Once Upon an Enchanted Well

To venture into the untamed lands between Scotland and England, is to invite being enchanted.

Located on the border between Scotland and England, is a land has always been untamed. To venture into it, is to invite being enchanted. Rhona was born in Sin. As such, she is expected to take the veil. But she is honest and will not take holy vows without having a true calling, hence she is sent to the wild, untamed Welsh mashes so that she can be forgotten by the realities who find her a shameful reminder of their own misdeeds.

Rhona will not break beneath the cold and lonely place where she labors to produce flax linen through the long, bitter winter.

For she sees it as a magical land. Full of wonder and summer brings a new fascination for a well begins to appear...but only at night. Following the custom of shutting herself in against the witching hours, she awakes each day to see the well growing deeper. Is it enchanted? Perhaps for she discovers a man in the shadows, one who beckons her to take his hand and follow her deeper into the night.

Peadair is Scottish. For him, life is measured in duty. He's sent to dig a well so that his clan members can make the crossing between the two countries. He decides to do the work by night, in order to scare the English away from the Well by spreading rumors of it being a place constructed by the ghosts who roam during the dark hours.

Only one person doesn't fear the Midnight Well, and Peadair discovers that it is very possible the Well is indeed enchanted, because he is falling under her spell!

This story was originally published in the 2023 Dragonblade Anthology Once Upon a Haunted Romance.