CONTENT WARNING: one use of bad language
Róisín
It's not great weather for the Withernham market today, but all the usual shopkeepers are here, and there's still a few customers. I miss when this place used to be busy when I was a child - so many people have been driven away from here by all the conflict and the growing Jacoban influence.
I always love the market, all of the wonderful crafts, colourful fragrant fruits and and mouth-watering meats and cheeses - but I rarely go, since I don't often have the money to spend. Today, I wouldn't mind buying a few things with the money Lydia gave me for my work. All this for just casting some magic on people? It's quite generous of her!
Uncle Eli is here with his wooden toys, including one what looks like the wolf he made me when I was a child. I want to go and talk with him, but he's a little busy at the moment - the children always want to look at the new toys!
The main reason I'm here is to see Daniel and tell him about Maddie, but it's also the perfect opportunity to get some fish for Valravn as a treat. She seems a little lethargic lately, and I'm not surprised - she never seems to sleep a lot. Both Owen and Lydia won't let her fish from the river for the sake of the balance of the nature... and likely to keep the Reyes family in business.
Gideon appears to be dealing with a difficult customer who is being unbelievably rude... Why are people like this with the people who run the market stall? It's fish, for Watcher's sake! How much can you argue with someone over a fish? Dan spots me and approaches me with excitement. There's a strong scent of perfume as he walks past. I don't think I could put up with the scent of fresh fish all day long, either.
"Róisín! Good to see you. Are you here to see your uncle?"
"I'm actually here to see you, Dan. I have something I need to tell you."
Understandably, he looks confused. "Oh? What's the trouble?"
I shouldn't be talking about patients like this - but if I don't say anything, then I dread to think what Maddie might do next. The fact a witchfinder knows of my abilities has left a burning anxiety inside of me since what the patient told me. I have just found a way to use my abilities for something useful, and now...
I can't. I can't keep letting every single little thing stop me from trying to help others! I'm tired of being held back by everything!
"I healed someone the other night who I believe was nearly killed by that woman that was with us the other night - Maddie."
He lowers an eyebrow. "Maddie? She helps us fish, to make money. She isn't a witchfinder anymore. She's been out killing off witchfinders, though. Did they explicity say it was her?"
"No, but the man described the witchfinder as being blonde, female, early thirties, with a cocky and sarcastic personality. I immediately thought of her. There's not many female witchfinders, after all."
"Oh? That's a bit concerning. Was this man a witch?"
"No. I didn't sense any magic - she just slashed at him with her sword, seemingly for no reason at all. He was speaking to me about how he didn't agree with what the witchfinders were doing. That's what made me concerned."
Dan looks down to the ground, disgruntled.
"I'm sorry, Róisín. You know how it is - when you think someone is trustworthy, and there's a chance they might not be."
"I'm going to be honest with you, Róisín, I don't think Maddie is the sort of person who I think would go around killing people for no reason. She killed witches because was taught that they were dangerous, and now she kills witchfinders for blindly following in the footsteps of Eduardo Volpe the way she did - that, and she thinks the ones who still believe in what Volpe told them are idiots. And the Jacoban, well, I guess she was trying to make it up to the refugees.
I tell you what, I'll speak to her as soon as I can, and then I can try and get back to you. I'll at least find out why she went after this man, if it really was her. I'll be here most of the day, so it'll take some time, okay?"
"Thank you, Dan. On that note, can I please buy two crates of fish?"
He gasps. "Two whole crates? Of course. Treating the family to a big dinner, are you?"
"...Something like that."
* * *
I return to the mansion with two crates of fish and a big snack for Valravn, who is still sitting on the ground with her wings slumped to floor. She thanks me, and tells me that she'll eat some later since she's not hungry. I know she doesn't have to eat, but she seems to enjoy it normally. Maybe something is making her uneasy? Is she afraid of something?
Is there something wrong, Valravn?
She lets out a melancholy sound and looks back at the floor.
Owen has not sent a single letter since he left. I don't even know if he's okay or not. I can't hear him from this distance, nor can I sense his emotions, so I have no idea how he's doing - only that he isn't dead.
Maybe you will feel a little better if you eat something?
I appreciate the fish, Róisín, but I do not feel much like eating right now. Perhaps later.
I put a hand to her head, and she moves into it a little so my hand is resting right on her forehead.
Róisín, I need to go to Glimmerbrook. I know I am supposed to be guarding this place, but the streets are quiet until sundown. It isn't far to fly from here - but I won't be any good of a guardian if I'm agitated about Owen.
I feel like we'd be okay for a while if Valravn wanted to go, but something comes to me - Valravn is big enough, and Mother is there. It'd be lovely to visit her again and tell her of all that has happened. I wonder what it's like to take to the skies? A little scary, I imagine, but thrilling!
Valravn, how would you feel about me potentially coming with you?
She perks up and stands up perfectly straight, and utters an inquisitive sound.
With me? Whatever for?
To see my mother, of course.
When this is all over, and when we have more time, I would love to visit Glimmerbrook to see Matis and Verity again. I miss them both so much, but I would want to spend the day with them. For now, I want to devote any time I have to my mother.
I suppose, but we'd have to ask Lydia.
* * *
I can't hear their discussion at all, but Lydia seems to make a few understanding expressions after showing a level of concern. I can't imagine what it must be like trying to reason with something with talons bigger than your palms.
"The two of you need your time away from here. I can't keep you chained up here until I need your help, so I'm fine with this, but I want you both back before the morning - is that understood, both of you?"
"We will be back before then, we promise. Don't we, Valravn?"
She lets out a little sound of agreement. I can't believe it - I'm going to see my mother again, and I get to fly on the back of a gryphon! I feel like a princess in one of the fantasy stories I had as a child. How lucky I am to have what would have been once confined to storybooks come to life!
Valravn lowers her head, letting me climb on and onto her back between her shoulders. Her feathers and fur are so soft!
"You two look after each other. Valravn, if you see Owen, remind him he has a wife and children back home!"
"Thank you, Lydia! We'll see you later on!"
Hold on tight. It's a bit colder up there, and it's cold enough down here, so it'll take some getting used to.
I cling tightly to her back as she charges off at blinding speed. This is incredible! Just think, most people ride horses, or donkeys, or camels.
Me? I get to ride a gryphon!
My heart rises into my throat as we take off into the skies, and I start to get a little anxious - but Valravn calms me down. Her powerful wings carry us into the air, and the view from here is something to behold! Who would have ever thought of us humans taking to the skies?
Adults and children look up in awe, some of them waving at us. Valravn gives them a friendly call, and I wave back at them. I can hear their calls - "is it a bird? Is it a lion?"
Valravn, this is amazing! I'm so jealous - now I want to be a gryphon too! Or at least have wings!
What's wrong with being a werewolf? I'd say they're quite spectacular.
A werewolf? I'm not a werewolf yet. It's still going to be three or four years. I'm tired of waiting! I hate being a teenager!
You can't rush these things, Róisín. Do you think I grew all this plumage and took to the skies so shortly after I was born? I stayed in the nest for many, many years, longer than you've been alive, before I ever learned to take flight - let alone leave my parents behind. If I were not frozen in time, I'd have grown much bigger and grander than this.
How could a gryphon be any more majestic than Valravn already is?
How old are you, Valravn?
I'm an adult, but I'm still fairly young for a gryphon. I am about three-hundred years old, but I was confined to the orb one thousand years ago.
Three-hundred years old?!
See? Your years on this Earth are but a blink of an eye for a gryphon. Make the most of them.
I panic when it looks like we're about to hit a building, but Valravn flies a little higher just in time! It really is much colder up here, and a little harder to breathe. I realise we're going past the Jacoban cathedral.
By Lunvin, the entire world looks so tiny from up here, doesn't it? It really puts things into perspective.
Valravn makes a sound like she's trying to laugh. Everything and everyone looks tiny to me, Róisín. Now you know how it feels!
Katlego
Tsuna has been a little quiet since visiting Evadne Charm, so she and I go for a walk to discuss what happened. I can't imagine it went particularly well, and I imagine it could have gone better had someone less headstrong taken charge of it - but maybe I'm too quick to judge.
"I tried to look at it the way you would have looked at it, Katlego. I tried to see things from Evadne's point of view, and by some miracle, it worked. I think I got through to her. We may even have her help against the witchfinders should we need it. No idea what it'd take to get that madwoman Isidora to listen, but Evadne eventually came to see reason. I believe I only have you to thank for that."
Tsuna? I can't believe her words at first. It wasn't like her to take a step back, and to do so even after what happened to both Jemima and Clara - that takes a lot of strength. It settles me to know that Tsuna did such a thing.
"I have to admit to you, Katlego, that some years ago, I told someone that you were complicit in the violence of witchfinders for your reluctance to fight back. Your friend Áine fiercely stood up for you and told me you were just honouring your mother's beliefs. Family and honour are important where I am from, and I understand why you are the way you are. I should have understood without your friend having to tell me that. I am greatly sorry for the way I treated you, Katlego. Nothing I can do can make up for what I did."
"You already have."
"You tried to do something the way I would have done it, and you saw why I do things the way I do them. You saw the error of your ways and you took me back in. You've already made up for it, Tsuna."
Áine...I miss her. She helped greatly back in the day when we first met, and I've always valued her for that. To know that she is in Glimmerbrook fills me with excitement - I would love nothing more than to see her again after all this time. I feel the last time we met, her daughter was only a toddler. She must be a teenager now. How time flies.
"Do you know what became of Áine since she arrived in Glimmerbrook?"
"She's still here. She lives in the settlement just the other side of here. She's began teaching magic alongside Owen Annorin, that physician who killed Lord Volpe."
She's here? Not just her, but Owen, also?
"It's been so long since I've seen either of them, Tsuna. They've both done so much for me - more than I feel I deserve."
"Don't be ridiculous, Katlego," she says. "You and Ellie deserve the world and more. Why don't you go and visit her? I hear there's a couple of Mischief casters amongst the students who could do with a teacher."
What an opportunity that could be - to actually have people I can teach my magic to! We may not be as common as your typical Practical and Wild casters, but they will still need someone to show them the ropes like any other spellcaster. I ought to drop my old friends a visit. It would be wonderful to meet some more people with my abilities. Maybe I can teach them that there are ways to use their power without causing harm. Maybe they feel the way I once did.
"Thank you, Tsuna - for everything."
Owen
Most of the settlement are stood outside, staring into the sky in a combination of fear and amazement. What could possibly be up there that's left them so amazed? A flying pig?
"What is that? Is it a - Oh! Oh, it's incredible!"
"It's terrifying!"
"It's - that must be - Owen, come quickly!"
It isn't until Xander calls me that an overpowering sense of excitement fills my stomach.
I have felt strangely empty without her presence in my mind; to feel her presence soothes me. It feels as if I have a part of myself back again. With a bit of a struggle, I make my way to the others and watch as Valravn prepares for a landing. It's a mesmering moment every time I see it, and never loses the wonder it gave me when I first saw it at the trial.
There seems to be someone atop her back - and as she lands, covering everyone in a thick layer of snow once again, I realise it's Áine's daughter Róisín...how on earth did Róisín convince Valravn to take her all the way here? I didn't think they ever knew each other.
Everyone's reaction to the rumoured gryphon is to be expected - the gryphon who helped to stop Lord Volpe. Everyone mutters about her majesty. Aziza exclaimed something about her resemblance to an ancient god before falling unconscious into the snow.
Róisín charges into her mother, embracing her.
"Mother! I've missed you so much! I have so much to tell you about!"
The sight of them both makes me realise just how long it's been since I saw my own children...
Valravn lowers her head towards me, gently swishing her tail. I give her the closest thing I can give her to a hug, and her fur and feathers are warm against my cheek.
I missed you too, Owen. I'm glad you are okay.
It's a pleasure to see you again, Valravn.
"There it is - it's true! I can't believe my eyes! I thought they were dead for hundreds of years!"
"It looks just like an ancient god from home come to life...So beautiful and majestic..."
"Now I want a pet gryphon as well."
There's a wash of anxiety over me. I think she's a bit overwhelmed.
"Everyone, this is Valravn, my good friend and familiar. She won't hurt you. Can I ask if you could give us a moment?"
Everyone heads back to their duties, and Valravn calms down, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.
Don't you dare! That's our livestock!
She backs up a little, trying not to look at the terrified goat.
I'm glad you are doing well. You look like you're surviving the winter nicely.
What?! Whatever is that supposed to mean?
It's a compliment!
A rather backhanded one, at that...
Nothing backhanded about it. You were skin and bones and skipping meals for the sake of work when I saw you last. Anyhow, Róisín - she's a lovely girl, isn't she?
And how did you get to know her?
She's been helping Lydia out at the mansion. She's been using her healing magic to help with the surgery patients.
Valravn grasps my feelings immediately. There are so many things wrong with what she's just said that I don't know where to start.
And Lydia allowed this to happen?! Did she not think about what happened to me? I'm a forty-one-year-old man and plenty capable of defending myself. She's a sixteen-year-old girl!
She has me to protect her, Owen. We've had very little trouble with me around - besides, the witchfinders know they won't get any treatment if they try anything.
So many things could go wrong. I don't get it - why would Lydia go as far as to get Róisín involved. If she doesn't mention this to her mother, then I may have to.
Valravn, I can't let Lydia continue with this. Risking ourselves is one thing, but not the life of a teenager.
All Róisín wants to do is help people with her abilities, Valravn says. Believe it or not, it's the safest place for her. It's either that, or she takes to the streets with reckless abandon trying to protect people.
All it takes is one potentially-dangerous patient to recognise her, Valravn!
As much as I love teaching the students, I may have to return home and try and put a stop to this. At least it will give me a chance to see my children again.
Áine
I feel like the luckiest woman alive to see my darling daughter again. She looks healthy and joyful, and is in awe at this little settlement.
"What's this place?"
"This is the magic school. Owen and I teach the students here - including some of your friends."
"This is so wonderful! Just imagine - one day, every young witch could be learning here."
It would be wonderful. It will take time, but eventually, I like to think that every witch would send their child here to study under us...though I still need to think about Practical magic, and the few Mischief-casting students we have. If only Katlego were still in Glimmerbrook - she would probably enjoy having someone to finally talk to about her own magic who would understand it.
Looking at my daughter's childlike curious eyes instills a chilly guilt inside of me.
"My dear, I apologise for having not written to you. I've been terribly busy, and that's no excuse."
"I understand, Mother. I've been busy too. I was helping Katlego delivery medicines. I also met a man named Gideon Reyes who worked alongside your father when he was still a witchfinder- he said he was furious when he found out what he'd done to..."
The man who worked alongside my father when he was a witchfinder is still alive? And this man now knows my daughter?
"How did you meet this man?"
"I had to deliver one of Kat's remedies to him. He seemed like he'd definitely left it in the past, and told me about I helped Aunt Clem and the refugees at the monastery as well."
"I hear from your grandfather that you saved her life. I'm glad that your Aunt Clem is still alive, but - just go careful with your magic, won't you?"
"I am, Mother, don't worry. I've actually been helping out Lydia, the surgeon - Owen's wife. All of her apprentices couldn't handle the job, so I deal with some of the patients - I use my healing magic to seal their wounds. I've only healed two patients so far, but-"
What? Those patients could be anybody! The Annorin family have no choice in who receives care!
"Róisín, all it takes is one witchfinder to come your way! Why did Lydia put you up to this?! Does your father know about this?"
Róisín shrivels up a little. "Yes, he does. In fact, he agreed to Lydia to let me help her."
"He what?!" Róisín, this isn't safe for you in the slightest! You know what happened to Owen, don't you?"
"Of course I know! I was one of the people that defended him at his trial! What would you rather me do - be outside trying to defend the witches? I have mansion walls and a gryphon to protect me! What, do you want me to just do nothing and let the witches kill everyone?"
"All I'm trying to do is keep you safe! Why can't you see that?"
"Why can't you stop treating me like I'm a little child?! Your own father tried to prevent you from using your magic as a child and now you're trying to do the same to me! The same thing happened to my father, and look at how well that went for Aunt Clem! Father is just trying to do for me what his own father didn't do for him! I'm tired of being held back!"
"Don't you dare compare me to my father!"
"My abilities can help people, Mother! I can't just hide them and never use them and let people die! I can't just act like I don't have magic and then hurt somebody when I finally find the wolf!"
I put a hand to her shoulder, and she tries to shrug me off.
"Please - I don't want to lose you. You still have your whole life ahead of you. I'm not trying to be difficult-"
"Yes, you are! I came here excited to see you, thinking you'd be proud of me for all the help I've given people - but no, it's not enough!"
Her words cut straight through my heart. Does my own daughter really think that I'm not proud of her?
"I will always be proud of-"
"Whatever. I have to be back before the sun goes down. I'm sorry I thought of you."
"Róisín- you get back here!"
In spite of my demands, she throws the fence doors open, nearly hitting Owen with one of them, gets on Valravn's back, and flies off into the distance. Owen stands and watches as the two eventually fade into nothing.
"Áine, I will be heading back to Henford as soon as I feel up to the journey."
What does he mean? What about the school?
"Who's going to teach the students?"
"The question you should be asking is, what's going to happen to your daughter if she keeps doing what she's doing? I'm going to have to have a word with Lydia."
Daniel
I invite Maddie over for supper. She has been living with the other two in a place they're renting with the money they make from fishing. She seems to be getting on pretty well, and even seems the tiniest bit less abrasive than usual.
I don't doubt what Róisín is telling me, but I do feel as if she may have gotten the wrong end of the stick somewhere. I know Maddie, and I know she would never do anything without reason. Even if the reasoning is beyond my understanding, Maddie would never try to hurt anyone for nothing at all.
"Do you remember the girl from the monastery?"
"Róisín? Of course I remember a girl who healed a stab wound shut within twenty seconds. Why?"
"She says she healed a man without magic that had a huge sword cut across his chest. He says a young blonde female witchfinder in her thirties with a 'cocky personality' was responsible, and according to her, said it was for no reason at all - which I don't believe for a-"
Maddie nearly swipes the food off the table.
"James! That bastard! He survived?!"
"Who?"
"He's a witchfinder - one of Volpe's most loyal. Tried to attack me when I told him everyone who still followed Volpe was an idiot! I thought I'd left him for dead! Damn it! That lying son of a whore!"
My hands begin to shake. So this man lied to Róisín about Maddie. It makes complete sense to me that Maddie would try to kill a witchfinder purely based on the fact that she thinks he's an idiot. I believe her entirely.
"And now this witchfinder knows she has magic in her blood."
"Look, don't get me wrong - there are dogs with more brains than James, but he's tenacious. Do you know anything about her family?"
"My partner is her uncle, and Mother Clementia is her aunt. Her mother and father don't live in Henford anymore, I don't think."
"Dan, please do not doubt my integrity," she says, in a strangely-pleading voice. "I wouldn't have killed a Jacoban if I wasn't serious about trying to change my ways."
"I don't doubt that for a second."
"That girl isn't safe at all, and it's my fault. I should have made sure he was dead."
I dread to think what kind of sick things witchfinders would do with someone with healing magic...and if it only relies on the power of the Moon, and the Moon isn't out - they'll realise she's not quite as useful as they'd hoped.