"I can't help it father, what if I do or say something stupid?" He asked his father.

"You won't do that. Relax it will be  fine, trust me." He reassured him.

"Thank you father, I'm probably worried over nothing." 

 Gwen had walked through the door with a smile. She waited as Edwin's father told him to go on, that he would close up on his own tonight. Edwin thanked him and headed out the shops front door with Gwen . George just nodded and smiled at the two of them. He was very happy for his son. That girl would be a good mate for him. Edwin and Gwen walked together through the town square and headed to her parents cottage. She did not know what to say, he didn't either. They were both nervous. Eventually they began to talk of their families their own hopes of the future and the friends in the area. Gwen then found out that James was a good friend of his.

That was great to know, they could maybe do something together with Emily and her intended. The two of them walked steadily up the hill to her cottage when she stopped suddenly and kissed him slowly, before continuing on to the house. She blushed just a little as he ran with her up the hill. He was beginning to think he would really like spending more time with this one. He did not know why but the way she made him feel he didn't care. There was just something about Gwen that made him enjoy running uphill for no reason. When they both reached the top of the hill they stopped, needing to catch their breath.

She then opened the front door and invited them in to meet her parents. They were home in the sitting area, talking alone. Sofia stood up, and then Angus followed. Gwen took a deep breath and prayed to the goddess that all would go well this first meeting. She smiled as she brought Edwyn into the sitting area to meet her parents. Gwen gave the introductions. Sofia had asked him to stay for supper. He of course accepted the invitation right away. While Sofia cooked a big meal for all of them, Gwen took Edwin out into the back yard to show him the family's garden.  Before they returned inside the cottage he held her for just a moment. She had never ever felt this way before now. 

Dinner with Edwin and her parents seemed to go over well. She thought everyone seemed to have a good time with polite conversation. Nothing went wrong; it was a nice  dinner. She couldn't believe it had gone so well. After supper Gwen showed him the rest of the house, then they had to say goodbye, his family's cottage was in the other direction completely and it was getting  late. Gwen walked him out and down the hill so that she could steal one more last kiss. Once he'd  gone home, Gwen told her parents goodnight and went to her room.

She opened her leather-bound book and began to write everything in it she could think of. She was happier than she had ever been in her entire life, between Emily's wedding and Edwin's affections she felt as if she were floating on air. That night Gwen slept peaceful, in a dream state of bliss. She had a wonderful day, she hoped for another day like this one tomorrow. She  hoped to find any other excuse to see him again. She smiled  as she drifted off. When Edwin returned home he felt as if he were floating on a cloud he could not wait to see her again, hopefully soon. 

                            The Dark Witch....

                                              Far off across the forest there was another natural witch who did not rest quite so easily. She was of dark features, as well as a bit of a dark soul. Veronica lay in bed that night fighting the worst kind of insomnia, the self-induced kind. Veronica was also in the middle of training. Last summer she had begun training to become a dark sorceress. According to her teacher she had caught on quickly, was a model student.

 That was one of the few things that made her happy at least on some degree. She was not completely evil or filled with hatred for others. Veronica was a sweet person once you got on her good side. She was just naturally attracted to the darker side of life. It called to her in a sense the darker side seemed to be the missing piece that made her complete, as if she were a puzzle instead of a mere sorceress to be. She was just naturally attracted to the dark. She had a nocturnal spirit. She understood the darkness and the need for it. Her abilities were of the darkness.

Veronica was a sorceress in training yet she already knew how to cause massive storms, floods even if she tried a little harder than usual could split the earth right down the middle. She also had strange visions. All of them were dark visions, the type that would scare a mortal half to death. She did not know if it meant she was bringing darkness upon her homeland or if these were warnings sent by the unknown, like a cosmic preview of doom and destruction. These visions were not from her training she had visions all of her life, even as a small child she saw things that other children could not begin to imagine.

 The worst part was that these visions  were hardly ever wrong. They didn't always come true in the sense she would see but in the end they came about one way or another. Veronica was Mother Nature's dark side in a sense. Veronica though a very promising student had a temper. She had a fury all her own. When her temperament was calmed she seemed like a normal seventeen year old girl. She was not isolated by any means. Veronica had a few close friends but not many of them. She had too much on her mind to sleep.

She kept thinking of magical training and her mentor. She kept flashing back to the last lesson, when Triadia was telling her to think faster, move quickly to memorize her spell. She told her that an enemy won't fight fair ;they won't stop attacking you.They wont give you time so that you can think of how to kill them. Veronica hated to admit it but her teacher was right about that. 

Veronica kept thinking well into the night. She usually did not have trouble with her spells, but she had been over doing it lately. For now she would much rather get some sleep, preferably before daybreak. She thought about her last failed attempt at levitation. She tossed and turned through most of the night. Just before the waking call of the birds she finally drifted off . Sleep had finally taken her.

The next afternoon Veronica rose from her bed slowly and still half asleep, she stumbled slightly in her extravagant tower bedroom of her mothers' castle. She was finally a little more alert. She got dressed, then she looked around the room for a moment and she remembered she had hidden her spell book with an enchantment. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. She needed to focus; she needed to concentrate on her inner self her inner magic to retrieve her spell book. She closed her eyes and began chanting to help her focus after two or three tries it finally materialized in front of her.

 Veronica was not looking in it for any specific reason; she just enjoyed looking over it from time to time. Sometimes it would clear her mind to just go over the pages. She had kept it only a full year, but she had a lot of information in it already. Veronica flipped through the leather-bound book, unsure as to why she was looking for it in the first place. She just went on flipping through past candle magic, raising energy, rituals and chant. She came across the section for her visions sand slowly flipped through it.

 Then she found something puzzling. There was an entry in here dated a few weeks ago, but she did not remember writing it or experiencing its content for that matter. Did it happen when she was sleeping casting again? She knew there was nothing she could do right now to figure this out, so she put the whole thing to the back of her mind once more. She would figure it out in time. For now she planned to go on with her day, until the twilight hours. The only time she felt at peace  was at that time of the night.

That very same morning across the forest Gwen woke with the day, in the happiest of moods. Later in the day she had plans to meet with Edwin. For now she got dressed and headed into the kitchen to see how her mother was doing. Once she stepped into the kitchen her mother was there humming away while she prepared breakfast.

"Good morning mother," Gwen spoke from the entryway of the kitchen.

"Oh, good morning to you too dear." Sofia replied to her daughter. After a long silence Sofia started to make conversation with her child.

 "Do you have any plans with Edwin today?" Sofia asked to be polite.

"Yes later this afternoon I am going to meet him." Gwen answered her mother's question.

 Sofia just smiled at her. Breakfast went rather quickly. Sofia did the clean up as she always did. She then watched out of the small kitchen window to see Gwen in the family garden, weeding for the family. Gwen had always been respectful, eager to help out. She was growing into a fine young lady.

                  Once Sofia had everything back in order again, she sat down near the hearth, having a cup of coffee and waiting for Gwen to return in from the garden. Sofia had not finished her cup when Gwen came in from the garden. She let her mother know that she had finished her chores. Gwen smiled, Sofia nodded. Gwen headed to her bedroom to wait a few minutes before going into town . Just before she left she kissed her mother goodbye.

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