An Obstinate Witch

by E M Graham

WE DIDN’T END UP GOING OUT on the town, after all, not in that sense, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Once out into the warm spring evening, we somehow ended up with our arms around each other as we wandered out onto the Royal Mile, the spine of the mound leading to the Castle.

  ‘Ach,’ Hugh said with a rare sigh of impatience. ‘Why are there still so many people around?’

  ‘Tourists have no curfews?’

  He laughed and tugged me closer, but then his voice grew solemn. ‘You know, we really need to find a quiet place to talk, and I think a pub might be too loud.’

  ‘We were just in a private room in an exclusive restaurant,’ I said, turning my head to rest against his shoulder. ‘How much more secluded do you need?’

  ‘Yes, I see your point,’ he said. ‘However, The Witchery is a Kin place. I need to discuss... Well, there’s things which, I think, you may not yet fully comprehend.’

  ‘I’d say there’s a lot I’m not understanding right now. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, and yeah, I’d love to talk.’

  By this time, we were near a huge church, closed to visitors for the evening so the throngs were thinner here. There was a stone platform in front of it with a short flight of steps leading up. We tucked ourselves away in the corner furthest from the road, sitting on edge with our feet dangling. Under the guise of settling my knapsack on the stone, I shifted a little until our legs were touching. Both of us pretended not to notice.

  Hugh was silent for a moment. ‘Not sure where to start,’ he said as he leaned his arms on his knees and laced his fingers together.

  ‘I’d like to know...’

  He shifted his head toward me, sending me a wary glance.

  ‘Okay,’ I continued, not quite knowing how to approach this, but deciding to just jump in. The deepening shadows lent a solitude to our perch on the platform, and in the dusk I felt I could approach subjects which I’d been terrified to broach in the harsh light of day. ‘The Crystal Charm Stone. The full moon. What does this mean for me? For my future? I know the Kin have me here in Edinburgh to keep a close eye on me, but what happens next? Once they figure out what’s happening, where am I?’

  ‘Your future.’ He looked up at the crowds still milling around the statue over to our right. They were gathering for an evening tour of haunted historical places, everyone laughing and well-oiled by a liquid supper. ‘Your future is in your own hands at this point, for it is entirely possible for you to leap-frog straight into working officially with the Kin.’ He slid his eyes down to me, to see how I was taking it, and when I looked up at him he gave a little grin at my obvious shock.

  ‘Me?’

  ‘Yes, you,’ he continued. ‘What you’ve done is nothing short of amazing. Yes, the Kin are anxious to keep an eye on you, and to watch for anything, but that’s because we want to learn. You didn’t go up in a flash of fire when you took the Charm Stone in your arms, it didn’t harm you. Instead, there was an obvious transfer of power which has probably burned right into your very genes. Do you realize what this could mean for all of the Kin?’

  I thought about it for a moment. ‘But... but they could have unlimited power... And how about if this got into the wrong hands?’

  ‘Exactly,’ he said, excitement shining in his face. ‘For so long, we have not dared to approach the Stone, cowering in the face of legends and historical fact. But you have broken that stale-mate, you’re forcing us to investigate further, but it has to be done in a very secure manner. The power of the Crystal Charm Stone is not to be treated lightly.’

  This was almost unbearably astounding. Exciting yes, for the promise it held for my future. Unlimited power? Yet on the other hand, given my track record...

  ‘I hate to break your bubble, Hugh, but you might be putting a lot on my shoulders here,’ I said sombrely.

  His arm snaked over my shoulder and hugged me. ‘I have faith in you, Dara,’ he whispered. ‘You’re going to do it, you’ll prove me right.’

  I sighed, thinking of my mother in the grasp of the Ice King, and my plans to rescue her the first moment I could. I also thought of Cromwell’s Uncommon Forces, and shivered.

  ‘I hope this faith isn’t misplaced,’ I replied slowly, trying to break it to him gently. ‘I mean, just look what I’ve screwed up in my life so far.’

  ‘Like I said to Johanna, the incident on Scarp just showed how you make the right choices when push comes to shove. You chose not to give the Stone to Willem. You helped us search for him, although he did get away. You have proved you are maturing.’

  I lay my shoulder against his chest. The wool of his pea coat was warm in the sudden chill now the sun was gone, and I bit my lip, trying to view my past misdeeds from this new angle. ‘Wow. You really see it like this?’

  He nodded, his chin brushing my hair.

  ‘But Elder Cromwell,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘Pauline’s dad, and all his crowd. They don’t hold that opinion.’

  ‘Well, no.’ Hugh cleared his throat and loosened his arm a fraction. ‘Not exactly. Of course, you’re aware of how the Covenanters tend to hold fast to the traditional stance, and it may take a while before we can get them to see this viewpoint.’

  ‘And until they do an about face? What do I have to expect from them?’

  His arm completely dropped from my shoulders and he resumed his position of interlaced fingers. I was realizing he did this when he wanted to think before he spoke, as if his fingers acted as a filter for his words. He let out a deep breath through pursed lips.

  ‘You’ll just have to work on proving yourself to them, all of the Elders,’ he said slowly. ‘You need to soak up everything the Venerable Nachtan gives to you. Obey the rules of Mrs. Mac’s house, and they are there for your protection, mind. And don’t...’

  I reached up to whisper in his ear. ‘And don’t mess it up.’

  He stood up from the low stone wall, and turned to me, lifting me to my feet. His eyes shone with a new light, an uncertain expression, even a shyness. ‘Exactly,’ he whispered back to me. ‘Just think of our future. You and me together, Dara.’

  I leaned against his chest to hide the big grin on my face. Finally. Of all my hopes and dreams, this was way up there on the list, and if this could come true, then anything was possible. With Hugh at my side, the world was my oyster.

  ‘Are we a thing now?’ I asked into his coat.

  The rumble of his laughter bubbled up. ‘Yeah, maybe,’ he admitted. ‘But can you define ‘thing’?’

  I lifted my head. ‘Kiss me. Kiss me like you really mean it. Then we’ll know if we’re a thing.’

  And he did. We did. And yes, we proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were a thing.

  6

  IN ORDER FOR THIS THING BETWEEN ME AND HUGH to work and for us to realize the best possible future together, I had a lot of work to do, especially professionally. I giggled a little when Hugh put it like that in his oh-so-serious voice, because I’d never thought of myself as a professional witch. But I was, or I would be, if I could just sit through the sessions with the Venerable Nachtan and soak up every bit of knowledge he offered.

  And then some, because I was determined that this mysterious Nachtan would hold the answer to my most pressing need – how to get to the Ice King’s dimension from here.

  Early the next morning I climbed the short walk up to the trades entrance tunnel to the castle, showing my new ID badge to the soldier waiting with a jeep. When I found my way back to the old hospital where the Venerable Nachtan’s rooms were located, I followed our footsteps from the previous day through the basement corridor, hurrying by the Uncommon Forces door with a shudder. Hugh had specifically spelled it out, but really? I’d come pretty close to being dispensed by these troops. That would never happen again.

  Mrs. Battersea sat at her large desk, surrounded with an organized mass of papers. She wore the same cut of suit as before, but today it was a coral version with cat’s eye glasses to mat
ch. She nodded to me when I poked my nose in, and told me to go on up to the Venerable Nachtan’s rooms, last door up the stairs.

  No one answered my knock there, it was quite possible I hadn’t been heard so I opened the heavy studded portal and timorously walked in, not knowing what to expect.

  Like the office below, this was a round room, but unlike Mrs. Battersea’s domain it was a haphazard mess, all brightly lit by the dome of glass which comprised the ceiling. Almost all the walls were lined with books and papers, stuffed onto the shelves any which way, and around the room was a vast assortment of objects which looked vaguely Renaissance and early scientific in origin, all brass and wood but like the books, everything was covered with a thick layer of dust as if it hadn’t been disturbed in many, many years. My eye was caught by what appeared to be a giant snow globe without the snow, a full two feet in diameter, which was dark and empty inside save for a single figure seated at a desk, for all the world like a stone statue except for the quill in her hand which was moving slowly, infinitesimally slowly across a page of a book.

  Hugh spoke first. ‘Good morning, Dara.’

  Our eyes met. His were hooded and almost devoid of recognition, formal like his tone. I opened my mouth to chide him but he continued.

  ‘Venerable Nachtan, may I introduce Dara Martin de Teilhard.’

  That’s not my name, I wanted to say, but instead I found myself almost dropping into a curtsey as if I was meeting the Queen. For perhaps the first time ever in my life, I became self-conscious of my attire, the childish uniform of hoody and jeans and sneakers, and wished I’d had the forethought to wear something a little more dignified like a skirt. I did have one somewhere, I was almost sure.

  For the presence of the Venerable Nachtan was august, there was no other word for it. Tall and thin and just a little stooped, his face was lined with deep furrows as if the sum of his knowledge and years was too painful a burden for that physical body. His hair was long and white, his beard still grey around his thin lips, the black robe he wore was as ancient and dusty as the room around him. He said nothing and did not expect me to reply, he just stood and looked at me like I was a particularly distasteful bug under a scrying glass.

  Hugh shot me a warning glance as if to tell me to be on my best behavior, like I needed that. He pointed to a chair a distance away, then sat down himself. The ancient one remained standing.

  At last, the Venerable Nachtan began to start to speak, clearing his throat at first with a small ahem. And then another, longer and rumbling ahem, and yet another, until he sounded like a steam engine getting up enough steam. I stared at him, horrified and waiting for a word from him, but he continued to stare right back at me as he cleared a massive amount of detritus from his vocal cords.

  Finally, he stopped and, leaning over, spit into a foul looking brass bucket at his feet. He took his eyes from my face only to peer into the bucket.

  ‘Such youth,’ he began after he’d lifted his head again. His voice was deep, and authoritative, dry and scored with years spent in the solitude of his tower. It was also surprisingly clear. ‘Like the other, when we were both young enough.’ With that he shot Hugh a look of fierce intensity, as if to ask why the time of the Venerable Nachtan was being wasted on the likes of me.

  ‘Your boldness astounds me,’ he continued, leaving no doubt I was now in the firing line, his eyes like flint fixing me in their glare. ‘I have read the reports of your past misdeeds. I fear you must have great powers of persuasion that you have made it this far into my presence, and that is reason enough to act against you, to put a permanent end to this.’

  I could feel the blood draining from my face. Was he saying... the Kin needed a permanent and final solution to Dara Martin de Teilhard? No one had warned me that I was on trial again. I risked a glance at Hugh for reassurance that I was hearing wrong, but that coward kept his head resolutely down and would not meet my eye.

  ‘Of course, you are of the female persuasion,’ the ancient one thundered on. ‘That is not your fault, but I blame your father for not keeping tighter reins on you. Then again, you were born of emotion, and that weighs heavily on your life’s path.’ Now my cheeks were burning. He meant that my parents were not married, that I was the result of an extra-marital affair. He shook his head. ‘Perhaps you cannot change this direction, for being female, you are run by emotion and cannot control yourself, but if that is true, then you must needs be stopped.’

  I really couldn’t believe what I was hearing. That anyone, even an ancient witch like him, would express such misogynistic views in this day and age! The man should be shut away and stopped himself, instead of being venerated by the Kin. So what if he knew more magic than anyone else? This was not acceptable, and I refused to be spoken to in such a manner.

  I opened my mouth to tell him so when I felt Hugh staring at me, hard. When our eyes met, he gave the tiniest shake of his head. I glared back at him, putting all my feelings into that glare so he would understand, all my hurt and anger and frustration...

  All those emotions which were presently running my mind. Just like the old witch had said. I blinked, took a deep breath and steadied my thoughts, lifting them out of the outrage which squawked and twittered inside my head. Once I had regained a semblance of calm, I lifted my eyes to find Nachtan staring at me from his great height. I knew he had seen the turmoil in my mind at his words.

  ‘Well done,’ he said with a nod. ‘But you will need much work on that. One of your handicaps is, as I said, that you are female and are naturally more easily swayed.’

  He let a silence grow in the room before he spoke again. ‘Because of your extreme youth and emotionality and your obvious disregard for convention, you have proven you are not to be trusted. The Covenanters would have you cursed and locked underground to contain this insolence, this hubris, and to prevent further serious mishaps.’

  He removed a pipe from deep within his robe and took the time to fill it from a leather pouch, tamping the tobacco firmly in, then casually snapped his fingers and it was lit. The old witch thoughtfully drew on it, staring at me the whole while.

  ‘And, once upon a very long time ago, that was my choice of action also,’ he continued. Was that a note of regret coloring his voice? Surely not. ‘But these are different times, with different ways. Who is to say what is right? Perhaps the Age of Reason has run its course, and the so-called Age of Aquarius is now upon us. If you would believe such flummery.’

  The Venerable Nachtan turned to stare at the large crystal ball with the stone figure inside it, and appeared to be lost in thought. I snuck a glance over at Hugh to see how he was taking this very odd monologue, but he had his hands clasped and his elbows on his knees with his head down, almost as if he were in church listening to a sermon.

  ‘What know you of Empedicles of Athens?’

  I jumped in my seat, for Nachtan was addressing me again.

  ‘Who? What? Sorry, I’m not sure...’ I threw a panicked look at Hugh, but he ignored me.

  ‘Of course you’re not, your education has been sadly lacking. Every witch should be familiar with the classics.’ The ancient man unerringly reached for a book from the thousands that lay in no order along the shelves, and held it out for me to take.

  ‘Read that, it is an important foundation for you,’ he said. ‘Now leave us, child, for Sabarin and I have much to discuss. Tomorrow, then.’

  With that I was dismissed.

  THE HEAVY WOODEN DOOR SLAMMED shut behind me all on its own, and I stood on the stone landing trying to process what had just happened in that room. The emotions I had so successfully tamped down came rushing to the fore. That misogynistic old bastard! How dare he talk about me like that? No wonder the Kin were so screwed up on all levels when they venerated an old relic like Nachtan. Talk about the Dark Ages, which was probably when he was born, and how old was he anyway? Shouldn’t there be mandatory retirement for witches when they reached, what, one hundred and fifty ye
ars old?

  And Hugh – he’d been no use whatsoever, just kept his mouth shut and his head down as if what had happened was a perfectly normal thing. What a useless arse that man could be! And Hugh was supposed to be the one teaching me, not that shrivelled-up old guy.

  I took a deep, steadying breath and admitted, through my anger and betrayal just for a moment, that Hugh had been right when he said we couldn’t let any of the Kin know about Us. Not yet, not with the prejudice still rampant in such high up levels as the Venerable Nachtan himself. That ancient relic might no longer be a practicing witch or part of the government, but he held a lot of sway.

  And there was no way the Venerable Nachtan would help me find the way to the Ice Kingdom, I knew that was off the table. It was going to be all up to me, then, the rescuing of my mom. I set off down the stone stairs, stomping my feet until I realized the ancient rock didn’t care and I was only hurting myself. But it was better than crying.

  THE SHORT JEEP RIDE released me to the open air and I slowly made my way down the Royal Mile. After the weird hour spent in that smoky room I hated to go back to Mrs. Mac’s claustrophobic house, and I was feeling a little peckish, and a coffee sure wouldn’t go astray. The sun still shone weakly on the endless throngs of tourists, so I intended to find a coffee shop for an expensive cappuccino and a big slice of cake. This glittery new Kin credit card needed the exercise.

  Like yesterday, a figure caught my attention as my eyes passed over the crowd. Incredulous, I turned my head and really studied the mass of people, searching for that slight body. Yes, that could be Willem. I stared hard, but he had his head bent down in conversation. I couldn’t pick out his companion, but in a flash he had disappeared again, the red cap no longer visible in the mass of humanity.

  Was I going nuts? I shook my head. Maybe I just needed that caffeine and sugar. There was no way, there was no conceivable reason on earth for Willem to have stayed in Scotland. He might be mad, but he wasn’t stupid. I shoved aside every bad memory of him and looked forward to my treats, bringing my tray outside to sit and watch the world go by and to think.