The Wrong Witch - by Hajjar. S

The village of Oakhaven was a place built on fear, and Elspeth was the object of it. She did not look like the other village girls. Her eyes were an unsettling, deep violet, and animals had a strange habit of following her. When a sudden frost ruined the barley crop, the villagers looked at Elspeth. When a local child fell ill with a fever, they pointed at her small cottage at the edge of the woods.The whispers turned into open hatred. People turned their faces away when she walked down the dirt roads. The baker refused to sell her bread, throwing a handful of dirt at her feet instead. "Go back to the devil," he spat. Elspeth kept her head down, her heart aching behind her ribs. She was only nineteen, yet she felt like a ghost haunting a world that despised her. She tried to show them kindness, leaving poultices of wild mint and lavender on porches for the sick, but the villagers only burned the herbs, fearing they were cursed.The breaking point came on a stormy Tuesday. The village livestock broke out of their pens, panicked by the thunder. Instead of blaming the weather, a mob gathered with torches outside Elspeth’s home. Their faces were twisted in ugly rage. Terrified, Elspeth didn't wait for them to break down her door. She grabbed a small satchel, slipped out of her back window, and fled into the dark, whispering canopy of the Blackwood.The woods were forbidden by village law, spoken of as a place of monsters and old magic. But to Elspeth, the deep forest felt like a sanctuary. For months, she lived in a hollowed-out oak tree. She learned to forage for wild berries, snare small game, and speak to the deer that came to drink at the stream. Yet, the isolation took a toll. The constant rejection from her old life had left a cold stone where her heart used to be. She believed humanity was entirely cruel. She believed she was fundamentally unlovable.One autumn afternoon, while gathering firewood near a steep ravine, she heard a sharp snap of wood and a heavy groan. Elspeth crept through the brush and found a man trapped beneath a fallen birch tree. He wore fine, sturdy leather boots and a torn woolen cloak. His horse was gone, and his ankle was twisted at an unnatural angle.Elspeth hesitated. Her instinct was to run, to hide from the judgment she knew would come the moment he saw her eyes. But the man was in pain. Stepping forward, she used a thick branch as a lever, straining with all her might to lift the heavy trunk off his leg.The man gasped, pulling his trapped limb free. He collapsed back against the moss, breathing heavily. When he finally looked up at her, Elspeth braced herself. She waited for the look of horror, the accusations of witchcraft, the familiar hatred.Instead, the stranger smiled. His eyes were the color of warm amber, and they crinkled at the corners. "Thank you," he breathed. "I thought I was going to be wolf bait.""You should be afraid of me," Elspeth said, her voice rusty from disuse. "The people in the valley call me a witch."The man laughed, though he winced as he tried to move his foot. "I have met real monsters, my lady. A girl who saves a stranded traveler is not one of them. My name is Thomas."Elspeth helped Thomas back to her hollow tree. She bound his ankle with splints of ash wood and made him a hot tea from willow bark to soothe his pain. Over the next two weeks, Thomas could not travel. He stayed in the woods, and Elspeth found her quiet life completely transformed.Thomas did not look at her with suspicion. When she spoke to the birds, he watched with genuine fascination, not fear. He helped her gather firewood, despite his limp, and told her stories of distant cities, grand libraries, and oceans that stretched further than the eye could see. He listened intently when she spoke about the properties of plants, treating her knowledge with deep respect.Slowly, the cold stone in Elspeth’s chest began to melt. One evening, as they sat by a small, hidden campfire, Thomas reached out and gently took her hand. "You have a beautiful heart, Elspeth," he murmured. "The people who drove you out were blind to the blessing they had."For the first time in years, tears slipped down Elspeth's cheeks. Looking into his warm eyes, she realized the truth. She was not a monster. She was worthy of affection. Thomas had made her believe in love again.On the fifteenth day, a horn echoed through the trees. A company of royal knights rode into the clearing, their armor gleaming in the dappled sunlight. Elspeth panicked, stepping back into the shadows of her tree, assuming they had come to hunt the witch.But the lead knight immediately dismounted and dropped to one knee before Thomas. "Your Highness! We have searched the entire forest for you since the hunting party lost you. The King has been frantic with worry."Elspeth gasped, her eyes widening. She looked from the knight to Thomas, who was now standing with the help of a walking stick.Thomas looked at Elspeth, a sheepish but tender smile on his face. "I apologize for the deception," he said softly. "I wanted you to know me as a man, not as a title. I am Prince Thomas of the capital."Elspeth felt a sudden wave of doubt. A prince could never love a outcast girl from the woods. "You must go back to your palace, Your Highness," she said, looking down at her dirt-stained dress. "You belong there. I belong here."Thomas walked over to her, ignoring the murmuring of his knights. He took both of her hands in his. "I belong wherever you are," he said firmly. "I came into these woods looking for sport, but I found the bravest, wisest woman I have ever known. Come with me. Let me show you a home where you will never have to hide again."Elspeth looked into his amber eyes and saw nothing but absolute truth. She nodded.They returned to the capital, far away from the superstitious village of Oakhaven. Thomas kept his promise. He shielded her from the court gossips until the people grew to love Elspeth for her genuine kindness and healing skills.A year later, the palace bells rang out across the grand city. Elspeth stood at the altar, wearing a gown of white silk that matched the bright, happy smile on her face. As Thomas slipped the gold ring onto her finger, she knew the shadows of her past were finally gone. She was no longer the hated girl of the woods; she was a queen in the making, entirely wrapped in love.

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