Chapter 29 #2
Crown Prince Bennett inspected the coin.
“My grandfather King Humphrey put into practice the stamping of currency. Every noble in court is paid with coins bearing their family crest, to track any suspicious spending. There have been several instances of rebellion and bribery being found out this way. You’re aware of this as a councilman, are you not, Sir Archibald? ”
Sir Archibald seemed at a loss for words.
“Councilmen and courtiers are not allowed to melt down their gold or silver without supervision or prior permission, or risk being accused of insubordination,” the crown prince continued, as if reciting from an Olderean lawbook.
“In addition, defaced currency is not allowed to be in circulation. Anyone in possession must turn them into the city guards, or be arrested for breaking the law. You suggested this addendum yourself, Sir Archibald.”
The assassin threw the councilman a glare. “Were you double crossing me, old man?”
“He’s spewing falsehoods, Your Highness! I charge him with defamation, as is my right!” Sir Archibald smiled triumphantly.
The assassin’s face paled, no doubt coming to the conclusion that a commoner like him could never win a case against a councilman.
“I tell the truth,” the assassin said, rearing up.
The guards bracing him pushed him back down.
“If you don’t believe me, tell that witch girl to hypnotize me. Let me speak nothing but the truth!”
He pointed at me, and I gaped. Was my coercion magic just common knowledge now? Furthermore, no one had ever asked me to use it on them.
Crown Prince Bennett seemed to consider this.
“Your Highness, I must protest,” Sir Archibald cried. “This witch could make him say whatever she liked!”
“Would you prefer a truth potion instead?” Rowena piped up. “We can have an herbwitch whip one up.”
The councilman sputtered. “This is blasphemy to the practice of law!”
“On the contrary, magic like this has been used in our justice system before the Non-Magic Age. You must be old enough to know this, Sir Archibald.” Crown Prince Bennett said.
I tried to wrap my head around the crown prince’s words. Magic like mine had been used in the justice system? It wasn’t considered wicked? “Others...had hypnosis magic?” I asked hoarsely.
Crown Prince Bennett nodded. “Yes, it’s in the records. That’s why we hired you.” He gestured to me. “If you please, Giselle.”
Sir Archibald choked out incomprehensible words. I swallowed past the dryness in my throat, eyes wide, as I considered what was happening. Beside me, Maddox gave an encouraging nod.
“As Your Highness commands,” I said, wondering at this new reality that put my hypnosis in a different light.
Ma had said my magic was useless to the village.
Perhaps it was only because witches were never meant to live in isolation.
Perhaps we were meant to share our unique gifts with humans, to do good for our collective kingdom.
As I reached into my satchel and pulled out the paper charm, I met the eyes of the man I was going to hypnotize.
He had asked for this himself. For once, my hypnosis wasn’t being used against anyone’s will.
The memory of Christabella and her puppet doll resurfaced, but I shook it away.
Things were different now. I was older, with steady command over my magic.
I no longer drew my charms on skin, but on paper.
I was in control. Just as wielding a sword didn’t make one a cold-blooded killer, using my magic didn’t make me wicked.
I had command over myself and the things I chose to do. I always did.
Slowly, I approached and pressed the paper talisman to the assassin’s forehead. The man’s face slackened, and familiar magic tingled my fingertips, my throat, and finally, my voice.
“Speak nothing but the truth,” I said carefully. “Who ordered you to attack me last night? Where and when did you meet?”
The assassin’s mouth opened. “Sir Archibald of the King’s Council ordered me to attack you.
We met at the Blackwing Tavern two nights ago.
He came to me himself with the reward money.
Told me about your hypnosis magic, but said you were afraid to use it, so it would be an easy job.
I was to follow you and get rid of you, as you had learned too much about The Crown.
He kept watch last night to see the job through, but left when I failed. ”
Crown Prince Bennett nodded and gestured for me to end it. I removed the paper talisman, the tingles of my magic receding. The assassin blinked rapidly, then looked at Sir Archibald in triumph. “You see? I tell the truth!”
Sir Archibald blanched, a sheen of sweat coating his brow. He pointed a trembling finger at me. “That witch can’t be trusted! She must’ve coerced that man to say that!”
I scowled and crumpled the talisman in my hand. “That’s not how this charm works. He told the truth.”
Maddox removed something shiny from his waistcoat: Sir Archibald’s crumpled glasses. “If you insist on non-magic evidence, sir, you left this last night. Do you deny these spectacles are yours? We all saw you wear them two weeks ago.”
Sir Archibald parted his lips, but no words came out. He suddenly fell to his knees in a pool of bottle green robes. “Your Highness, have mercy! I only had Olderea’s best interest at heart. Sir Sylvester and I—”
“Archibald! I am appalled!” Sir Sylvester exclaimed. “This is no way to behave as a councilman.”
Sir Archibald gaped. “You—Sylvester!” He whipped his head to the dais.
“Your Highness, Sir Sylvester has played a role in all of this. He was the one who started The Crown. He funds their newspapers, their members. One of them—a Prilla Lewis—he sent her down to that witch den to make trouble! He has been embezzling from the royal treasury!”
Crown Prince Bennett sat straighter at this. “Is this true, Sir Sylvester?”
“He’s accusing me blindly, Your Highness,” Sir Sylvester said, tugging at his oily beard. “He is not in his right mind.”
Sir Archibald’s face grew red. “I’m telling the truth and we both know it!”
“And what proof have you?” came the haughty response.
“I’m willing to have that witch use her magic on me!”
My brows raised. Two people in a row! This was certainly unusual.
Sylvester paled at this. “Archibald, what nonsense are you spewing? You said so yourself her magic cannot be trusted! You’d let that witch taint you with her witchcraft to wrongfully accuse me?”
“There’s no tainting involved,” I muttered.
Crown Prince Bennett held up a hand, silencing us. His brows were lowered forbiddingly. “If this is true, Sir Sylvester, then you are the one responsible for the missing funds in the treasury after my father entrusted you with its key?”
The councilman gave a nervous laugh. “Your Highness, please. You must know this is all a misunderstanding!”
The crown prince gestured to the royal guards standing at the perimeter of the throne room. “Take Sir Archibald and Sir Sylvester away. Detain them in the palace. My father will hear them this afternoon.”
More royal guards streamed in, taking the hired assassin, then the two councilmen by their thin arms despite their cries and protests. Curses were thrown at me, then at each other. The racket quieted when the throne room doors finally shut behind them.
Crown Prince Bennett pinched the bridge of his nose and blew a breath. “Where were we?”
***
“THAT WENT WELL, DON’T you think?” Maddox said when we finally exited hours later. The afternoon sun was waning, throwing long golden rays into the hallway. His face was practically glowing with triumph, but I couldn’t muster the same emotion. I only felt numb and exhausted.
Maddox’s smile faded when he noted my expression. “Alright. Perhaps it didn’t conclude ideally.”
I huffed a mirthless laugh. The crown prince had decided against opening Witch Village to the public, as well as publishing Edmund’s report.
Too many factors had skewed the experience, and it seemed that neither witches nor Olderean civilians were ready for further immersion.
We’d decided that solving the existing issues aboveground took precedence over tourism.
The past two weeks had been for nothing.
“At least Sir Archibald and Sylvester were exposed,” Maddox continued when we made it to the expansive palace courtyard. “The Crown will be investigated. That’s good progress.”
“Progress. Like when Amarante Flora ended the Non-Magic Age two years ago? And last winter, when Crown Prince Bennett and Narcissa announced their betrothal and stopped those anti-witch riots?” I said, lackluster.
“But here we are with another anti-witch group. This problem...this hatred is going to persist, isn’t it?
It’s so ingrained in the kingdom that it’ll take more than a hundred years to forget, won’t it?
There’ll always be another group, another riot.
Perhaps even another Non-Magic Age. Witches lived here once, only to be banished. Who’s to say it won’t happen again?”
I hadn’t meant to fall so quickly into pessimism, but it was hard not to.
Last winter, I thought we had finally won when Narcissa, a witch like me, had been betrothed to the crown prince of the kingdom.
I had thought that witches would be accepted back aboveground with little resistance; that I could live the life Grandma had before the Non-Magic Age; that the ones who wanted us gone had disappeared, like a whisper into the wind.
Yet, here they still were.
I didn’t think Maddox would understand. He had spent the majority of his life thinking he was human, being seen and accepted as such.
His witch heritage could be tucked neatly away like a raw edge beneath a felled seam, undetectable and complacent.
He could continue with his life no matter what happened.
But Maddox’s gray eyes steeled. “If they keep fighting, so will we. My sister. My father. Me. And the next generation, too.”