A Witch In Winter by Ruth Warburton

found myself tongue-tied, helpless and confused. I put my cup against my forehead and the china burned my skin, but all I could think of to say was a petulant, childish, ‘Why me?’
    Maya shrugged.
    ‘Why any of us? It’s strongly hereditary. Usually through the female line. Your father seems unequivocally ungifted, so I’m guessing your mother? Where is she?’
    ‘She’s dead,’ I said dully, not bothering with the nuances.
    ‘Ah.’ Maya’s eyes softened. ‘That explains a lot, although not everything.’
    ‘How do you mean?’
    ‘Well, obviously it explains why you know so little. But it doesn’t explain this explosion of power – it doesn’t normally manifest like this. Usually there’s a slow build up from puberty onwards. There will be a few signs and family members will start to keep an eye out. What do your mother’s family have to say about all this?’
    ‘I don’t know any of them. My father isn’t in contact and he won’t tell me anything about them. I’ve tried asking him, I even tried to trace them a few times, but nothing. I don’t even know if any of them are alive.’
    ‘I see. That does happen – although not often – we are a tough group, by and large, and extremely clannish. But if there’s no family member around to help then usually someone else steps in. No one wants to see an accident like yours occur. Clearly no one stepped in, in your case. Do you remember any signs as you were growing up?’
    iv>
    ‘Signs? What kind of signs?’
    ‘It’s hard to say, it varies so much. Weather disturbances are common; freak storms, extreme unseasonal cold snaps or heatwaves. Electrical disturbances. Spontaneous fires. You don’t remember anything like that when you were growing up?’
    I shrugged helplessly.
    ‘Not really. Of course there were storms – but I doubt they had anything to do with me. How would I know?’
    ‘I think you would know. You knew something was wrong as soon as you’d bewitched Seth, didn’t you?’
    I nodded reluctantly. Yes, I had known, even if I hadn’t wanted to admit it to myself. Part of me was kind of surprised that I wasn’t totally freaking out here, calling the police to get Maya and Emmaline locked up. But perhaps that was why; they were only telling me stuff I already knew. Had always known.
    ‘But that was different,’ I said, ‘that was a spell.’
    Maya’s brow furrowed.
    ‘It’s not so much a matter of spells, it’s more about willpower, and exerting that will – you can cast your will without using any traditional spells or incantations. Spells are just a way of concentrating the mind. They have no power outside of the person saying the words.’
    ‘You mean, you need to be a witch?’ I said, confused. Maya winced and I stammered, ‘S-sorry, is that the wrong word?’
    ‘It’s not wrong, exactly,’ she said uncomfortably.
    ‘It’s pejorative,’ Emmaline said flatly. ‘It’s not what we use to describe ourselves – or not usually.’
    ‘It has so many negative associations,’ Maya explained. ‘It’s associated with witch-hunts and burnings and so on, and it’s usually the term used by outsiders to stigmatize. Some people like to use it, of course. There is a movement to reclaim it, and some feel that used by a member of the community it’s acceptable. But it’s not very usual in – in polite conversation.’
    ‘What word do w– people use, then?’
    Emmaline and her mother looked at each other and kind of laughed.
    ‘Well, as to that, there are as many answers as there are ways of doing magic.’ Maya shrugged. ‘We are not a very united community. Well, apart from the Ealdwitan, who are united to a fault.’ She pursed her lips as if in disapproval, but I didn’t have time to pick apart her statement. There was something more important on my mind.
    ‘How can I fix Seth?’
    ‘Ah.’ Both Emmaline and Maya stopped and looked at each other. Maya’s brows furrowed again. She looked into her tea cup, then