When a Witch Rides Her Broomstick

Maya tied a bunch of fresh heather to the end of her broomstick, the wooden handle soft with age, and began sweeping the floors of the Traveler's Inn and Tavern. She hummed while she worked, and when she brushed over thresholds she muttered the words her late mother taught her:

see wicked out,

show worthy in,

as outside, so within.

Dustmotes swirled through the air, dancing with the breeze that filtered in through open windows. Rhoda and Zale, her two darling cats, watched her from the sunspots where they laid. "Excuse me, please," Maya said softly to them. "I'd like to sweep the floor there now." The cats yawned and stretched before moseying off to find another place to nap. Maya opened the front door and swept the last of the dirt outside, careful not to soil the comfrey and dill that bordered the pathway.

When the broomstick fell from her hands and clattered on the ground, she did not stoop to retrieve it. Instead, her gaze was fixed on the depths of the woods that enshrouded the tavern. She smiled when at last she saw Zephyr running towards her, knowing Corbin wasn't far behind. "Hello good boy," she cooed as she dropped to her knees to hug her four-legged friend. His kisses were sloppy and she giggled as she tried half heartedly to push him away.

"It seems you hardly need these herbs," Corbin joked as he came into view. "You already have a lover right in front of you!" He smiled, but Maya could see that it was feigned.

"Ah, yes," she nodded as she stood. "I can end my search here and now, live blissfully with the love of your dog, never to be harassed by the sovereign king again."

"Oh don't be rude," he chastised. "Zeph is more of a wolf than a dog; those terms are hardly interchangeable." Maya rolled her eyes before finally picking up her broom. "Are you ready to get cooking, anyway?" Corbin asked her.

"I certainly am," she said. "Shall we?"

Corbin and Zephyr followed her inside, through the mess hall and into the kitchen. The hearth was already alight with flames that licked the underbelly of the cauldron. Corbin looked in to see the oils shimmering from the heat. "Something phallic?" he turned to her to ask. Maya held up her broomstick with a crooked grin. Corbin's jaw dropped for just a moment before he regained his composure. "That'll do," he nodded. He dumped his satchel of herbs into the pot and stepped back to give her space. "My mother suggested you stir three times counter clockwise, then four times clockwise."

Maya stepped hesitantly up to the cauldron and dipped the handle of her broom in. She stirred it just as Corbin's mother said. When she pulled it out it was coated in the infused oils.

"Ready to fly?" Corbin asked her.

Maya smiled and tried to hide her nerves. "You'll stay with me, right?" she asked.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said tenderly, resting his hand on the small of her back. "I'll follow you to your chamber."

Maya pulled a leg of lamb from the ice box and handed it over to Zephyr. "That'll keep him busy for a while," she said. "Ok I guess this is it." She held the broom in front of her with both hands as she walked the hallway to her room. The oils had dripped down the handle and soaked into the wood. She paused at her doorway and turned back to look at Corbin, who had a curious expression on his face. "This will work, right?" she asked.

"I swear on my family name," he said, his eyes full of earnestness. Maya nodded and walked forth to her bed. She looked back over her shoulder at him before unbuttoning her dress from hem to hem. "Should I..." Corbin started.

"No, please stay," she insisted. Without letting her dress fall from her shoulders she climbed on top of her blankets and lay on her back. Corbin couldn't take his gaze away from the hills and valleys of her body, though he felt her eyes scrutinizing his face. "I'm nervous," she admitted quietly.

Corbin came to his senses and looked at her as a gentleman ought. "No need to be nervous," he said. "Close your eyes, relax the muscles in your face and jaw, feel your body grow heavy and sink into the bed." In a bold move, he wrapped his hand around hers and helped her hold the broom. "You are not your body, nor are you your mind. These are only tools which you control to serve your higher Self." He guided her hand lower, lower, until the soft aged wood of the broom rested on the apex of her thighs. Her breath hitched as the oil slicked handle began to sink between her spread legs. Corbin leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Delight in this," he said, as he helped her ride her broomstick. "Let your soul soar, and find the one with whom you can settle."

A warmth and buzzing sensation began to spread throughout her body, as if the very atoms that made up her flesh were moving with such speed that soon she would completely fall apart. Yet, the feeling wasn't unpleasant, and she found that the moans which escaped her lips were beginning to sound far away and ethereal. Corbin was enraptured by the flush that rose to her cheeks, and the way her eyes rolled back into her head when he stroked her at a particular angle. His breathing was as heavy as hers, and he was reluctant to stop even when she began to slip into a daze. Eventually, her muscles relaxed completely, and she was transported to a world in which time and space are no obstacles. Corbin let go of her hand and stepped back, admiring her body sprawled out in such a wanton way.

Maya's astral body rose up through the cracks in the ceiling until it reached the open sky. She let the breeze carry her in whichever direction it was going, and revelled in the feeling of being airborne. She floated above the tree tops and looked down into their crowns of green. On the pathway which wound through the thickest parts of the forest, she sensed more than saw a small group of travellers on their way to her inn. Her soul was too light to worry, and she found herself smiling though her face held no form. A sense of knowing overcame her, and she twisted and twirled with the wind as if rejoicing with dance. There was a man among them that could easily reach her heart, a fact that seemed to have bloomed inside her from a seed already planted there. She felt dazed and unhurried as she continued to soar, for surely the universe brought him to her at precisely the right time. She would enjoy right now, and come back to her senses after she'd had her fill of flying.

Corbin was interrupted from pleasuring himself to the image of her by the sound of loud banging on the tavern door. Zephyr began barking loudly, so Corbin hurriedly fixed himself enough to welcome the travellers inside. "Quiet, Zeph. Go lay down," he said as he rushed through the mess hall. When he opened the front door, three young men about his age but much more robust in stature stood before him. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, hoping the bulge in his pants was unnoticeable. "Um, hello," he managed to say. "Welcome to the Traveller's Inn and Tavern. Please come in." Corbin stood aside and held his hands out in invitation.

As they entered the tavern Corbin noticed that they all had the tattoo behind their ear which marked them as the king's guardians - an elite group of men and women from the citadel rumored to have access to Deep Magic, which is naturally stored at the center of the earth. "You have food, I presume?" one of the men asked.

"Of course," Corbin nodded. "Sit wherever you like, I'll go fix something for you." He dashed into the kitchen and was relieved to find a pot of soup already simmering away on the stove. He ripped apart a hunk of bread and filled three mugs with brown ale, then loaded up a tray he found tucked upon a shelf. He wasted no time getting back out to the mess hall, but there were only two people waiting at the table when he arrived. "Are we missing someone?" he asked with forced casualness, setting two of the three meals down for the men.

The man with the gruffer appearance of the two tore off a piece of the bread with his teeth before answering with his mouth full. "He went to the bathroom, just leave his food here." Corbin nervously set down the last meal. "Enjoy," he muttered before hurrying off to Maya's side, cursing himself for leaving her so long. He stopped short in the hallway, however, when he saw the third guardian standing as still as stone in her doorway. He must have heard Corbin come up behind him because he slowly turned around and looked at him with the most furious expression.

"What the hell is this?" he asked, his voice full of menace. He towered over Corbin and looked down on him with the utmost contempt.

"Not what it looks like," Corbin rushed to say. Before he knew it the man had him by the throat and pinned to the wall.

"We were told a young lady owned this establishment all alone, and yet here you are stinking of sex and nervous sweat. Why won't she wake up?" he demanded.

"It's not what it looks like, I swear. She's in a trance, she should wake on her own any minute now." Corbin held his hands up and tried to wriggle out of the man's grasp. "I didn't do anything to her that she didn't want, I swear."

The man tossed Corbin aside like he weighed no more than a doll. He went into Maya's room and removed the broomstick that was hanging limply from her vagina, and laid it gingerly on the bed beside her. One by one he fastened the buttons on her dress until her modesty was protected, then he turned again to glower at Corbin, who still sat on the ground where he had fallen. The other two guards were sauntering down the hall behind him.

"Erik, what's going on?" the gruffer of the two men asked.

Corbin tried to scramble to his feet. "There's been a misunderstanding," he said, his voice cracking halfway through the last word.

Erik stood protectively in front of Maya as he explained to his friends what he'd found. Before they had a moment to respond, the sound of her stirring caught all their attention. Erik turned around and looked into her sleepy eyes with concern written all over his face. She reached up her hand and stroked the stubble on his cheek.

"You're him, aren't you?" she asked.

Erik shook his head. "We've only just gotten here," he said. "This man was here already when we arrived."

Maya propped herself up and peered over his shoulder, her eyes locking with those of her friend. "Yes," she said with a lazy smile, "he's always been here for me. And now you." She studied Erik's face and felt her heart skip a beat. "Didn't you come for me?" she asked.

"Well," he hesitated, disarmed by her expression, "sort of. We've come to retrieve you on behalf of the king."

"Right," she sighed, her body falling heavily back onto her bed. "But I could tell when I was flying that you could be The One." Her eyes fluttered closed and soon she began softly snoring.

"She's still hallucinating," Corbin piped up, earning himself another piercing glare from the one they called Erik.

"Silas," Erik said, and without another word the gruff guard brought his hand down on Corbin's temple, knocking him out cold.

"Finn, help me out, would you?" Silas asked the other guard. Together they carried Corbin outside. Erik scooped Maya into his arms and followed them out. Zephyr barked and barked but he would not leave the tavern unattended.

When Maya finally came to, she was nestled into Erik's chest as he carried her through the darkening forest. He looked down at her when he felt her shift in his arms. "You alright?" he murmured.

A feeling of desire enveloped her and she smiled at him as she said, "better than alright, now."

"Do you have any recollection of what happened to you?" he asked.

Maya nodded and snuggled in closer to him. "I went searching for you and you found me," she said. She yawned and closed her eyes. "I feel exhausted, but in an enjoyable way. I feel satiated."

Erik pursed his lips and looked at the backs of his friends, carrying the unconscious Corbin between them. He felt an inexplicable rage at the idea that whatever he had done to her while she was unconscious had left her feeling satisfied. He wanted to protect her, and yet the fate which he carried her to was anything but free from danger. "Rest for now," he told her. "You'll need your strength when we arrive at the citadel."