With one final straining push, Ella screamed as her baby entered the world. Panting, she wiped sweat from her forehead as her weary body collapsed onto the bed.
“It’s a girl,” the midwife said with a smile as she worked to quickly clean the screaming infant.
“I know,” Ella replied with a sigh. “I’ve always known.”
“She’s a fighter. Listen to those lungs. This girl’s a healthy one,” the midwife declared as she placed the squirming bundle into Ella’s arms.
The infant squealed angrily, and Ella raised her shift. The baby rooted around until she found her mother’s breast. Content, she latched on greedily.
“All of the women in our family are fighters. We’ve had to be,” Ella replied as she watched her daughter closely.
“Indeed. Women like you don’t have it easy.”
“What do you mean, women like me?” Ella asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
“Women with powerful gifts,” the midwife answered evenly.
“Gifts?”
“Magic runs through your veins, ma’am. I could see it in your eyes from a mile away.”
Ella tried to hide the look of panic on her face, desperate to keep the truth hidden. “You are wrong.”
“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me,” the midwife said soothingly.
“I don’t know what you mean. I have no secrets. I am an ordinary woman,” Ella insisted with a shake of her blonde head.
“As you say, ma’am. You should rest now. That little one will be keeping you up all hours of the night. You’ll need your sleep.” The midwife chuckled.
“Thank you,” Ella said quietly as the other woman left the room.
Adjusting her weary body in the bed, Ella gazed at her daughter as the baby suckled hungrily. It seemed the girl couldn’t get her fill. Yes, she was strong. That would be necessary.
“My little Maja, I wish I could give you a better world. Life won’t be easy for you, as it hasn’t been easy for any of the women in our family. The best gift I can give you is an ordinary life,” Ella whispered as her eyes filled with tears.
Ella’s husband, Aksel, was out to sea. He would be disappointed that he had missed the birth of his daughter, but it couldn’t be helped. As a fisherman’s wife, Ella understood it came with the territory. She had worried about giving birth alone, and she’d been grateful for the help of the local midwife. The couple had few connections, and Ella’s distrusting nature made friendships especially difficult.
Aksel and Ella had settled in Vardø the previous year. Aksel decided the coastal village was a convenient place to put down roots. For Ella, it was a bit of a homecoming. Vardø was the village of her great-grandmother, Helga, who had fled during the witch panic of 1621. Helga had longed for her homeland, so she’d passed down stories to her daughter, who passed them down to the next generation, and so on.
Ella had always known she would end up in Vardø, but she’d been careful to keep her connection to the town a secret, even from her husband. What had happened to so many others would not happen to her.
Maja popped her mouth from Ella’s breast and focused on her mother’s face. A small trickle of milk ran from the corner of the baby’s mouth, and Ella wiped it with the edge of her shift. Maja’s eyes twinkled with an otherworldly knowledge, and in that instant, Ella’s fears were confirmed. Maja had the gift.
Ella had spent the entirety of her pregnancy praying the gift would end with her. She wanted nothing more than for her daughter to be normal. Ella’s mother, Nora, had cherished her gift, begging Ella to embrace her own, and in some ways she had. But Ella was pragmatic enough to understand that their differences made them targets, especially in Vardø. She feared for Maja’s safety.
The last witch trial in Vardø had been many years ago, but it had happened within Ella’s lifetime. That fact alone terrified her to her very core. She had been careful to keep her power under wraps since coming to Vardø, but it was a dangerous game. In that moment, looking at her obviously magical daughter, Ella knew she would do anything she could to discourage Maja’s gifts.
“Rest, my little one,” Ella whispered.
She waved her fingers over the baby’s eyes without making contact or touching her in any way. She didn’t need to; the familiar tingle in her fingertips found its intended target. Maja’s eyes closed immediately, and the infant nodded off to sleep.
Gingerly easing her exhausted, pain-drenched body from the bed, Ella made her way slowly across the room. Sinking to her knees in front of an old wooden box, she carefully lifted the lid. Tucked inside was a small leather-bound book with an Ansuz rune symbol carved into its cover. Tentatively tracing her hands across the book, Ella felt the familiar vibration of energy pulsing against her skin.
“My only purpose is to keep you safe, Maja,” Ella said quietly, her voice floating like a flower on the breeze.
Removing the book from the box, she opened it to the next blank page. Tears streamed down her face as she made the only decision she could.
“The story ends with us. Maja can never know the truth.”