Coven: a dark medieval paranormal romance (Witches of the Woods Book 2) by Steffanie Holmes Page B

something else, but all the came out was a strangled sob. Brunhild cupped my face to her shoulder, her soft hands patting my back. I sobbed into her shoulder, my fear finally overcoming me. “Ada and Bernadine feel she should have been back yesterday,” Brunhild explained to Maerwynn, who was no doubt staring at my display with the same look of scorn Aunt Bernadine often visited upon me.
    “I wish you had told me sooner.” Maerwynn said sternly. “I could have notified our scouts to be on the lookout for her. Do you still have your powers?”
    “Bernadine says so,” I sniffed.
    “If you have your powers, that means she has been successful. Perhaps she is simply spending more time with her lover?”
    “Aubrey wouldn’t do that. She’d know that we’d worry. What can we do? Should I go look for her?”
    “I’m not sending anyone into the village yet, least of all you. Need I remind you there is a price on your head? There could be many factors accounting for her delay, none of which are sinister. I suggest you and your aunt take turns waiting up for Aubrey. If she’s not back by the morning, then we will look for her.”
    “But—”
    “None of that,” Maerwynn said sternly. “I have spoken. You must have patience. Your aunt is a grown woman, and a powerful witch. She knows how to look after herself.”
    I could not imagine my kindly Aunt Aubrey faring very well against an unsavoury attacker, but I didn’t dare argue with Maerwynn.
    I was perfectly happy to leave Bernadine to her angry vigil, but I knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. Besides, despite her acidic demeanour, I did still love her. I didn’t like being angry with her. She was my mother’s sister, and I felt certain my mother expected me to be kind to her. Feeling sheepish, and childish for my outburst, I slunk back up the path toward her.
    “Maerwynn says we must wait through the night for her,” I said. “She will send a party out in the morning if Aubrey has still not returned.”
    “Harrumph.” Bernadine turned her head away, and sucked at her pipe. She didn’t say another word. I couldn’t tell if she was still angry with me.
    “Right,” I backed away. “Well, I’ll leave you here, then. I will return after dinner, and relieve you of your watch so that you can sleep.”
    Bernadine didn’t reply, nor acknowledge me in any way.
----
    D inner came and went , and still there was no Aubrey. I took a bowl of delicious rabbit and blackberry sauce up to Bernadine, and pressed it into her gnarled fingers. “You go down to the fires and eat and stay warm, and then get some sleep.” I told her, keeping my voice even and kind, the way Aubrey often did when she was talking to Bernadine. “I will stay up and wait for Aubrey.”
    But of course Bernadine refused to go to sleep. “I’ve not slept a full night through in thirty-five years,” she croaked. “And I don’t intend to start on the night my sister is missing.”
    “Fine,” I slumped down beside her chair, drawing up the corners of my cloak around my body to keep off the chill. “Then we shall wait together.”
    A wind blew bitter cold through the valley. I watched the fires roar below us, as the other women of the coven danced and conversed. Bernadine and I sat in silence at our vigil, women apart. We didn’t really belong here. Even though I loved the community Maerwynn had created here, and especially Brunhild and Ryia, I knew that we weren’t really part of the coven. Was this what Bernadine was feeling, was this otherness upsetting her? I wanted to ask her, but our harsh words from earlier hung between us, keeping us in stony silence.
    The moon rose through the trees, reflecting dappled light from the surface of the river. In pairs and threes, the women abandoned the fires and returned up the paths to their beds. Brunhild waved and smiled as she went by, and I nodded in response. Soon, the night belonged only to Bernadine and I.
    Finally, I could take the silence