The first witch stared at the line up of familiars and witches before her. She had originally intended for them to act on her behalf during the ship voyage to intercept Tamlin Ashowan and the devil. However, the plan had changed.

She did not believe for an instant that the son of the house witch and Zinferan princess was dead.

Sure, Katarina Reyes was kicking up a wild fuss and destroying a staggering amount of valuable pieces in Soo Hebin’s palace, but Aradia was willing to bet money the Daxarian queen was merely using the alleged death of her brother to act as she pleased.

The first witch barely suppressed a smile at this thought.

Regardless of the fact that they were technically enemies, Aradia actually quite liked Kat. She wished she could join her in being a bloody nuisance to Soo Hebin, who had gone on a short, hasty vacation to her villa located only half a day’s carriage ride away from the palace.

It seemed that Katarina was going to be successful in laying eyes on the emperor despite the concubine’s best efforts. A notable feat indeed.

Aradia couldn’t be bothered worrying about that though. Frankly, an official meeting helped her plans tremendously.

Pulling herself back to her present task, Aradia lifted her chin.

“I need three familiars who can carry out my orders in the Forest of the Afterlife,” she announced. “This important work is not for the meek hearted or dull minded. So if anyone has any hesitations about such an endeavor, I suggest you remove yourselves from the room.”

Three witches turned with their familiars and sidled out.

Aradia took stock of the ones that remained.

There were a number of cats, a few snakes, some birds…

Her eyes landed on a small monkey that perched easily on his earth witch’s shoulder.

“You.”

The earth witch already had his eyes downcast, but at being addressed by the daughter of the Gods, he lowered himself into a bow.

“What is your name and your familiar’s?”

“I am Kwang, Your Magnificence, and my familiar is named…” Kwang trailed off and cleared his throat. “His name is Ban.”

The monkey grabbed a fistful of Kwang’s hair and yanked while holding Aradia’s gaze.

Kwang yelped. “Banana! His name! Is! Banana! I’m sorry!”

The corners of Aradia’s lips twitched. “Banana. I am glad to meet you. Are you prepared to venture to the other realm?”

The monkey chirped his response.

Aradia tilted her head gracefully in gratitude. Her gaze slid over to the next beastie…

A white dog that was so fluffy he looked like a cloud, with a dashing black nose and eyes.

She stared at the dog. She stared for a very long time.

It wasn’t until one of the witches stifled a cough that she continued her perusal of the animals.

“That one,” she pointed at a red panda that had been sitting quietly on the floor, but at hearing her address, they rose up on its hind legs to a stand. “What is your name?”

The fire witch at the panda’s side curtsied. “Her name is Copper.”

Aradia bobbed her head and issued another formal greeting before proceeding on down the line until she came to the second to last familiar belonging to a water witch.

She stared at the animal.

It had sapphire blue eyes… That stared in opposite directions. Neither of those directions were at Aradia.

The cat’s tongue stuck out a little, and his face seemed too wide and smooshed to be a proper cat. Its nose looked like it had been rubbed with coal, along with its tail and paws, while the color of its fur was akin to a milky tea. It had a small paunch, but still looked nimble.

Aradia continued looking at the creature for a long, long time. Even longer than when she had stared at the dog…

“This familiar…” she started to say, her finger tapping the air over its face. “Is integral to the task I am about to set for them.”

Every witch stared at the cat with its vacant, naturally stupified expression with abundant confusion.

Aradia didn’t clarify what she meant.

“What is this cat’s name?” she asked the water witch who was a mite twitchy, as though she couldn’t tell if the first witch were being serious or not.

“U-um. H-his name is… Is Oyster.”

Aradia opened her mouth. Then closed it as she looked back at the cat that may or may not have started drooling.

Ignoring this, she lifted her head regally to speak once more.

“The three familiars and the witches I have selected, you will return to this room this evening, and I will give my instructions to you all then. The rest of you, I want you to focus your efforts on finding the missing Zinferan princess, Lord Tamlin Ashowan, and the devil. They would’ve had to row ashore, most likely at night. They were not quite at the halfway point moving from the south of Zinfera, so I imagine they are heading in a straight line near the middle to reach the forest and have water. If you are able to search around the river, I’m certain you’ll find signs of them.”

The witches all inclined themselves, and wordlessly proceeded to file out.

“You. Hold on.” The first witch waved her hand toward the air witch who owned the dog.

She stopped, turned, and curtsied. Her familiar sat back down, and panted happily at her side.

“I will ask that your familiar stay here with me until this evening, and I will most likely make similar requests again in the future.”

The air witch’s eyes widened, but she didn’t object or question the order.

“What is your familiar’s name?” Aradia tilted her head elegantly.

“His name is Goodo.”

Aradia’s eyebrows twitched closer together in confusion.

The air witch cleared her throat. “Because he’s a Good-o boy.”

A very quiet snort sounded from Aradia, though she didn’t smile. “Very well. Leave Goodo here with me. I have an important matter to attend to with him.”

The air witch curtsied again and slowly made her way out of the room, risking only a quick look over her shoulder at her familiar who stared after her until the doors closed.

Once alone, Aradia peered down at the dog who had moved his attention back up to her.

“It is lovely to meet you, Goodo. I am the first witch, daughter of the Gods.” Aradia knelt in front of the dog. “And you… are the fluffiest dog I have ever met.”

She held out her hand for him to sniff, a smile already lighting up Aradia’s face.

The dog’s tail wagged, and so, unable to hold herself back any longer, Aradia wrapped her arms around the dog and buried her face in the piles of floof.

“You are the bestest boy, aren’t you? Such a good, sweet, soft boy!” she murmured happily into the fur, making Goodo’s tail wag even more furiously.

“Did you forget I’m still in the room?” Ansar asked from his discrete seat in the corner.

Aradia stiffened. “No, I did not. But how can I not tell Goodo what a sweet boy he is!” Her voice rose a half pitch up as she scratched behind the dog’s ears.

Ansar stood from his seat. “You never cease to surprise me.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I’m calculating and without certain emotions thanks to a curse. I’m not a monster,” Aradia reminded lightly.

Smiling, the assistant drew closer. “Are you going to tell me what you are sending the familiars to do?”

Goodo proceeded to lay down and present his belly, which Aradia was more than happy to nuzzle and comb through with her hands.

“No. You’ll see soon enough. Do we have a leather ball we can toss for Goodo?” Her left hand paused over a spot on Goodo’s belly that sent his right leg twitching vigorously.

Ansar’s smile could be heard in his voice. “I can see about acquiring one.”

“And a bowl of water,” Aradia reminded as Ansar moved to carry out her orders.

“Thomas Julian is still being held in the Zinferan cell,” Ansar announced abruptly.

Aradia paused. “We’ll see about getting him out when Katarina Reyes isn’t in the midst of destroying anything she can lift. Otherwise she may notice and his absence might lead her straight to me.”

Ansar lowered his chin respectfully. “It isn’t like him to fail in his assignment. If he had been able to tip off Katarina Reyes sooner about your presence that would have been best.”

Aradia returned her attention to Goodo, unbothered. “We’ll ask him what happened when we see him again.”

Ansar didn’t say anything else on the matter. It was quite obvious his mistress simply wanted to have a relaxed day before she sent off the familiars, and it was his duty to oblige her. Though even he had to admit, he never would’ve expected the first witch to have the sort of endearing soft spot for a fluffy animal. Not that it changed the way he thought about her in the slightest… If anything, it made her feel more human.

Which made him love her even more.

Ah, well. It wasn’t like he could help it.

***

Kat paced furiously in her destroyed quarters, her heart pounding.

What the hell was happening to Tam?

The red thread of magic between them kept disappearing and reappearing.

Was he dying? Sick? Hurt?

The Daxarian queen hadn’t told their mother about the change in Tam’s state. She didn’t want to worry her just yet.

Kat wondered with growing dread if the fact that she had pushed another two spurts of magic Tam’s way over the past three days had done something horrible to him.

Her meeting with the Zinferan emperor had really just been her looking down at the face of a sleeping man. According to Annika Ashowan, he would wake again thanks to the herb concoction they had crafted back in Daxaria that lessened some of the immediate effects of Witch’s Brew—though it wouldn’t be enough to undo the years of damage.

However, seeing the man had left Kat feeling more restless than ever.

Gods… Everything was a mess.

Kat started to experience a potent urge to hunt down the first witch and abandon her initial plan of ignoring her.

She needed to start doing something.

Her eyes glanced toward the letters on the desk she hadn’t flipped over.

Back in Daxaria, Antony had managed to stop wrecking havoc on the weather, so that was good news. But the bad news was that anytime a member of the Coven of Wittica got near him it would start all over again.

Her heart ached.

She hated being stuck in the middle of a web of politics. She just wanted to draw her sword, and start solving problems in the most base of ways.

She wanted to go home and see her boys… and Eric…

The door opened to her quarters, making Kat’s head snap up to see her mother entering, a bright glint in her eyes.

“What is it?” Kat asked without bothering with a greeting.

Annika pressed her lips together thoughtfully. “There’s someone commanding the coven from within the palace.”

“The first witch is still here? She didn’t leave with the concubine?” Kat’s eyes shone hungrily.

“It doesn’t seem that way. A group of witches just left as well, but they are heading east… If I were to guess? It sounds as though for whatever reason, Tam abandoned his ship, and must have made it to land. He’s either hiding in the woods or the mountains.”

Kat’s throat fluttered. She really should tell her mother the concerning development in her connection with her brother…

“There’s more.” The duchess looked wildly pleased about something. “Lord Yangban, a cousin of Soo Hebin’s and her greatest supporter, has gone mad. Rumors are circulating that the concubine is losing her most powerful allies left right and center.”

Kat drew herself to her full height. “Things are about to explode.”

Annika nodded. “People are saying that the Gods are angry with her. It’s only a matter of time before one of the other concubine’s makes their move and either has Soo Hebin and her son killed, or deposed.”

Kat folded her arms over her chest. “I could get her deposed just fine, but I still don’t know who would be a better match for the throne, or what the first witch is angling to do here. Are there any sightings of ancient beasts? Remember the concubines talked about a sirin.”

The duchess stepped farther into the room, maneuvering carefully around some glass shards of what had once been a particularly lovely wine goblet. “There have been no sightings. As far as I’ve heard, that sirin the coven harbored died sometime in the past few years.”

Kat grimaced. While she wasn’t particularly fond of the ancient beasts, she didn’t believe they deserved cruelty. “Alright. Any word from da coming to deal with that monster I told you about?”

“Yes I received a missive this morning. He can’t come. Eric refuses to leave Daxaria defenseless with everything going on, but your da did send us the next best thing,” the duchess relayed with a bit of a weary sigh.

Kat lifted a quizzical eyebrow at her mother.

“He’s sending us Kraken and Pina.”

Kat’s face fell. “We can’t even talk to Kraken without da.”

The duchess slowly crossed her arms. “Are you really going to stand there and argue the fact that the two familiars are some of the best chances we have when it comes to dealing with mystical beings?”

“I mean… No. No, I won't argue against that. I just worry that they are going to make things even more… chaotic.”

“They normally just make more paperwork for your husband’s assistant and father.”

Kat squinted. “Are you forgetting that I now have to have Cleophus Miller in my castle for half a year, and go to scheduled visits with the rock golem that is obsessed with Pina?”

Annika smiled. “You know… I can’t say I can feel much sympathy for you, my dear daughter. You now are all grown up and able to handle the consequences of your life all on your own.”

“This is Pina’s fault, not mine,” Kat grumbled.

Annika laid a gentle hand on her daughter’s cheek. “You’re only grumpy because you are going stir crazy. And you’re jealous because the cats are going to go out and do things, aren’t you?”

Kat’s jaw dropped. “Of course not! I understand—”

“And something else is bothering you. What is it?”

Kat’s indignant response was cut short, as she stared into her mother’s keen brown eyes…

Of course she knew everything.

She always knew everything.