Willow Witch

by Patty Jansen

  She could still feel the moment his lips touched hers. Her overwhelming reaction had been one of disgust, and then fascination. Wanting to know more, but knowing that the knowledge was forbidden until she was married. She had never questioned what he was doing there or why he had fled so quickly.

  Or why the memories made her feel hot.

  Now that she was married, any thought of him was fraught with danger. If she came face-to-face with him here, he might bring up their nightly encounter at the palace. So mysterious, dangerous, inappropriate . . . Whatever she did, those thoughts would just not die.

  You’re better off never seeing him again, said the little voice inside her that sounded like Nellie.

  She clamped the pillow over her head. She didn’t want to think about him. She never wanted to see him again. Why couldn’t she just go back to sleep like Roald?

  Johanna forced herself to calm down, but those thoughts would not go away. Roald snored and kept jiggling his leg. The mattress was so soft that she kept sliding into him. Johanna tossed and turned and grumbled under her breath that she was going to sleep on the floor, all of which had precisely no effect. She might as well have been talking to a sack of grain for the notice he took of her.

  Eventually she fell back asleep when a faint glow of dawn coloured the little strip of sky she could see between the curtains, and a few birds made tentative warm-up noises for the morning chorus. She woke up with a shock when the sunlight flooded into the room. She rolled onto her back and lay staring at the plaster flowers on the ceiling.

  Oh, by the heavens, her head felt like it was stuffed with wool.

  This sleeping in the same bed thing would have to improve a lot or she was going to get her own bedroom. A blackbird sang on the roof with another one answering further away. There were no city noises, and no noises from within the house.

  Someone walked crunch, crunch, crunch on the gravel of the drive.

  Roald gave a startled snore.

  Johanna threw back the cover with more vigour than necessary and pushed the heavy curtain aside, but it was only the stablehand Karl carrying a bucket of scraps down the lane, out to the chicken coop. The sky was soft blue and sunlight beat down on this side of the house, edging Karl’s hair in a golden glow. He had sail ears.

  Johanna let the curtain fall and went in search of her clothes. Would the duke expect her to wear his dress again today? She picked up the heavy fabric, cringing at the stiffness of the bodice. The farm dress which she had worn since the day after the burning of Saardam needed mending and washing, and she couldn’t imagine wearing that to breakfast with a duke, especially if Kylian might be there.

  Kylian.

  Now, in the brightness of morning, it seemed like a dream that she had even seen him. She must have been mistaken. After all, if the duke had tried to kill Kylian’s father, and even Roald had learned of that plot while he was in Burovia, why would he visit the duke’s castle alone in the middle of the night?

  Because Kylian wants his father killed as well?

  So—to sum up: the burning of Saardam was an attack on Baron Uti after several failed assassination attempts by his half-brother. The burning was magical, and she had seen and felt Kylian’s magic. He could have—no, he couldn’t. The fire demons had been leaping over the roofs before Kylian ran. He could never have been in control of those beasts all the way from the palace.

  That was a comforting thought. See? Kylian had nothing to do with it. Maybe even the baron had nothing to do with it. They were just guests of the royal family.

  Oh, her head hurt from thinking about all this. Why didn’t Roald worry about all this? Why did he lay there snoring when she couldn’t sleep? Worse, why did she let this stuff keep her awake?

  She should go and check on Loesie.

  Never mind the duke’s fancy clothes, she flung on her old farm dress and went to the door.

  “You need to help me.” Roald had gotten out of bed and stood with his arms wide, like a doll wanting to be dressed up.

  Johanna whirled around. “Can’t you dress yourself at all?” Seriously, he expected her to be available for him, kept her awake all night with his snoring and expected her to dress him as if he were a toddler?

  He managed to look confused.

  “It’s not that hard to learn. I have to go and check Loesie.” She went out the door and she had to do her best not to slam it.

  As she entered the corridor, Nellie just came up the stairs, looking awfully awake. “Oh, I was just going to check if you were up yet.”

  “How is Loesie?”

  “Still asleep. I left her like that. No need to wake her up.”

  “You’re very cheerful, Nellie.” Way too cheerful after such a night.

  “Isn’t the weather nice today?”

  “Uhm . . . yeah?” Have you forgotten that we have an exorcism to do today, somewhere in that horrible forest? “How long have you been downstairs?”

  “I got up just after sunrise, as I normally do. I went in search of a chapel or shrine for prayers of thanks that we’ve survived so far. I couldn’t see any in the house so I went into the garden. I met a very helpful young man there—”

  Kylian. “Did he have hair the colour of autumn leaves? And chestnut brown eyes?”

  “Why, yes, he did. Do you know him?”

  “He’s Kylian prince of Gelre, Baron Uti’s son.”

  Nellie’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”

  “Do I ever kid?”

  “All the time, Mistress Johanna.”

  “When it’s serious?” Then she thought about something else. “What did you tell him about us?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did you tell him where you are from and how we got here?”

  “Well, he wanted to know, so I said we came through the forest.”

  “Did you give him our names?”

  Nellie’s cheeks had gone bright red. “No, I didn’t. You said that we shouldn’t, days ago, so I didn’t.”

  “Did he ask?”

  “He asked if I was alone and I said that a few friends had come with me. Is there a problem, Mistress Johanna? Why do you mistrust people so?”

  Johanna really, really didn’t like Nellie’s red cheeks. That was a sure sign that something was going on.

  “Is he downstairs at breakfast?”

  “Oh no, he said he had to go.”

  Go where? “He didn’t even speak to the duke?”

  “I don’t know. Why are you asking me all these things? I don’t know anything. I met him, I talked to him briefly. He was kind and I had no reason to question him.”

  “Did the duke say anything about his visit?”

  “No, he didn’t.” She gave Johanna another what do you need to know this for stare. “Anyway, breakfast is ready.”

  “I’ll check on Roald.” Because he hadn’t come out of the room either. And someone needed to wake up Loesie or bring her some breakfast.

  Johanna went into the bedroom where it smelled of male sweat. Roald sat helpless on the bed, looking at his shirt which he held in white-knuckled hands on top of his knees.

  “Come on, let’s go to breakfast. The duke is expecting us downstairs. Are you hungry? There will probably be honey.”

  He said nothing and that was strange, because the mention of honey should have him jumping at the door.

  “Roald?”

  A sob.

  Johanna closed the door and crossed the room to him. He sat with his shoulders hunched. When she knelt in front of him, he pressed his balled fists to his face, still clutching the shirt.

  “What is the matter?”

  He wailed. “Y
ou’re angry with me.”

  “I’m not angry with you.”

  “Yes, you are!”

  “Shhh, quiet. Behave like a prince. You don’t want people to hear that you’re crying.” Or worse, Kylian to realise who was upstairs and tell the duke.

  “I don’t care. You’re angry with me. I’m a bad husband.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “Yes I am!” He was swaying from one side to the other as if in a trance.

  “Roald, please.” She eased the shirt from his hands, forcing him to look at her by manoeuvring herself into his line of vision. She grabbed his shoulders so that he would stop that horrible swaying.

  His eyes focused and widened.

  “Don’t do that, please.”

  He said nothing. His entire body shook with sobs.

  “Keep calm. No one is angry with you.” Please, keep yourself together. I need you to be calm.

  She closed her arms around his shoulders. The naked skin felt cool to the touch. “Come, hold your hands out. I’ll help you put on your clothes.”

  Roald calmed a bit, but his hands still trembled. One day, she would teach him how to dress himself, but for now, it wasn’t worth worrying about. Johanna wrestled him into his shirt and jacket. The farm clothes he had worn coming here were too dirty to wear to a duke’s breakfast. She would ask if their clothes could be washed.

  Not much later they both met Nellie in the corridor. While Nellie wore the duke’s dress, Johanna had opted to stay in her old farm clothes.

  Nellie’s face was disapproving. “Mistress Johanna, are you going to breakfast like that?”

  “I don’t trust this man and until I know where all these expensive clothes come from, I’m not going to wear them anymore.”

  “They used to belong to his wife. He told me.”

  And where was his wife now? The ice cellar?

  She didn’t want to think about it. She needed the duke to return Loesie to her normal form, but after that, they’d be out of here as soon as possible.

  In the dining room, they found the duke alone at the dinner table. The dour-faced woman had just brought in a tray with boiled eggs, jam, bread, yellow butter and honey, which she was setting out on the table.

  Everyone sat down in the same positions as last night.

  The duke smiled at her. “I hope you slept well.” Like this, he looked so much like a friendly old man that it was easy to see how Nellie was fooled into trusting him.

  “There was a lot of noise outside the window last night,” Johanna said. “I heard a horse coming up the drive.”

  “Karl the stablehand goes out to swim the horses most mornings.”

  And he was going to lie about it, too.

  “Nellie said you had a visitor?”

  “Did she?”

  Nellie’s cheeks went red. “I met this nice young man this morning when I went in search of a chapel or shrine.”

  “Oh, that was just my nephew.”

  “He arrived in the middle of the night?”

  “He comes here at all hours so often I almost consider him part of the furniture.” The duke chuckled. Johanna studied his face, but saw no sign that he considered this an uncomfortable subject for discussion.

  “Did he bring any news? Did he come from Florisheim?”

  “He did. He says that many refugees are still arriving in town and things are a bit crowded over there. I’m sending some people with him to help keep the order.”

  “People from Saarland?”

  “Yes, many, and also Estland.”

  “We’d like to join them as soon as possible.”

  “It would be unwise to travel into the forest with your friend in this state.”

  “We were going to do something about that today, right?”

  “Yes, certainly.” He looked uneasy. “Understand, though, that exorcism is not a precise science. Even if she is completely cleared, there is some danger of lingering traces of magic. There are bands of rogue magicians in the forest. There are people who would kill you and eat you. I’m not even talking about the ghouls and other magical creatures.”

  “You could send some bandits with us.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “They work for you, don’t they?”

  “They don’t. I pay them sometimes to keep an eye on who enters this area and what they are doing here. As you can see, we are only a few in this house and I am quite poor in health. I cannot ride anymore, and have to rely on others to check my lands. Our holding is very large and much of it is useless forest.”

  Johanna cast a sharp glance at Roald, in case he was going to divulge his vast knowledge about the Baron’s family’s sordid family details. She couldn’t help but think how he’d lain in bed under her, his eyes closed. It was scary and wonderful that she could do this to someone who was socially awkward and incapable of dressing himself.

  Roald remained silent.

  “What about your son?” After last night, Johanna hadn’t seen him anymore.

  “He cannot do these things alone. He has a need to go into the forest. His magic of living things needs him to roam in nature. I suspect he’s gone riding this morning.”

  Or maybe he just had a profound dislike for Kylian.

  “What are you going to do today?”

  “Yesterday, I was able to break some of the demon’s wards that affected your friend. What we’ll do today is try to coax the demon out of her.”

  “How does that work?”

  “There is passive coaxing, which we tried yesterday with the wine. Demons love wine. Unfortunately, they’re usually determined to stay where they are. Sometimes they’ve been inside that person for such a long time that they’re afraid to come out. At other times they’re under specific orders to stay. Just offering something they like doesn’t always have the desired effect.”

  “Vomiting spiders? Is that a desired effect?” Johanna shuddered.

  “It is part of breaking a ward that magicians often use to secure their demons. Really, child, you know so little about magic. It is a wonder you have survived the trip here.”

  I’m not a child. “Then tell us.”

  “Well, it is like this: magic belongs to nature. It resides in wood, in water, in wind, in the soil—”

  “In fire?”

  He gave her a sharp look. “Yes, fire, too. The original people with those kinds of magic lived on land where the elements displayed these types of magic. The magic itself is contained in lines that run through the land. They may be in the soil or in the water or in the air. The creek you would have followed for much of your journey has a strong water magic line. The people who lived on its banks and drank its water became imbued with magic, which they passed on to other generations. But as people move around more, magic has become muddled. People from different estates have moved elsewhere and intermarried.”

  The sour-faced maid came in, asking if they had finished eating.

  “Yes, take all the plates away.”

  “We need some breakfast for our friend who is still upstairs.”

  “Certainly.” The maid set aside a plate with two thick slices of bread and a little jar of jam.

  The duke waited until she was gone. “On this estate, we have water lines crossing with earth lines and tree lines. My grandfather built the living tunnels that lead up to the junction. Everything converges in this one point. He was such a strong tree magician that to this day, the trees obey his spells.”

  A chill went down Johanna’s back. Was tree magic the same as willow magic?

  “And this junction is where we have to take Loesie?”

  “It
is, because that is where I can best tap the magic that I need to fully drive the demon from her soul. Let us go.” He picked up his walking stick and used it to push himself from the table. Nellie tried to assist him but he would have no help. “What do you think I am? An old man?” He smiled and winked at her.

  He shuffled into the hallway, where he started explaining to Roald about all the portraits that hung there and who was related to whom and who had built which part of the house.

  Johanna and Nellie climbed the stairs to get Loesie. Nellie was carrying the plate with the bread and the jam.

  Behind them, the duke’s voice echoed in the cavernous hall. “. . . and then that one over there, that’s my great-grand-uncle Willem, who bought the neighbouring landholding . . .”

  “Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” Johanna asked in a low voice as soon as they were in the upstairs corridor.

  “I thought you knew about all this magic?”

  “I know enough to know that I know nothing. Should we trust him?”

  “It seems to me that if there is anyone who can help the poor girl, it’s this man.”

  “I’m not so certain that he does it to help us. He wants the demon, and I’m worried about what he wants to do with it.”

  “He told us: study demons. He’s certainly a bit odd, but I can’t see him doing any harm. He’s an old man, and not good of health. You’re very distrusting, Mistress Johanna.”

  “Well, yes. I want to like him. He seems a nice old man, But Roald told me that the duke has tried to murder his half-brother Baron Uti a few times and . . .” She hesitated, but could not bring herself to mention the bodies. Loesie needed to be helped. In her current state, Loesie was a danger to everyone, including herself. Loesie knew who had done this to her. Likely, Loesie knew who led the people who had burned Saardam, and telling Nellie what she knew might not only make Nellie afraid, but the knowledge might end up in places where it would be harmful. Kylian seemed to have a knack for extracting information out of girls.