Chapter 5 - Meeting with Mother Nature

As soon as I was upstairs, a sigh of relief escaped from my mouth. I couldn't watch my mother being so excited about all of this. I was suffering all the time and she didn't seem to care at all.

Once in my room, I threw myself on the bed and closed my eyes. I didn't even change, just lied down in my clothes, because I didn't care if my new long, dark green dress was creased. Only the corset bothered me a bit, but I was too tired to take it off. Suddenly a soft clatter could be heard, so I slowly got up from the bed and went to the window, because that was where the sound was coming from. As I guessed, the oak branch tapped lightly on the window, moved by the wind. I looked longingly at the rustling forest and sighed softly.

- I'll take a walk...- I decided, throwing the window wide.

With the agility of a cat, I stepped onto the windowsill, then jumped down onto the branch that initially swayed heavily, but that old oak was really strong. I walked nimbly down the branches, all the way down, avoiding the wall and going straight into the forest.

As I stood on the ground and then touched the thick tree trunk, I felt its "soul" speaking to me. This oak has been standing here for a really long time. The tree told me a story about all the inhabitants of the house where it stood. I saw many faces of strangers, but one of them seemed kind of familiar to me - it was a boy, the son of aristocrats who lived here in the 16th century. The features of his face, black eyes and hair, and his smile reminded me of someone, but at that moment I couldn't remember who. He was certainly no more than 19 years old, tall and good-looking, and he looked very good in his elegant tailcoat. The young master also had a younger sister, very similar to him, only more cute and girlish.

I took my hand away from the oak trunk, thus breaking my contact with the "soul" of the tree. Don't know why, but I sensed that there was a sad part of this family's history coming in and didn't want to see everything the oak was trying to show me. I was sad enough with my own suffering and didn't need any additional negative emotions.

I moved further into the forest, listening to the rustle of leaves, the chirping of birds and other sounds of forest inhabitants. The sun shone lightly through the treetops, I heard a woodpecker tapping on the bark of a tree, the bustle of squirrels collecting nuts in the hollows, the movement of the wings of insects as they flied by me. That was probably one of the few perks of being a sorceress - I could hear and see all around more clearly. I "felt" nature with my whole being and absorbed its energy. And it was nature that was the basis of magic, white magic, the magic of life, while black magic was magic of death.

Walking along the forest path, listening to the voice of the forest, I reached a beautiful meadow covered with tall grass and lots of wild flowers. Without hesitating, I lay down on the grass, staring at the blue sky above me. Even though it was already 6 pm it was still light, after all it was still summer. The noise around calmed me down, making forget about everything for a moment, and my mind cleared. Nature was the only one that could heal my pain, even if it was only temporary, it brought relief. I felt the ubiquitous magic seep into my body and flow through me in an electrifying stream. I was slowly merging into one with the ground on which I was lying and fully understood the meaning of my existence. The sorceress was a link between nature and humans, guarded the mysterious, ancient magic created by trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, rushing streams, rocks and even animals. Thanks to this magic, she was supposed to protect mortals weaker than herself from the forces of evil, which was the subject of the sorceress's entire life. However, how can you protect someone without revealing your power, your being? After all, it was not recommended to reveal yourself, because it could be dangerous. People were afraid of what they did not knew and could not explain logically, therefore supernatural phenomena and beings scared them, no matter if they were friendly or not. Of course, it happened that a sorceress fell in love with a mortal, and if he discovered her secret, but still wanted to stay and live with her, it was possible. True love made the spell which grants the mortal the gift of longevity work. This was the future that I was preparing for myself and Johnathan, because I was sure of his feelings. However, the thought of him made the pain in my heart reappear and increase from second to second, becoming almost unbearable, and tears soon flowed from my eyes. I rolled over and my eyes fell on a slightly wilted blade of grass. One of my tears fell on this poor thing, making it go green again in seconds, and slowly shoot skyward, straightening.

- So it's true that a sorceress's tears can heal...- I whispered, admiring this miraculous phenomenon.

Then I lied down there in that meadow, soaking up the magnificence of nature around me, which healed my broken heart slowly, making me forget my sorrows again.

~~~~~~~~~

I woke up only in the morning, in my bed, not remembering when and how I got home. Judging by the fact that I fell asleep fully clothed, I must have been so tired that went straight to bed. I got up and walked over to the mirror, staring disapprovingly at my crumpled dress and hair tangled with dry grass, so I started working on myself. I took off my crumpled clothes with relief as I untied the corset, then took a deep breath. Untangling the grass out of my curly hair, however, was quite a challenge - I had worked hard to get rid of all the leaves and blades of grass.

Suddenly I heard something similat to a muffled laugh behind me, but couldn't see anyone behind me in the mirror, so I turned to look around the room. The only thing I noticed was a slightly wobbling curtain, as if it had been moved by someone's hand, because there was no wind today, or at least not yet. I went to the window and opened the curtain a bit, and on the windowsill I saw a small bouquet of daisies, certainly the same ones that grew on that meadow. I took it gently in my hand, looking out the window first around the wall and then further into the woods. I could have sworn I sensed someone's presence for a moment. Unfortunately, even if someone was here, he escaped so quickly that I didn't even have time to notice him. Resigned, I closed the window and pulled back the curtain, and placed the bouquet on the bedside table. For a moment I wondered who would be insolent enough to sneak into a stranger's room, spying and, on top of that, making fun of her. Most of all, what was that bouquet of daisies supposed to mean?

I shook off these thoughts and looked in the mirror again, wincing at the sight of my hair because there was still a lot of grass in it. I decided to wash my head because my hair was easier to style when wet, so most likely the grass will be easier and faster to untangle, and some of it will probably rinse when washing. As I planned, I did so. And in fact, thanks to this, everything went smoothly for me. In less than fifteen minutes, my hair was completely devoid of unwanted blades of grass.

After leaving the bathroom, I heard a knock on my room door, followed by mother's voice.

- Christina, dear, get up! Breakfast is ready!- she called through the door.

- I'm going now, just need to get dressed!- I yelled back to her.

- Okay, I just have one request... Put on something normal, not those corsets and flowing dresses. Remember, we don't want to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves.- my mother added and walked away from the door.

When footsteps had gone quiet, I huffed a little at the memory of her plea. I had no intention of listening to my mother, so I pulled out of the closet a white silk shirt with wide sleeves, a navy blue-dyed leather corset, a long black lace skirt, a black fabric Victorian choker, and on the feet I put on my black boots. I smirked at my reflection in the mirror, knowing that my mother would be very "pleased" when she will see me in such clothes.

Suddenly my eyes fell on the crystal heart dangling on a silver chain, the last gift from Johnathan. It was lying on the dressing table next to the desk. I must have left it there while unpacking my things.

I picked up the necklace, twirling the heart in my fingers. The sunlight reflected beautifully in it, spreading all the colors of the rainbow on the other side like in a prism. As I looked at it, all the painful memories returned to me with redoubled strength and my heart ached so badly that tears sprang to my eyes immediately. Fortunately, I managed to quickly shake myself out of this state, clenched the necklace in my hand, opened one of the drawers in the dressing table and squeezed it to the very bottom, quickly slamming the drawer back with a big crack. Then I headed for the door, left my room quickly, and went downstairs to the dining room, where breakfast and my mother were waiting for me.