The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy

CHAPTER 32 GROWTH AND DECAY

Faucher stared down at Dana.

Piers, Dante, and Conrad stood behind him, while Lady Nathalie waited behind her daughter …

Kat lingered inconspicuously near the door of Faucher’s bedchamber.

She had greatly wished her presence for the family matter wouldn’t be necessary. Unfortunately, her silent pleas were ignored.

“Dana. Explain yourself.” Faucher was unable to growl; his emotions were too heady.

While Dana was looking uncharacteristically bold in her father’s presence, his question made her cheeks flush despite the chilly air.

“I joined Lady Katarina’s group to learn how to fight and defend myself.”

Faucher’s face drained of what little color it had. “Why?”

Dana looked at Kat, to which the redhead gave a tight-lipped smile and tilt of her head as if to say You should probably tell him.

“Because … Because I’m a Faucher too, and I’ve always wanted to learn. I-I just always knew you’d say no.”

Faucher turned away, unable to swallow the lump in his throat to make way for the words he wished to say.

“Why in the world was your dog pissing on Cleophus Miller’s boots?” Piers barked.

His mother straightened and cast her son a warning look for his uncouth language.

Dana’s eyes narrowed when she looked at her brother, which instantly had the man flinching in a mixture of surprise and uncertainty. “He was going to hurt Boots, and he was being rude.”

Piers considered her response—and his mother’s look. “Fair enough.” He then leaned over to look at Conrad, who stood on the other side of Dante. “You should have seen her. Everyone else was terrified of Sir Miller, but our little mouse over there stared him down.”

Conrad raised his eyebrows, impressed.

This interruption from his other children helped Faucher overcome his speechlessness as he rounded back on his daughter.

“You will have to apologize to Sir Miller.”

“I won’t.”

Faucher reared back at Dana’s quiet words as though she had struck him.

“He wronged me first and refused to promise not to hurt my dogs.”

Faucher’s eyes bulged from his head as he regarded his youngest child.

Kat began to sincerely worry that the poor man was about to have a heart attack.

“Dana. You are to go to your room and stay there until I decide on your punishment. And you are to cease attending Lady Katarina’s lessons instantly.”

“How is that fair?!” Dana exploded, further shocking her family. “Lady Katarina can learn, but I, your own daughter, can’t?”

“She is different! She’s a witch with strength that surpasses most men, and—”

“All the more reason for me to learn! What if something happens because I’m weaker and I need to defend myself?” Dana continued, though her hands that gestured in the air were trembling.

“Dana, you know that suggesting your father is incapable of protecting you is an insult,” Lady Nathalie reminded softly.

The young woman looked at her brothers, fury and pain bright in her eyes. “Then why do you all need to learn how to fight? Shouldn’t Father defend you too?”

“It’s different,” Faucher started to say, though his voice was thick.

“No! It isn’t! In fact … it’s even more important for me! What if after I get married, I’m widowed with no one to protect me? Or, or what if my husband is a beast who hurts me?!”

At mention of a man laying a hand on his daughter, Faucher regained some of his former ferocity and leaned closer to Dana, his dark eyes intent. “If a husband harms you, I will take every limb from his body.”

“What if it’s after you die?!” Dana persisted desperately. “Or what if he bars me in my own home? I can’t be protected from everything in the world, but I can at least know how to fight back for myself!”

Kat felt emotion flicker in her chest.

She had made such arguments time and time again with her own parents back when she wanted to learn swordsmanship … However, unlike herself … Dana had even better reasons than her own. Troivackian men expected subservient wives, and Dana didn’t have the magical power behind her, or in Alina’s case, a king for a father.

“Faucher,” Kat started, but the man snapped to her so quickly, it startled her into silence.

“I will get to you when I’m finished here.” The seething fury in his eyes was potent enough to make Kat recoil.

She had never seen him so livid with her.

“Kat didn’t do anything wrong! If anything, she … She’s helped! I know … I know now that I can feel a part of the Faucher family if I want! I can learn how to fight if I try hard enough. And … And …” Tears were already running down Dana’s face as she hollered at her father’s back. “And thanks to Kat, I know now that you do actually love me!”

Silence hung in the air as Faucher slowly looked back at his daughter.

His own eyes were becoming suspiciously wet in the wake of Dana’s words.

“Dana, are you mad?” Piers asked in awe. “Da loves you more than any of us.”

“I n-never knew that until recently though! I-I thought because I was a girl, I would never be enough!”

“Oh, Dana—” Lady Nathalie’s heartbreak over her daughter’s confession made her reach for her, but Faucher held up his hand, stopping his wife.

He stepped closer to Dana, staring down at her, a subtle quiver in his cheek.

“You … are … and always have been … the most important person in the world to me.”

Dana wiped her overflowing nose and eyes on her sleeve. “Then why—”

“I can’t lose you or see you hurt.” Faucher’s simple answer drew out a lone tear from his eye. “You’re the … the most precious part of this family.”

Unable to hold back her emotions to say any more, Dana broke down in a sob as her father pulled her into his arms.

The two stood embracing each other while the sons behind Faucher shifted uncomfortably.

While the emotional exchange between father and daughter was touching, Kat wondered how Faucher’s sons felt after hearing confirmation that their father favored their sister.

Were they jealous? Hurt? Or angry?

When she regarded them, Kat saw there was a sad acceptance in their features. They had always known, but it did still sting.

Though unlike his brothers, Dante had a knowing glint in his eyes that reminded the redhead he had two daughters of his own …

With things having resolved the way they had, Kat stealthily turned to the door while giving a nod toward Lady Nathalie before taking her leave.

Faucher could ream her out later.

For the time being though, the scene needed to belong only to Faucher family members.

Fin sat looking grim across from Lady Elena, his hands loosely clasped over his clean white tunic and navy coat.

The noblewoman wore a dark purple dress that day, her fine black fur cloak around her shoulders.

She stared at the Daxarian duke with increasing nausea and terror.

“T-The king is going to come and investigate the tunnels?”

Fin gave a single nod.

“When?”

“Most likely tomorrow. Guards are outside right now, however, and will enter once we finish speaking. I’m sorry, Lady Elena … but everything needs to be communicated if we are to have any chance at stopping what is coming.”

The noblewoman looked to the ceiling of the experiment room.

“I’m going to be arrested, aren’t I?”

Fin took his time answering. “Not necessarily. His Majesty is fair and acknowledges that witches had great reason to hide themselves. If you are compliant, he will look upon you favorably.”

“Will the Coven of Wittica help me?”

Fin sighed and leaned his elbows on his knees. “They might, but given that you aren’t a witch, it—”

“But I am a witch!” Elena burst out desperately.

Fin sat up in surprise. “You are? But why did you not—”

The two were interrupted by a mass of fluff streaking through the open door to the room.

“Fin! Fin! This woman is a witch! A mutated witch!” Kraken meowed excitedly.

“Uh, er, yes, she was just telling me about that … What about it?”

“Her familiar! I’ve been speaking to him. You must meet him!”

The house witch raised an eyebrow and glanced briefly at the noblewoman, who was frozen in place, as she had no idea what was being discussed between Fin and Kraken.

“What about her familiar?”

“Oh Gods. No,” Lady Elena uttered instantly, her eyes growing round.

Fin frowned at her alarmed tone.

However, before he could ask another question, he was distracted by movement near the doorway, and when he discerned what it was that had caught his eye, Fin’s mouth opened in wordless confusion.

He then glanced at Lady Elena to see if it was normal for such a creature to be in her home …

Her head was in her hand, making it difficult to discern.

“Lady Elena … given that you have just told me you are a witch … am I right in guessing that that is your familiar? I’m admittedly pretty tired today … so pardon me if I am wildly off my mark.”

Fin stared at the animal as it waddled closer.

“He’s even bigger than Fat Tony ever was …” Kraken marveled aloud.

When Lady Elena still hadn’t answered Fin, the house witch took it upon himself to shamelessly gape at the ginormous animal that had finally reached them and plunked itself down.

A tenuous laugh left Fin’s lips, though he tried to cover it by clearing his throat.

“L-Lady Elena …” he rasped. “Forgive me. I’ve never met a familiar quite like yours before …”

“You can laugh,” the woman responded at last, albeit with a slight groan.

Her reticent attitude made Fin bite the side of his tongue.

The familiar scratched its protruding gut.

The duke’s shoulders trembled helplessly.

He looked at Lady Elena, silently begging her forgiveness.

The noblewoman, with her cheeks flaming red, rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

“Yes … Your Grace … my … my familiar is indeed … a raccoon. His name is Reggie.”

The raccoon, wider than some dogs were tall, peered up at Fin, its black eyes studious and intelligent.

It chirped and held out a paw to the house witch.

Blinking, Fin reached out and gingerly shook the racoon’s offered paw before leaning back in his seat, crossing his arms, and pursing his mouth.

“My ability,” Lady Elena started with a sigh. “Is garbage and decay. As a mutated witch, I am able to make mold grow on any organic plant matter, or have it decay instantly, and I am able to naturally identify what is valuable and what is naturally garbage.”

Fin nodded along, still struggling with the fact that he had just given a handshake to a raccoon.

With great effort, he tried to think of another possible implication for Elena’s abilities.

“Are you able to kill humans and animals with your ability?”

“I’ve never tried.” Elena shook her head adamantly.

Fin wasn’t entirely sure he believed her as she shifted uncomfortably, but he figured Brendan Devark would be asking her the very same question soon regardless.

“So that is one of the reasons Mr. Kraft revealed to you the details of the study of Witch’s Brew?”

“Yes. The moldy blue spots on the mushrooms? He wondered if I would be able to re-create it.”

“And? Can you?”

“No. I can keep it alive once it is removed from the mushrooms, which is how we managed to transfer it to the tomato you ate, but I cannot re-create it. The mold itself, from what I understand, is even more mystifying in nature. It’s a different kind of decay … After a while, when it completely consumes whatever it has been growing on, the item dissolves to nothing. Most mold is a part of decomposition, but the whole fruit or vegetable doesn’t just disappear.”

Fin rubbed the back of his neck. “And it’s the mold that is responsible for the transportation of the soul … Now I guess we need to know what the mushroom does.”

“Oh, I can answer that. Thanks to Kraken, I was able to study it using my abilities, and I learned that it kills your body slowly and creatively.” Elena perked up with renewed energy as she recalled the details of her recent discovery.

Fin balked. “Creatively killing them? How do you mean?”

“I think the mold forces the soul through a particular portal in the Forest of the Afterlife, one that maybe is linked to where the mushroom itself grows. It could be that the mushroom forces the body to shut down so that the soul is able to pull free more easily to be transported. However, because some people have a higher tolerance for drugs, and their doses vary, not everyone who ingests Witch’s Brew dies.”

“How is it that the people who consume it are able to absorb a small amount of a nearby witch’s power?”

“I’m not completely clear on that one … It could be that anything magical nearby simply gets drawn toward the person responsible for creating a portal to the Forest of the Afterlife as a result of their drug use,” Lady Elena theorized, but from the look on her face, she wasn’t confident.

Fin shook his head in awe. “Gods. The more we learn of this drug, the more terrifying it is. Kraken? What was it about Lady Elena’s familiar you wanted to discuss?”

The fluffy feline purred. “About time you remembered I was here. Reggie was just telling me that the familiars in the tunnels are all talking about how they can sense sirins close by.”

Fin stood up in alarm.

Sirins.

The final mystical elemental beast from the Forest of the Afterlife aligned with air …

“Lady Elena, you need to take me down into these tunnels straight away.”

The noblewoman rose to her feet, uncertain of what was happening, when a knock on the open door drew their attention.

“Duke Ashowan?” A steward serving the baroness bowed. “I have received word from a messenger from the castle that your wife, the duchess, has arrived in Vessa.”

Fin’s heart dropped to his stomach.

For a moment, he found himself utterly frozen in place, unable to move.

Luckily, Kraken was there to help snap his poor witch out of his trance.

“Come along, you overgrown kitten. Time to go meet your mate and tell her everything. I promise to keep your side of the bed warm the next few nights after she kicks you out, so don’t fret too much. Though sadly, I think these tunnels will have to wait.”