Magic in Her Hands

I could hear the footsteps of the guards running after me. I knew I had to keep running for fear that they might catch me. If that happened, well, I couldn't let that happen. I stumbled over the gnarled roots of an old pine tree. I landed into the thick foliage of the plants blanketing the ground and hoped that no one would be able to see me. The guards passed right by me as I held my breath.

I waited for a few painstaking, long minutes before I deemed it safe to come out. I pulled myself up and went further into the trees. The guards couldn't catch me. If they did, they’d remove my pinkies and I could serve life in prison for running away.

The king was a good man, but he continued to get sicker. He turned the crown over to his eldest son. His son had always seemed so nice, but he was not. He was bitter and cruel because he had been born without pinkies. It didn't seem important to anyone else but it made him angry. As soon as his father died, he made a new law forbidding pinkies. Doctors would be coming around to every town, performing the amputation. All babies would get theirs removed at eighteen month. I refused to let that happen to me so I fled into the woods.

When the king found out he was furious. He wanted a perfect world, a world that obeyed him completely. I don’t think if I told him the reason I needed them it would help. He banned magic too.

I snapped out of my thoughts as a branch broke. The birds paused their songs for a moment. Silence. I peered around but it was difficult to see anything in the dim light that peeked through the forest’s cover. It could've been just a rabbit, but I refused to brush it off. I drew my sword as a man leapt in front of me.

                He had long, brown hair that hung in front of his eyes. I thought that as an advantage as I went to stab him with my sword. It was of no use. Someone grabbed me from behind. I screamed and shoved my hands into my pockets, protecting them. Glaring defiantly at the man, I noticed that his black gloves had a space for his pinkie. He wasn't one of the king’s guards, they all had to have theirs removed too. I kicked as hard as I could behind me, making contact with someone’s shin. I heard a crack and then a shriek.

                Before I could get away, someone new had grabbed me. “Let me go!” I screamed, the man now holding me clasped his hand over my mouth. Then I noticed the group of men that had gathered. There were probably ten of them. I knew there would be no escaping. I felt some satisfaction about injuring the man currently huddled on the ground.

                The man with the long hair circled me. “Why, you’re just a little peasant girl, aren't you? What are you doing alone in the forest? You've seen too much, we’ll have to take you into town and execute you.” I bit the hand that was over my mouth. The man only tightened his grip so I pulled my hands out of my pockets and pulled the hand away. The man with long hair stared at my hands.

                “Give those to me,” he whispered.

                “Please, don’t cut off my hands,” I begged, my voice echoing off the trees.

                The man gently took my hands and examined them. I heard someone whisper, “She still has her pinkie.”

                The man who I assumed was their leader said, “Yes, and she has the sign.” He rubbed his thumb over my birthmark and I stared into his deep brown eyes, wishing he would say what he meant. Everyone bowed down to me and I felt relived but scared at the same time.

                “Apologies for everything, my lady. Please, let us take you back to camp. We've been waiting.”

                “Waiting?”

                “Yes, for the one with magic in her hands.”

                                                Found on: imgkid.com