“Hello, Nickolas,” Kevin Richardson said, walking into the studio he owned and seeing his young apprentice already at work.

“Mr. Richardson,” Nick said, concentrating on the painting he was working on.

Kevin admired the young artist’s work.

“She’s beautiful,” he said.

Nick nodded.

“Someone you know?”

Nick shook his head.

“Only from a dream. She’s been in my dreams quite a bit,” Nick explained.

The woman in question had dark blonde, curly hair, and mysterious eyes. She had this aura about her, as if she held a secret and dared someone to ask what it was.

She also looked very familiar to Kevin, but he couldn’t place where he’d seen her before.

“Okay, now, with your mind, add the finishing to it,” Kevin said. He watched as Nick concentrated. As he did, the painting seem to shimmer and finally had a magic all on its own.
“One of your best yet, Nickolas,” Kevin said approvingly.

“Thank you, Mr. Richardson,” Nick said.

“Would you mind going to the mercantile and picking up some new brushes and paint? Tell them to charge it to my account, and I’ll pay the tab this coming Friday,” Kevin asked.

Nick nodded, and set out for the mercantile.

“Hello, Mr. Nickolas,” a pretty brunette said, bowing her head to him.

“Hi, Miss Vivian, how are you today?” Nick asked.

“Oh, I’m doing okay. Are you headed to the mercantile?”

“Yes, Miss Vivian. How about yourself?”

“No, to the bakery. Mother is holding some tea, welcoming the new residents. An old magic type of family, the Woods.”

Nick smiled.

“Well you should be off. Ask your mother to come by the gallery sometime, Mr. Richardson would love to see her, I’m sure,” he said.

“Oh, I will. Have a nice day, Mr. Nickolas,” Vivian said.

Nick walked into the mercantile where he saw a bit of a commotion going on in the back.

“Mr. Woods, it’s an honor to have you in my store, and your daughter is even lovelier than the rumors have claimed. Please feel free to look around, and ask me when you need help. Nickolas, come here!” Howard Dorough, the mercantile’s owner, beckoned. “Mr. Woods, Miss Woods, this is Nickolas Carter, an apprentice of Kevin Richardson.”

“The renowned artist? Why, Nickolas, you must be very talented for him to take you on as an apprentice,” Mr. Woods, a refined looking man, said. His demeanor oozed with authority, and he observed Nick with a firm gaze. He finally extended his hand, and Nick shook it.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Woods.”

“Melanie, come here and meet Mr. Dorough’s acquaintance,” Mr. Woods said.

“Yes, Father,” a voice said.

Nick’s eyes widened at the sight of Melanie Woods. He’d seen her before. He had just painted her likeness a few short moments before coming to the mercantile.

The painting did not do her justice.

“Miss Woods, it is a pleasure to meet you,” he said softly, bowing his head in respect.

Looking up, he saw her smile softly at him.

“And you as well, Mr. Nickolas.”

**************************************

Melanie smiled at the young man in front of her as Howard raved about his paintings, yet Melanie hardly heard him. Nickolas was just so…handsome. His eyes looked at her as if he already knew her. His smile was kind and warming, and one of the first genuine smiles she had been given in the few short hours she’d been in this community.

“Well, Melanie, we’d best be off. Your mother is waiting.”

“Goodbye, Mr. Howard and Mr. Nickolas,” she said to the two men, smiling and giving a small wave.

Once in the carriage, Mr. Woods sighed.

“Melanie, I know this move is hard for you, and what is expected of you is harder still, but I wish you would be a bit more cooperative.”

“Father, what is demanded of me is unbearable, and I am being as cooperative as I possibly can, given the circumstances.”

Mr. Woods looked at his daughter with sympathy.

“Mr. Tennant will be a good husband for you. He is very magically inclined and-“

“He is too powerful to say no to, and to anger him is unwise to do. I know this. And yet, your only daughter is to be his wife to settle an ancient debt. I can’t understand the reasoning.”

“He will curse our family forever if it’s not settled.”

Melanie sighed.

“It seems I am cursed no matter what.”

Two weeks had passed, and Nick couldn’t get the beautiful witch out of his mind.

Kevin had decided to let Nick keep his painting of Melanie, as he didn’t want trouble with her very powerful father. In these two weeks, Kevin had been training Nick on some new techniques, and finally thought he was ready for a landscape portrait.

“Find a place that calls out to you, Nickolas, and paint it. The magic will let you know when you’ve made the right choice,” Kevin said, seriously.

“Yes, Mr. Richardson,” Nick said, shouldering his equipment bag. He knew exactly where he was wanting to go.

A couple of hours later, Nick was at one of his favorite places. Beyond the woods that surrounded, well, Riverwoods, there were mountains, rivers, fields, and a lake.

Nick’s favorite place was where the woods met the lake, yet you could still see the mountains on the other side of the water.

As Kevin predicted, something inside him told him that this was what he needed to paint.

And paint he did.

______________________________________________________

Melanie stilled her breathing when she heard someone coming. She had hoped this would be a place of her own, to get away from the pressures of her family.

She found it a week ago, and for a week, she’d been stealing away to sit in the trees and just free her mind in peace.

Now that peace was disturbed, and she was not happy about it.

Carefully looking down, she saw a man with blond hair pass under her tree, lost in his own thoughts.

She knew his face, but oh, what was his name?! That charming young man who was in Mr. Dorough’s mercantile?

Melanie observed him as he set up an easel and began to paint.

Art was truly his gift, she noted, as his brush flew with inhumane speed yet was capturing the scene before them beautifully.

She went to move closer on the branch, so she could get a better look, but the branch made an ominous cracking sound, as if warning her to stay back.

The man turned at the noise.

“Anyone there?” he asked, warily.

Melanie held her breath, not wanting to give herself away.

“Revelio,” the man muttered, and it felt like a bright light was shining directly on her.

“Miss Woods?” he asked, confused.

“Well, yes, it’s me,” she said with her eyes closed in defeat.

“Pardon me if I sound rude, but what in the hell are you doing here?” he asked.

Nick! That was his name, Melanie thought as she got a good look at his face.

“I could be asking you the same think, Mr. Carter, but that can wait. Could you please help me down?” she asked.

Cocking an eyebrow up, he obliged, extending his hand to hers.

“Thank you.”

“To answer your question, Miss Woods, I’ve been coming here for years, to paint and to clear my head,” Nick said politely, although she could tell he was a bit annoyed.

Melanie felt awful.

“I’m so sorry, I thought…I found it last week and it seemed like a good place to…”

“…to clear your head when you’re overwhelmed,” Nick finished.

Melanie smiled.

“Yes, Mr. Carter,” she said.

“Miss Woods, please. Call me Nick,” he said.

“Then call me Melanie,” she replied.

Nick laughed.

“Okay Melanie, so can I ask what does a well off young woman such as yourself have to be overwhelmed about?”

He noticed a shadow cross her face, and he regretted asking the question.

“Can I trust you not to tell anyone?” she asked him.

Nick nodded immediately, the answer not being what he expected.

“You have my word.”

Melanie sighed, and sat down against the tree trunk. She looked up at him.

“My family expects too much of me, Nick. They’re expecting me to do something I dread doing.”

Nick saw how troubled she looked. He sat next to her.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Melanie glanced over.

“Take my hand, and I can show you,” she simply said.

Nick slowly put his hand in hers and was transported into Melanie’s mind.



“Don’t resist,” Melanie’s voice told him as he struggled to leave her memory.

Nick calmed down and watched the scene play out in front of him.

“Edmund, there is absolutely no way this can be repaid,” a dark skinned man was saying to Mr. Woods in an office. He was looking through Melanie’s eyes, standing at the door frame.

“Paolo, please, what do you want? My house, my business? I’d do anything, please, just spare my life.”

The man named Paolo laughed.

“Your potions killed my wife, who was pregnant with my daughter.”

“It was an accident-“

“It was careless, and messy, and I do not appreciate it. There is nothing that can bring Tatiana back to me.”

“Paolo…please…” Mr. Woods said.

There was a pause.

“Your daughter…how old is she?”

“Seventeen, sir,” Mr. Woods said, fear very evident in his voice.

“She is very beautiful, yes?”

“Some say the most beautiful in all of New York, sir.”

“Now that Tatiana is gone, certainly.”

“What does my daughter have to do with this discussion?”

“Everything, now. I know how you’re going to repay your debt. I want your daughter to be my wife. That…or your entire family will be ruined.”



Nick exhaled as Melanie let go of his hand, forcing him out of her mind.

He noticed tears in her eyes.

“Melanie,” he whispered, horrified at what he’d just seen.

“I can’t do this,” she cried hysterically. “I cannot marry that man.”

Nick took her hand in his again and held it until her sobs subsided.

“It’s getting late,” he finally said. “Let’s go back to town.”

_______________________________________________________

Nick tossed and turned all night, troubled by what he’d seen in Melanie’s mind.

She was right, they were expecting too much of her.

He didn’t know why they had so suddenly jumped from formal acquaintances to friends, but he was not complaining. She needed a friend right now.

The next day, Nick set out for his spot again, and was surprised to see Melanie there in the tree.

“Good morning, Nick,” she called down to him as he set up his easel.

“Same to you, Melanie,” he replied, picking up where he left off the day before.

They sat in a comfortable silence while he finished his portrait. Murmuring an incantation, he put the magically-dried canvas into the holder and glanced up at his audience.

“Alright up there?” he asked, concerned when he saw the far away look in her eyes.

“Yes, I’m okay. I’m just thinking. It’s nice to have a friend where not every minute is filled with nonsensical chatter about who the cutest wizard is, or when the next time AJ McClean will be singing at the amphitheater…”

“Mr. Richardson knows him,” Nick said, earning a look of disbelief from Melanie.

“No he does not!?”

Nick grinned and nodded.

“Yep. They were at the same arts school or something,” he said. “He’s always got free entry to his performances.”

Melanie climbed down out of the tree.

“Do you know him?” she asked, smiling brightly. Nick stifled a snort.

“I’ve met him a couple of times. Nice man, definitely off his rocker, but talented.”

Melanie laughed.

“You seem to be a bit off your rocker as well, Nick. One of the most sought after men in all of Riverwoods, yet you stay here, painting as if you’re oblivious,” she said.

“How do you know all of this?” Nick asked her, sitting on a tree stump.

“Oh, please. All of the girls who call on my house always gossip, and a lot of them have you at the top of the list of the most handsome men in town. Vivian even says you’re one of the funniest, thanks to a practical joke you played on Mr. Dorough.”

“He had that coming. He insulted one of Mr. Richardson’s paintings,” Nick defended himself, laughing. “I didn’t know the glue would last a week. He looked like a duck for days.”

Melanie giggled.

For weeks they met at this spot, teasing the other, Melanie admiring the way his paintings seemed to live and breathe on their own. They got to know the other a bit more, as time progressed, and soon they became close friends.

“So, tell me, Nick…what brought you to apprentice with Mr. Richardson?” Melanie asked one chilly afternoon. It was obvious that winter was coming quickly, and so was her fate.

Nick sighed.

“Well, I was in finishing school when he came round, looking for apprentices. My parents had just died of the flu, and I was extremely upset. My emotions fueled my ‘creative magic’ as they called it, and the painting I did that got me the apprenticeship was one of a stormy ocean. Mr. Richardson swears he could feel the thunder rolling in the canvas. So, I came with him here, and I’ve been his apprentice for three years. I sleep in a guest house on his estate, and he helps me channel this creative magic in ways I’ve never thought possible.”

Melanie touched his hand.

“So he’s like a father?”

Nick nodded.

“Yes. He’s like a father to me.”

“Did you have any brothers or sisters?”

He shook his head.

“All gone.”

Melanie’s heart hurt for this man.

“So you’re all alone?”

“Not really. I have Mr. Richardson. And you, now,” he said.

Melanie felt her heart warm at that statement.

“Me?”

“Melanie, I feel like I could tell you anything, and you wouldn’t think less of me for it. And please forgive me, but I have to say this. I don’t want you to give in to your family,” Nick said, urgently. “What they’ve asked of you is terrible, and there’s got to be another way.”

Melanie blinked back tears.

“I don’t have a choice, Nick.”

Nick took her hands in his. Melanie looked into his blue eyes, so full of emotion, determination being the dominant one.

“Yes, you do. I swear, Melanie, I will find a way to get you out of this.”

Nick and Melanie spent weeks trying to find a way to get her out of the contract that she was burdened with. Thus far, they’d found nothing.

Nick found Melanie at their clearing, weeping into her knees.

“Melanie, what is it?” he asked, rushing to her.

She looked up, and there was sheer terror in her eyes.

“Mr. Tennant is coming next week, to announce our engagement. And there’s something else…he found out I can let people inside my mind, and he’s requested that I let him in, so he can see my true feelings on this ordeal,” she said quickly.

Nick’s heart dropped into his stomach.

She looked at him again.

“He’s going to see you,” she said, and the terror grew.

Nick was confused.

“What’s that mean? We’re friends, surely he wouldn’t…” he faded off when he saw the bush creep on her cheeks.

“Melanie…” he whispered softly, touching her face. “We are friends, aren’t we?”

“Of course we are, Nick, I just don’t want him to misinterpret that and come after you,” she said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Nick sighed. He had read something today that could help her, but to do so would damage her credibility as a woman of high class.

But he didn’t care about her standing. He’d realized in the past couple of weeks that he wasn’t just feeling friendship to this woman anymore, and that he would do whatever she asked, as long as it meant she was still in his life.

“Melanie, I found something that may help you, but it’s drastic, and I don’t expect you to agree to it,” he finally said.

Melanie looked up, hopefully.

“I’d do anything,” she said fiercly.

“This is huge, something that will ruin your reputation,” he said.

Melanie shook her head.
“I don’t care. I would do anything to get out of this,” she replied.

Nick closed his eyes.

“You’d have to let someone take your virginity.”


Melanie’s eyes widened when she heard Nick say it.

“I—I—“

“I told you it was drastic,” Nick murmured.

“Who, though?” Melanie asked.

“Any man who isn’t your betrothed,” he said simply.

Melanie stood abruptly and walked to the edge of the water.

“It’s my only choice,” she whispered, mainly to herself. She turned back to Nick.

“Nick…” she said softly. “Would…you do it?”

“Do what?” he asked, confused.

Melanie blushed.

“I want you to take my virginity. I trust you. You care a great deal about me, or you wouldn’t be helping me. And I care about you. So please, Nick, if It were anyone else, I wouldn’t consider it. But you…please. I need you to do this for me,” she said with her eyes closed, ready for his rejection.

She felt him come over and place his hands on her face.

“Open your eyes, Melanie,” he whispered.

She did, and she found his eyes burning into hers.

“I’ll do it,” he said with ragged breath, and pressed his mouth to hers.

Oh my God, Melanie thought as he continued to kiss her. This was something she’d never felt before. It felt like she was burning inside, yet she craved more.

With a whimper, she kissed him back, throwing her arms around his neck.

Nick broke away for a moment and muttered some incantations under his breath. A comforter appeared out o thin air and landed in the grove of trees.

“No one will see or hear us,” he whispered before kissing her again.

He led her to the blanket and sat her down. He began to unlace her dress (she thanked God she decided to forgo that confining corset today) as he placed kisses on her neck.

“Melanie, you are so beautiful,” he whispered in her ear as he slid her dress off of her, leaving her only in her chemise and pantalets.

Melanie watched as he removed his tunic and trousers, and her eyes widened at his manhood. He was definitely blessed in that aspect.

He removed the rest of her clothes until she was naked before him.

Nick looked at her, concern in his eyes.

“Are you absolutely sure?” he asked.

Melanie nodded, not trusting her voice.

Nick shifted where he was in between her legs, and, slowly, he entered her, taking her virginity as he did.

She winced in pain but also felt something new, something good stirring inside of her.

Nick began to pick up his pace, and the feeling grew. She couldn’t contain the noises that were leaving her throat, nor did she want to. Nick was taking something, but he was also giving her so much more. In taking her virginity, he was giving her her freedom, and whatever this feeling was, she didn’t want it to go away.

She gave a loud moan as she reached her peak, and Nick shuddered as he reached his own. Trembling, they both held on to each other as they recovered from the high they’d just experienced.

Melanie felt so much gratitude for him. She had tears in her eyes as she held him.

“Thank you,” she whispered tearfully to him. He raised his head and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I love you,” he said softly. “I want you to go away with me when all of this is over.”

Melanie nodded.

“Okay,” she said, kissing him softly. “I will.”
She didn’t say it back, but she grabbed his hand, and let him inside her mind, so he would know her feelings.

As they both got dressed, they had the same thought on their mind.

Please let this all work out.

Paolo Tennant arrived a few days later, intent on announcing their engagement.

Nick knew that Melanie had been found out by way the earth shook under the town a few hours after the big arrival. Paolo Tennant could manipulate the elements to do his bidding. However, the elements reacted when he lost his temper. Like now.

Kevin looked over at Nick, who tried to keep a straight cool face.

“Do you know what happened?” he asked.

Nick shook his head, his eyes focused on a point above Kevin’s shoulder.

“Nickolas, talk to me,” Kevin said.

Nick looked into his mentor’s eyes, and saw kindness and concern, and the truth spilled out.

“Nickolas…” Kevin said, distressed. “Why?”

“Because I love her,” Nick said. “I couldn’t let her be trapped like that.”

“Tennant isn’t like most men, who would drop interest in a defiled maiden. All this has done is made him angrier, and more intent on marrying her,” Kevin said, ashen faced. “Just to make her miserable. I fear for her safety.”

Nick put his head in his hands.

“What have I done?”

________________________________


Melanie wept in her room, hearing Paolo rant at her father, talking about tainted, filthy, worthless, disgusting…but he would still be marrying her.

She thanked the gods for allowing Nick’s face to be blocked from the memory of her deflowering, because now all Paolo was interested in was the name of the man who took what was rightfully his.

“Nick,” she whispered into the wind. “Please help me.”

Thirty minutes later, Melanie’s mother knocked at the door.

“Melanie, Mrs. Richardson is here to get you ready for tonight,” she said softly, her eyes sending apologies to her young daughter.

Mrs. Richardson, Kevin’s wife, came in, and closed the door after her mother. She then locked it.
“Here’s what’s happening, Melanie. I know about him. Kevin is taking your father and Mr. Tennant to his gallery, as a distraction for what’s about to happen. Your love is coming now to this house, and will be waiting under your window within a few moments. You will go to him, and the two of you will leave Riverwoods and head west. You need to leave New York, as the contract only binds you here. Kevin and I did a lot of research in the past hour about it. Now, pack some things, it’s almost time,” Mrs. Richardson said in a whisper.

Melanie did so, and she heard a whistle under her window.

Nick was on a horse, looking up at her.

“We don’t have much time, drop your things, and then jump.”

Melanie did so, and once she was on the horse, she wrapped her arms around him, and he took off.

__________________________________

Kevin and his wife, Kristin, faced Paolo with determination.

“Where is she?” he demanded Kristin.

“I don’t know,” she said, confidently. “I went to the powder room, came back, and she was gone.”

Paolo groaned, and it sent a tremor throughout the town.

“Your apprentice, where is he?” he asked Kevin.

“Gone as well, sir, haven’t seen him in days. I believe he went to Jamestown to visit family,” Kevin lied easily. “What does he have to do with any of this? The last of my knowledge is that he and Miss Woods were mere acquaintances. Nothing more.”

Paolo groaned again.

“My apologies, Mr. Richardson, I had heard from one of the girls in town that they were close. She must have been mistaken. These Woods are seriously toeing the line with me, and have been since I was first involved. I apologize for interrupting your day. If you hear anything, let my men know,” he said.

With that, he was gone.

Kristin looked at Kevin with her eyes full of fear.

“Do you think they’re going to make it?” she asked, frightened.

Kevin held her tightly.

“I don’t know, but I hope they do.”

_______________________________

Two days later, Nick and Melanie were outside of Rochester, New York.

“How much longer?” Melanie asked as they ate in a small diner.

“On horseback, about one more day.. I figured St. Catherine’s would be the best idea, since it’s in Canada,” Nick said simply.

Melanie smiled. She was actually going to get away from the hold Paolo had on her, and hopefully she would be marrying the man she truly loved. The man who had rescued her from Paolo.

She didn’t know much about Canada, but Nick said that it wasn’t all that different from New York.

After they’d paid, Nick helped Melanie back on her horse, and they made for Canada.

____________________________________

They reached a spot where they could make camp for the night. With a kiss, Nick told her he’d be getting firewood and to stay close to the horse.

“Be careful,” she warned him.

“I will,” Nick said, smiling at her.


Melanie waited while Nick got more firewood for the night. She heard footsteps approaching and smiled as they got closer.

“Finally, I was freezing…wait, no, where’s Nick?” she asked as she saw two men approach her. One mumbled a spell and she immediately slipped into unconsciousness.


Nick woke up with the sun shining in his face. He couldn’t remember much, just a man saying Melanie’s name as another muttered the Unconsciousness spell.

“No, MELANIE!” he cried out, running for where he had left Melanie with the horse.

Neither could be found.

“No, no no no, this isn’t happening,” Nick said, desperate tears flowing down his face.
He made a quick run for the town they had just left behind, eager to buy a horse to rescue the love of his life once again

_______________________________________________
“You told me that your apprentice was headed for Jamestown, yet he was found with Melanie near the Canadian border,” Paolo was saying to Kevin a couple of days later.

“Paolo, I didn’t know anything of my apprentice’s relationship with Melanie. If I did, I would have discouraged it,” Kevin said, not backing down from the cold man’s gaze. “How is she?”

“Still stubborn as a mule, broke one of my men’s jaws with her foot. Bars are on her windows now.”

“Well, best wishes. I must be getting back to my art. When will the wedding be?” Kevin asked.

“Three days time. I wish for you to paint her bridal portrait. You are the best,” Paolo said dismissively.

“I will consider it. I am a busy man.”

Tennant left the gallery and Kevin breathed out a quick sigh of relief. Nick hadn’t been killed, and he was grateful, however, Nick couldn’t come back to Riverwoods without all of Tennant’s men being on him.

Kevin painted a portrait of a stormy sea with a small ray of sunlight, struggling to break through. That sun reflected his last hope that his apprentice, a young man he’d come to love like a son, would be able to save his love from what was due to be a disastrous marriage.

Nick and Melanie found themselves near the Great Lakes, just a couple of days away from Canada.

“Nick, we’re being followed,” Melanie whispered, holding on to him.

He looked behind them to see two men on horses, watching them curiously.

“Hold on,” Nick said and he flicked the reins. The horse took off along the lakeside, and the men followed.

The chase continued for several minutes, until the horse gave out from under them. They hit the ground hard, and the men caught up to them. One grabbed Melanie while the other grabbed Nick.

“Leave him alone!” Melanie said, struggling against the man who held her as the other punched Nick in the stomach. She saw him take another punch as darkness surrounded her.

______________________________________________


Melanie woke up in a tent, later, to see two gruff men watching her.

“Where’s Nick?” she asked.

One of them laughed.

“Someone will find his body eventually. Roscoe here beat him near to death, then threw him in the water. Shame, he was a looker. I can see while you gave in so easy,” he said.

Roscoe grinned evilly.

“So’s this one, Ed. She’s already deflowered, Paolo won’t know the difference if we sample the dessert, so to speak?”

Ed glared at Roscoe.

“No. Paolo said she wasn’t to be harmed,” he said.

“He won’t—“

“He will once he sees her thoughts.”

Melanie barely heard them. Her mind was clouded with grief. Nick was dead, or was as good as, and now she was to go back to Paolo Tennant a shamed woman, whose heart was as dead as the man she loved.

_____________________________________________

Paolo was waiting for the group when they arrived.

“Melanie, my dear, I’m sure you had a rough journey,” he said kindly, touching her face. She knew he was reading her mind, to make sure no harm had come to her. “Go upstairs and wash up for dinner.”

Melanie listlessly walked upstairs to do so. She was accepting that this was her life now, and there was nothing she could do about it.

________________________________________________________


Meanwhile, there was a man on the shores of Lake Superior, desperately clinging to life. A young child walking by noticed him, and alerted her father right away.

“Hey, are you okay?” the father asked.

“Help me,” the injured man said weakly. “They took her.”

“What’s your name?”

“Nick. Nick Carter,” he said, as the man whispered healing spells quickly. He felt his pain fade away.

The man helped Nick to his feet.

“Hello, Nick. I’m Brian Litrell. Why don’t you tell me about the girl they took? Maybe I can help.”