The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy

CHAPTER 39 TEATIME

Ihaven’t seen him eat, but I may order that I be privy to the event. There just has to be an explanation.”

“Brendan.”

“Lady Elena insisted that even if she didn’t feed him, he found other means of getting into anything and everything, so she simply ensured he ate healthy items. What purpose could a familiar have being so large? How would it theoretically help his witch?”

“Brendan, I swear to the Gods. You need to stop talking about this raccoon.”

The king and queen of Troivack were strolling toward the throne room that had been converted to a space where Alina could hold a luncheon with the Troivackian noblewomen of the court.

While the queen had been delighted at first that she would get to spend a few extra minutes with her husband that morning, she found her good mood swiftly plummet as talk of Lady Elena’s rotund raccoon familiar dominated the conversation.

“Alina, once you see him, you will understand what a perplexing creature he is. I didn’t even know raccoons could live in Troivack. I’d only ever heard of them in Daxaria,” the king insisted with his usual stern tone.

“I really … sincerely, do not need to meet this raccoon.”

“But—”

“Brendan? I love you, but I think we have enough on our plates right now without trying to solve the mystery of a raccoon’s digestive abilities.” Alina turned and clasped the king’s hands in her own, her gaze imploring.

The Troivackian king took a breath, and for a dreaded moment Alina wondered if he was going to insist that they keep discussing the matter, but luckily, he decided that it wasn’t the time to argue.

Instead he said, “Are you confident about the meeting with the noblewomen?”

Alina smiled beautifully and looked down at their clasped hands. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I think. I can’t keep holding them off—I’m sure I’ll hear a jibe or two about how it’s taken me this long already.”

“Be sure to lean on Lady Sarah should you wish to rest,” Brendan ordered firmly.

“I will. It’s quite fun seeing her so excited about something for once.” Alina turned back toward their destination and resumed walking.

“She was handpicked by my mother to lead the young women of Troivack,” Brendan mused thoughtfully.

However, his words made Alina pause in her journey once more and round back to her husband.

“Brendan … Did your mother want you to marry Lady Sarah?”

The king stiffened and refused to meet his wife’s eye.

Alina laughed softly. “I should’ve known. It’s alright. I’m not angry, and Lady Sarah has always conducted herself respectfully.”

Relaxing with relief, the king gently tugged his wife back along, deciding that he should remain silent until they parted to avoid getting himself in trouble.

Upon reaching the throne room, the royal couple straightened their postures and forfeited all emotion from their faces as the guards saw to opening the doors to reveal the transformed space. Now filled with noblewomen, the room was brightened by round tables adorned with shimmering gold tablecloths, fresh greenery, and gleaming cake towers ladened with desserts and sandwiches.

The women all rose and curtsied to their king and queen.

“Good day. I trust you all will conduct yourselves well in the company of your queen,” Brendan greeted gruffly.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the ladies chorused.

Pleased with the response, Brendan nodded, then gave a slight bow to Alina before excusing himself.

Ladies Sarah and Wynonna rose from their seats and guided Alina to her seat at the farthest table, which was the only one that sat in the middle of the room.

Once standing in front of her ornate dark wooden chair, Alina faced the room.

“I thank you all for coming to this event. It has been a meeting I have longed to do since arriving in Troivack, but given affairs out of my hands, His Majesty felt it was best to delay. I look forward to getting to know you all a bit better today.” Alina held out her hand at the end of her speech for a goblet to be placed in her grasp. She was already feeling a small warning rattle in her lungs. She had forgotten to talk to Kezia about magically setting up the amplifying bowls. “To Troivack!” Alina toasted as loudly as she dared.

“To your health, Your Majesty!” Lady Sarah added while accepting a goblet of her own from a footman and sweeping into a curtsy.

The rest of the nobility present murmured the same while curtsying again.

Once that was finished, Alina nodded, satisfied. She proceeded to sit and tuck herself in close to the table.

Given that she was meant to form connections with the women she was not yet familiar with, she had Lady Sarah and Lady Wynonna sit farther from her, and Lady Kezia was seated at another table entirely.

Instead, on Alina’s right was Lady Camille Selby, and on her left, Lady Elyse Ball.

Two women who were known to be more neutral in their opinions of the new Troivackian queen.

The meal passed by pleasantly enough with polite conversation being made, but by the time the young women were starting to mingle around the grand room, Alina was suspicious.

No one had approached her, but they all seemed chatty enough with one another …

They are either afraid to talk to me or don’t want to bother. I’ll never be able to appeal to them while they avoid me.

Well … there was a way to start engaging people. Though Alina had hoped it wouldn’t have had to come to it.

“Lady Camille, I hear your daughter, Miriam, is partaking in Lady Katarina’s lessons. How is she finding them?”

The quarter of the room that heard Alina’s question fell silent.

Lady Camille Selby, with her long face and lined, puffy eyes, regarded the queen sharply.

Alina did her best to feign a docile expression.

“She … is enjoying them, though I’m encouraging her to stop in the near future.”

“Oh, what a pity. I know even Lady Elyse here was interested in signing up. How is your husband recovering by the way, Lady Elyse?”

Another section of the room fell quiet.

“Lord Ball is … is suffering from persistent migraines and troubling dreams at this time, Your Majesty,” Lady Elyse responded with her eyes downcast.

“I’m terribly sorry to hear that.”

“Why was Lady Katarina not punished?”

The one who spoke out was a woman perhaps only a few years older than Alina. Her arms were folded, and her long black hair was styled over her right shoulder in sculpted waves.

“Why would Lady Katarina need to be punished?” Alina asked while giving her head a regal tilt.

“She’s the one responsible for Lord Ball having to fight a bastard who would use underhanded tricks in a fight.”

“Given that Lord Harriod Ball insulted Lady Katarina and refused to greet her respectfully, she was well within her means of challenging his offensive behavior. As for permitting Mr. Joshua Ball to spar on her behalf, she felt it was a fairer fight that way.” Alina reached for her goblet casually. “Though perhaps I’ve missed something in my account of the events?” The queen continued to eye the noblewoman over the rim of her cup.

“Lady Katarina could have chosen Caleb Herra or one of Leader Faucher’s sons,” the noblewoman countered, though her cheeks had deepened in color.

“She could have, but then again … we have servants who are of illegitimate birth, and yet they still work in close quarters to us legitimate offspring. So why should she not have chosen him?”

“Because now Lord Harriod Ball’s honor and dignity is in shambles! Why, I heard he even tried to have a cat arrested after his savage beating! He has clearly had his mind addled as a result of the match!” Lady Camille burst out, her eyes flashing dangerously at the queen, who was alarmingly calm throughout the confrontation.

“Why would his dignity be in shambles? He accepted the challenge as a consequence for his actions, as a man should. If anything, I would think he’s more respectable now. Unless you think perhaps he should have simply been made to apologize to Lady Katarina. Though I was under the impression that would’ve been far too extreme a punishment.” Alina waited to see what her baiting words would bring.

She felt guilty when out of the corner of her eye she saw the embarrassed hunching of poor Lady Elyse’s shoulders and Lady Sarah’s frantic gulping from Lady Wynonna’s cup, but … she had to see it through. She could make it up to the two wronged women, but only if she won.

“A bastard beating a legitimate sibling is—”

“Is a great point of evaluation when we begin to consider the merits of a person and what their talents may offer. We now know Mr. Joshua Ball has the makings to be a knight that could serve Troivack well,” Alina cut the noblewoman off while slowly rising and setting her drink back down on the table.

She then proceeded to glide over to the antagonist who had first spoken out and stood before her.

“We consider bastards lesser than, and yet Joshua Ball has beaten a legitimate sibling. We consider women fragile, yet most of you bore witness to Lady Katarina’s duels, and not only stomached it, but found enjoyment. Some of our women have even begun to train like her—so it isn’t merely because Lady Katarina is a witch that she can handle such things. And women allegedly have no place in the council room, except that now three women have sat in those meetings and contributed. Does change frighten you, Lady … ?”

“Sanchez. Arette Sanchez,” the woman replied though her breathing had quickened, and anger gripped her face.

“Lady Arette Sanchez. Are you frightened?” Alina questioned again, softly.

It had been Reese Flint who had taught her the most powerful leaders and teachers didn’t need to scream or shout to be feared or heard, but rather, they should be able to command the room with a single look.

Alina had worked hard at developing such a skill, and in Troivack, it was especially difficult, as she was significantly shorter than the average woman, but she held her ground and stared up at Lady Sanchez sharply.

“I am not frightened of what will not last. These occurrences … They exist because our kingdom is on the brink of civil war.”

Alina smiled coolly. Her face was so devoid of warmth that no one could mistake it for a friendly expression.

“These are events that some said would never happen, and yet they have. Things have already changed, Lady Sanchez. Not all change is bad. Imagine if a woman such as yourself was able to express her opinions and be heard? What if your words carried importance not just amongst women, but amongst the men? Would that not be a change you’d like to see?”

Lady Arette’s upper lip began to curl. “Troivackian women still control their men. We just prefer to do so with class and restraint.”

Alina raised an eyebrow, still not reacting to the noblewoman’s outright insult.

She let silence settle over the party, allowed Lady Arette’s words to rest over her as a small tremble developed in her long fingers.

Lady Sarah stood up as though to intervene, but Alina held up her hand, stopping the movement, her eyes never leaving Lady Arette’s face, though the noblewoman was starting to squirm even more noticeably.

“Your husbands do not tell you everything. You are left scrambling and investigating. You use your energy and brilliance to deduce what decisions are being made about your lives and your homes. I am proposing a world where you do not work to command your men with whispers at their backs but in a dialogue to their faces. Just like we are having now.”

Lady Arette was about to open her mouth to say more when Alina lifted her chin, cutting her off.

“Tell me, do you feel more respected when I look you in the eye and listen to what you have to say, or shall I turn around for you to talk to the back of my head to better show it like you say your husband does?”

Lady Arette’s eyes widened, and before she was able think about her retort, she started to say, “Y-You d—”

But again Alina prevented this by sweeping her gaze out over the noblewomen, who watched the scene frozen in shock. Many of them pale, a few angry to their core, but some … Alina could see their hands gripped into fists, or their shoulders straightened and their faces eager … Hopeful …

“I want a better life for you all. Troivack’s strength is astounding, and its women are no exception. You should all be given the honor and decency owed to you. While you may not like me or believe that I will accomplish what I am working on, I’d say I’ve made more than enough progress to have earned a bit of your faith.”

Alina gave another rueful half smile. “I’ve survived more assassination attempts than I’d like to count. Thanks to both luck and Lady Katarina. Whether you like it or not, even should I die suddenly, or while giving birth as many of us women do, I have changed Troivack and made a mark in its history. Now, would you like to be a part of this chapter I am writing? Would you like to see how far I can go? If so … come, talk to me.”

Alina rounded back to her table, and in the deafening silence after her speech, she sat herself down while giving off an air that nothing of consequence had just taken place.

Inside, she had quaked and raged, but thanks to the months of lessons with Annika Ashowan prior to her wedding, Alina had held her own.

And so, as she reached for a raspberry tart to place upon her plate, she added a final note to Lady Arette, who stood like a statue with her emotions showing on her face.

“Ah. If you simply wish to fight with me more, I’ll welcome that too. Your husbands have already had their turn against me in the council room, and I happen to have a soft spot for people who are passionate about their home and kingdom. So please, don’t be shy. I myself have no intentions to be docile as others expect me to be so I don’t expect you to be either.”