Chapter 8 Rumors Fly
RUMORS FLY
Hazel remained seated for a few minutes, trying to make sense of what had happened. But her headache was unbearable and made it impossible to think. She pushed herself to her hands and knees, at which point the pain overtook her and she emptied her stomach into the grass.
She choked out a sob, squinting as her memory came crashing down on her. In a panic, she scrambled to her knees and tried to stand, but it was too much effort. She surveyed her surroundings from her knees.
There was no cottage to be found. Just a small pond in a clearing in the woods. Nothing ominous. And most certainly no Striga. But it had been real, hadn’t it?
She backtracked through the forest as best she could.
Like everything else in her fever dream of a memory, there was no path, though she could have sworn there had been one before.
Perhaps she’d hit her head when she fell, and it had all been a lucid dream.
That made more sense than the alternative.
After hours of fighting thorn and sticker bushes, she made it back to the main road.
Hazel dragged herself down the road, bone-tired and emotionally drained.
Her head spun as she attempted to face the reality of what she’d experienced.
What she’d done. She didn’t dare say it out loud.
But… was it …magic? No. It couldn’t be. Because if it was, the consequences could be insurmountable. What if someone found out?
And how? She shook her head. This would mean someone in her immediate family had magic, and she knew Connall wasn’t even a remote possibility. He’d served in the militia alongside men who could literally smell magical blood. He never would have survived.
But her mother? Unease roiled within her. She wasn’t so easy to rule out. Almost everything she knew of her mother came from Pa, and he never mentioned magic. Hazel considered the possibility that she’d kept part of herself a secret.
Or maybe Connall had some explaining to do.
And if she was a descendant of someone with magic, why was it just now manifesting? She was almost in her thirtieth year. Wasn’t this sort of thing supposed to rear its ugly head sooner in life, like some forbidden witch puberty?
Her thoughts drifted to the Witchbane powder, and she immediately regretted not pressing Agnes for more information.
She heard voices up ahead, which snapped her back to the present. She was happy to be amongst other humans again, damn near wanting to sprint to them and hug them. She took a deep breath. Relax. You can worry about this later. Be… normal.
A small group gathered about a wagon, chatting and carrying on. Dressed nicer than she was used to, they wore clothes without holes or stains. Travelers, perhaps. As she approached, they stopped talking. The one bearing a long, braided beard, possibly their leader, inclined his head out of respect.
“Hello, ma’am,” he said. He eyed her up and down, his gaze lingering a bit too long.
For fuck’s sake…
“Do you need someone to accompany you home? Where we’re from, women don’t travel alone. And from what folks are saying, it’s dangerous out here.”
Says who? I wonder if I’m not the only one to have crossed that Striga. Instead, she said, “No, thank you. I am headed home now, and I walk this road often. But thank you for your… concern.”
His tone changed, then, becoming less pleasant and more demanding. “I don’t think you heard me right, miss. Word on the street is there’s a murderer about these parts. You really shouldn’t be…”
“I said I’m fine, thank you.” She turned away when a thought struck her. “Wait—did you say murderer?” It was the first she’d heard of such a thing, and she’d barely been gone half a day. “Who died?”
“Well, no one knows for sure, it seems, but word has it that the innkeeper over there had it out for the town butcher. Now, that butcher supposedly went missing under mysterious circumstances. As for us, well, we aren’t from around here, and some would say we shouldn’t speak about it as such.
But from the sounds of it, they had bad blood and folks seem to think the innkeeper fellow might have finally done him in. ”
What the Hel? My father, a murderer? It was the first time she’d heard any of this.
Her hand rose to the spot where her necklace rested beneath her tunic, fighting the urge to rub it between her fingers.
She couldn’t imagine any reason some random travelers would start a rumor about people they knew nothing about, which meant…
“Who’s been saying these things? Where’d you hear about it?” She tried to control her voice. It wouldn’t do to sound overly concerned.
The man gave her a perplexed look, one thick eyebrow raised.
“The real question is, who isn’t? Everyone we met back there at the market had something to say about it.
Seems a shame of a thing to happen in this quiet town,” he glanced around, gesturing with his hands.
“But everywhere in this gods-forsaken kingdom seems to have issues these days.”
Hazel nodded. “Thanks for the information. I need to be going. Better to be sure I’m home before dark.”
The man shrugged in return. “Suit yourself. C’mon boys, we best be moving on as well.” He and his friends said nothing more, letting her go without trouble. She wasn’t sure she trusted them, but it was the least of her concerns at the moment.
Hazel had no desire to get involved in town gossip, but this was her father, and the allegations were serious. It was personal.
Jonas might have been a drunk and a massive thorn in their sides more often than not, but Pa wouldn’t have killed him.
Ugh. She loathed gossip. Ignored it. But this time it meant her father’s reputation on the line, and she would not stand around and do nothing about it.
She returned home to their cottage to find Connall already gone.
She had hoped to talk to him about what folks were saying before he walked into town and found himself blindsided.
But perhaps they’d keep it to themselves in his presence.
He was, after all, far and above the most respected person in their village. But if this rumor caught on…
She ran into Ezekiel on the way to the Briar & Rose, as usual. It was one of his patrol routes.
“Hey, Haz,” he said by way of greeting. His strong jawline was accentuated by his dimpled smile, a smile he reserved for her. Tan skin and dark brown hair drew in the sunlight as he approached.
“Hi, Zeke,” she said flatly.
He frowned. “You okay? You seem off.”
“I’m fine.” I am definitely not fine. “Well… Honestly, I don’t know.”
“Is this about Jonas?” He was always so insightful.
She shrugged. It most certainly has nothing to do with the earlier attack in the woods. Or that I might have used magic. Instead, she settled on “Yep,” as her response. Because between the two topics, it was far less risky to discuss the rumors around her father.
Zeke stopped her, placing a warm hand on her arm. “You can talk to me about it, you know.” No, I most definitely cannot talk to you about what happened in the woods.
“What? Do you think I’m harboring some explicit secret or something?”
“No! Hazel, I just want to help. Why are you so jumpy?”
“He didn’t do anything, Zeke!” She couldn’t help it. The emotions came pouring out, and Zeke got to bear the brunt of it.
“What? I never said…” His face crumpled as his brows grew heavy.
She cut him off, wiping a tear. “You don’t have to. Everyone else apparently is. I ran into some men on the road, not from around here. Even they knew.”
“It will be fine. Jonas will turn up. Probably just wandered off in a drunken stupor and passed out. Once he’s outslept his hangover, he will waddle home. Wouldn’t be the first time, right?”
She sighed. “I hope you’re right.”
He tucked a hair behind her ear. “It’s a matter of character. Yes, Connall and Jonas have their moments, but they also have a long history that means more than any minor squabble. People get too caught up in gossip. This will blow over, don’t worry.”
Hazel found it remarkable how his countenance rarely wavered. Was it for her sake, or did he believe what he was saying?
“I truly don’t think it will. But I need to get going. I was hoping to catch Pa before he got to work, but he beat me to it. I wanted to give him a heads up that some folks are feeling a little extra chatty today…just, as a warning, I guess.”
“Alright, well, I’ll see you around?” It was more of a question than a statement.
“Maybe. It just depends on how the day goes. Could be busy, could be slow.” Could end in both me and my father being arrested. She swallowed the thought down.
“I get it. I’ll see ya when I see ya, then.” He smiled, shifted his pack higher onto his shoulder.
Just when Hazel thought he would walk away, Zeke wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her into an embrace. She caved, resting her head against his chest. The steady beating of his heart washed her in a sense of calmness.
“You know I am always here for you, Haze, no matter what. Anything you need, you always have me.”
She pulled out of the hug, but he held her by her shoulders, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“I mean it. Anything.”
Hazel nodded in understanding, and Zeke released her with a half-smile. She watched him as he walked away, his almost-black hair shining in the midday sun.
He could be right, I guess. I could be worrying over nothing. But she couldn’t shake the feeling… something was different this time.
As she arrived at Briar & Rose, Hazel noticed a new piece of parchment nailed into the signpost out front, right on top of the help wanted and sales ads from the neighboring farms. Whoever had put it there wanted it to be seen and cared little whether they covered up the needs of other townspeople.
Then she understood why.
It was a royal parchment, stamped with the official seal of the High King. She plucked it from the board and read the announcement.
Citizens of Larksridge and Loyal Subjects of the Kingdom of Aeos: