Chapter 13 #2
“Yes.” He grabbed hold of her reins, forcing her to stop.
“You might be able to safely use charms in Toam. Most of them are harmless enough, if they work at all. Out here the rules are different. Witches can warp your perception of reality. They’re a nexus point connecting our world to the shadow world below.
There’s great power there, but it’s a poisoned well.
When a witch draws from it, it opens a door that allows evil to seep from that reality into ours.
Corruption spreads out from that point like poison, defiling the natural world.
It will change you if you let it. That’s what happened to the fae.
They grew careless, and it destroyed their entire kingdom. We can’t afford to be careless.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. “It’s just a charm.”
“Charms are connected to that other reality. Anything that has a tie there will be corrupted first. You have fae blood which already makes you more susceptible to the witch’s corruption.
Dependence on charms furthers that connection, it forms a tie with the demonic that can lure you away from the shelter of God’s protection. You’re treading dangerous ground.”
Obviously. This was the Black Woods.
“You’re really going to tell me you’ve never used a charm in your life?”
“Never,” he said. Fervently. Righteously.
She smirked. “How many Church relics have you used?”
“The relics are rare. I have two in my possession.”
The witchstone. She wondered what the other one did. She nodded toward his waterskin. “What about the glyphs marked on that?”
“They’re not glyphs. They’re blessings from the Church.”
She stared at him for a long moment. When he showed no sign of recognizing the hypocrisy, she laughed. “What else do you have that’s blessed, Captain?”
“My sword and saddle. All of our weapons are marked.” His jaw tightened. “It’s not the same thing.”
“If you say so.”
His expression darkened. “I’m serious, Rowan.
Soldiers train for years before they’re allowed on their first witch hunt.
There are academic classes. Exercises. Training with the sword and crossbow.
My men are sanctified by the Church. Prepared and protected on all sides.
And still they die. I will not allow you to die. ”
“A charm’s not going to kill me.”
“I’ll go on without you,” he said. “I’d like your help, but this won’t work if you’re not willing to listen to me.
I’ve been on dozens of hunts. I’ve faced scores of witches.
If I say the charms are too dangerous, you need to accept my word.
Can you do that? I need to know before we go any further. ”
Could she? Could she ever truly trust him?
Maybe. He hadn’t ever lied to her. She’d seen no sign of trickery in him.
He hadn’t hurt her mother because he was cruel, only because he believed in the wrong things.
She trusted him to keep his word or she wouldn’t have come out here with him.
She trusted him to protect her life to the best of his ability. Maybe that was enough trust.
“I accept that you are far more experienced than I am at hunting witches,” she agreed.
He waited.
She sighed. “All right, I’ll listen to you.”
“Do you have any other charms?”
She thought of the bundle at the bottom of her bag and resisted the urge to squirm in her saddle. The captain must have read the answer on her face. His jaw firmed. “Show me.”
She could tell by his expression that he wasn’t moving until she showed him the damn charms. It was fine. She didn’t need them to get to the fort. The trees would help her find the way. And she wasn’t going to sit here having a staring contest until the sun set behind the mountains.
“Fine.” She reached behind her, digging into the bag until she found the knotted handkerchief. She slapped it into his waiting palm. “Here.”
He untied it, frowning. “There must be a dozen in here. Where did you get them all?”
“I’m not telling you that.” She wasn’t letting him brand Tilly too.
He gave her an annoyed look and pushed his finger through the bag. “These protection and scrying charms will act as a beacon to the witch. We’ll need to get rid of them. Are these for…purification?”
“The water out here is foul.”
“We’ll filter your water through my waterskin. I wish I had another.”
Because his waterskin was blessed.
He held up one of the charms. “What’s this one? I don’t recognize the glyph.”
Damn.
The blood drained from her face, then rushed back, scorching hot.
Damn it, Tilly.
She didn’t want to tell him what it was, but he was standing there looking at her like he wasn’t going to budge until she talked.
“It’s to prevent a babe from catching.”
The captain’s eyes widened and then his gaze dropped to the bag. But she saw that flash of mortification. Or was it disgust? The women he slept with probably used the same kinds of charms, respectable God-fearing women. Or maybe they bought them from the Church and called them blessings.
His hand closed around the charms. Then he turned in his saddle, cocked back his arm and threw the whole bundle into the woods.
“Hey!” she cried out, startled. Copper danced beneath her seat but she managed to calm him. “Those were worth something.”
“Not where we’re going. They’re only a liability. We don’t need them” He gave her a hard look. “We’re not going to need any of them.”
And then he rode off, ending the conversation. She was half-tempted to go back for the charms, but she’d said she would listen to him. And she always tried to keep her word. No matter what he thought about the people of Toam, she still had a sense of honor.
She stared after him for a long moment and then followed the witch hunter, glaring at his rigidly straight back.
“It wasn’t for you,” she shouted after him.
She didn’t want him thinking she meant to sleep with him.
She didn’t.
She would never.
He didn’t so much as turn his head to acknowledge he’d heard her.
Self-righteous bastard.