The Year of the Witching

by Alexis Henderson

“Nothing except promise me that when it’s your turn to wear the Prophet’s dagger, you’ll protect those who can’t protect themselves—from the plagues, from their husbands, from anyone or anything who might hurt them. Promise me you’ll right the wrongs of the past.”

She should have been content with that. But she wasn’t.

You were a friend to me when I sorely needed one, and I’ll never forget it.”

the second curse came upon them.

“Better to take sin upon . . . one’s own shoulders . . . than allow harm . . . to befall others. Sometimes a person . . . has an obligation . . . to act in the interest of the . . . greater good.”

“What won’t I do . . . for you?”

For the fires of purging are righteous and the Father rejoices at the sight of its flames. —THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

The forest is sentient in a way man is not. She sees with a thousand eyes and forgets nothing.

The doors of the Father’s house are always open to those who serve him faithfully. But the sinner will be turned away.

“Power. From the forest.”

The maiden will bear a daughter, they will call her Immanuelle, and she will redeem the flock with wrath and plague.

Lilith hadn’t cast the plagues. Miriam had. And Immanuelle was the curse.

She’d been used.

had never loved her as anything more than a weapon, an agent of her own vengeance.

This was Miriam’s legacy: one not of love, but of vengeance—and betrayal.

I’ve often found that the soul is apt to wander toward the dark.”

“Grant

He is always watching, Immanuelle.

“Blood for blood.”

A child is a gift greater than any other.

“The child comes first.

“She has no name,” Martha whispered,

I am with you until the end. —DANIEL WARD

This was the great shame of Bethel: complacency and complicity that were responsible for the deaths of generations of girls.

slaughter was exactly what they deserved.

both of the marks cutting through their lifelines.

“For you, and you only, I’ll do it.”

“It’s almost the witching hour,” said Martha, and a bitter smile touched her lips. “Perhaps that’s what the Prophet should have named this wretched year. It’s more fitting, don’t you think? The Year of the Witching.”

The truth struck her: Martha.

For the first time in her life, she was made to reckon with the idea that she might be truly, and totally, alone.

To be a woman is to be a sacrifice.

The witches were drawn by you.”

A babe with the blood of witches running through her veins.

You made the perfect vessel.”

“The witches are evangelists before they are anything else.

How else did they sow the seeds of discord if not by winning the hearts and souls of the Church’s flock?”

Lilith would like nothing more than for you to join her, as a sister and servant of the coven.

but only the Prophet’s.

the power of the plagues will be yours to wield as you wish.”

one day you’ll be made to pay for the power you’ve taken.”

“Bethel has placed its burdens on the shoulders of little girls for far too long.

He was Ezra’s older half brother, Saul.

He watches me, I know it. In the night, I feel His holy eye upon me, but I am not afraid.

“I have no sins to cleanse.”

“But Ezra heeds your every whim, doesn’t he?”

I have confessed my sins and made peace with my fate. If the pyre awaits, then let the flames rise. I’m ready. —FROM THE TRIAL OF DANIEL WARD

to live.

then spare her. Spare her, please.

Their heir had betrayed them.

I want to save you.” He looked up at her then and clarified, “Both of you.”