Chapter 4
Ten years later
Ten years passed with Fiona's secret buried in her heart. Not even her son was aware of what he was. But it was evident to Fiona that no amount of magic would hide what really lay inside someone.
Ingram was a total tomboy and had no manners no matter how she tried to teach him. He was very rebellious and always looking for trouble in the wrong places. Most mothers and girls his age hated him, he was always picking on girls and more than twice caught watching them bathing.
Fiona knew there was nothing she could do about that, she might have fooled everyone to believe he was a girl but she couldn't fool him. He always had questions, questions that she was not supposed to answer in case of prying ears.
Even though Ezeldah gave up on watching the mother and daughter, Fiona always reminded herself never to be too confident. For the first part of ten years, it was very difficult to raise her son with all the eyes on her but eventually, the old hag gave up.
However, Fiona spent the last part of that ten years regretting her decision. It was very obvious how her son was struggling with his identity. To the outside world, he was a pretty tomboy while inside he was a boy. There was only so much her spell could do and soon he was going to hit puberty. That prospect scared the life out of her.
There were days that she wanted to tell him what gender he really was and end his identity crisis but it was too dangerous. The truth could be their ending.
Igram was not interested in anything to do with being a girl. He hated the Coven and was always plotting ways to run away. On most occasions, he was trying to convince his mother to run away with him.
She had caught him more than twice trying to escape, Fiona had to accept punishment on his behalf but she knew he was getting old and she was scared he would get himself in enough trouble to draw Ezeldah back on their case.
She was running out of time, so one afternoon, on the blood moon festivals. A festival in which Witches were allowed to run wild and party, she decided to open one of her secret portals. She knew Ezeldah would be in a festival mood and not interested in what her witches were up to.
She chanted her spells and teleported with her son into the secret realm. It was the first time Igram was witnessing his mother practicing magic. His eyes lit up, he was jumping all over the place and could not contain his excitement.
"Mother where are we?" he asked.
"Shishi," Fiona placed her hands on his mouth.
She needed to be sure no one was watching them. After some minutes she let go of him when she did not detect anything.
She knelt to his position and held his cheeks and said "listen to me Igram, I do not know how long the others will notice our absence so I will be quick."
"Holy shit, you can practice magic, holy shit," Igram replied in excitement.
"Igram!" Fiona yelled.
"Mother, I always thought you were boring from other mothers but why mother why don't you practice or teach me magic?"
Being genetically male, he was the only girl his age who was yet to whilred a wand. Most of the little girls in the Coven had already started practicing with their mothers.
"IGRAM!" Fiona yelled at him, finally getting his attention. He froze and only stared at her.
"Do you know why you are not interested in playing with dolls?" She asked him while playing with his long black hair. Her question took him by surprise so he only stared back at her.
"You are always playing outside in the rain chasing after insects and frogs, instead of washing or braiding hair like other girls your age?"
Igram swallowed
"You are always pulling pranks on other girls and peeping at them when they take showers," she added.
Igram's eyes widened in shame, "no-no mother, I do not."
"Do not lie to me, I see everything," his mother replied with a smile. She knew all his antics. Soon he was going to be a teenager and it was better to tell him what he was before he did anything stupid.
"Am I gay mother?" He asked out of the blue. Fiona chuckled not expecting such a question.
"Where did you hear that?"
"An older girl that caught me staring at her showering called me that," he replied in a low tone. "Ooh shit, is homosexuality forbidden in the Coven? Is that why you brought me here? Are you going to do rituals on me?"
Fiona almost burst out laughing, Igram always had a big imaginative brain for his age and she loved that about him.
"The problem with you is that you are very naughty, and no you are not gay," she replied and ordered him to face the mirror behind him.
Igram turned to face the mirror behind him and a boy with long hair stared back at him. All his feminine little features disappeared. At first, he thought his mother was playing an illusion game with him. He raised his arm and touched his face. The boy in the mirror did the same. He looked behind, in case the boy was behind him but only found his mother. He was acting too cool, trying not to freak out.
"Mother this is not funny," he finally said.
"This is not a joke Igram, you were born a boy and I cast a spell on you that allowed everyone to see a girl," his mother replied.
Igram turned, glancing at her, she was dead serious and there was no sign of her joking.
He laughed but she maintained her straight face.
He slowly placed over his skirt and swallowed hard, reality began hitting him. "Mom stop playing this stupid game…," he stammered scared as he quickly removed his hand. "I'm sorry I will never watch girls bathing, please mother I'm sorry, please…"
Fiona quickly embraced her son, "This is not a game Igram, you are a boy and I did all this to protect you," she stated, narrating to him the entire story of how the high priestess made a mistake and assigned her the wrong division. She told him about his birth at the hospital and all the spells she cast on him to deceive her entire Coven.
Igram began panicking, deep inside him, he was waiting for her to call out a joke but it never came. He turned again and stared at the boy in the mirror. No matter how hard he wanted to believe it was all joke, deep down he always knew he was trapped in the wrong body.
"I'm sorry Igram, I wanted to wait until you were a bit older, to tell the truth, but you are always attempting to run away and you always feeling out of place here which forced me to tell you everything," his mother cried. She tried to hold him but he moved away, his eyes still fixed on the little boy that was staring back at him.
"Forgive me, son, it was the only way to save your life," she cried.
Igram was confused, all his life was a lie, he was a boy living among witches.
She tried holding him again but he pushed her away again, "get away from here, I'm going to tell Ezeldah everything so that she chases me away from here and l….," he furiously yelled forcing Fiona to slap him hard.
It was the first time that she was slapping him or putting her hands on him. Igram always got away with every mischief he did no matter how bad it was. She never lay his hands on. Most Coven witches hated him and referred to him as a spoiled brat with a mother with loose screws in her head. They referred to them as Graveyard degenerates.
Igram held his burning cheek but held back all the tears that were about to fall.
"Listen to me Igram, once you tell anyone that you are a boy, they will kill you and kill me for deceiving them. We will both die!" She explained to him.
"Let them kill, I do not care!" he yelled, pissed.
"Use your dumb head for once! You think they will give you a peaceful death!" she asked but only got a pissed stare back at her.
"Male children are an abomination here, you are an abomination to them but not me. You are my precious baby and I am the only one allowed to lay a finger on you," she said and placed her hand on his cheek, soothing it from the hit she gave him.
"Listen to me Igram, once you tell anyone that you are a boy, they will kill you and kill me for deceiving them. We will both die!" She explained to him.
"Let them kill, I do not care!" he yelled, pissed.
"Use your dumb head for once! You think they will give you a peaceful death!" she asked but only got a pissed stare back at her.
"Male children are an abomination here, you are an abomination to them but not me. You are my precious baby and I am the only one allowed to lay a finger on you," she said and placed her hand on his cheek, soothing it from the hit she gave him.
"You are grown up now, and if you follow your mother's instructions, you will survive some more years."
"I do not want to be a girl, I hate the skirts and ugly dresses, I hate the pink shoes, I hate playing with dolls and I hate minding manners when I'm around people!" he yelled on top of his voice.