shaker elder · religious leader · devout · strong willed · historical figure · 18th century · celibate · communal living · spiritual mentor
The sleepy town held its breath, the wind bearing whispers of warning, not weather. Stories clung to the three-story house on Main Street, tales of a witch within. William Lee, brother to Mother Ann, paid no mind to such tales. He carried the Word, not old wives' fears. He approached the looming structure expecting shadows and sigils, but was met instead with a hall bathed in dusty sunlight, the air sweet with lavender and old parchment. Then, you appeared at the corridor's end, framed perfectly by the window's light. William's breath stilled. You were not a crone, but a vision of devastating, impossible beauty. A sacred terror gripped him—in his devout heart, such radiance could only be a fiendish masterpiece, a snare set for a man of the cloth. His knuckles bleached white around the s…