Myth of the Moon Goddess - The Aradia Chronicles, Books One, Two and Three

by Rane, April

  The magistrate who yesterday had told Aradia she had committed crimes against the holdings, stood up, and clearing his throat, looked down at the parchment he held and began to enumerate her crimes by number.“You are accused of the following,” he said somberly.

  “The crime of being a witch and of using that witchcraft to gain entrance into this household.

  The crime of seducing Tomis, of the land of Tomi, with your witchcraft to extract secrets from him to use against this household.

  The crime of being with child and not stating whom is the father, therefore creating a liability on these holdings.

  The crime of theft, as in your possession we found jewels belonging to the mistress of the house, wherein you erred against the Master.

  The crime of using your spells and witchcraft to poison your mistress.”

  Hearing the last charge, Aradia gasped, nearly crying out. But cleared her throat instead, bringing her emotions under control. She would present a brave front, no matter what it cost her.

  With a grim face, the magistrate uttered, “What have you to say?”

  Aradia tried to keep the list of accusations straight, going over them in her mind. Pushing her chair back, she stood tall and slowly looked at each man on the board, and then looked the magistrate in the eye.

  “As to the first, yes, I am a ‘strega,’ a witch, as you say. It is not a crime to be a witch in Etruria, my country of birth. It has been passed down in my family since the beginning of time. As to the second, I used no witchcraft upon Tomis, nor have I any interest in secrets or intrigue.”

  Taking a deep breath, she looked over at the master and addressed her answer directly to him.

  “As to the third, I have inherited a fortune from my father. When I can prove that I am alive to receive this fortune, there shall be no drain upon this man’s holdings.”

  She could not help showing her disdain and disgust with him as she continued, openly challenging him with her eyes.

  “It would then be no matter who the father was, for I am not asking the master of this house to take care of what is my responsibility.”

  Reluctantly bringing her eyes back to the judges sitting at the large table, and then to the magistrate, she continued. “As to the fourth accusation, the mistress lent me the jewels. I am not guilty of the crime of stealing.”

  Aradia stood even taller. Closing her eyes for a moment, she tried to remember the last accusation but could not bring it to mind.

  “As to the fifth… could you state the fifth again?” she requested firmly, looking deeply at the magistrate.

  Becoming unsettled under the steadiness of her gaze, the magistrate looked down at the parchment in front of him.

  “Ah hum … the … poisoning of…of the mistress of this house.”

  “As to the fifth, who accuses me of that?”

  “We are asking the questions here and you are answering them,” the master roared. Hatred of Aradia and her impudent behavior toward him blazed in his eyes. He had wanted to put her in her place ever since she first looked at him with those bold cat green eyes. She should be trembling in fear, he thought, yet she is brazen and unrepentant. Clenching and unclenching his hands, his voice rang out sharply as he attempted to regain his position as master of the proceedings. “Answer the charge!” he shouted.

  Staring at him with quiet venom, she finally answered, “As to the fifth…” And then, becoming tired of the game and with the sad recognition of the outcome her shoulders dropped as she said, “All of my answers at this proceeding have been totally honest and completely sincere. I swear this in sacred honor of my beloved family. My answer to the second accusation answers this one also. “I have performed no witchcraft in this house…”

  She faltered for a moment remembering the special tonic she had made with such love for her friend Sovonya. “I have at no time, ever…used poison in my craft.”

  “You have been seen giving my wife something evil. It was poison meant to kill her,” the master roared, his face contorted with rage.

  Aradia ignored him and looked at the magistrate. She sat down, her knees shaking but her face composed. Sitting quietly and perfectly still, she waited for the panel of six men to judge her.

  The master of the house stood up from his seat, accusingly pointing a finger at her and bellowed, “You are guilty of seducing a man, or men, with your womanly wiles. You have been impudent and rash in your behavior. You have caused injury to me and to my reputation. It is now time to admit your loose nature, and thieving ways. Admit to your outrageous behavior. Admit it!” he screamed at her, still pointing his finger and waving it madly. “Crawling out of windows at every opportunity and…”

  Picking up the object covered in hemp which had been resting on the table beside him, he tore off the wrapping and disclosed the statue Tomis had molded. “This is indeed witchcraft!” he roared, as his face became an unhealthy reddish hue.

  Aradia thought of the statues she had seen of the gods and goddesses, naked and glorious in their delightful and sometimes erotic poses. Her hands clenched in her lap, she took a deep breath and in turn looked each of her accusers in the eye. She began to breathe the deep green of the earth up through her feet. When she felt the earthy essence, she allowed a deep red light to embrace her womanhood. Letting the profound red of passion flow up and through her, she imbued her aura with sultry vibrations.

  It was then, rising to her feet again, her head high and her shoulders thrown back, she knew she had nothing to lose. In a husky voice dripping with sensuality, thoughts of her lover foremost in her mind, she declared, “I am guilty of making love to a man…I am guilty of giving him pleasure and of enjoying him to the fullest… I am guilty of thinking of him and desiring him and holding him unto my heart…”

  Aradia ran her tongue seductively over her top lip, and recalling their lovemaking, she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them in all their misty sea-green glory.

  “I am guilty of enjoying my nakedness and posing for a statue of beauty,” she said in her melodious voice. “I am guilty… of romping as a child, from the very act of making love to running in the garden.”

  She placed her hands on the table in front of her and leaned forward, invitingly displaying her sensuous feminine attributes, speaking softly so that they would have to lean in to hear her words.

  “Yes…I am guilty of climbing out of a window to meet my lover. And… there is not one of you here that is not inflamed by the thought of a woman wanting you so badly… that she would leap from a rooftop to fly into your arms! So hang me if you will. But you’ll not get the name of my lover!”

  Aradia pointedly looked at each man on the panel as she slowly spoke, “And you’ll forever wish,” she said with a haughty, seductive smile, “… that it was you … I ran to.”

  She sat down, for she was shaking inside and her legs could no longer hold her. She knew she had put her head in a noose but at the moment she did not care.

  The panel, lust in the eyes of some, compassion in the eyes of others, whispered among themselves for a long while. The lion kept shaking his head ‘no’ his gaze threatening and overbearing, seemingly in disagreement with all of them, he continued to badger them unmercifully. Finally, with eyes downcast the magistrate stood to make the announcement.

  “It has been decided,” he said sadly, clearing his throat, “that you are guilty and you will be put to death. Punishment will take place after… after the child is born. May the gods be with you.”

  Victoriously Rumaldea stood up and proclaimed, “I have only one thing to add. It was Tomis, to whom we have opened our home, that accused you of seducing him with your witchcraft, and it is because of our commitment to his father and their homeland that we take firm action in this matter.”

  Moving aside the writing tools from the desk in front of him, he carefully unfolded a note. “I have it here in his own hand. He refers to you as Regina Bella.” He scowled at her, ice in his eyes. “She is guilty,” he s
aid while showing the letter to the other men. “She is guilty, I tell you.”

  Inquisitively each man looked at the letter as it was passed around.

  “It is not in our language,” noted one of the judges.

  “I have had it translated. Worry not! I am aware of what is in the letter.”

  Aradia, upon hearing this, became numb. The fire and passion that she had displayed earlier drained from her body. With every ounce of effort she could muster she held her head up as two guards led her from the room.

  Frozen, heavy with dread, the long excruciating walk through the villa to the west side, ended all too briefly as the guards opened the oaken door. The end of her freedom and the beginning of her forced imprisonment lay before. Leaving the room, one of the guards turned and callously exclaimed. “You will remain there until your death!”

  Aradia listened as the huge wooden door closed. The harsh and insensitive sound of the heavy bolt left her with nothing but stark reality.

  Sitting dejectedly on a raised platform with hard matting that served as a bed, Aradia, as if in a dream, observed a young woman she had never seen before enter her prison like room carrying a chamber pot and some water. With deep set eyes and lined pinched mouth, the small bird-like woman spoke. At first Aradia could not focus on the gritting sounds as they echoed through the nearly empty room. The maid’s dull eyes scanned Aradia with wariness. Having heard rumors that she was a witch, she scowled at Aradia, and squawked in clipped tones.

  “Food will be twice a day,” she told her. “If you try anything ta hurt me or ta escape, they say they will not wait till the child is born. Seems cruel,” she said with a shrug, “but I’m just doing my work is all. If any of the slaves from this household help you in any way, they will be put to death, as well as their families! If ya try and enlist them to your plight, you’re handing them a death sentence! There’ll be a guard posted, and they have taken an oath on their family to not speak; good day ta ya.”

  The screeching sound of the bolt on the door as the maid left reverberated through every part of Aradia’s body and her eyes filled with tears as she brought her hand to her stomach.

  Yes, she thought. Any day that someone was sentenced to die must be a good day for the populace. It is something to put spice in their lives no doubt, as they are such a dour lot! Those were the precise words her grandmother had spoken to her as she was taken off to prison.

  Perusing the inhospitable room, her eyes sought comfort. But there was none in the old worn desk and stone like chair or the cold hard bed with its austere table that held a lonely candle. She felt her fate wrap around her like an ugly cavernous tomb. Moving toward the barren fireplace in anticipation, actually wondering if she could climb up through the chimney, she laughed scornfully at herself when she saw how narrow it was. However, she did look again, to see if there were any footholds to use in case she decided to try. Resigned to her fate, her eyes lit upon a small chair tucked away in the corner. “Oh Goddess thank you,” she sighed. And sitting in the small chair she gently rocked her body to and fro, as she sang a lullaby to her babe.

  Later, having asked for writing tools, she sat each day and wrote until the light was gone. Never was there a fire to warm her. It was bitter cold and the dampness went deep into her bones. She lay at night waiting for the light of day so that she could sit and write again.

  Aradia was hardly eating, and the maid remarked, “T’is not my concern miss, but you’ll not live long enough for the babe to come into the world.”

  Aradia had no hunger. The morsels she ate were for the sake of the child. She would hold on to her belly and rock back and forth in her chair and repeat over and over. “I will protect you, I will protect you.”

  On occasion she sang the song of the sirens who roamed the sea, and sometimes harsh laughter would follow. “I am no mermaid! It is a shame for if I could, I would lure a few men to their deaths with my song. Just like the stories of sirens and sailors, so sweet….so deadly!”

  The maid overheard her as she entered with the evening meal.

  “If you’ll be doing spells and curses you’ll be put to death afore your child comes. Tis only because they see no evidence of your witchcraft that you are still alive,” she told her. “Well no matter ta me, ya foods here.”

  Aradia sat on the bed and rocked. Nodding her head to the maid, she made no move towards the food.

  The cold had set in her bones until she was stiff, and she shuffled when she walked. The two months she had been imprisoned seemed like an eternity. She had tried early on to make friends with the maid repeatedly asking her what would happen to her baby. She also begged her to make contact with the city of Volsinii in Etruria, wanting her child to be brought up in her homeland. And when she asked after Sovonya, she was always told that there was no news.

  One day, out of the blue, Sovonya’s maid appeared to tell her that the herbal medicine that Aradia had been giving the older woman had just been found and it was their last hope to cure her. The maid begged that Aradia disclose how to prepare it.

  Relenting with a sigh, Aradia said, “Yes, you boil half this pouch in this much water till it turns dark. It will not take too long. Give her this much just twice a day and, pray to Artemis to bless the herb, for she showed me where to find it.”

  Aradia slowly turned away and went to her desk, dismissing the maid with her indifference. Once the door closed she wept to think that the woman who had succored her was now so close to death. She could only hope that the herbs were not too late.

  As the days turned into months Aradia’s only solace was her writing. One evening, having fallen asleep exhausted, as she had many a day at her desk, she awoke to stabbing back pains and a commotion outside the door behind her. Hearing it burst open, but too exhausted to turn around, she was startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a familiar voice telling her not to turn around.

  “I cannot bear to look into your eyes,” she heard Tomis say, as he placed his hands firmly on her shoulders the shock of his voice glued her to her chair. “I need to say what is on my mind,” he continued. “I have not understood why you did not answer my letters or why you might not want to see me. I was angry at first and very confused.”

  He took a deep breath while Aradia seemed to struggle to grasp his words, to fully comprehend that he was here at last. Aradia listened although she was unable to rouse herself completely from her trance-like state.

  “I have heard such abominable things. But I needed to see for myself. I have been told you have chosen to become a whore rather than be mine. Our love…I cannot fathom it.”

  The words were torn from his heart. It was difficult for him to speak.

  “I have come to see if the rumors are true,” he went on. “I cannot believe that you have been here all along, and chosen not to answer my letters! And the men! The Master wrote me of all the men that you have taken to your bed.”

  A sob escaped his throat.

  “I…I have come to tell you of my arranged marriage. I am going to meet her, for the first time, but I needed to see you first. To understand what went wrong. For months I have tried to stop this marriage. When everything failed, I decided to tell her in person, to tell her that a marriage between us is not possible. But everything took so much longer than I expected. This is what I could not share with you earlier. This marriage was planned before you and I met. It is a matter of state, not a matter of the heart. When I thought I had your love, though I knew I would be exiled from my family and country, I was willing to give it all up. Tell me all that I have heard is wrong, talk to me…”

  Slowly, achingly, Aradia rose. All the anger, pain, indignities and abuse that she had experienced since the death of her family came to the surface when she heard the word “marriage” and she realized he was talking of another woman. She hated him in that moment, as much as she had loved him.

  Facing him she asked, “You bother to come now? You bother to tell me of your marriage?” Moving into the
dim light, she cried, “You call me a whore?”

  Tomis was so shocked at what he saw, that he was incapable of speaking. Aradia’s once magnificent hair hung limply around her thin pale face. The loathing that he saw in her eyes terrified him. Her robe, dirty and tattered with wear, barely covered the fact that she was a skeleton except for the protruding stomach.

  “Who – whose child do you carry?” he gasped, and then seeing the look in her eyes, “Do you mean that it is my child? Our child! Oh, God, that it should be so and I not know!”

  For the first time since she had set foot in the villa to which Tomis had brought her, Aradia summoned the elements.

  “From the east I call to you, Paralda, bring your Sylphs to me

  From the south I call to you, Djin, bring your Vulcani to me

  From the west I call to you, Necksa, bring your Undini to me

  From the north I call to you, Gob, bring your Gnomes to me.”

  Out from the lining of her robe she pulled a lock of Tomis’s hair, a golden lock he had given her in love, to keep under her pillow when he was gone. Now she would use it against him.

  “I cast a circle, a circle of fire, come do my bidding. I order it so!”

  She raised her right hand over her head and made a circle pointing to the east and ending in the north. She pointed again to the east.

  “They are here,” she said in a menacing voice, glaring at him.

  Tomis was rooted to the spot as the room seemed to take on heat. An eerie glowing light formed around Aradia.

  “I call out to those who have the power, the wine he drinks wilt be sour.

  I call out to those who grant the fire, he’s no longer apt to sire.

  I call out to you who quench; his heart for eons will be wrenched.

  I call out to you who provide the grain; all that he eats will cause him pain.

  “I curse you such, and yours of yours,

  Unto the seventh generation