speaking. He gurgled for a moment, and then collapsed to the ground.

"I suggest you leave the birds alone," Wilfred chuckled, and Rowena flew and landed on his shoulder. "Because if you do not, they will surely kill you."

Lucinda's eyes faded from pitch black to their natural storm blue. She plucked wild roses and daisies, collecting them into one hand before she left the woods. She let out a quiet sigh as she stormed back towards the burial site, anger inscribed in her features.

"His magic did not kill him," Lucinda snarled as she approached the others, her whole body shaking with an intense hatred. "The Miller killed him."

"How on earth could you know that?" Charlotte asked, resting a hand on her swollen stomach.

"I have my ways," Lucinda muttered darkly, and her features softened as she looked at the grave. Leon had dug it just below a large hanging willow tree a mere yard away from the cottage, and the branches swayed gently over the freshly dug mound of dirt. She gently set down her flowers at the top, and her body was flooded with anger once again; all she could see was red.

"That does not surprise me," Leon snarled quietly, resting a hand on Lucinda's shoulder in hopes to bring her comfort.

"They likely poisoned whatever he bought from the market," the red haired witch growled, her hands clenching and unclenching into fists. Charlotte noticed the blood seeping from crescent shaped indents in her palms, and gently grabbed her friends hand in her own.

"And what do you suppose we do about it?" Alec asked, speaking the thoughts of the other two. Lucinda glared down at the ground beneath her, and Leon flinched as her irises turned an angry shade of red.

"We burn them all."