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                                  CHAPTER ONE:

"Mama, mama! I caught me a birdie!" Dapple's small leg's couldn't bear his excitement as he clambered up the side of a small hill, gently caressed by the sun's morning glow. His foot caught on a rock and he tumbled onto his belly, tucking his prize close to his stomach for protection. His neck was immediately tickled by the soft grasses.

"M... Mama!" He repeated, climbing to his feet to get to a woman at the top of the hill.
The woman, named Aeva, turned her head, cloaked by a faded black hood that only half concealed beautiful obsidian curls.
An enchanting smile pulled at the corner's of her ruby lips as she gazed softly at her child's catch.
In between pale, tiny, frail looking fingers, was a little baby bird clutched in his grasp. It's feather's ruffled in between his fingers, causing him to giggle. It's little head turned and swiveled with fear and curiosity at it's captor.
Aeva reached soft delicate hands out of the long sleeves of her flowing black gown and gently wrapped her hands around her son's.
"Dapple, the bird is beautiful." She said to him in a voice that was sweeter than honey and softer than cream. ".. but we should let her go... So she can be with her mama and fly."

Dapple's eyes, of a soft brown with flecks of ocean blue, watched his mother with affection. In his six years, she has always been his angel.
"Childrens should be with their mamas... Right mama?" He asked her, still holding the bird gently but all his young attention was on his mother.

Aeva smiled yet again, and slowly pried open her son's tiny fingers. As they opened, the bird's wings began to flap and she fluttered down to the ground before hopping away over the soft fallen leaves, turning them up as she hopped away.
Then Aeva wrapped her arms around her thin, frail child. She pulled him into her loving embrace and when he was close as he could be to her, head on his shoulder, she lead one of her hands up into his soft pumpkin orange hair that was cut around his ears.

"Yes my love, a child should alway be with their mama..." She whispered in a melodic tone into her son's ears, kissing the side of his head as she stared over him into the glorious golden sunset that spread over the sky like a beautiful canvas of color. "... and a mama should always be with her child... So don't you dare go nowhere, kay baby?"

Dapple never argued to being held by his mother, although he was sure he'd miss that bird. He snuggled into his mother's shoulder, enjoying her scent, the smell that always meant safety.
"I wont go nowhere mama..." He said in his small, shrill, little boy voice. "You wouldn't let me go away... Would you?"

Aeva once again ran her hand over her son's head, kissing the side of his head again.
"No my love... I will never let you go away..."

She then squinted her eyes as the sun's rays finally shone over the wood and stone building's of the town at the bottom of the hill, illuminating the entire world around them.
"Come on dear..." She said, letting go of her son so she could stand and brush off her skirt.
"The market shall open soon... If we hurry there, I'll buy you some sweeties."

Dapple smiled a deep grin that wrinkled his freckle covered nose. These freckles were where he got his name "Dapple" which is what they called the spots on a horse's fur. He hopped up and down on the spot excitedly.
"Oh boy! Thanks mama!" He said before curling his fingers around her hand and beginning to pull her down the side of the hill towards the town. She leaned backwards in an attempt not to fall, and her laughter rang through the air like musical chimes in the morning.

The market was as busy as usual, with many people, mainly wives bustling around to gather the best deals on food for supper and wool and thread for clothing. The men were mainly trading livestock and horses for riding. A few were at the blacksmith's buying horseshoes and some even weaponry.

Aeva pulled her youngling through the crowds. They mostly parted though as she came through. So did the lips of many around them.
"Witch... Witch... Witch..." Their whispers stuck out in the air like a sore thumb.
Aeva used to be exactly that, a witch. Charms, herb use and all. But when the last witch hunt started, her son was only one turn of the sun old. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving him in this world to starve to death all alone, so she went to trial to repent. They agreed to spare her life if she agreed to never use any form of witchcraft again. She was lucky, many would not get such a fair deal.

Once a witch, always a witch was the rule of many towns.

So Aeva kept her head high as she strode up to a small set up store at the side of the cobbled road. The shopkeeper was a crooked old woman with wispy, unhealthy looking white hair that flowed down past her waist. She had old faded blue eyes and a pointed nose and jaw. Her skin sagged slightly and her old fingers were almost bluish in color. She stared at Aeva cautiously as she set down baked goods onto the table, as if Aeva would steal her day's ware.

Aeva ignored her gaze and scanned over the table with her own cold blue eyes. There were plates of fresh bakery goods. There were also lard candles and bead jewelry. Over in the corner there were little, lumpy, woven pouches with a little card in front.
"Pouches of candies."

Aeva picked one up in her hand and felt it, it felt like it was filled with hard candy sweets. She smiled softly as she noticed her son watching her hungrily in the corner of her vision.

"Two pigeons." The elderly woman croaked, stating the name of a small copper coin with a pigeon engraved. A common cheap coin in this area. All the coins were engraved with birds.

"Of course" Aeva replied gently, pulling a couple of the thin coins from a pouch on the side of her bodice which rested just above her hip. The coins clicked against the table as she laid them down in front of the woman, who snatched them up as if she were afraid Aeva would take them back.

Aeva sighed heavily and gave the pouch of sweeties to Dapple, who took them gently and smiled at his mother, hugging her around the waist.
Aeva smiled, gently touching her son's shoulder before beginning to lead him over to a stone bench off to the right of the road, laying almost out of place in the grasses.
The mother and son sat down on the stone which was unusually cold underneath their bottoms. Dapple would have noticed if he wasn't tearing open the pouch to see what kind of sweeties he received. Aeva rearranged the skirt of her gown to give her extra layering between her skin and the stone.

Half of the candies in Dapple's pouch were a soft golden color, the other half were a light brown. So they would have to have been made from hardened honey and maple syrup. Dapple grabbed a honey one out of the pouch and smiled softly when the sunlight illuminated the almost glasslike candy. But it didn't stay like that for long, for just as quick as he took it out of the bag, he popped it in between his pink lips and smiled at his sweet taste.

"Mmmmmm..." Dapple said softly, smacking his lips a bit. Aeva smiled and put her arm around his small shoulders, pulling him into her side, where he snuggled into the fabric of her bodice, crunching down on the candy before reaching for another.

"Want some mama?" He asked her, holding a maple candy to her face, knowing they were her favorite.

"Not now darling..." She told him, fluffing his short hair. "Maybe later okay? Save me one." She was now busy focusing on the people on the road in front of them... Some were smirking at her... Smirking?
Other's were glaring and others looked horrified, the usual. But why were some of them smirking?
"Alright..." Dapple replied to what she had told him. Wiping a bit of sticky candy mess off of his chin before eating another.

Aeva smiled, suddenly calmer. "I love you Dapple..." She whispered to him, turning her head down towards him so that her gorgeous obsidian curls created a curtain around them, shielding out the smirks and glares.

Dapple gently brushed at his mother's hair with tiny hands, twisting his fingers around the curls as his eyes lit up with beauty.
"I love you too, mama!" He whispered back, pawing at her curls like a kitten.

"Aeva Riviere."

A man's voice, cold and stern, interrupted their peaceful solitude together.
Aeva pulled back her curtain of hair and tucked it behind her head to see who the source of the interruption was.
In front of them was a tall man in his late thirties, he was a built man. But it didn't look like he needed to use that often, for many guards in armor stood behind him. He had greasy, mud brown hair that stuck to his head and he had thick stubble on his chin.

"Earl Brinon" She said politely.
This was the man who she'd gone to for protection during the witch hunt, the man who granted her freedom in exchange for her repenting.  "Is there a problem?"

"There could be Ms. Riviere.... There could be." Earl said, rubbing a rough hand over his prickly chin. His grey eyes were cold as he looked them over.

"Mama, who's he?" Dapple said nervously. Clinging to Aeva's hips in fear. Aeva rubbed his back in small circles and whispered a "Shhhh" To him. Half to comfort him, half to let him know to be quiet for now.
"Who is this?" Earl asked, directing to Dapple with his hand. When this happened, Dapple hid his face in the fabric of his mother's gown.
Aeva had kept an expression hard as stone, but now it softened into a loving motherly gaze as she looked down at her child.
"This is Dapple... My son... My everything." She said sotfly, with the same honey-sweet voice she always used when she spoke of her son.

Earl's expression, however, hardened even more.
"I see... How old is... Dipper?"

Aeva looked up at him angrily when he misspoke her son's name.
"His name is Dapple... Not dipper... I did not name my son after a soup ladle!" She snapped at him before going back to rubbing her shivering child's back.
"...and he is six years old... He's growing up beautifully." Aeva was nervous, she never told Earl she had a son, and for a good reason.

"We made our deal... For your... Protection... Five years ago, am I wrong?" He asked slowly, tripping over words a bit. He looked like stress had worn him down into a shivering little man.

"Yes" Aeva said coldly, glaring at all the men and keeping her arms around her son.

"So this child was born... During your time of witchcraft?"

Aeva clung to Dapple even tighter, who remained quiet, yet he still shivered in fear.
"Yes sir, he was. In fact, his safety is the reason I gave up... Wicca." She said, using the correct term for witchcraft.

Earl shook his head solemnly. "He was inside your womb at a time when dark magics flowed through your form. He is infected..." He sighed loudly in the silence. It was very silent, all the people on the street were either silent or they'd gone home. "I'm sorry Aeva... You seem like a kind woman... But it must be destroyed, hand him over or we'll be forced to take him."

Anger and adrenaline flooded through Aeva. She grabbed Dapple and put him behind the bench before standing in front of him, making sure she was in between him and the guards... and Earl.

"Mama!" Dapple cried.

Aeva ignored him, glaring daggers at Earl and the guards, she held her arms out and the long fabric of her gown laid still against the grass, her icy blue eyes remained cold as she focused on them. The voice she used for her next words were filled with venomous poisons, unlike the sweet calming voice she usually had.
"If you think you are going to lay a hand on my son... You are out of your minds..."
Earl wiped his brow on the back of his hand, exhaling loudly.
"Listen Aeva, I am not one who wants to take a child away from it's mother, but I'm thinking about the safety of everyone, I am a law enforcer."

"He'd never hurt anyone! Look at him!" She said, motioning to her son, who sucked on his two middle finger's nervously. He always did this when he was scared or nervous, his round eyes took in the scene behind tears of fear.

"Listen..." Earl said slowly. "I don't have time to discuss it... Either you agree to hand him over now, or my guards will retrieve him by force.

Aeva didn't waste any time. She snatched up her son, who once again cried "Mama!"
She tucked Dapple close to her chest, holding him around the waist and under the bottom. She glared at the guards who made an advance, she waited until she saw a gap between a guard and Earl... Then, knowing it was her only chance, she bolted, pumping her legs as fast as she could, she ran past Earl, kicking him in the shin purposefully as she took off. Smirking slightly to herself at his look of fear and wonder.

"Mama!" Dapple cried again as he clung to her, frightened by the high speed she's taken on, he wrapped both arms around to her back and he gripped her hair for comfort.
Aeva simply focused on getting her son away from those guards, there would be time to calm him down once they were safe.

Aeva turned onto another street, hearing the thumping of guards running after her, their heavy boots thumping against the cobbles.
The shopkeepers closed their doors when they saw her coming.
That's when she realized in horror, that they knew about this. The townspeople must have told the law about Dapple...
She wondered if even her few friends in this town knew about it too, and didn't tell her. She finally made it to town square and she began crying and begging for help. But no one came to her rescue, not even people who were outside, and therefore had to hear her screaming.
She was snatched, out of nowhere, by a hand grabbing her shoulder from behind brutally. The thick fingernails digging into her skin through the fabric of her gown.
Then she was whipped around and she found herself face to face with James, the butcher.
He was a huge man, taller and thicker than a tree. His arms were dirty and hairy and he wore a long black beard that didn't match his bald head. His dirty yellow teeth showed in an ugly evil grin as he grabbed onto Dapple, who cried out.

Aeva let out an animalistic growl and clawed at the butcher's face, leaving scratches all the way down.

"Ahh!... Ugly BITCH!" He shouted, yanking Dapple away from her.

"Mama! Mama! Help!" Dapple cried as he was handed over to a guard who had caught up first. The panting guard held Dapple up above him and laughed wickedly through panting for air.

Aeva screamed in anger as she tried to run to her child, but instead the butcher's meaty arms wrapped around her middle and squeezed so she couldn't run. She once again shrieked and clawed at the butcher's arms, but he didn't release.

"Put him down!!" She shrieked at the top of his lungs as the first guard held her son out for Earl Brinon to see.
Earl ignored her cries to his best ability as he motioned to the centre of the town square, where there was a large fire pit. This had been constructed a few years ago, during the witch hunt. It was used for burning witches to death.
A few guards went and began lighting the fire in the pit with stones as Aeva cried.
"No! Not fire! Don't burn him!! Don't burn him please! My son! He's my son!" She begged, tears flowing down her pretty cheeks

"Mama!" Dapple cried out, kicking at the air as he was held out by the guard, who continued to laugh.
"I don't wanna burn mama! Help me mama!!" He sobbed, kicking helplessly.

"Relax Ms. Riviere." Earl said sotfly. "He wont be killed by the fire, we'll be more humane than that... But the fire shall be used afterwards, for the body.

"No!" Aeva screamed. "No, please! Don't hurt him! Please!" She begged as she kicked and fought against the butcher's grasp. As helpless as her son.
Her heart pounded furiously in her ears as Earl made a head motion.
Everything moved in slow motion then, her hair fell in her face like a frame, displaying everything she saw. The man holding her son still as he cried and begged, another man taking a large, shining knife from a sheath.
She let out a scream that made her throat raw as the blade was brought to her son's throat.

But there was nothing she could do to avoid that slash... The slash that the blade made across Dapple's little throat.

It was the worst sight a mother could behold, in Aeva's own opinion. The man held her son as he squirmed and slowly became limp, buckets of blood gushing from the wound on his neck like a fountain, spraying the glorious red over the man with the blade. Then her son was motionless, his head fell backwards, exposing the open wound on his neck, about five inches wide. His eyes were open and even though they'd always beheld beauty and spark, now they were like empty jars. His mouth hung partially open, as if in mid sentence.

Aeva felt as if the world grew black, her world died around her.
She wouldn't be surprised if ever mountain crumbled at that moment, if every ocean dried up, every home caved in on itself.
But it didn't happen, instead her screams rang through the square. Blood began to drip from the corners of her lips where she'd stretched her mouth out.
Then they dragged her son's limp body along the ground, leaving a trail of blood, all the way to the fire that had grown in the centre of the square, not too far from her.
They tossed her son into the edge of the fire so his skin would slowly ignite.
Until that moment, Aeva had no words, but watching her son's skin just start to burn she finally found enough to speak.
"No!... No let me keep his body! Please!"

Earl, surprisingly, listened to her words. He held his hand out to the guards and said "Pull the boy out of the flames, and give him to this poor woman.!"

She turned to him and stared him in the eye through her thick tears.

"How?..." She asked with a tear choked voice. "How can you... Take... My son from me? He has done no wrong... How can you live with yourself?"

He looked almost as if he'd cry himself.
"I do what I have to, to protect this town ma'am." He said shallowly. Clearing his throat and staring straight ahead.
The butcher's grip released her, distracting her from what she was about to say. Her face twisted in anger before she turned on her heels, violently kneeing James in the nether-regions.
James's face twisted in pain and he doubled over, grabbing his manhood through his loose pants.

Then Aeva felt a cold tap on her shoulder, she had caught herself staring at the reflection of the flames in her tears, they were almost beautiful.
The sight that beheld her when she turned around, was not.

A man held out to her, a child sized potato sack, it was very dirty and the bottom was soaked with blood.
"Here's your youngin' ma'am." The man said with a rough, dirty voice that reminded her of metal groaning against more metal.
She held out her arms and wrapped them around the sack, that clearly took the shape of the child inside it when she held it.
She could feel her baby boy inside it, she sobbed and pressed her tearstained face to the bloody material.

"Dapple?" She whispered into the cloth... As if her son might answer her... saying "Mama"... Like he always did.
But of course, there was no answer.
Her child was in this bag, the child with the sweet, soft pumpkin orange hair... The child she'd felt grow inside of her... The child she gave birth to, and cried when she held him the first time and saw his beautiful eyes. The child that had the most beautiful laugh. The child that slept with his fingers in his mouth. The child that loved honey candies. The child that she sang to sleep every night...
That child was dead, her child was dead.

Her sobs grew louder as she buried her face into the material, ignoring the smell of burning flesh and just focusing on her son.
She wanted him to feel again, she wanted to comfort him and say that everything was okay, mama's here.
But you can't comfort a dead child.

"Dapple!" She cried again, gripping the material tight.
She felt a hand on the back of her shoulder, she didn't know who it was, but she didn't care, she jerked away, her shoes screeching on the cobbles.
"Don't touch me!!" She shrieked, keeping her face buried in the fabric.

"I'm sorry... I truly am..."

It was Earl's voice... She growled and still holding her son close to her, she charged at him, knocking him over for sure.
Then she stepped directly on his face, running over him.
Then she was running through the town again, this time with her son lifeless in a bag. The wind caused the tears on her face to blow across her face and into her beautiful curls. The same curls Dapple hid in earlier.

She couldn't save him... Her heart throbbed in pain as she continued to run, past the shops, past the homes, past the bench, past the library, past the hill. The whole time clutching the burlap sack to her chest.
She kept running a familiar path, out of the town, through a thick wooded area, past all the trees until she reached a clearing.
A large sunny clearing, with beautiful playful long grasses.
A tall, but small white house peered out from those long grasses in the center of the clearing.
A white house with wooden borders and a small wooden door.
Two floors and many small dusty windows.
Their home... Aeva's home.

Usually the trees around the clearing rustled loudly, but now, as she carried her son's limp body in the burlap sack, they were silent, almost as if in mourning.
The grasses, still thick with morning dew, clung to her skirt and legs as if to hold her back.
She kept waking with a stone expression, the tears hot on her face, until she reached the narrow wooden door.
Then, balancing her son in one arm, she pulled a large grey metal key from the pouch on her bodice and inserted it into the keyhole on the door, turning it and hearing the familiar soft clink.

Inside, was the main room.
A fireplace on the far wall, a table with two chairs in the middle, and an old dirty yellow sofa against the wall to the side. The walls were lined with beautiful paintings Aeva had collected over her 27 years of life.
Inside, the house was quieter than it had been in ages, usually Dapple would kill it's silence with his noisy playing.
He certainly wasn't playing now.
The thought that she'd never watch him play again struck at her heart.
Then, she really realized, she'd never do anything with him again.
She'd never hear his voice? See his smile? Watch him sleep? Or eat? Or hear him say "I love you mama" again?

She felt herself begin to cry again as she placed Dapple, still in the bag, on the table so he was lying on his back. She quickly rushed over and re-stoked the fire in the fireplace before returning to her son's side. Then, closing her eyes, she began pulling the cloth down off of him. She could hear his tiny head thump quietly against the wood of the table as the cloth was pulled down below his head.
She coughed at the dust that was constantly in the air, then coughed again at the smell of burning flesh that escaped the bag. but she kept her eyes closed as she removed the rest of the burlap sack.

She didn't want to open her eyes, but she knew she had to...
But when she did, the sight horrified her.
Her son's mouth had opened even wider at some point, and his eyes were still open so it looked like he was screaming.

The left side of his face and body had been burned by the flames and were now a dark red with little bits of black on the charred flesh. His hair was still fairly intact for it seemed that it hadn't touched the flame, but his clothing was destroyed, burned and soaked with blood.

Aeva, overwhelmed with loss, put a hand on the good side of her son's face, stroking the soft skin.
"D...Dapple?" She whispered to him, almost praying that his empty eyes would flood with life, and he'd look at her and say "Mama" again.
But he didn't, he just laid completely still.
Aeva sobbed and reached her hand up, pushing up on her son's jaw, the skin was rough and wet due to it being rather burned, but his mouth closed easily.
Now his eyes stared up at the ceiling... So empty.
She knew it was respectful to close the eyes of the dead, but she found it hard to do this... As if closing her son's eyes would make him even more dead than he was now.
But after a few minutes of hesitation, she placed her hand over her son's eyes and closed the eyelids. Saying goodbye to his beautiful brown and blue eyes.
"Goodnight baby..." She said through thick tears, before she leaned down and kissed the soft skin of his forehead.

Her son now looked like he was sleeping... If not for the blood, which Aeva immediately decided to do something about.
So, after she managed to fetch a wash basin full of water and a thick soft cloth, she sat down at the table, gazing at her son, before she began to clean away all the blood with the soft cloth.
When the blood became diluted by the water, it turned pink and dripped down off of his skin and onto the table, where it either evaporated or soaked into the wood, Aeva didn't know, nor did she care.
Afterwards, she ran her hand over his ruined clothing, the red and brown fabrics almost completely burned except for half of the trousers and a small piece of the shirt, around Dapple's tiny waist.

As she felt over the pocket of his trousers, she felt a small, hard lump. Reaching inside his pocket, which was damp with blood, she felt around.
Within a second or two, she removed a light brown hard candy.

"Want some mama?" Dapple had asked her, holding the small candy in his little hand up to her face.
"Not now darling..." She had told him, as she fluffed his hair. "Maybe later okay? Save me one."

Her son must have pocketed this little candy to give to her later.
Aeva sniffled, rolling the little candy in her hand as she wondered where the rest of them ended up. Dapple was only half way through the bag when the men came for him.

She continued to roll the candy around in her palm with her thumb. Now she watched the flames in the fireplace, she watched them as they leapt into the air and crackled with anger. The flames were like tiny angry daggers, stabbing at the open chimney with their never ending fury.
She felt herself begin to fuel with their anger. She held the anger inside her and like a fire, she began to kindle it. But not with wood. She kindled this inner fire with angry thoughts.
She thought about the men who took her baby away from her.
They had no right to take him from her, he was her child. She owned him. She raised him.
They didn't know him and yet they thought they had a right. He was six years old, just a baby!

She felt her face growing hot as the candy grey sticky in her hand, but she just kept rolling the treat in her fingers. Her forehead wrinkled in fury as the orange glow from the fireplace danced across her pretty features.

"They have to pay..."  She thought, deep in the ugly part of her mind. "I'll get my baby back.... and they'll pay..."

She let out a very witchy, stereotypical cackle.

"... They'll see just how much of a witch I can be..."

Description
                                  CHAPTER ONE:

"Mama, mama! I caught me a birdie!" Dapple's small leg's couldn't bear his excitement as he clambered up the side of a small hill, gently caressed by the sun's morning glow. His foot caught on a rock and he tumbled onto his belly, tucking his prize close to his stomach for protection. His neck was immediately tickled by the soft grasses.

"M... Mama!" He repeated, climbing to his feet to get to a woman at the top of the hill.
The woman, named Aeva, turned her head, cloaked by a faded black hood that only half concealed beautiful obsidian curls.
An enchanting smile pulled at the corner's of her ruby lips as she gazed softly at her child's catch.
In between pale, tiny, frail looking fingers, was a little baby bird clutched in his grasp. It's feather's ruffled in between his fingers, causing him to giggle. It's little head turned and swiveled with fear and curiosity at it's captor.
Aeva reached soft delicate hands out of the long sleeves of her flowing black gown and gently wrapped her hands around her son's.
"Dapple, the bird is beautiful." She said to him in a voice that was sweeter than honey and softer than cream. ".. but we should let her go... So she can be with her mama and fly."

Dapple's eyes, of a soft brown with flecks of ocean blue, watched his mother with affection. In his six years, she has always been his angel.
"Childrens should be with their mamas... Right mama?" He asked her, still holding the bird gently but all his young attention was on his mother.

Aeva smiled yet again, and slowly pried open her son's tiny fingers. As they opened, the bird's wings began to flap and she fluttered down to the ground before hopping away over the soft fallen leaves, turning them up as she hopped away.
Then Aeva wrapped her arms around her thin, frail child. She pulled him into her loving embrace and when he was close as he could be to her, head on his shoulder, she lead one of her hands up into his soft pumpkin orange hair that was cut around his ears.

"Yes my love, a child should alway be with their mama..." She whispered in a melodic tone into her son's ears, kissing the side of his head as she stared over him into the glorious golden sunset that spread over the sky like a beautiful canvas of color. "... and a mama should always be with her child... So don't you dare go nowhere, kay baby?"

Dapple never argued to being held by his mother, although he was sure he'd miss that bird. He snuggled into his mother's shoulder, enjoying her scent, the smell that always meant safety.
"I wont go nowhere mama..." He said in his small, shrill, little boy voice. "You wouldn't let me go away... Would you?"

Aeva once again ran her hand over her son's head, kissing the side of his head again.
"No my love... I will never let you go away..."

She then squinted her eyes as the sun's rays finally shone over the wood and stone building's of the town at the bottom of the hill, illuminating the entire world around them.
"Come on dear..." She said, letting go of her son so she could stand and brush off her skirt.
"The market shall open soon... If we hurry there, I'll buy you some sweeties."

Dapple smiled a deep grin that wrinkled his freckle covered nose. These freckles were where he got his name "Dapple" which is what they called the spots on a horse's fur. He hopped up and down on the spot excitedly.
"Oh boy! Thanks mama!" He said before curling his fingers around her hand and beginning to pull her down the side of the hill towards the town. She leaned backwards in an attempt not to fall, and her laughter rang through the air like musical chimes in the morning.

The market was as busy as usual, with many people, mainly wives bustling around to gather the best deals on food for supper and wool and thread for clothing. The men were mainly trading livestock and horses for riding. A few were at the blacksmith's buying horseshoes and some even weaponry.

Aeva pulled her youngling through the crowds. They mostly parted though as she came through. So did the lips of many around them.
"Witch... Witch... Witch..." Their whispers stuck out in the air like a sore thumb.
Aeva used to be exactly that, a witch. Charms, herb use and all. But when the last witch hunt started, her son was only one turn of the sun old. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving him in this world to starve to death all alone, so she went to trial to repent. They agreed to spare her life if she agreed to never use any form of witchcraft again. She was lucky, many would not get such a fair deal.

Once a witch, always a witch was the rule of many towns.

So Aeva kept her head high as she strode up to a small set up store at the side of the cobbled road. The shopkeeper was a crooked old woman with wispy, unhealthy looking white hair that flowed down past her waist. She had old faded blue eyes and a pointed nose and jaw. Her skin sagged slightly and her old fingers were almost bluish in color. She stared at Aeva cautiously as she set down baked goods onto the table, as if Aeva would steal her day's ware.

Aeva ignored her gaze and scanned over the table with her own cold blue eyes. There were plates of fresh bakery goods. There were also lard candles and bead jewelry. Over in the corner there were little, lumpy, woven pouches with a little card in front.
"Pouches of candies."

Aeva picked one up in her hand and felt it, it felt like it was filled with hard candy sweets. She smiled softly as she noticed her son watching her hungrily in the corner of her vision.

"Two pigeons." The elderly woman croaked, stating the name of a small copper coin with a pigeon engraved. A common cheap coin in this area. All the coins were engraved with birds.

"Of course" Aeva replied gently, pulling a couple of the thin coins from a pouch on the side of her bodice which rested just above her hip. The coins clicked against the table as she laid them down in front of the woman, who snatched them up as if she were afraid Aeva would take them back.

Aeva sighed heavily and gave the pouch of sweeties to Dapple, who took them gently and smiled at his mother, hugging her around the waist.
Aeva smiled, gently touching her son's shoulder before beginning to lead him over to a stone bench off to the right of the road, laying almost out of place in the grasses.
The mother and son sat down on the stone which was unusually cold underneath their bottoms. Dapple would have noticed if he wasn't tearing open the pouch to see what kind of sweeties he received. Aeva rearranged the skirt of her gown to give her extra layering between her skin and the stone.

Half of the candies in Dapple's pouch were a soft golden color, the other half were a light brown. So they would have to have been made from hardened honey and maple syrup. Dapple grabbed a honey one out of the pouch and smiled softly when the sunlight illuminated the almost glasslike candy. But it didn't stay like that for long, for just as quick as he took it out of the bag, he popped it in between his pink lips and smiled at his sweet taste.

"Mmmmmm..." Dapple said softly, smacking his lips a bit. Aeva smiled and put her arm around his small shoulders, pulling him into her side, where he snuggled into the fabric of her bodice, crunching down on the candy before reaching for another.

"Want some mama?" He asked her, holding a maple candy to her face, knowing they were her favorite.

"Not now darling..." She told him, fluffing his short hair. "Maybe later okay? Save me one." She was now busy focusing on the people on the road in front of them... Some were smirking at her... Smirking?
Other's were glaring and others looked horrified, the usual. But why were some of them smirking?
"Alright..." Dapple replied to what she had told him. Wiping a bit of sticky candy mess off of his chin before eating another.

Aeva smiled, suddenly calmer. "I love you Dapple..." She whispered to him, turning her head down towards him so that her gorgeous obsidian curls created a curtain around them, shielding out the smirks and glares.

Dapple gently brushed at his mother's hair with tiny hands, twisting his fingers around the curls as his eyes lit up with beauty.
"I love you too, mama!" He whispered back, pawing at her curls like a kitten.

"Aeva Riviere."

A man's voice, cold and stern, interrupted their peaceful solitude together.
Aeva pulled back her curtain of hair and tucked it behind her head to see who the source of the interruption was.
In front of them was a tall man in his late thirties, he was a built man. But it didn't look like he needed to use that often, for many guards in armor stood behind him. He had greasy, mud brown hair that stuck to his head and he had thick stubble on his chin.

"Earl Brinon" She said politely.
This was the man who she'd gone to for protection during the witch hunt, the man who granted her freedom in exchange for her repenting.  "Is there a problem?"

"There could be Ms. Riviere.... There could be." Earl said, rubbing a rough hand over his prickly chin. His grey eyes were cold as he looked them over.

"Mama, who's he?" Dapple said nervously. Clinging to Aeva's hips in fear. Aeva rubbed his back in small circles and whispered a "Shhhh" To him. Half to comfort him, half to let him know to be quiet for now.
"Who is this?" Earl asked, directing to Dapple with his hand. When this happened, Dapple hid his face in the fabric of his mother's gown.
Aeva had kept an expression hard as stone, but now it softened into a loving motherly gaze as she looked down at her child.
"This is Dapple... My son... My everything." She said sotfly, with the same honey-sweet voice she always used when she spoke of her son.

Earl's expression, however, hardened even more.
"I see... How old is... Dipper?"

Aeva looked up at him angrily when he misspoke her son's name.
"His name is Dapple... Not dipper... I did not name my son after a soup ladle!" She snapped at him before going back to rubbing her shivering child's back.
"...and he is six years old... He's growing up beautifully." Aeva was nervous, she never told Earl she had a son, and for a good reason.

"We made our deal... For your... Protection... Five years ago, am I wrong?" He asked slowly, tripping over words a bit. He looked like stress had worn him down into a shivering little man.

"Yes" Aeva said coldly, glaring at all the men and keeping her arms around her son.

"So this child was born... During your time of witchcraft?"

Aeva clung to Dapple even tighter, who remained quiet, yet he still shivered in fear.
"Yes sir, he was. In fact, his safety is the reason I gave up... Wicca." She said, using the correct term for witchcraft.

Earl shook his head solemnly. "He was inside your womb at a time when dark magics flowed through your form. He is infected..." He sighed loudly in the silence. It was very silent, all the people on the street were either silent or they'd gone home. "I'm sorry Aeva... You seem like a kind woman... But it must be destroyed, hand him over or we'll be forced to take him."

Anger and adrenaline flooded through Aeva. She grabbed Dapple and put him behind the bench before standing in front of him, making sure she was in between him and the guards... and Earl.

"Mama!" Dapple cried.

Aeva ignored him, glaring daggers at Earl and the guards, she held her arms out and the long fabric of her gown laid still against the grass, her icy blue eyes remained cold as she focused on them. The voice she used for her next words were filled with venomous poisons, unlike the sweet calming voice she usually had.
"If you think you are going to lay a hand on my son... You are out of your minds..."
Earl wiped his brow on the back of his hand, exhaling loudly.
"Listen Aeva, I am not one who wants to take a child away from it's mother, but I'm thinking about the safety of everyone, I am a law enforcer."

"He'd never hurt anyone! Look at him!" She said, motioning to her son, who sucked on his two middle finger's nervously. He always did this when he was scared or nervous, his round eyes took in the scene behind tears of fear.

"Listen..." Earl said slowly. "I don't have time to discuss it... Either you agree to hand him over now, or my guards will retrieve him by force.

Aeva didn't waste any time. She snatched up her son, who once again cried "Mama!"
She tucked Dapple close to her chest, holding him around the waist and under the bottom. She glared at the guards who made an advance, she waited until she saw a gap between a guard and Earl... Then, knowing it was her only chance, she bolted, pumping her legs as fast as she could, she ran past Earl, kicking him in the shin purposefully as she took off. Smirking slightly to herself at his look of fear and wonder.

"Mama!" Dapple cried again as he clung to her, frightened by the high speed she's taken on, he wrapped both arms around to her back and he gripped her hair for comfort.
Aeva simply focused on getting her son away from those guards, there would be time to calm him down once they were safe.

Aeva turned onto another street, hearing the thumping of guards running after her, their heavy boots thumping against the cobbles.
The shopkeepers closed their doors when they saw her coming.
That's when she realized in horror, that they knew about this. The townspeople must have told the law about Dapple...
She wondered if even her few friends in this town knew about it too, and didn't tell her. She finally made it to town square and she began crying and begging for help. But no one came to her rescue, not even people who were outside, and therefore had to hear her screaming.
She was snatched, out of nowhere, by a hand grabbing her shoulder from behind brutally. The thick fingernails digging into her skin through the fabric of her gown.
Then she was whipped around and she found herself face to face with James, the butcher.
He was a huge man, taller and thicker than a tree. His arms were dirty and hairy and he wore a long black beard that didn't match his bald head. His dirty yellow teeth showed in an ugly evil grin as he grabbed onto Dapple, who cried out.

Aeva let out an animalistic growl and clawed at the butcher's face, leaving scratches all the way down.

"Ahh!... Ugly BITCH!" He shouted, yanking Dapple away from her.

"Mama! Mama! Help!" Dapple cried as he was handed over to a guard who had caught up first. The panting guard held Dapple up above him and laughed wickedly through panting for air.

Aeva screamed in anger as she tried to run to her child, but instead the butcher's meaty arms wrapped around her middle and squeezed so she couldn't run. She once again shrieked and clawed at the butcher's arms, but he didn't release.

"Put him down!!" She shrieked at the top of his lungs as the first guard held her son out for Earl Brinon to see.
Earl ignored her cries to his best ability as he motioned to the centre of the town square, where there was a large fire pit. This had been constructed a few years ago, during the witch hunt. It was used for burning witches to death.
A few guards went and began lighting the fire in the pit with stones as Aeva cried.
"No! Not fire! Don't burn him!! Don't burn him please! My son! He's my son!" She begged, tears flowing down her pretty cheeks

"Mama!" Dapple cried out, kicking at the air as he was held out by the guard, who continued to laugh.
"I don't wanna burn mama! Help me mama!!" He sobbed, kicking helplessly.

"Relax Ms. Riviere." Earl said sotfly. "He wont be killed by the fire, we'll be more humane than that... But the fire shall be used afterwards, for the body.

"No!" Aeva screamed. "No, please! Don't hurt him! Please!" She begged as she kicked and fought against the butcher's grasp. As helpless as her son.
Her heart pounded furiously in her ears as Earl made a head motion.
Everything moved in slow motion then, her hair fell in her face like a frame, displaying everything she saw. The man holding her son still as he cried and begged, another man taking a large, shining knife from a sheath.
She let out a scream that made her throat raw as the blade was brought to her son's throat.

But there was nothing she could do to avoid that slash... The slash that the blade made across Dapple's little throat.

It was the worst sight a mother could behold, in Aeva's own opinion. The man held her son as he squirmed and slowly became limp, buckets of blood gushing from the wound on his neck like a fountain, spraying the glorious red over the man with the blade. Then her son was motionless, his head fell backwards, exposing the open wound on his neck, about five inches wide. His eyes were open and even though they'd always beheld beauty and spark, now they were like empty jars. His mouth hung partially open, as if in mid sentence.

Aeva felt as if the world grew black, her world died around her.
She wouldn't be surprised if ever mountain crumbled at that moment, if every ocean dried up, every home caved in on itself.
But it didn't happen, instead her screams rang through the square. Blood began to drip from the corners of her lips where she'd stretched her mouth out.
Then they dragged her son's limp body along the ground, leaving a trail of blood, all the way to the fire that had grown in the centre of the square, not too far from her.
They tossed her son into the edge of the fire so his skin would slowly ignite.
Until that moment, Aeva had no words, but watching her son's skin just start to burn she finally found enough to speak.
"No!... No let me keep his body! Please!"

Earl, surprisingly, listened to her words. He held his hand out to the guards and said "Pull the boy out of the flames, and give him to this poor woman.!"

She turned to him and stared him in the eye through her thick tears.

"How?..." She asked with a tear choked voice. "How can you... Take... My son from me? He has done no wrong... How can you live with yourself?"

He looked almost as if he'd cry himself.
"I do what I have to, to protect this town ma'am." He said shallowly. Clearing his throat and staring straight ahead.
The butcher's grip released her, distracting her from what she was about to say. Her face twisted in anger before she turned on her heels, violently kneeing James in the nether-regions.
James's face twisted in pain and he doubled over, grabbing his manhood through his loose pants.

Then Aeva felt a cold tap on her shoulder, she had caught herself staring at the reflection of the flames in her tears, they were almost beautiful.
The sight that beheld her when she turned around, was not.

A man held out to her, a child sized potato sack, it was very dirty and the bottom was soaked with blood.
"Here's your youngin' ma'am." The man said with a rough, dirty voice that reminded her of metal groaning against more metal.
She held out her arms and wrapped them around the sack, that clearly took the shape of the child inside it when she held it.
She could feel her baby boy inside it, she sobbed and pressed her tearstained face to the bloody material.

"Dapple?" She whispered into the cloth... As if her son might answer her... saying "Mama"... Like he always did.
But of course, there was no answer.
Her child was in this bag, the child with the sweet, soft pumpkin orange hair... The child she'd felt grow inside of her... The child she gave birth to, and cried when she held him the first time and saw his beautiful eyes. The child that had the most beautiful laugh. The child that slept with his fingers in his mouth. The child that loved honey candies. The child that she sang to sleep every night...
That child was dead, her child was dead.

Her sobs grew louder as she buried her face into the material, ignoring the smell of burning flesh and just focusing on her son.
She wanted him to feel again, she wanted to comfort him and say that everything was okay, mama's here.
But you can't comfort a dead child.

"Dapple!" She cried again, gripping the material tight.
She felt a hand on the back of her shoulder, she didn't know who it was, but she didn't care, she jerked away, her shoes screeching on the cobbles.
"Don't touch me!!" She shrieked, keeping her face buried in the fabric.

"I'm sorry... I truly am..."

It was Earl's voice... She growled and still holding her son close to her, she charged at him, knocking him over for sure.
Then she stepped directly on his face, running over him.
Then she was running through the town again, this time with her son lifeless in a bag. The wind caused the tears on her face to blow across her face and into her beautiful curls. The same curls Dapple hid in earlier.

She couldn't save him... Her heart throbbed in pain as she continued to run, past the shops, past the homes, past the bench, past the library, past the hill. The whole time clutching the burlap sack to her chest.
She kept running a familiar path, out of the town, through a thick wooded area, past all the trees until she reached a clearing.
A large sunny clearing, with beautiful playful long grasses.
A tall, but small white house peered out from those long grasses in the center of the clearing.
A white house with wooden borders and a small wooden door.
Two floors and many small dusty windows.
Their home... Aeva's home.

Usually the trees around the clearing rustled loudly, but now, as she carried her son's limp body in the burlap sack, they were silent, almost as if in mourning.
The grasses, still thick with morning dew, clung to her skirt and legs as if to hold her back.
She kept waking with a stone expression, the tears hot on her face, until she reached the narrow wooden door.
Then, balancing her son in one arm, she pulled a large grey metal key from the pouch on her bodice and inserted it into the keyhole on the door, turning it and hearing the familiar soft clink.

Inside, was the main room.
A fireplace on the far wall, a table with two chairs in the middle, and an old dirty yellow sofa against the wall to the side. The walls were lined with beautiful paintings Aeva had collected over her 27 years of life.
Inside, the house was quieter than it had been in ages, usually Dapple would kill it's silence with his noisy playing.
He certainly wasn't playing now.
The thought that she'd never watch him play again struck at her heart.
Then, she really realized, she'd never do anything with him again.
She'd never hear his voice? See his smile? Watch him sleep? Or eat? Or hear him say "I love you mama" again?

She felt herself begin to cry again as she placed Dapple, still in the bag, on the table so he was lying on his back. She quickly rushed over and re-stoked the fire in the fireplace before returning to her son's side. Then, closing her eyes, she began pulling the cloth down off of him. She could hear his tiny head thump quietly against the wood of the table as the cloth was pulled down below his head.
She coughed at the dust that was constantly in the air, then coughed again at the smell of burning flesh that escaped the bag. but she kept her eyes closed as she removed the rest of the burlap sack.

She didn't want to open her eyes, but she knew she had to...
But when she did, the sight horrified her.
Her son's mouth had opened even wider at some point, and his eyes were still open so it looked like he was screaming.

The left side of his face and body had been burned by the flames and were now a dark red with little bits of black on the charred flesh. His hair was still fairly intact for it seemed that it hadn't touched the flame, but his clothing was destroyed, burned and soaked with blood.

Aeva, overwhelmed with loss, put a hand on the good side of her son's face, stroking the soft skin.
"D...Dapple?" She whispered to him, almost praying that his empty eyes would flood with life, and he'd look at her and say "Mama" again.
But he didn't, he just laid completely still.
Aeva sobbed and reached her hand up, pushing up on her son's jaw, the skin was rough and wet due to it being rather burned, but his mouth closed easily.
Now his eyes stared up at the ceiling... So empty.
She knew it was respectful to close the eyes of the dead, but she found it hard to do this... As if closing her son's eyes would make him even more dead than he was now.
But after a few minutes of hesitation, she placed her hand over her son's eyes and closed the eyelids. Saying goodbye to his beautiful brown and blue eyes.
"Goodnight baby..." She said through thick tears, before she leaned down and kissed the soft skin of his forehead.

Her son now looked like he was sleeping... If not for the blood, which Aeva immediately decided to do something about.
So, after she managed to fetch a wash basin full of water and a thick soft cloth, she sat down at the table, gazing at her son, before she began to clean away all the blood with the soft cloth.
When the blood became diluted by the water, it turned pink and dripped down off of his skin and onto the table, where it either evaporated or soaked into the wood, Aeva didn't know, nor did she care.
Afterwards, she ran her hand over his ruined clothing, the red and brown fabrics almost completely burned except for half of the trousers and a small piece of the shirt, around Dapple's tiny waist.

As she felt over the pocket of his trousers, she felt a small, hard lump. Reaching inside his pocket, which was damp with blood, she felt around.
Within a second or two, she removed a light brown hard candy.

"Want some mama?" Dapple had asked her, holding the small candy in his little hand up to her face.
"Not now darling..." She had told him, as she fluffed his hair. "Maybe later okay? Save me one."

Her son must have pocketed this little candy to give to her later.
Aeva sniffled, rolling the little candy in her hand as she wondered where the rest of them ended up. Dapple was only half way through the bag when the men came for him.

She continued to roll the candy around in her palm with her thumb. Now she watched the flames in the fireplace, she watched them as they leapt into the air and crackled with anger. The flames were like tiny angry daggers, stabbing at the open chimney with their never ending fury.
She felt herself begin to fuel with their anger. She held the anger inside her and like a fire, she began to kindle it. But not with wood. She kindled this inner fire with angry thoughts.
She thought about the men who took her baby away from her.
They had no right to take him from her, he was her child. She owned him. She raised him.
They didn't know him and yet they thought they had a right. He was six years old, just a baby!

She felt her face growing hot as the candy grey sticky in her hand, but she just kept rolling the treat in her fingers. Her forehead wrinkled in fury as the orange glow from the fireplace danced across her pretty features.

"They have to pay..."  She thought, deep in the ugly part of her mind. "I'll get my baby back.... and they'll pay..."

She let out a very witchy, stereotypical cackle.

"... They'll see just how much of a witch I can be..."