The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy

CHAPTER 21 A MEETING OF MAGICAL MEN

Fin eyed Mr. Kraft coolly as the carriage swayed back and forth.

Mage Sebastian sat on the opposite end of the bench and tried to not look at the fluffy black cat that watched him without blinking.

A dusting of snow lazily descended from the sky, its flakes occasionally made to glitter by the sun that was breaking through the rolling gray clouds above them.

“Mage Sebastian, how is your application to the court going?” the house witch asked calmly, though his gaze didn’t move to the coven leader in any great hurry.

“Ah, it … It is going very slowly, Your Grace. In light of the magical beast sightings and the recent attack, paired with the Witch’s Brew controversy, His Majesty thinks it’ll be best if we wait until these things are dealt with before we push my official appointment, though I have been permitted to sit in on the general council meetings and some of the inner council meetings, as the noblemen are at least willing to listen to my input.”

Fin raised an eyebrow and gave a slow smile. “Don’t worry. I think of Her Majesty as a close family friend, and if she wants you as her Royal Mage, I’m sure we can make something work out with everything going on.”

Both Mr. Kraft and Sebastian stiffened in alarm.

Was the duke aware he was insinuating that he had the power to move the entire Troivackian council to his will?

Seeing their reactions, Fin gave a mystifying smile, then glanced briefly at Kraken, who gave him a slow blink in response.

The carriage ride continued in silence for a little while longer, however, when the towers of Vessa gradually fell away and were replaced by frosted desert and snowcapped mountains, Fin observed the change of scenery curiously but didn’t say anything.

Meanwhile, Sebastian was openly studying the duke.

“Is there something you’d like to say?” Fin’s manner of speech turned casual, and it alarmed both the men into sitting up taller.

“It’s just … Your Grace, you are a bit of an enigma. You are powerless here in Troivack, and yet you don’t seem ill at ease. You are a hero and a noble who rose from a commoner status, and … and … you’re Lady Katarina’s father.”

The last part of his musings made Fin blink rapidly before reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “What’s strange about being her father?”

“I always assumed she’d just come into existence by an explosion of some kind, as she is now,” Sebastian replied before he could stop himself.

Fin chuckled, and while still smiling and shaking his head as his thoughts turned to his daughter, responded to the mage’s outburst, “I understand. Believe me, she has always made dramatic entrances. Even when we found out her mother was expecting, it was … quite the scene.”

“I can imagine,” Mr. Kraft added quietly.

Fin’s easygoing attitude pulled to a swift stop as his attention returned to the Aguas coven leader.

“I’ve heard from Leader Faucher you’ve been instrumental in helping my daughter control her abilities, but there was something I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”

Mr. Kraft frowned. “I’m not sure I understand, Your Grace.”

“You observed when you and I first met that my power feeds in an endless supply to the feelings and sentiments of those who share in my home. You say I theoretically had an endless power flow.”

Mr. Kraft’s eyes grew wide. “How did you … I said that to the former king! You weren’t anywhere near us when that conversation took place!”

“Well, our own coven leader at the time figured it out, but some of the Troivackian knights nearby had overheard you and relayed it to me later on.”

Mr. Kraft relaxed a little, as though he had been half expecting Fin to admit that while in his home, he was also omnipotent.

“What is it that I missed with Lady Katarina? I’ve already pointed out how she feeds on magic and the intentions of those around her and it makes her more powerful.”

“Can she redistribute what she absorbs?” Fin queried with feigned lightness.

“Well, that would … No. She would’ve said if she felt that!”

Fin raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Have you watched her try to fight with a group as opposed to one-on-one?”

“W-What?”

“I just happened to find something interesting yesterday as she was training the noblewomen … By the end of their lesson, they were all exhausted as they should’ve been after working out for the first time in their lives. Yet none of them were coughing in the cold as one would expect. None of them demanded water. While they were tired, they should have been in significantly worse shape. So it made me wonder … What if when the power is too overwhelming for Kat, is it possible she can redistribute to those she considers allies?”

Mr. Kraft’s jaw dropped.

“T-Then she’d be …”

“An irreplaceable asset in the military,” Sebastian said breathily, his eyes wide.

Fin nodded, his smile turning sad. “This is just a theory, but it does make the one question I saw that you wrote numerous times in your notes all the more interesting, Mr. Kraft. If Kat absorbs all the magical ability of another witch, including a curse, is she able to hold on to it and redistribute it?”

“T-The implications of such a power … Gods.”

“Yes. Then on the other side of this, as much as I refuse to accept this should it ever happen, if Kat should ever die while overusing her magic—which I’m given to understand with her ability to absorb magic endlessly, is highly unlikely—what kind of curse would she release?”

The two men sitting across from Fin sat in dumbstruck silence.

Given everything that had been going on in their kingdom, they had not given proper consideration to Katarina Ashowan’s growing powers. Nor the importance of forming answers on the theoretical limits of her magic.

Mr. Kraft had known when he’d first met the duke’s daughter that she was frighteningly powerful, but if she could absorb the entirety of someone’s magic and the subsequent curse … ? Well … she’d be considered one of the strongest witches to have ever lived.

The carriage pulled to a stop then, and so nothing else was said as the carriage door opened.

Stepping down from the vehicle onto the cobbled courtyard of a keep that was within a stone’s throw from Vessa, Fin peered at the three square towers and the large three-story wall that surrounded them.

“This is quite the well-protected place.” Fin’s eyes roved over the guards of the house patrolling the walls with loaded crossbows.

Sebastian and Mr. Kraft exchanged glances but didn’t comment on the duke’s observation.

Meanwhile, Kraken had leapt down from the carriage and began sniffing the air.

“This is an interesting place, witch.”

Fin nodded. “Should I be worried?”

Kraken sat down beside Fin, his magnificent chest fur fluttering in the wind. “Not yet. I’ll tell you if that changes.”

Beside the duke, Mr. Kraft and Sebastian stared at the legendary familiar, both with a mixture of disbelief that the feline was capable of defeating a dragon, but also aware that he bore a regality that warranted hesitation from the men.

However, their thoughts were interrupted when a noblewoman in her early thirties wearing a mustard-colored dress and a black fur cloak around her shoulders descended the steps of her keep.

Her wide, hazel eyes were striking alongside her otherwise Troivackian features, but the way she flit her gaze over Fin, he could tell his presence was both a surprise and unwanted.

“Mr. Kraft, Mage Sebastian,” she greeted with a quick curtsy, her breath coming out as vapor before her face.

She was a beautiful woman, though there were lines of stress around her mouth and eyes that suggested she had undergone trying times. Her dark hair with a few long strands of white was braided over her shoulder, and a small beauty mark flecked under her left eye.

“Lady Elena, our apologies for the impromptu visit and our guest, however … his presence was ordered by His Majesty.”

The noblewoman turned a questioning eye to the tall redhead.

“This here is Duke Finlay Ashowan of Daxaria.”

Lady Elena stumbled back a step.

“Your Grace, this is Baroness Elena Souros.”

Fin gave a dignified bow while Lady Elena had yet to recover from the shock of finding herself in the presence of the legendary house witch.

“Ah, and here is Kraken, my familiar,” Fin introduced while gesturing with his right hand to the cat, who let out a small chirp.

While Fin had generally grown accustomed to the various reactions he received throughout the years when people met him, he had to confess that Lady Elena was taking a lot longer than most to collect herself …

Mr. Kraft stepped forward. “Lady Elena, I understand this is a stressful time, and I know we have much to fear, but … the duke is here to help.”

Swallowing, the Troivackian noblewoman at last reclaimed her composure and dipped into a dignified curtsy.

“Welcome to my home, Your Grace.”

Fin bobbed his head in acknowledgment.

“Would you … like to come in?” Lady Elena bowed her head and moved to the side to make way for Fin to have a clear path to the entrance of her keep.

Smiling gently, the duke stepped over to the noblewoman. “I promise no harm will come to you, Lady Elena. I only mean to help discover more about Witch’s Brew.”

The woman stared up into Fin’s electrifying blue eyes, and while her facial expression didn’t change, she did let out a small breath that relaxed her shoulders.

She lowered her chin slowly, and Fin proceeded to offer her his arm.

The two started to make their way into her keep, leaving Mage Sebastian and Mr. Kraft to follow behind them.

Mage Sebastian leaned over to the coven leader. “I know you told me that the duke has a curse on him where he ages more slowly than others, but it’s easy to forget he is nearly fifty years old.”

Mr. Kraft looked at the mage out of the corner of his eye with an eyebrow raised. “At a time like this, that is what you are thinking about?”

“There is a lot to be curious about when it comes to the duke!” the mage fired back defensively.

Mr. Kraft let out a quiet breath. “The entire family is a lifetime supplier of fodder for magical studies, but … I’m curious to see what His Grace has to say about the Witch’s Brew and … well … the rest of Lady Elena’s keep.”

Mage Sebastian hesitated in his journey to the keep’s front doors. “We’re showing the duke the tunnels?”

“I’ve thought about it, and while the duke and I do not see eye to eye, I believe he will be interested to know what the Coven of Aguas has managed to do to protect our remaining members.”

Mage Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “You want him to offer the Coven of Wittica’s aid to help rebuild your own power.”

“I want to leave a proper legacy for the witches of Troivack, Mage Sebastian. It is a worthwhile endeavor. Regardless of my position, I only wish to see my kind live safely in their homeland, and if the duke has the power to persuade the inner council to accept you as the Royal Mage? Then he might be able to help the Coven of Aguas as well.”

The two men had reached the steps to the entrance and ascended them while still whispering to each other.

Only they were forced to halt in their tracks when the fluffy familiar belonging to the house witch sat in their path and stared up at them in the same unnerving way he had all day.

“Ah, pardon us.” Mr. Kraft gave a shallow bow and sidled around Kraken.

Sebastian cleared his throat and did the same.

Once the two men had left the cat behind, Kraken’s tail fluttered across the fine slate of the entryway.

The two guards at the door stared at him with frowns.

Kraken paid them no mind before he stood back up and sauntered toward the grand staircase with its bright red carpet running up the center.

Fin, Lady Elena, Mr. Kraft, and Mage Sebastian had gone around the staircase to another room to talk, but something piqued Kraken’s interest … a smell that was unlike most he had come across in his life.

He had a small hunch about what it could be, but he wanted to confirm the matter before telling his witch about it.

And so, unbeknownst to Lady Elena Souros, Kraken set to sleuthing out just what secrets lay within the extensively protected keep.