SUPPOSE, FOR A MOMENT, THAT WITCHES WERE REAL . . .
Well, as a matter of fact, of course, they are. There was a time, indeed (although not in our own timestream), when witchcraft was the recognized repository of scientific knowledge—when witches wielded a power, nowever reluctantly, which, if it did not threaten other sciences, certainly frightened established religion.
There was this about the science of witchcraft, that it could not be taught to anyone who had not inherited the ability to learn, and inheritance came through the female line only. Thus Lalette Aster-hax, daughter of the witch Leonalda, could not escape either the power or her destiny. She was well aware that this made her a target, indeed, that being a witch would put her life in danger. And moreover there were the onerous duties which she would like to have escaped. Nothing would have pleased Lalette more than to have been a simple maiden, loved and loving.
She did her best to achieve this unworthy end— and thereby wound herself into a contortion of adventures that even a witch was not equipped to deal with . . .
Description:
SUPPOSE, FOR A MOMENT, THAT WITCHES WERE REAL . . .
Well, as a matter of fact, of course, they are. There was a time, indeed (although not in our own timestream), when witchcraft was the recognized repository of scientific knowledge—when witches wielded a power, nowever reluctantly, which, if it did not threaten other sciences, certainly frightened established religion.
There was this about the science of witchcraft, that it could not be taught to anyone who had not inherited the ability to learn, and inheritance came through the female line only. Thus Lalette Aster-hax, daughter of the witch Leonalda, could not escape either the power or her destiny. She was well aware that this made her a target, indeed, that being a witch would put her life in danger. And moreover there were the onerous duties which she would like to have escaped. Nothing would have pleased Lalette more than to have been a simple maiden, loved and loving.
She did her best to achieve this unworthy end— and thereby wound herself into a contortion of adventures that even a witch was not equipped to deal with . . .