The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy

CHAPTER 14 DATED DEFENSES

Kat had the chair she was sitting in pushed off onto its back two legs as Broghan pulled out a fresh piece of parchment while the next pair of women in line waited.

When he had returned, he hadn’t been able to rope anyone else into helping, but he had at least found servants that were able to gather a table and chairs for him and Kat as they took down the names of a shocking number of women present.

They were not quite halfway through the throng of females, and the dining hour was drawing closer.

“At this rate we might have to finish this tomorrow. Otherwise, we’ll miss Joshua’s match,” Broghan wearily noted as a shy young woman with her hair partially tied back finished scrawling her name on the sheet.

“Damn.” Kat sighed. “I mean … it’s a good thing this is the response my idea is getting. Though I have to admit that I’m surprised all these women aren’t being stopped by their family members.”

“Oh, we’re only allowed to learn until we marry.”

Both Kat and Broghan turned to face the young woman who had just finished writing her name down atop the fresh sheet of paper.

Under Broghan’s direct gaze, she blushed. It wasn’t the norm that a woman spoke without being first addressed by the man present in Troivack.

“You can only learn if you aren’t married? Because your husband is supposed to protect you, I’m guessing?” Kat reasoned with a raised eyebrow.

The young woman nodded.

“A-Actually.” The next woman in line, who appeared to be another noble, stepped forward nervously. She wore a plain beige dress with her black hair braided and pinned in a low bun. Her eyes were cast down demurely, and her hands properly clasped in front of her skirts.

“I’m already married, b-but I … I thought you … I thought you were amazing during your spars. I know I couldn’t possibly ever beat an elite knight, but … you just looked untouchable, and I wanted to … to feel that way.”

Powerful emotions surged in Kat’s chest.

There were feelings of pride and happiness, and best of all … the feeling as though everything she had tried to prove had worked.

Easing the legs of the chair she was seated in back down to the ground, Kat was just about to open her mouth to talk to the noblewoman more interestedly, when a shout broke out overhead.

“ELYSE!”

The woman to whom Kat had just been about to introduce herself to flinched, her shoulders rounding.

Pushing herself up to stand, Kat peered over the noblewoman’s head at none other than Lord Harriod Ball.

The man was red-faced as he glowered at the Troivackian woman, who slowly turned from Kat, her face tilted toward the floor. It didn’t take her long to deduce that the lord must be Elyse’s husband.

“I do not recall giving you permission to sign such a thing. Go back to our chamber. Now.”

It was instantaneous.

Kat’s blood reached a boiling point in less time than it took to draw a breath, and she was around the table and standing beside the woman named Elyse before anyone could react.

“You stay out of this.” Lord Ball’s eyes flashed dangerously toward Kat, already sensing that she was about to weigh in.

“It’s funny how you forgot to bow again, Lord Ball. I think I’ll have to report this to His Highness Prince Eric and His Majesty today.” Kat’s golden eyes were glowing like a beast’s.

Lord Ball, caught off guard by her comment, turned to face Kat more squarely. He had been anticipating her arguing with his order to his wife …

Her forcing him to bow while already furious was much, much worse, and she knew it.

He inclined himself to her. His eyes flashing dangerously as he did so.

“I’ll have your apology now for your rudeness, or I can take it up with His Majesty. Your choice.” Kat’s voice was calm, but the heat rolling off her was a telltale sign that she was livid.

Lord Harriod Ball looked as though he were prepared to strike her.

The hall that had been filled with women talking excitedly amongst themselves fell deathly silent.

“I …” Harriod started, then needed to stop to swallow.

“Tell you what, Lord Ball. I’ll forget about the apology, but you let your wife finish her business here,” Kat interrupted him, and she observed a pulsing vein in his neck as well as at the center of his head, though this time she took no pleasure in seeing them.

No, she wasn’t in any sort of gleeful mood.

The lord leaned in closer to her, and as he did, Katarina’s former polite expression darkened to a glower.

“I can just as easily report you for your uncouth language the last time we spoke.”

Raising a disdainful eyebrow, Kat didn’t waver for an instant. “I suppose my husband would possibly have a few words with me about it … but you have far more to lose from the entire discussion that would be brought to light than I would. So, how do you want this to end today, Lord Ball? Keep in mind, I could just as easily challenge you to another duel right after your brother’s. Will you be as confident in that case?”

Oh, how the man loathed her with every inch of his being.

Lord Ball’s deranged gaze was fueled by the acid hatred that seared his insides.

“Elyse. Sign that damn paper and come with me. Now.”

His wife, trembling in her shoes, shook her head, and sent her silent tears dripping to the floor.

“N-No … I-I only … only meant to speak with … Lady Katarina. T-That’s all.”

Kat hadn’t remembered what bloodlust felt like in a while … but she felt it then. Potently.

Regardless of his wife’s submission, Lord Ball was far from placated. He snatched Elyse’s arm and hauled her alongside after him, making her stumble as she tried to keep up.

That is until a snarling hound lunged at the lord, making him half leap away.

Dana stood in the line of ladies, her dog Boots continued barking ferociously at him, and she made no move to stop him.

“Control your animal!” Lord Ball shouted at the young woman.

Dana didn’t cower as many of the women around her did.

No.

She glared, and she looked a great deal like her father when she did.

“I will have you apologize for your dog, Lady Dana, or I will—”

“What seems to be the problem here?”

Everyone turned and found none other than Brendan Devark and Alina Devark standing before them.

No one had noticed the arrival of the royals amongst all the drama.

Everyone dropped into a curtsy or bow—incredibly, even Boots stopped barking and lowered his head.

“Your Majesty, I was asking Lady Dana to control her dog as he had just attacked me,” Lord Ball informed his sovereign respectfully, though his face was still flushed in anger.

Alina looked at the dog, who sat down and peered up at her with a sweet head tilt.

“He seems well-behaved to me.”

The lord didn’t look at the queen at first, but the shift in Brendan’s eyes had him rethinking that decision, and he bowed to her as well.

“You must have heard him barking—if not there are several witnesses here.”

Lord Ball gestured to the wall of women before him.

“Oh … I don’t know about that … Did anyone else here see anything?” Katarina’s loud voice rang sharply in the tense air as she casually strode past the women that still stood in line.

No one said a word. While most of the women kept their gazes averted, however, Kat was glad to see a number of the young women staring furiously at the nobleman.

In fact, one face that surprised Kat in particular … was Lady Sarah Miller, who stood in line beside Dana.

Lord Ball grit his teeth.

“Is there something wrong with your hand, Lady Ball?” Alina asked.

While the queen’s voice was soft, when her hazel gaze moved to Lord Ball’s grasp on Elyse’s arm, her expression turned icy.

Haltingly, Lord Ball released his wife’s arm and instead grasped her hand.

“Y-Yes, I’m fine, Your Majesty, thank you for asking,” the noblewoman managed to say despite still crying.

“Pardon us, Your Majesties, my wife and I were just on our way to prepare for dinner this evening.”

Brendan studied his vassal carefully. “Lord Ball, I’ve wanted to have a discussion with you in my office at some point. Would now be a bad time?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I’m afraid it would be. How about tomorrow morning?” Lord Ball was starting to look more in control of himself the longer he stood speaking to the king, whose indomitable presence didn’t leave much room for disrespectful attitudes.

The king nodded his chin vaguely. “I will see if Mr. Levin can make time for you.”

Lord Ball was about to bow and take his leave with his wife again, but Kat wasn’t through with him just yet.

“Lord Ball, I look forward to resuming our discussion in the near future.” She stood directly behind him and offered her hand to him.

He couldn’t ignore her.

The gesture indicated he bid her a proper farewell.

He released his wife and seized Kat’s extended hand, pinching her fingers brutally as he bowed and brushed his lips along her knuckles.

Which was precisely when Kat leaned in, lowered her voice to a hush, and said, “If you keep acting this way, one day you’ll find yourself with crushed balls, and you’ll be left regretting how you never took the chance to be a man when you could.”

Lord Ball’s gaze snapped up to hers.

Her expression told him she was fully prepared for him to snitch on her, and she was going to be sure to thoroughly drag him through every inch of mud she could if he did so.

He flashed a quick jeer at her, then turned around without another word.

However, Kat had seen it in his eyes.

Harriod Ball wanted to destroy her. No matter what.

Kat looked at the women present, and they all met her gaze in silent solidarity.

The witch nodded to them.

They nodded back.

Kat then regarded the king and queen who had just turned back after watching Harriod and Elyse Ball depart.

She bowed. “Your Majesties.”

“Lady Katarina, we came down to hear if any noblewomen came to sign up to learn self-defense,” Brendan called out to her while also moving closer with Alina clasping his arm.

“We have just about every available woman in the castle registering to join the lessons. These ladies here, we may have to resume collecting their names come morning, as we are running out of time and paper.”

Brendan frowned, which in turn caught Kat off guard. Why was he unhappy?

“I see … Perhaps conclude the collection of names for today, Lady Katarina. Given that Lord Ball is not available for a meeting, now would be a good time for you and me to share a few words.”

Unsure of what exactly the king could wish to speak to her about, Kat bowed in acceptance. When the royal couple turned back the way they came toward the nearest staircase, the redhead followed in their wake, though as she did so, she glanced over her shoulder at Broghan Miller, who still had rounded eyes from everything that had just transpired.

Kat shot him a half shrug as if to say Guess I’ll see you later and continued walking, though she did also give Dana a quick wink that had the young woman smiling in return.

Once in the king’s study, the trio seated themselves.

Alina leaned farther back in her seat than usual, however, with a wince.

“Back pain?” Kat asked sympathetically.

“Some,” Alina retorted glibly while Brendan cast a loving glance to his wife.

After getting comfortable and sighing, Alina turned to Kat. “So what actually happened with Lord Ball?”

Taking a deep inhalation, the redhead did her best to calm her ire. “Lady Elyse Ball was wanting to sign up for my lessons, and he came storming in, frightened the wine out of her, and then started dragging her off.”

“And you did nothing to antagonize him further?” Brendan asked with the unmistakable note of doubt in his voice.

“I pointed out when he was rude to me for no good reason and kindly offered that he didn’t have to apologize if he let his wife finish her business.”

Kat’s direct answer and lack of playful mischievousness told the royals that not only was she taking the situation seriously, but that she sincerely believed she had done the right thing.

“Kat … listen, I know it’s a hard thing to accept, but as things are right now? We won’t be able to persuade noblemen who don’t want their wives joining.”

“I beg your pardon?” Kat looked at her friend stonily.

“The only reason we are starting to sway the noblemen about their unmarried daughters? They’re trying to negotiate advantageous, hasty weddings. The men don’t want wives who go through the training. It’s up to the men to protect them, and the fathers of these women are more or less saying that they doubt any man can protect their daughters the way they can. It’s sparking a competitive marriage boon.”

Kat wanted to stand up and throw the chair she was sitting on.

“Then I won’t actually train any of these women because it’s all just to get them married? What even is the point to all this then?!”

“Not all of them are going to be able to get married. The ones who proceed with the lessons won’t be looked upon favorably, and once they start training, most will never have any future marriage prospects … But Kat, even knowing this, many of the women still have chosen to go through with it,” Alina explained with a hopeful note coming through her beleaguered tone.

Her hands gripping into fists, Kat stared levelly at her friend. “You knew this and didn’t tell me?”

“We just figured out what was happening at the meeting,” Alina defended herself wearily. Kat could see then that her friend was equally disappointed with the development.

“Let me guess. Duke Ickarse had something to do with it?”

Alina gave a brief snort of laughter and didn’t even bother chiding her friend. “Correct.”

“Regardless, this is a step in a good direction. The lessons bring into question women’s rights to choose for themselves, and even laws pertaining to their inheritances for the ones who become unmarriageable. Some may not have brothers to inherit their fathers’ titles,” the king added with a subtle hint of optimism.

Kat stared at Brendan dejectedly before dropping her chin to her chest. “I hate politics.”

“Good luck once you’re crowned queen,” Alina reminded her friend with an empathetic grimace.

Kat cringed and immediately shifted her thoughts away from the terrifying notion she still hadn’t wrapped her head around.

“I’m more worried about Lady Ball.” Alina looked at her husband. “I’m worried he’ll vent his anger on her horribly.”

Brendan surprised the two women before him then by shaking his head. “He won’t. Well … he’ll shout enough that I’m sure people will hear from the corridor, but to hurt one’s wife is to indicate you cannot protect their well-being. Even if you’re the one to inflict it, it shows a weakness of the mind. Lord Ball knows this.”

Kat stared doubtfully at the king.

Brendan met the look and added, “Did you note his reaction when Boots lunged at him?”

“You did see what happened!”

“He moved his wife behind himself instinctively,” Alina answered her husband, ignoring Kat’s realization.

Brendan nodded. “He’s angry, but he won’t harm her.”

“Well maybe not physically, but he doesn’t have the right to yell at her either!” the redhead snapped.

The king regarded the redhead with an uncharacteristic amount of patience.

“Things are changing, but I understand it is frustrating that they are not happening sooner.”

Kat fidgeted in her seat.

She still wasn’t satisfied.

However, she could tell that everyone was doing their best, and so … annoyingly enough … the only thing she could do was wait.

Though that didn’t mean she was through tormenting Lord Harriod Ball. Not by a long shot.