Gawain thought about the witch’s offer. By what she said, it sounded like he could have almost anything he wanted from them. If all he had to give in return was a roof and some food, it wasn’t a bad deal, but he wondered if he wouldn’t be getting in over his head. The less connection he made with the witches, the better. He wanted to leave no sign that he had anything to do with them, so if a knight happened to search the farm and find the women he could always claim that he had no clue they were there or that they forced him to harbor them—although the latter wasn’t entirely untrue. If he accepted the witch’s deal and took some magic artifact from them, however, the knights could easily pin him as an accomplice and lead him to the gallows without question.

“No, no,” Gawain shook his head and held up his hands. “My life is good; I want for nothing.” He glanced at the white-haired witch again. “If it makes you feel better, you can think of this as a gesture of goodwill.” [i]Even though you forced me to help you in the first place,[/i] he wanted to add, though he held his tongue and went on diplomatically, “If you truly want to return my ‘kindness,’ you can promise to leave my farm at the soonest opportunity. That is the only thing I desire in return for my troubles.”

[color=fff79a][b]“I suppose it might be kind to introduce ourselves,”[/b][/color] the white-haired witch said. [color=fff79a][b]“My name is Morgana Blackwood, and my companions are Willow Blackwood, Minerva Kindley, Lenore Coventry and Ambrosia Wicker.”[/b][/color]

Gawain eyed the witch, Morgana, curiously. By sharing their names, she was putting an unusual amount of trust in a stranger. He could easily give the names to a knight and the women would never find sanctuary again. He wondered if they had some sort of plan that they just hadn’t told him about yet. If so, he decided that he might as well play along in the hopes that such a plan didn’t involve his untimely death.

“My name is Gawain Collins,” he said. “And it seems that we’ve arrived.” He waved a hand to indicate the farm as they rounded the final corner. Whether for better or for worse, they had somehow managed to avoid meeting any patrols along the way. He sighed inwardly. Well, if his dumb luck continued to hold out, maybe he could at least be rid of these witches before any knights decided to search Simon’s farm.