Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
A s it turned out, the witch—named Farraleigh—had established herself in an old woodsman’s cabin on the outskirts of Connell Cross.
We left the inn before dawn and made our way to a bluff close to the cabin, where we could observe it as the sun rose and our time limit started.
A forest lurked behind the cabin, a set of unmoving, always-watching sentinels guarding the rear.
We considered approaching the cabin from behind, using the trees as cover, but the locals at the bar had advised against it.
According to them, Farraleigh had set traps in the woods for anyone who ventured within them, as she believed they belonged to her.
For once, I kept my silence as we waited and watched.
When the sky lightened, we were able to confirm what we’d been told—or nearly so.
Eight people milled about the cabin’s yard, looking after firewood, a pair of goats, a cow, and a small garden.
They ranged from a young woman who had to have seen only eighteen summers to a large, sturdy man with a surplus of gray in his dark hair, and every type of villager in between.
Except children, thank the gods. I could only assume there were two more abductees inside.
If they still lived.
“How are we going to do this?” Kason murmured, his eyes on the cabin. “Have you got a spell?”
“I have plenty of spells, but none that will undo the love spell, if that’s what you’re asking.”
He muttered something about there being no easy way, and I had to agree. Nothing about this goddess-given task was going to be easy.
“I won’t hurt these people,” Kason vowed.
Really, I hadn’t expected anything less. “The most foolproof way I know to save them would be to kill the witch.”
“I’d prefer not to do that either. She needs to be brought to justice.”
I tossed a hand into the air, then remembered where we were and brought it back to my side quickly. “Then you’re going to have to hurt people. They’re going to defend her to their deaths.”
Kason grimaced. “Are you sure?”
“Seeing as I’m not a deranged, evil witch, I’ve never cast a spell such as this, and therefore, I don’t have any personal experience with it.
But I’ve heard tales.” I sighed. “Their minds are hers. They have no desires or wishes beyond what Farraleigh wants. She wants them to look after the animals”—I flicked my hand at the scene before us—“they look after the animals. They will fight as though they are an extension of her own body. I doubt she’ll care if you cut them down either.
They’re things to her, nothing more, and replaceable. ”
“So if we rush in to fight her, they’ll attack us.”
“And threatening them won’t have any effect on her.”
Kason sighed. “I’m at a loss then. With only the two of us, we can’t round them up and keep them out of the fight while reaching Farraleigh.”
I smiled and shook my head. “You’re thinking like a witch-hunter.”
“Uh…yes?”
“You’ve got to think like a witch. There’s no need to show our hand and immediately attack. What we need is to get inside.”
“And how shall we do that?”
I grinned, showing off my fangs. “I’ve got a plan.”
It wasn’t the witch who opened the door, unless she was much younger than I had expected.
She resembled the young woman we’d passed on our way through the yard, so perhaps they were sisters.
I stuffed my anger at Farraleigh for stealing a family’s two daughters deep inside so it wouldn’t show in my expression.
“Good morning,” I greeted her brightly. “I’m told Enchantress Farraleigh lives here?”
Kason made some sort of noise at the over-the-top title, but I didn’t spare him a glance.
“Yes,” the young woman said. Her blue eyes were dull, almost cloudy, and her skin lacked the usual signs of vitality borne by one so young.
“Could we see her, please?”
The young woman stared at us, then said, “Yes,” and stepped aside. I assumed some mental communication had occurred, which had the potential to make this mission even trickier.
Well, we were in the thick of it now.
The interior of the cabin was anything but what I would have chosen for myself.
It was too rustic, too dark. Drying herbs hung from the rafters, and there were vials of unknown liquids sitting on every flat surface.
The cabin smelled of old wood, that musty smell common to aged buildings, the mixture of herbs and other more astringent odors.
Not to mention sweat, that of too many bodies in too close a space.
It was unpleasant, to say the least.
The young woman led us to the back of the cabin, where a figure sat in a chair next to a pair of windows.
The light was still dim thanks to the forest blocking most of the sun’s early rays, but it was brighter than the front of the cabin, and the light was helped along by a crystal perched on a small pedestal on the table next to her.
I couldn’t tell for sure without a closer examination, but from its red-and-yellow streaks, I suspected it was an unusually large sample of bloodsun quartz.
It was a good power booster in small quantities—I could only imagine a stone of this size would be the reason Farraleigh was able to enthrall so many at once.
Farraleigh herself was larger than I had anticipated, looking more like a plain, hearty farmer than other female witches I knew, who preferred to dress in flowing robes and ephemeral materials.
But, I supposed, there was no one way to be a witch.
All I had to do was look in the mirror to confirm that.
Farraleigh wore a plain gray dress covered by a white apron—well, the apron was once white, but now sported stains of various colors and shapes, no doubt from her work with potions.
Her hair was drawn back from her face and covered with a white cap, though enough dark, frizzy strands had escaped to illustrate why the cap was needed.
Her face was broad, with a wide nose, low brow, and a chin that protruded more than perhaps a chin should.
It made me suspect that she wasn’t fully human.
In other circumstances, I might have felt a sort of kinship with her.
I might even have shared stories of humans being discriminative assholes to find a middle ground.
But not now. Because no matter what injustices she’d faced in the past, nothing excused stealing people, and then stealing their free will.
“Enchantress Farraleigh.” I sketched a bow, and after a second, Kason did the same. “I am Mokido, and this is my husband, Kay.” We’d chosen not to use Kason’s full name in case Farraleigh recognized it. He was rather infamous among the witch community, after all, but few knew what he looked like.
“I bid you welcome.” Farraleigh’s voice was deep, closer to a male timbre than female. She didn’t rise from her chair. “Why have you intruded on my morning?”
Generally, the words welcome and intruded didn’t go together, so I wasn’t sure what sort of ground we were treading on. “I heard that you were an enchantress of exceptional talent, and?—”
“No, you didn’t.” Scoffing, she rose to her feet…and kept rising.
My eyes traveled up and still up, shocked to discover that Farraleigh had at least two heads more height than Kason. I swallowed, hoping that neither Farraleigh nor Kason heard the nervous gesture.
“I recognize that mark on your neck.”
Without thinking, I slapped a hand over the mark I’d completely forgotten about. My sharp ears caught the hiss of a small blade being drawn from a sheath beside me, and I didn’t dare glance in Kason’s direction lest I give it away.
Grinning—well, it was more like baring her teeth—Farraleigh held out her wrist. It sported the mark I had become too familiar with. Rhianough’s snakebite, just as vibrant a violet as mine.
I saw red. Fuck the fucking goddess and the lack of information she’d provided. If I had known Farraleigh would recognize my mark, I would’ve taken precautions. I certainly wouldn’t have tried this subterfuge.
Without warning, Kason leaped forward, blade aimed at Farraleigh’s heart.
The witch simply touched the crystal at her side—and Kason literally froze in mid-leap.
Ice cascaded around his form, sending a chill through the room.
I staggered back, shocked at the casual use of power.
I had no shortage of power myself, and I couldn’t pull off such a feat.
I thought about running, but there was suddenly someone at my back, someone far more solid than the young woman who’d shown us into the cabin.
Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted one of the men who’d been working outside when we arrived.
The man clapped a giant hand on my shoulder to hold me in place.
Farraleigh eyed the mark on Kason’s wrist. “Also marked by Rhianough,” she murmured. “Interesting.”
Kason’s eyes followed her movement. With growing horror, I realized Kason was aware but unable to move.
“No enthralling the two of you then,” Farraleigh said with a sigh. “A shame.”
I gritted my teeth. “Will you kill us?”
She made a contemplative sound, then flicked a hand at me?—
And I knew no more.