CONTENT WARNING: bad language, religious violence, murder, some blood
Daniel
Gideon makes Maddie accompany me to the Withernham monastery to deliver food for the refugees. I did mention that the only clothes she has is her witchfinder uniform. Gideon is convinced that the Peterans will understand that she's changed her mind on her stances and that she'll get another chance from the abbess. We'll see how that goes considering Gideon's situation was pretty different to hers.
"Still don't trust me, do you?"
"Of course I don't bloody trust you! You haven't changed a bit, have you? You're only in this for the money!"
Maddie cackles at me. "Oh, well pardon me, Mr. Former Witchfinder! What a lovely fine coat you're wearing! That's the sort of thing you'd see on one of those posh totties up in Finchwick! Whose money paid for it, I wonder?"
"I didn't kill anyone, and I was forced into it! You chose to work for him and you chose to kill those witches!"
"Listen,
Daniel - you're lucky that the three of us turned up at all to ask for
your father's help! An ally to a cause is an ally to a cause, isn't it?
Or do we all need to be pure and untainted?"
"Everyone makes mistakes, don't they? - only what you did were hardly mistakes! It's completely reasonable for me to not trust you."
"You trust your father, don't you? - with all the blood on his hands?"
"Talk like that about my father again and I'll have blood on mine as well!"
My voice echoes through the fields, and even Maddie takes a step back. I don't feel proud of that, but I'm not going to take her slandering my father like that.
"I'm not so sure about that," Maddie replies, in a snide tone. "You're the one who told me you'd never pick up a sword again when we suggested you helping fight off the witchfinders."
There's
almost nothing stopping me from turning back to the bridge and throwing
her into the icy River Glimmer, but I keep trying to remember what my
father said to me about turning whoever possible away from witchfinding.
"Father realised what he did was morally wrong. He realised Mother would have hated him for it, and he didn't want me and my brother ending up following his path, so he stopped. You and those two other blokes, you aren't doing this because you've realised you were wrong. You're doing it because you need money and because you thought Lord Volpe had gone soft - and if you think Lord Volpe of all people was soft, then what does it say about - Micah..."
I blurt that out by
accident as he crosses my mind. I almost immediately picture his death
in complete clarity, when Oskar ambushed him out of nowhere and nearly
killed me as well.
"Wait - Micah? That's a familiar name. Creepy smiley fellow? We all remember him being slaughtered out of nowhere by that ex-vampire."
A
sickly feeling rises in my stomach. I never want to be reminded of my
days as a witchfinder and yet they loom over me like inescapable
shadows.
"The very same. Micah, he was... I was paired with him. He didn't show any empathy or remorse for what he did, but he tried to protect me. He covered for me - told Volpe I'd killed witches when he'd done it. Lied about things... He did it all because the job made him feel nothing, and he didn't want me ending up that way."
"Micah was an interesting character, wasn't he? Very noble for a witchfinder, anyhow. We all missed him for a long time. It was a lot darker without him."
It was all just a job to him. He didn't think twice about anything he did, and yet I still appreciated him trying to cover for me as long as possible. If Oskar hadn't have done what he did, then Micah would've likely risked everything to get me out of there the way my father did.
"I tried to fight the ex-vampire myself. I left a cut on his face and ran - I couldn't do it, and not just out of fear - partially out of guilt."
Maddie gives me a more understanding look. It almost looks like she's listening.
"Something you and your father have in common, then - you're not afraid of people most others are afraid of. It's a handy trait to have, you know."
Eventually,
we end up in Withernham - quite unnerving in the dead of night even
with the clear skies. What was likely a welcoming sight in the day
looked very foreboding at this time of night.
"Right. Let's go and give the refugees some supper - and you'd better hope the abbess doesn't slit your throat."
"That doesn't sound terribly Peteran. I thought they were meant to be forgiving people?"
"'Meant to be' are the key words there, Maddie."
Clementia
There's only one person other than Violeta who'd be skulking around here this time of night with all that's going on...
She's dressed in her usual attire, and accompanied by - I recognise him. The fisherman that used to sell during the old weekend markets! What's he doing here?
I don't give her a chance, and tackle her to the ground with a sword pointed at her before she can strike.
"What are you doing in Withernham? And what's he doing with you?!"
She coughs and chokes as she talks. "I'm - urgh! I'm not anymore! I'm not a witchfinder anymore. Volpe - saw his true colours! This man - helping!"
"You're helping a witchfinder, Mr. Reyes? Why's that?"
He looks incredibly shaken.
"Look, she came to my father asking for help to earn clean money and that they realised Volpe's hypocrisy before his death. She's helping me to deliver meals to the monastery. She isn't going to hurt anybody, at least whilst I'm around."
I find it hard to believe that Mr. Reyes would ally with a dangerous witchfinder, and it seems quite a few witchfinders are turning a new leaf at the moment. I suppose Mr. Reyes has no reason to have anything against the witches. The refugees are hungry and we're getting to the last of the food resources - it seems our usual donor Owen isn't around at the moment. I imagine things at the mansion are hectic without him.
"Listen, lady - I didn't have time to change my clothes. Gideon is helping us out, so we're helping him out, and he wants to help you out, so we're helping him help you for helping us. You get it?"
"Then why do you still have your sword?"
She growls to herself and pulls it out of its sheath.
"I wasn't thinking. Tell you what - take it. Keep it. I don't need it anymore, so it's yours to throw out or cut down non-believers with or melt down into a statue of the Watcher or whatever."
I give her a nod. "Remember, if you try anything, I will not hesitate to kill you - and I'll remember your face if you try anything outside of here. Is that understood?"
"Don't worry," Mr. Reyes says, calmly. "She'll be fine."
Daniel
That could have gone a lot worse. Maddie barely seems fazed by the ordeal, but her giving up her sword is at least a good thing. Maybe I was wrong about Maddie, after all.
There's only three people in the refuge, and they all react the way you'd expect to Maddie.
"You - you're the young man from the fish markets! What is she doing here? And why did Mother Clementia let you in at all?!"
Maddie gives a cocky smile and laugh and ducks her head a little, not looking the witch lady in the eye.
"I've come to my senses as of late. Volpe was full of shit-"
"Maddie, you're in a monastery!"
"Eh, they're forgiving, aren't they? - Anyway, so - Volpe was full of shit, and I realised this shortly before he got fried by Annorin. I've handed in my sword to the warmly-welcoming mother of this monastery. I won't hurt you - I helped prepare some food for you all."
"My father was a witchfinder. Packed it in years ago for the good of me and my younger brother. Volpe forced me into it when I was nineteen. My partner did everything so I didn't have to hurt anyone, and then my father got me out of it. I still feel guilty."
"You needn't feel guilty if you didn't do anything. I'm just thankful Volpe is gone. Even with his lapdogs all fighting to be top dog, it won't last forever."
"No, it won't!" says the little boy, accidentally spitting a pea at the man next to him. "One day when I'm big like you, I'm going to teach everyone how to use magic like me!"
There's a soft sound coming from the other room - maybe there's some more witches in need of a good meal. I gently creak the door open and give a soft hello to a young teenage girl sweeping the floor.
"Hello. I bought some food if you're hungry. I imagine it's been pretty rough hiding down here."
She puts the broom in the corner and giggles. She seems prettty confident for someone hiding out.
"No, thank you, don't worry. I'm just helping out here to get away from my father. I appreciate your help, though. It's good to meet you. I'm Róisín."
"Wait - Róisín? As in Eli's niece? I'm Daniel, his-"
"You're Daniel?! Oh, it's wonderful to meet you! I never expected we'd meet down here of all places! Oh, this is lovely. You've done so much for him and for the community..."
Clementia
The door swings open once again, and I've been expecting them for so long that I don't even react with any emotion towards him.
He wields his sword - the Justicer's Tooth of Jacob - with an awkward and forced pride. He knows that, if he doesn't succeed in killing me, not only will the High Priest paint him with shame for the rest of his life, the Watcher will punish him with eternal torment.
Whether he has any choice in this or not, I will not show any mercy towards him.
Róisín
Something was happening upstairs, but Dan wasn't letting me or the witches leave the basement.
"What's happened, then?"
He's listening from upstairs. I hear the woman say to Dan to 'help her'.
"Róisín...Clem's been attacked. Maddie dealt with the assailant, but-"
I peer out of the window. It's a clear night, and I can see the waning gibbous moon outside. We have a chance to save her.
The witchfinder unsettles me - you can never really trust whether or not they've changed their ways - but I can't not do anything. We'll never get her to the Annorin mansion on time, and if I don't do something now, then she'll definitely die... My heart aches not just for her, but for Father and for Alistair.
"You two need to help me get her outside - carefully."
Dan and Maddie help carry Clem out back to the graveyard, where the small courtyard is in the corner. Surrounded by all of these graves only makes me more determined. All I have to do is charge myself with moonlight and put my hands to the wound - it'll heal over.
"So you're saying you just need to touch her with moon magic and she'll be fine?"
"I hope so. It's reliable for any flesh wound. Anything too severe or internal and it's no good."
Maddie nods to me. I give her a scowl so she knows not to mess around. She tells me she killed the Jacoban with the Angel's Talon. She slit his throat and didn't seem the slightest bit bothered... How do people live so heartlessly? And why did she save Mother Clementia like that?
"Come on, Róisín. Be confident - don't hesitate."
Lunvin, I have done everything I can for you. I have done all you have told us to do. I have protected my people, I've looked after my family - as I'm doing now.
She may not have a wolf's blood, but she's still a part of our pack. Please, give me the power to try and save her life.
Don't worry, Aunt Clem - you'll be fine.
