Outside the Kingdom of Aster, 1692

"...and the last brave knight slew the wicked witch and vanquished her evil dragon before returning to his kingdom and living happily ever after. The end."

Meredith Bishop concluded as she turned the last pages of her youngest child's favorite bedtime story. The boy, Connor, was already fast asleep in her arms as she laid him down in his bed. His light brown hair nearly long enough to cover his eyes while he slept. It was a cold, dark night out with no hint of moonlight and on nights like this Connor always needed the right story so he could sleep peacefully.

"Do you think there really is such a thing as magic, mother, like in Connor's stories?"
Avalonna, Meredith's oldest child, asked as she sat up in her bed. Even though she was only three  years older than Connor, she was always taller and more mature for her age. The siblings were always close however, and even shared the same date of birth.
Meredith smiled at her daughter, who was the spitting image of her. They both had the same wavy auburn hair and same striking green eyes.

"Oh I think there is always magic around us my dear," Meredith said as she sat next to her daughter and took Avalonna's necklace off of her and placed it on the nightstand.
"You just need to keep your eyes open and find it, though for now I believe your eyes should be shut tight, my princess. " she said with a playful grin and hugged her daughter goodnight. Avalonna laughed and hugged back.

"Goodnight mother." Avalonna replied with a smile.

"Goodnight Val. Your father and I will see you in the morning." Meredith said with a final hug.

She blew out the candles in the children's room and quietly closed the door and waited for her husband to finally come home from his job. Lucian Bishop was a promising public defendant who worked in the Kingdom's capital city nearby. He had become quite busy ever since the new ruling family came to power several years ago and created manhunts for anyone accused of being involved with magical arts. Even though the Bishop's home was rather secluded and on the very outer edges of town, Meredith had heard more than she wanted to about these so called witch hunts and what happened to those accused of sorcery.

The Red King and his queen, so named by the people for the amount of blood they had already spilt, claimed that magic was the devil's art and the extermination of it was for the better of the people. However, Meredith had her own suspicions. She believed the real reason was that the new royal family was frightened that perhaps a person with magic would be strong enough to overthrow them one day. Meredith tried to relax and poured herself some tea and but soon became lost in her thoughts. The flames of the candles around her seem to come alive and move in rhythm as her thoughts became more intense.
'If they did such horrible things to people just accused of sorcery, what in the Lord's name would they do to a-" she stopped, her thoughts suddenly interrupted by a soft but rapid knocking at her door.

She let out a slow breath of relief and the candles followed suit and seemed to almost burn themselves out. She put her cup of tea on the nightstand and cautiously went to check the door. She knew her husband would just have let himself in, so this could not be him.
"Yes?" She replied, softly but firmly.

"Meredith! It's me, open the door quickly." came the recognizable voice of Meredith's friend and closest neighbor, Lydia.

"You may enter,"Meredith said as she unlatched the locks on the door and allowed her friend in.

"Thank you," Lydia replied, breathing slightly heavy as her long black hair covered over her face. This surprised Meredith because although she seemed pale and sickly, Lydia was one of the most durable people she knew.
"What has happened?" Meredith asked hesitantly.

"They... They took him. They took Lucian!" Lydia cried breathing even harder than before. Meredith's eyes went wide and she threw on her coat and went immediately out the door.

"Meredith wait, you can't just go to them!" Lydia called out to her friend.

"I must! Please, stay here and protect my children, I will be back when I can." Meredith replied, getting the family's horse from the stable.

Meredith rode as fast as she could into town, her mind racing on thoughts of her husband and why the night guards would take him of all people. She saw in the distance a faint amber glow and knew it was the beginnings of a fire. She saw a crowd around the smoking embers and could just make out the shape of what was a man tied to a post in the middle of them. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized it was her husband.

"Lucian!" She cried out as she entered the town. The crowd of people cursed and spat at her and the night guards came and threw her off her horse without letting her get any closer to Lucian.
"The witch-lover got what he deserved, serves him right for sleeping with the devil's spawn!"

"You're next witch!"

"Return to hell where you belong!"

Meredith heard these and other horrible curses of the crowd as the guards grabbed her and one hit her with the end of his sword. Her vision blurred and she fell over and they dragged her to another pile of wood. They tied her up and put her on a post identical to her husband's. The way he didn't react to the flames approaching his body made her believe he was already dead when he was strung up.

"Lucian! I'm so sorry, this is all my fault." She cried as tears rolled down her face. She thought of her children and the promise she made to her daughter to see her again in the morning.

"Burn the witch!" The yell made Meredith jump as the guard lit the pile of wood that laid under her feet. She knew they did this out of fear of magic, but could fear really turn an entire town of friends against her family like this?

"Stop this, this is madness!" she screamed in desperation.

"The only madness here is that we ever trusted you or that husband of yours," replied one of the guards,
"under decree of King Leonidas and Queen Anthea you are convicted of conspiring with the devil and practicing witchcraft. A crime punishable by immediate execution."

The guard stepped back and threw another log into the pile. The flames sparked to life and began lashing out at Meredith's legs. She winced but then began to chant a spell for the protection of her children. She promised she would always be with them somehow. She finished her chant and her body seemed to go limp before the flames got to consume it. The fire finished it's work quickly and the only thing left behind when the smoke cleared was death. The crowd that was so recently bloodthirsty and full of rage began to simmer down and eventually disperse. The last thing that could be heard was the crackling of the fires as it echoed off the stone walls of the town.