Prologue

Georgia Johnson struggled against the ropes that bound her to the stake. Her brown hair whipped wildly in the wind, as did her tattered and stained dress. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she loked at the people of Salem.

"Carolina! Please! Tell them you didn't mean it!" Georgia shouted out to the only person in the crowd who wasn't jeering at her. Carolina Lynch was a very pretty young woman of 18, with long blonde hair that she kept tied in a bun. She made no attempt to speak back to Georgia, or to speak at all, for that matter. She just silently watched her friend struggle. Ah, but that was a lie. Georgia wasn't her friend, exactly. They were lovers, but when the time came to either burn, herself, or accuse another of witchcraft, Carolina took the latter.

Carolina sat at the front of the church, the whole town behind her and the council in front of her. Mr. Graves looked at her with sad eyes and a stern face.

"Carolina Lynch, you have been accused of witchcraft!" A murmur sounded from the crowd, and Carolina easily picked out Georgia's voice from all the rest.

"I'm not a witch! I swear it! As God as my witness, God as my only Lord and savior, I swear that I am not a witch!"

"She said the Lords name!" It was Mrs. Mason, the widow who had opened a sort of orphanage where both Georgia and Carolina worked. The murmurs grew into outbursts of shock and rage.

"Settle down!" Mr. Graves bellowed over all the noise. It fell silent. "Now, as we all know, witches cannot say the Lords name. Therefore, Carolina Lynch is not a witch!" There were sighs of relief and sighs of disappointment from the townspeople.

"Maybe she put a spell on us, so that when she said the Dak One's name, we hear our Lords instead!" Robert Cydell, the young man who had once craved Carolina's affection (but of course she turned him down, time and time again), shouted. The crowd started screaming and covering their ears.

"BURN THE WITCH! BURN THE WITCH!" The chant started small, but grew louder and louder by the second.

"No!" Carolina knew that was Georgia shouting.

"If you give me the name of another witch, if you swear to give up your Devil worshipping and see that God is the one true Lord, then I swear you shall live. But if not, you burn like you shall in Hell!" There were shouts of approval.

Carolina didn't want to die, so of course she would name someone else, someone of little importance to the town, someone who won't be missed by many, but that everyone knew the person by name or face. Carolina racked her brains for someone like that. It was then that it hit her. The only person anyone would really believe was a witch was...

"Ms. Lynch, we are waiting." It had grown silent.

Carolina lowered her head. "Georgia Johnson. She's a witch." It was only a whisper, but in the silence it sounded like thunder. Carolina turned to face the crowd, but really only saw Georgia. Fear was etched all over her face. Georgia made to run, but the townspeople grabbed her and dragged to the front of the church.

"No! Please, she's lying!" Georgia struggled, and all Carolina could do was watch her as they concluded that she, indeed, was a witch. They took her away, then, up to the little cell she would stay in until it came time to rid of her.

The crowd cheered as the torches were set ablaze. "NO! Please, no! I'm not a witch! I'm not a witch! Carolina, tell them! Tell them!" Georgia's voice was filled with terror as the torches grew nearer. She struggled as much as she could, but to no avail. The bonds were strong, and her week in a cell with hardly any food or water made her frail. In her struggling, Carolina caught sight of a silver band on Georgia's left ring finger. Her heart ached as she realized what it was, exactly. It was the ring Carolina had given her as a promise. Carolina had promised Georgia, the night before Georgia turned seventeen, that in a year she would take the younger girl away and they would be together forever.

Carolina ran foreward. "Georgia! Georgia, I'm sorry!" Carolina trew herself at the edge of the timbers that were going to be set alight.

"Please, tell them, Carolina!"

"It's too late, Georgia. I'm too late to realize..."

"It's not too late. Tell them you lied. Tell them anything!"

"I love you Georgia! I love you more than anyone or anything!"

Georgia whimpered as the crowd parted for the torch bearers. "Carolina, I love you as well." It was a whisper that Carolina didn't hear. Georgia knew it was too late at this point. The crowd would turn on Carolina if she didn't act fast. Georgia took a breath. "Get away from me, you little pest! I hate you! I hope you die! You think I could actually love someone as pathetic as you? I was using you to get away from here!"

"No! You're lying!" Carolina started to sob when Georgia made no sign that she was, indeed, lying. Carolina backed away from her then. "I know you're lying to me."

Georgia stared at the torches that were only feet from her now. She turned to Carolina. "I would rather die than see you hurt."

Carolina made to go to Georgia again, but was stopped by an arm around her waist. "Don't get too close to the flames. You shall catch your dress by mistake." It was Robert. He securely held Carolina to his side, knowing she wanted to be as close to Georgia as possible, to help her if she still could.

But she could not, because the torch bearers had already begun to light the timbers at Georgia's feet. The crowd erupted into cheers as they watched the 17 year old struggle still. The flames grew higher, licking at Georgia's exposed feet and singing her dress, making it smoke. The pain was already hard to bear. Her dress caught then, blackening her skin and making it char. She screamed freely then, not caring about being strong any more. She just wanted the pain to end, but it just kept coming. She could feel her ring sear her flesh as the flames engulfed her body...

Georgia was dead. They doused her body with water to stop the flames from burning all of her away. They wanted people to see what became of witches. As they removed the charcoal-ed carcass, something metal fell from the corpse and rolled to rest at Carolina's feet. She looked down, and saw the ring.

"What's this?" Georgia smiled as Carolina put the ring on her finger.

"It's my promise to you." Carolina pressed her lips to Georgia's lightly.

"What's your promise?"

"I'll take you away from here, and we'll be together."

Georgia smiled as she studied the ring. "What's that?"

"It's the North Star. Keep it with you so you shall always find your way back to me."