Author's Note- This is set in the Burning Times in the Medieval time frame, so if I make some mistakes, I deeply apologise. Hopefully, everything is generally right! :)

):I don't own Nightworld:(

Hope you enjoy my 2nd story!!:)

Chapter 1

Her eyes filled with tears as she helplessly watched another witch from her coven being executed in the worst possible way. Being burnt alive at the stake.

It was one of the older members of the coven. Her name was Millie Winchester, a wise and respectable woman in her late fifties. She had graying reddish-brown hair and blue-gray eyes which held a sense of serenity. But there was nothing peaceful in her gaze now.

Siena shook in horror as she heard Millie scream with excruciating pain. The elderly woman had been discovered when she was healing a young human girl who had been attacked and bitten by a werewolf. It was unfair, Millie had done nothing wrong and she was being punished for showing kindness to humans.

She said a silent prayer to the Goddess asking for strength and tolerance. She would have liked nothing better than to show these selfish, pitiless humans what she thought of them. Millie hadn't been the first witch in her coven to be sentenced to death. There was also Margaret who was scarcely her own age, a child of 17. How could they send such a young girl to her death? And because she was a witch? Life was so unwarranted at times; it made her want to scream.

Feeling a tug on her sleeve, she turned around to see her best friend, Denise Langanty; the expression on her face was a replica of how she felt. Her friend's face had a mixture of melancholy and anger at the injustice at what was happening before them.

"Oh Siena, Millie is my mother's best friend, who will be next? What if it is the head priestess? My ma?" she sobbed fearfully, although keeping her tone quiet. Nobody could be too careful these days.

Siena reached for her friend's hand and grasped it tightly as a sign of comfort. She wanted to reassure Denise that she had nothing to worry about, but that was evidently a false hope. How many more had to die until the humans were satisfied? She wondered, closing her eyes as Millie choked out her last breath and slumped limply.

Hearing the cheering and applause, she clamped down her teeth. If there was a larger population of witches, the humans would surely pay, she thought cynically. She watched as the beautiful but deadly flames jumped and licked at Millie Winchester's dead body.

A hand touched her shoulder and she heard her ma speak "Let us go home now Siena, there is no more to be seen or done" Siena nodded resignedly and followed Marilynn Hazelton back towards their home.

Marilynn Hazelton was a widower. Her husband and Siena's father, Sir James Hazelton had been regarded as one of England's greatest knights, but an unfortunate event occurred on the battlefields that ended the young man's life.

It was difficult to survive and fend for her family without a husband and the Hazelton family had fallen in poverty like so many others. The only earnings that fed and clothed them were the money that ma made, selling herbs and natural treatments for diseases and even that were barely enough, due to the villagers becoming even more wary and superstitious.

Siena always felt guilty, she wished there was something she could do to help ma. She gathered and picked herbs, but she wanted to do more for the family. Sometimes when there was not enough money to feed them both, ma would give the food to her, telling her she was young and she needed to eat to grow strong.

When those times came, she would protest that she wasn't hungry, but ma would not touch the food and in the end she would give into the hunger and eat the food with sorrow and culpability.

Marilynn looked like a frail petite woman, she wasn't. Siena considered her ma to be the most bravest, caring, kind-hearted and most of all, determined woman she had ever known. Siena respected her more than anyone else and she made sure she conducted herself better when ma was around.

Siena had never remembered her father; he had passed away when she was merely an infant. Her relatives rarely visited, so it was only her mother and her living in the town of Hampshire. They were both content as long as they had each other.

She stepped into their little hut of a house and peered around, absorbing in the familiarity. Living here all her life had taught her to learn and adapt to all her surroundings. It was common knowledge that the werewolves, vampires and most shapeshifters came out at night to hunt in the woods.

The witches of her coven Willow joined together once a week, dancing and worshipping the Goddess, they had to be very discreet and they held their meetings in a cave just outside the woods. It was secluded, so they felt fairly secure there. There was to be a gathering tonight to mourn and pay tribute to the spirit of Millie Winchester.

Walking into the closed off room that ma and her shared, she bent to the ground and stretched her fingers under the bed searching for something. Her long tailored fingers closed around the object and she pulled it out.

It was a plain fabric box with Siena sewed on the front. Of all the things she owned, which was not much, this was the one she treasured most. Delicately, treating the box like a fragile animal, she opened the lid and took out an item.

The legacy was old and tattered, browning at the sides, but Siena held it close to her. This was the only thing she had left of her father and nothing could make her part with it. It wasn't long; in fact, it merely had a few words on it.

Siena read it again

'My dearest daughter,

Never give up to achieve the goal you set out to do. Your strengths and weaknesses are nothing to your willpower. Do not falter when you hear others condemn you, remember always I believe in you.

Much love from your father,

Sir James Hazelton'

Filled with courage and endurance, she placed it gently back in the box. Whenever she felt like giving up and being angry at the world, she would turn to her father's words.

Deciding to go collect more herbs for ma, she sauntered out into the afternoon rays of the sun. It was a typical autumn day in 1589. Everywhere she looked there were oranges, reds and yellows. Breathing deeply, she thought of how beautiful Hampshire was, it was a shame the humans here were not as accommodating.

Siena walked absently into the woods; she had been through here countless times. So many that she was certain she could sleepwalk in here and know where to go. Finding the growth of lavender flowers, she knelt and picked a few, putting it in the sack she wore around her waist.

Lavender flowers were not useful in terms of healing, but Siena loved them. They could be burnt to induce sleep and relaxation, and when scattered around the house, it helped maintain peacefulness.

"Siena!" a male voice called.

It didn't startle her though, she knew who it was. She watched as her friend, another witch from Willow appeared from amongst the trees. He was tall, nicely muscled with a tan from lifting things for his father who was a carpenter. His hair was light brown and wavy, blonde at the top from the sunlight and he had warm glowing green eyes. He was very handsome, although Siena had never thought of him as anything other than a close friend.

"Good afternoon Cobern" she greeted him cheerfully. They had been friends ever since they were children and Cobern visited her nearly everyday. He was a good friend, at times overprotective of her, but she knew he was good-natured and generally an optimistic and caring person.

He smiled and sat down next to her. "Picking Lavender again I see, you know your ma has enough of them at home," he said looking at her with amusement in his eyes.

Siena turned her head away from him "I happen to like lavender flowers" she said in a mock arrogant tone. This made Cobern laugh and shake his head. "Why, aren't you the mature lady?" he remarked. They would always joke and tease each other like this.

Suddenly wanting to be serious she asked, "Were you there to see what happened to Millie Winchester?" She watched as Cobern's face darkened and his eyes lost the happiness.

"No, my father needed help with the materials, but please don't tell me what they did to her" he replied looking away into the distance.

Uncertain on what to do, she raised a hand and touched his shoulder briefly. She remembered that Cobern and his father had built Millie's house and ever since then, Cobern had befriended the elderly lady.

He smiled gratefully at her, knowing she understood what he felt. She saw a flicker of something she couldn't distinguish in his eyes and in a flickering moment it was gone.

"Tonight's gathering should be interesting don't you think?" he asked, already looking unaffected as he had a minute ago. Cobern was good at doing that, if everything wasn't fine, he would squash the negativity away and pretend nothing happened. Siena wondered if inside Cobern was hurting with sadness and anger just as much as she was.

She nodded in agreement. "They are to perform the ceremony in which they send Millie's spirit to the afterlife, Denise's ma told me so herself".

Cobern's voice was filled with enthusiasm "I am saddened by the fate of Millie Winchester, but I cannot help but anticipate this event" They both grinned excitedly and Siena felt like they were 10 years old again.

"Come with me Siena, I want to show you something," he said as if all of a sudden he had remembered something important. He took her hand in his and pulled her to her feet. Siena allowed him to led her further into the woods; the trees growing thicker and closer together and the path became narrower. She smiled admiringly as she heard the distinguishing sounds of birds and other small animals.

She marveled again at the natural beauty of her surroundings. The sunlight seeped through like mystical stream flowing in different places. Cobern was running now, and she couldn't help but laugh at his eagerness. Her curiosity started to build as she heard him say "almost there" repeatedly.

Finally they came to a stop and she watched as Cobern pressed a finger to his lips, signally to be quiet. He crept noiselessly closer to a tree. Crouching down, he reached his hand into a hollow in the tree, that Siena hadn't noticed until then.

She suppressed a gasp of surprise as Cobern lifted it out of the tree. It was adorable. He had a small squirrel in his hands. It had orangey-red fur and was a little ruffled up. Her eyes shined with awe as Cobern placed it in her hands.

"How…?" she mouthed, stroking the squirrel's soft fur.

Cobern smiled fondly "I found the little thing when I was cutting trees here for father. It was making a strange noise in the tree so I went to have a look in the tree and was a bit surprised at what it was" he explained. "It has an injury, but it looks as if it's internal, because I can't figure out what is wrong with it"

"We have to take it back so ma can take a look at it" she said resolutely and wrapped the small animal in the sack, emptying the lavender flowers out onto the ground.

Cobern smiled cordially "Exactly what I was thinking"

They ran all the way home, this time only taking a few minutes. Both panting slightly, Siena reached into her sack to see if the squirrel was unharmed. Yes, it was still breathing, thank the goddess.

"Ma! Ma!" she yelled nervously.

Marilynn Hazelton stepped out of the hut with a look of impatient annoyance. "Siena, please keep your voice down, there's…" she paused abruptly as she saw her daughter holding something. "Darling, what is that in your hand?" she asked, tilting her head to see.

"Here ma, please, please heal it" Siena said as she handed ma the wounded animal. It felt so limp, Siena was worried that it wouldn't survive much longer.

She watched hesitantly as Marilynn moved her fingers over the animal, adding pressure in certain areas. Ma stood up and gestured for them to come inside the house. Siena and Cobern obeyed, following her in and closing the door firmly. She knew ma was going to perform magick and could not do it in the open.

Siena watched allured by what ma was doing. Marilynn spread her hands over the lifeless animal and closed her eyes in concentration. In a second, sparks of wondrous blue magick escaped from the tips of her fingers, flowing rapidly into the squirrel.

Almost immediately, the squirrel started twitching. She felt Cobern hold her hand and relaxed a little. Ma was one of the best healers around, if anyone could cure the animal, she could.

Ma let her hands drop and looked at Siena. "Don't worry darling, it will be well in a few days". Siena let out a sigh of relief; taking the bundle of fur in her hands she wrapped it in her sack once more. "Will you allow me to keep it ma?" she asked, pressing the sack closer to her.

Smiling widely as she saw ma nod, she walked outside again. "I am going to call you faith," she whispered softly to the lump resting in her sack.

Cobern Jiable stared at Siena.

She was such a compassionate girl. He recalled the time when he had accidentally slashed himself with the axe he used for cutting down trees for his father. The pain was agonizing, but Siena Hazelton had been there.

Ripping away her sleeve, she had bandaged him, strapping the cloth around the wound as firmly as she could, to stop the blood flow. He still remembered the words she had said to him that day "Never be afraid to cry Cobern, you will find it helps at times".

It made him laugh when people said he was happy all the time. They never see what he was feeling on the inside. Only once had he let his emotions show, because he did cry that day. Not just because of his ineptness with an axe, but for his family and his friends too.

He cried for father, who spent his days growing older and older, striving to support the family and nearly driving himself to exhaustion. He cried for his friends, the ones whose parents had abandoned them. They had to lose their youth and work or starve to death. Most of all, he cried for the witches that were burned so horribly for being born to be who they were.

His life was a lie. Everyone was wrong in stereotyping him as a sensitive and thoughtful boy, always joyful and consoling towards others. In fact, he wasn't happy at all. And the single thing that made him happy was someone who didn't feel the same way about him.

Siena was a stubborn girl, with curly auburn hair that often had leaves tangled in it. Her eyes were the color of amber that turned gold when she was feeling pleased about something. Although not traditionally attractive like many other girls, she was uniquely good-looking in her own way and Cobern thought she to be the most beautiful girl he knew.

The day she helped him when he was hurting was the day he discovered he had strong feelings for her. But he was afraid, they had been friends for as long as he could remember and not wanting to harm their friendship, his love for her had become another feeling that he kept buried deep within himself.

While he never showed any signs of his affection towards her, he couldn't ignore his emotions completely. So he had made it a habit to visit Siena everyday after his father did not require his help any longer. But he found as the days went by, the more time he spent with her, the more his feelings grew. It was sometimes difficult to resist taking her in his arms and holding her close to his heart, where he could protect her.

Heaving a sigh, he looked up at the sky. It was already after sunset. The first stars of the night were just appearing and the moon was shining dimly. He glanced at Siena again and then turned to Marilynn Hazelton.

"Mrs. Hazelton, I must be heading home for I do not want my parents to worry about where I have gone to," he said, bowing respectfully. He saw Marilynn smile warily and nod, before he started to walk in the direction of his house.

"Colbern! You forgot to say goodbye to me!" Siena said indignantly. Chuckling, he said in a mock tone "Goodbye mademoiselle Sienna and her loyal acquaintance, Faith" Purposely bowing until his head was ridiculously low, he stood up to see Siena laughing with a hand over her mouth, clearly trying to smother her amusement.

"You are so silly Cobern," she giggled, then her expression changed as she heard Marilynn calling her in for supper. "I will see you later at Willow cave okay?" she asked.

He nodded and walked home slowly, looking forward to the magick that was going to be made later that night.

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