“I didn’t mean now,” I whined. “Let me sleep.” ‘

Sweeka crept between our legs to explore the sitting room, not in the mood to listen to us so early in the morning. Not much exploring happened since she plopped down and stretched out in the first section of sunlight streaming through the open curtains.

“Good morning,” Yis said in a voice laced with sarcasm. “When would be a good time for you?”

I swallowed the word ‘never’ and racked my brain for a decently convincing response. “Later?”

Haily spoke up from behind Yis’ large frame to ruin my plans. “You have a language class later, followed by lunch with the duke. Madam Riker has also asked you join the youngest Riker in his afternoon classes.”

“It appears there is no ‘later’ then,” Yis said. “And I understand kids wear whatever they want these days, but isn’t answering your door in a nightgown still considered inappropriate?”

Haily peeked around and sighed. “It is.”

She squeezed past to shut the door, promising to get me ready and shove me out in a few minutes. When she disappeared into the dressing room, I rushed past to kick the heap of clothing in the lavatory behind the door. Haily gave me a weird look when I exited in time for her to hand over my training attire. “You look awful.”

I shooed her away so I could change without showing off my necklace. Haily rolled her eyes and turned around on the spot.

After changing, I went to leave and paused, returning to my drawer to pull out the silver ring. The oversized piece of jewellery sat loosely on my middle finger. I went to shrink it to a fitting size…and cursed in pain.

Haily glanced over from where she was petting Sweeka in the sitting room. “Ma’am?”

I turned, moving my hand out of sight. “I just kicked the bedpost.”

“Ah, happens.”

I’d accidentally shrunk the ring too far and squashed my poor finger. Panicking, I liquified the ring instead of loosening it, and it pooled in my cupped hand, threatening to spill across the floor. It hardened into a lumpy mess I stuffed into my pocket to deal with later.

Yis was still waiting outside, leaning against the wall. I picked up a sleepy Sweeka from her sunbathing spot to join him more for my comfort than anything else. “I’m ready.”

“You sound like you haven’t slept,” Yis said, leaning down to look at my bloodshot eyes.

I was no stranger to missed sleep and usually dealt with it quite well. However, the excitement of the previous night, coupled with constant physical toil, had sapped all my stamina. Only the benefit of training under Yis and Sweeka’s fur kept my legs moving as I followed him into the palace's back gardens.

“That’s new,” Yis commented, pointing to the hammock.

“It's mine,” I said, realising why I’d even gotten it in the first place. “Perks of being related to the duke, I suppose.”

“Ah, so he finally told you…how are you feeling about it all?”

I shrugged, unwilling to consider the question for more than a moment. “What are we doing today?”

“Fayfay explained the release and track plan with the witch for me. I thought it was a great idea until she mentioned your involvement. But it doesn’t make much sense without you, so we’re squeezing in more practical lessons before it commences.”

I ignored the rest of his explanation, focusing on the most essential aspect. “Fayfay?”

Yis grinned. “Not a word within her earshot.”

I frowned, now catching up with the implications of what Yis knew. “So, you know I also had a witch as a mother. You don’t have any extra hatred towards me? More than you have for me replacing you as Sweeka’s favourite?”

He eyed the content creature, snuggled in my arms and scoffed. “Hardly, small groups of people have done heinous acts throughout history. We don't persecute all Andrakans for their past piracy, centaurs for their raids, or us for the war with the elves.”

“The witches I’ve met so far haven’t been very nice,” I countered, unsure why I was arguing for him to dislike me. “Though I guess that’s only two.”

“Most have discarded the name entirely and turned to established professions. It’s no shock so many famous alchemy and herbology families popped up a few decades ago. The witch hunts that followed The Fall almost always victimised regular women who somebody accused, not any real collaborators to the capital coven. I’d argue none are left.”

“That makes sense since it was my plan as well,” I said, referring to the alchemy.

“Was? Why change? From what I heard, you’d be a cut above the rest of the apprentices out there.”

I tilted my head from side to side, chewing on my lip. “Originally, I thought I was going to work in the stables. They had me as a guest instead, and I didn’t want to get told to leave, so I helped Jeremy and Faraya, and I liked what they had me doing more than alchemy.”

“Why would you be asked to leave?”

I glanced at him in confusion, repeating what I’d already explained. “Because I wasn’t being useful?”

“You cleansed the duke of a nasty curse,” Yis said, looking back in equal bewilderment. “Of course, you’d be allowed to stay as a guest. On top of that, being related to a duke gets you exceptional hospitality.”

My face scrunched up in disgust, and I pulled my arm from cradling Sweeka to smack him. “That’s for not telling me, and that’s for bringing it up.”

It wasn’t worth it since Sweeka chose to leap to the ground after being jostled about. Yis didn’t flinch or break stride at my half-hearted hit and responded by flicking my ear so fast I couldn’t lean out the way quick enough.

“I didn’t know you were that Valeria for the longest time, and it wasn’t my story to tell.”

Yis picked up a training glaive leaning against the tree we passed and threw it to me. The wooden sword that had been resting near it jumped into the air and landed in his grasp. I stood still, impressed at the subtle magic, for so long that he poked me in the ribs with the training weapon.

I widened my stance and shifted my hold on the staff, regretting my antagonistic actions in the face of what we were doing for training.

Yis swung the sword down in a lazy arc towards my head. It was nice of him to go easy on me, but I still spent too long thinking about the correct response, the sword also momentarily turning into a mantis limb. I blocked the swing in alarm, not with the wooden shaft, but with my knuckles wrapped around it.

I flicked my hand about, trying to get rid of the pain.

Yis suppressed a smile, hopefully not from purposefully hitting me but rather my blunder. “If you’re going to go along with helping release the witch, then you’re going to need to defend yourself believably so it looks real when I capture you.”

“You? And Faraya agreed I could do it?”

“Yes, and yes. Now move your hands further apart.”

…

“How has your day been, Valeria?” the duke asked as our empty salad plates were taken from the table.

I held in my sigh at the fading hope of a quiet lunch. It was a normal question, and I could give a normal answer without sounding grumpy.

The language lessons I’d come from had me acting as the teacher more than the argumentative so-called experts. I couldn’t string together a sentence with what I knew, but it would have made more sense than their attempts.

They’d spent their weeks listening to the young witch’s pronunciation of words and associating them with scrawl. Often amusingly wrong. The complicated spells they used to discern the vague meaning of her words didn’t care for sentence structure, making comparing almost pointless.

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“Okay,” I said. “Yis let me hit him a few times.”

Yis, who I dragged to lunch, scoffed at my words. “I had to give her a few shallow hits to satiate the bloodlust in her eyes.”

If all he could do was speak in pointless poetry, I’d have preferred not to petition him to save me from being alone at lunch. Anyone would be annoyed and lash out at being methodically pelted by a wooden sword; it didn’t constitute ‘bloodlust.’

Everyone else was unavailable: Annalise was out on patrol, preparing to take on her new job as the head of security for the palace if the duke was voted for as expected. Alonso had escaped to eat with his friends, and Janette was in a meeting, planning to host a gala in the spring for the new and returning barons.

“I wonder if she gets that from me.”

I imagined strangling the duke so he couldn’t say something so embarrassing ever again. As a person who kept the secret for so long, he sure liked talking about it now.

“She certainly has a talent for it,” Yis said. “Improving drastically with every session so far.”

I brushed off the compliment, not agreeing with the flattery, and dipped my spoon into the soup placed before me. They continued to discuss my progress and prospects as a knight, but they hit a wall regarding my spellcraft. I had a basic understanding of how a normal mage formed spells, but I couldn’t hope to replicate it.

My magic was faster acting, and could accomplish feats I hadn’t seen them able to accomplish. Though their regimental spellcraft could efficiently accomplish larger acts of magic that I could only marvel at.

I listened intently as they explained the protections I would have when carrying out the jailbreak for Ulia. There were already orders in place to leave the enchantments off in the sewers for ‘maintenance’ and imaginary watch officers placed on guard duty.

My excitement was growing despite only playing a minor role in leading her out to the forest and feigning capture. Ulia shouldn’t be able to sense the knights that were to be stationed there, and hopefully, they’d enable her to leave the perilous woodland. And protect me on the way back.

They were still worried that I’d be alone with a witch through the sewers, while I was worried about something more dangerous. I considered mentioning the peluda to the duke. I wanted to trust Jeremy understood what he was doing, but it felt wrong to continue leaving the leader of the duchy in the dark about the potential danger to people like Marty.

However, if I killed it, who would Jeremy complain to?

“What do you know of cat-sìths, Valeria?” the duke asked.

I dropped my spoon, causing orange puree to splatter across the dress Haily had kindly persuaded me into. Was letting on I could communicate with animals coming back to bite me? “What?”

“My fault. I should have approached that disturbing memory of the arena with more tact. What I mean to ask is, do you think you could help out with them as you do domesticated animals?” the duke asked.

“Oh…” I trailed off dumbly at my subsiding panic. “Maybe?”

“I gained better insight into your care for the animals after Janette told me about the dragon’s breath hunt. She wasn’t sure the extent to which you could help with more aggressive species, but it does not hurt to try.”

“My dislike of it makes sense without any extra insight,” I said with narrowed eyes.

“I do not mean to say otherwise; it’s a fair position. We wouldn’t be in this predicament if it didn’t exist, so I concede the issue.”

It was a hollow victory, considering it sounded like something else was going wrong, not the act itself. However, after last night, I also felt less inclined to be deeply involved in the animals' well-being. Maybe it was irritability seeping in, but it was getting harder to justify walking into danger for them.

I hadn’t had much chance to think about the evening besides all its frustration. I was working through a decent portion of it by mushing the silver in my pocket, but there was lots left over. I had little appetite for my half-finished soup after being reminded of the person torn to bits before my eyes.

If there was a spell to set them free in their ideal environment, I’d still do it. But going back and potentially getting another person killed with nothing to show for it except a scared jackalope and ungrateful cat? I’d prefer not to.

After seeing the dangers of the forest, I realised that it wasn’t the place for most of the creatures, leaving me with no alternatives and little motivation to invent more.

“What’s the issue?” Yis asked, recentering the conversation.

The duke sighed. “It is customary to invite an elven delegation comprised of the larger settlement councillors to the Succession Gala. This year, because of the Oclaran incursions and now the death of a counsellor's daughter, they’re sending a more substantial delegation.”

“That doesn’t sound great.” Yet another reason to stop getting myself involved.

“It is not all bad. Our trade partnership means neither of us can make any drastic decisions without collapsing certain industries. But, it is still putting a strain on those relations.”

“The person currently walking down the street isn’t worrying about exotic fruit, spellcraft, and elvish artistry,” Yis said. “You could snub them completely if it wasn’t for a few wealthy interests. That said, I continue to advocate for strengthening our relations.”

“Mother expressed similar sentiments, and we lose nothing by hosting a larger delegation and listening to them. The duchy and the whole of Werl are invested in the elves rebutting the incursions. Their other goal is the issue. One that Yis has unknowingly identified; the average person wouldn’t support the capitulation they’re demanding.”

“They want the cat-sìth?” I asked, elated at the prospect of getting exactly what I wanted.

“They want to hunt it in retaliation for the killing. They believe the creature is intelligent enough to understand what it did was wrong and know the repercussions. If an elf killed one of their kind, their kin would stalk the village where the perpetrator lived for eternity. A clear exaggeration, but I won’t disparage their culture.”

I let out a sigh. “And you don’t want to?”

“I would like nothing more,” the duke said in exasperation. “It's the Olivihiers and Tiscars giving me issue. There are stringent laws around the seizure of property, which are not overridden by a duke’s request. The price they suggested for the duchy to purchase the beast is…not entertainable.

“Aisling’s mother's non-negotiable request is to…talk…to the animal. For that, we are temporarily borrowing it in exchange for waived taxes between its matches to keep here during the gala. Something I would like your help in accomplishing.”

I didn’t follow the overly conflicted jump from one issue to another. It wasn’t that I wanted Evie to be hunted, but he was the duke. “Simply force them to?”

He pressed his lips together. “My reach is based on perception. If I make demands and am unwilling to push when denied, then the system cracks. Make no mistake, I could force this issue, but why should I? The elves need our minerals and ore processing at the end of the day. I simply want to keep the peace.”

“And Mister Enperia asked you to,” Yis added.

The duke narrowed his eyes at Yis. “She may have sent a missive along those lines…”

“I might be able. Who’s Mister Enperia?”

“That is all I ask,” the duke said.

“He heads the faculties at Equitier,” Yis said. “The first Duke Riker built the school, but he made it so other countries put it on their maps.”

…

I wanted to stay with Yis and keep practising for my upcoming role, but he said I desperately looked like I needed a break. I readily agreed, left—possibly forgetting to say goodbye—and started fantasising about my soft bed.

Only to be spun around by Haily and directed towards my next obligation. If it originated from the duke, I would have stated he’d exceeded his number of asks. But it was from Janette. She’d admitted to being worried about my education and wanted me to join classes that Alonso was already taking.

While walking into the study Haily had pointed out, I yawned and stopped to enjoy the faint smell of vanilla wafting from the older books. A lady about as old as the leather-bound volumes was sitting atop a desk, her dress fanned out over the edges, staring down her nose at the page Alonso was writing on.

That unfriendly glare turned to scrutinise me and landed on the hand stuffed into my pocket, still playing with the silver. “Ah…she asks too much of me.”

She slid off the desk in a graceful motion that didn’t match her look of frailty and clasped her hands behind her back. “You may call me Madam Inerva—cousin to Duke Harutay. I guide the young into their calling, but I can elevate the most mannerless when necessary.”

“I’m Valeria,” I offered, already wary since she reminded me of Instructor Hays.

“Obviously.”

She directed me to a desk in a dark corner of the room with a tome sitting open on the first page. “I won’t compromise the young duke’s education over anyone, so don’t take it personally when I say you have some catching up to do.”

I gave her a thin-lipped smile and sat down to read, focusing more on the commentary she offered on the other side of the room than reading. I didn’t retain a single meaning in the letters scattered across the page, too eager to satisfy Janette’s ask of me being here and leaving to find my bed.

…

The rest of my week was similar. I spent most of my time around Yis, who greatly appreciated the change of attitude I had achieved through full nights of rest. I was still stuck reading the same book but used that time to practice magic instead. Madam Inerva seemed to catch a few of the fluctuations in the mana but never brought them up. My efforts paid off since I had a well-fitting ring of silver that constantly shifted fingers whenever I felt like it.

Janette and Annalise took breaks from their new responsibilities to join the meals I was regularly attending. I’d been worried about how my first interaction with Annalise would be since finding out, but she didn’t acknowledge my awkwardness and treated me as usual.

The exact details of ‘The Runaway Witches’ kept changing all the way up until when I was getting chains placed over my wrists. I reviewed the revised plan one last time while walking through the hallway to Ulia’s door.

Faraya was to be in the room with us as usual, conveniently with the keys to both our chains on her. An empty syringe would be in her pocket, so when she tumbled to the ground, it would fall out and look like I pricked her with poison.

A knight patrol would walk across us as we made our way to the sewers and pass by without serious examination. The sewers had been widely announced as being refitted, so the enchantments were deactivated, and doors were removed. Bricks and pipes lined the walkway to complete the facade and ensure Ulia had nothing to question while fleeing.

Getting to the forest would be easy, especially with me leading the way. Once there, a wandering patrol of knights dressed in military uniforms would accidentally stumble upon us. We’d run, I’d trip, and a disguised Yis would catch up to me.

She’d run and leave me behind, unknowingly dragging along a team of knights that only a mage could pick out of the tree line.

I took a deep breath and nodded to Faraya that I was ready for her to open the iron door.