Elena Maionsa [Prologue]

I stood before the jury, awaiting the thud of the heavy wooden hammer to hit the table. If only it was that simple, these guys liked torture, although anything could be better than what they were going to say now.

"You are banished, until further notification."

Until further notification? Is that good or bad, I really don't know. I fought back a small smile of relief; they could've easily taken away my magic. But, now where am I going to go? I've lived here, in the Maionsa Covenant, for my whole life and I only really venture from the ground for work.

I work as a lawyer, in the city close to our home. Working on cases as boring as traffic offenses and court fines can become tedious, and it really is, but it keeps me away from the old hags for a while.

If only they were old hags, it would be much easier to dislike them. People take witches to be hideous and wart ridden, creeping out in the night to eat children and being burnt at the stake, but we are all quite young in the Coven, the oldest being 43. That's my mother, the coven leader and one of the 'elders'. That means that I'm supposed to take over from her when she's gone, but that'll never happen. In her own words, she said;

"You're a trouble causer. A mischievous soul that could never be responsible for such a precious few."

I'm used to receiving small and rather hurtful lectures from time to time, being the only one in the Coven who is interested in the art of 'forbidden' magic.

I blinked myself back to reality and scanned the flawless and only ever so slightly wrinkled faces of the four who sat before me. My mother, Anna; pale blue eyes, graying brown hair that brushed her shoulders and a small locket with a crow engraved upon it, dangling from her neck. My aunt, Clarice; grey almost silver eyes framed by thick rimmed glasses perched upon her nose, making her eyes look bigger than they were. She also wore the crow around her neck, like everyone in the Coven did. My uncle, Silo; dark brown eyes and thick black hair, ruffled in a messy mop on his head, the crow dangling beneath his shirt, which was always ironed and crisp. And lastly, my mother's best friend; Freda. She had pale pink eyes and a long mop of blonde hair, pale skin almost white as the black crow stood out on her chest like a piece of coal against the exotic sands of Hawaii.

"We've had enough of your childishness and risk taking. I won't have it anymore, so you can pack your things and leave."

My uncle talked as my mother just sat, staring at the table, her head bowed as she let out a soft sigh. I was distracted and my uncle swiftly muttered a few words, making my locket shatter and fall to the ground.

I gulped a little and walked out quickly, bumping into my brother on the way and nearly falling to the ground with an almighty thump.

"Hey sis... you okay?"

"Banished..."

I muttered under my breath and ran up the stairway, into my room where I grumbled angrily and dragged the large green suitcase, which was battered and bruised, from the top of my wardrobe. I hastily began stuffing clothes inside and when I was done, I ran down the stairs, nearly tumbling to the bottom as I hesitated at the main door.

Without a second glance, I was gone, running as fast as my feet could take my in the pouring rain. My luck was terrible, but I knew where I was going.

-- To be continued --