An Obstinate Witch
Page 9
‘Huh,’ I said, trying to process all of this new information. ‘Okay. And Nachtan. Why does he hate me?’
Hugh shook his head. ‘He doesn’t hate you! But, it is... complicated.’
‘Really,’ I said, skeptically. ‘How so?’ Whenever people used the C- word to explain a situation, they were usually trying to explain away bad behaviour. At least that was my experience.
‘Nachtan is the oldest living witch,’ he began. ‘And has been through much. He lived through the entire twentieth century with all its wars.’
‘When was he born?’
‘A century and a half ago.’
Ancient indeed, I thought. But how would one get to live such a great age?
Hugh continued. ‘I sometimes get the feeling that he believes he’s lived too long. He was present during the whole Margaret Forsythe episode, around the turn of the last century. In fact, he was the one who had to sentence her.’
‘Who was she?’
‘Who is she, you mean. Auld Meg, as she’s commonly known.’
At this, my heart almost jumped out of my chest.
Auld Meg. I couldn’t tell him of my plans for that very night with the goblin. I was going to meet Auld Meg, or Margaret Forsythe, and ask for her help. But I could certainly pump Hugh for information, for the more I knew, the better I would feel about the whole affair. I sat forward.
‘People have hinted,’ I said, and looked at him expectantly. ‘But no one will tell me the story.’
MARGARET FORSYTHE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN of the Kin, the daughter of a Duke, and as headstrong as the day was long, Hugh said. Born wealthy and entitled, she also had more than her fair share of magic in her blood and the belief that she should be allowed to use it.
Unfortunately for Lady Margaret, she was born into the wrong time and of the wrong gender. This was before the World Wars and the Edwardians and the emancipation of women, and most of the male Kin believed a woman’s place was in her home. Women were allowed to practice silly magic, small glamours and such, but would never have been allowed into the hallowed halls to join in with the truly powerful men.
This was not good enough for young Margaret, and she was determined to enact change in the Kin, singlehandedly if necessary. She begged and pleaded with her father for formal education into magic, with the result that her loving Papa hired a private tutor with the strict instructions to teach her only the basics.
The beautiful woman seduced her tutor into teaching her more than that, however, and after a few years she was a fully educated witch, hungry to take her part in the Kin. But Lady Margaret continued to lay low, further teaching herself and practicing on her father’s quiet estate for the next decade.
Finally, the day arrived when she deemed herself to have surpassed the majority of the male Kin in knowledge and power. Approaching thirty years of age, she presented herself to the court at Edinburgh to begin her campaign. Unfortunately for her, the Covenanters still ruled the Kin in those days, and she was laughed out of town.
Being of above average intelligence, along with having enough means to carry out her desires, the furious Margaret plotted and planned, finally coming up with a solution which no one foresaw. While the rest of the Scottish Kin were celebrating the full moon of Samhain one year, she simply travelled up to Inverness, on to the Island of Lewis and Harris, and from there made her way to the island of Scarp.
I suspected I knew what was coming then, but I stayed silent to allow Hugh to tell the story.
Lady Margaret had planned ahead, had even gotten her hands on the blue prints of Scarp Castle. She entered the tunnel beneath the Broch and took the Crystal Charm Stone in hand, intent on bringing it back to Edinburgh to fling it in the faces of the ruling male Kin.
She did not take one thing into account, however, and how was she to know? No one had ever attempted such a thing before. Moving the Stone sent reverberations through all the ley lines of the land, as this crystal was the center hub of all the magic. The disturbance was soon felt in Edinburgh and the Kin were quick to act.
‘Margaret was caught, the lodestone returned, and she was sentenced by curse to remain in a dungeon to write all she knew into the last Chronicle, and only when this book was finished would she be sentenced to death.’
And that’s why the Covenanters hate me, I thought. This ancient left-over fear of a powerful woman. I looked up to see Hugh carefully watching me. He nodded when he saw what was in my eyes.
‘Yes, and that’s why you need to fear Cromwell,’ he said softly.
‘Just one thing,’ I finally spoke up after thinking it all over some more. ‘You said the Crystal Charm Stone was returned to the broch. But who did that, who brought it back?’
‘The Venerable Nachtan was tasked with that job,’ Hugh replied solemnly. ‘And that is why he is venerated. Through that brave action, he opened himself up to more power than any of the Kin before or since.’
I waited for him to take the next step in logic, to point out the obvious anomalies in this line of thought, but he remained silent. I searched his face, surely he wasn’t going to leave it at that? I’d have to do it myself for it had to be said aloud.
‘You mean to tell me,’ I began. I tried to rein it in, but my temper was rising. All the more because I had to be the one to point it out. ‘You mean, a male witch is venerated for the very same action that, when done by a female, means she gets sentenced to life in a dungeon?’
Hugh had the grace to look uncomfortable. ‘Well, their intentions were entirely different,’ he said, just a tad too defensively. ‘She actively chose the role, while he was forced to clean up behind her.’
‘You’re frigging serious. You really don’t see...’ My rage could not find words. I’d known all my life, since I became aware of them, that the Kin were a right band of bastards, but this took the cake. ‘And she’s still locked up, even today?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘There is a movement to rectify the whole situation, to re-look at the judgements but...’
‘But it’s not going to happen in our lifetimes, right?’
‘Nachtan was the one to hand down the sentence! We can’t very well have a re-trial until he’s dead, now, can we? It would be an insult to his name.’
If I had any doubts left, they had dissipated by now. I was going to Auld Meg that night, and I certainly wasn’t going to share this with Hugh.
10
HUGH WAS WATCHING ME TENSELY, preparing for my next attack. But what more was there to say? I’d stated the obvious inequality of justice, and he had excused it with bleating, self-justifying Kin excuses. I couldn’t stand this anymore, I needed to get out in the fresh air and walk far away from this magic infused environment. So I jumped out of my seat and ran up the iron staircase before he could stop me.
And banged into the invisible wall of the protective force. Dazed, I grabbed onto the iron railing to stop me from tumbling down. ‘Let me out!’
He looked at me from below, calmly now. He hadn’t moved an inch. ‘I’m sorry you’re upset, but we’re not finished yet.’
‘It’s no use beating against a magic force field with your fists. You’re not getting anywhere with that,’ he added.
I stopped the useless action and let my hands drop to my side, then stomped my way back down the stairs, each iron step clanging against my boots.
‘While you’re up, why not get us both another beer?’
Fresh drinks in hand, I slumped back in my chair. ‘So finish,’ I said coldly.
‘The Venerable Nachtan...’ He looked up at me. ‘You’re really not going to like what I have to say. But you have to listen, and to heed.’
I crossed my arms and said nothing.
‘He’s not giving favorable reports back to the Kin.’
‘Of course not, I have the audacity to be female.’
‘According to Cromwell, Nachtan is pressing for more direct action on you.’
‘Like locking me i
n a dungeon for the rest of my life?’ I thought about what I’d said for a second. ‘How long will that be, anyway? Am I immortal now?’
Hugh shook his head. ‘No one lives forever. Margaret and Nachtan, well, their lifespans have been vastly extended through their prolonged contact with the Stone. She managed to bring it all the way to Inverness before she was caught, and he had to take it back the same distance. You had less time with it, so there should be less effect.’
‘But I’m really powerful! You said it yourself, you’ve seen me at the full moon.’
He lifted a finger. ‘That’s exactly it – at the time of the full moon. Not the rest of the month, though, right?’
I shrugged away his point. He was correct. But that still didn’t make things good. He was still part of the unfair misogynistic Kin. ‘Are you finished? Can I go now? Or are you planning to leave me in this subterranean cell against my will?’
He sighed. ‘Look, I just wanted to warn you. You are very powerful, but only at the time of the full moon. The rest of the time, you’re vulnerable. And you are being watched very closely. Cromwell is probably monitoring every move you make, no doubt he’s following your phone and every credit card transaction. They will be watching for any strange outbursts of magical activity in the area. Even Mrs. Mac is expected to give reports on you. He’s waiting for you to make a wrong move.’
So much for all his previous talk about what a great opportunity I’d been given, to study under Hugh and the Venerable Nachtan. I was a prisoner in Edinburgh, watched closely day and night.
Which led me to wonder – how would I be able to get away with seeing Auld Meg tonight? If spies were everywhere, then someone would know. Damn it. This would require extreme carefulness.
Although my thoughts were racing, I must have appeared calmer so Hugh switched tact, attempting for a lighter, more conversational tone. ‘Have you met anyone yet? Been out socializing?’
My heart was full to bursting and just about at breaking point, and I had no room in my head for this silly chat. Hugh, my darling Hugh, had shown me a side of him that I couldn’t accept, and in rejecting that side, I thought I had to reject all of him. I was confused and needed to be alone more than ever right at that moment. So I turned on him.
‘Who would I meet here, Hugh? You think I’d be likely to go out for a beer with Nachtan? The guards, perhaps, inviting me to meet at their local pub? Or perhaps Brownie, that weird little maid at Mrs. Mac’s, maybe her and I could get together for a hen night, have a little bitch session about my landlady’s treatment of her?’
He was taken aback by the force of my outburst and laid his bottle of beer on the flat arm of the chair. ’First of all, her name’s Patsy. She’s a House Brownie. And secondly, this is a university town, Dara. There are thousands of students around in this square mile alone. It wouldn’t take much to join a quiz night, meet people.’
‘With my curfew? You have to be kidding me,’ I said bitterly. The only being I’d met so far was that nasty little goblin, and I certainly wouldn’t call him a friend. I badly mimicked a Scots accent, ‘Oh so nice to meet you, but I must run home now. What am I a student of? Oh, magic. My university? The little castle on the hill, yes, it’s very exclusive, you’ll not have heard of it.’
‘Alright, alright,’ he said, finally getting annoyed. ’I get it. Look, why not come out to dinner with me tonight? Mrs. Mac won’t mind your curfew if you’re with me.’
I had a date with a goblin at midnight, but I couldn’t tell him that. Two hours with Hugh, and me trying to keep up my guard the whole time? There would be warmth and companionship and wine, and I knew myself well enough that I could never withstand all that. I would let something slip, especially with the alcohol. I shook my head. ‘No.’
‘Come on,’ he coaxed, smiling at me. ‘You need fattening up, and it would be great to have a break from Mrs. Mac’s food, I know that firsthand.’
Perhaps if I said yes, I could persuade him to tell me why he had been stuck under Nachtan’s tutoring... But no. Curiosity killed the cat, as they say, and that would have to wait for another time. And there would be other times.
‘No,’ I said. ‘Not tonight. I have studying to do.’
‘Since when does Dara Martin worry about her bookwork?’ His eyes began to narrow with suspicion, and I knew that he knew I was up to something. Damn – that was a stupid move. I had to backtrack, and fast.
‘Actually, Hugh, this whole full moon thing?’ I began, and looked away, pretending to be embarrassed. ‘But there is a side effect to the tides thing.’
I winced and held my belly. ‘It’s brought my menstrual cycle to align with the new moon, and I have awful cramps right now. I really just want a night at home with a hot water bottle.’
He opened his mouth, then shut it again. If I wasn’t so desperate, I would have laughed to see the great Hugh Sabarin so flummoxed and out of his element. Guys hate period talk.
‘Of course,’ he said hurriedly.
‘Mmmn,’ I replied, wincing again. I really had to get a move on. I had things to prepare.
‘I’ll walk you home,’ he offered. ‘And we can have a cup of tea with Mrs. Mac.’
He even stopped into the very expensive news kiosk and bought me a dozen chocolate bars, self-consciously showing off the fact that he was a modern man who understood the needs of women at this time of the month, even if he couldn’t bring himself to say the words out loud.
I WENT DIRECTLY TO MY ROOM when we got home, and left Hugh with the uncomfortable job of explaining to my landlady. My act must have been pretty convincing, because Brownie (or Patsy I mean) was sent up with a tray of soup and bread along with a hot water bottle. I gave her a weak smile of thanks as I reclined back on my bed.
She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. ‘Ye might have fooled himself with your pretense, but ye’re not fooling me,’ she said. ‘Ye’re not at that time of the month, you had that last week. I know, ‘cause I’m the one t’does your laundry. What’re you up to?’ Her little mouth was set in a grim line.
‘Just... I’m not feeling myself,’ I told her in a faint voice, turning to face the wall. Dang. What a nosy creature she was. I longed to tell her to mind her own business.
‘I’ll allow ye’re not!’ she retorted. ‘You’re planning something, I can smell deceit a mile off. Ye do know you’re being watched something awful, don’t ye? You can’t get away with anything, not with the Kin on your every move.’
She picked up my hoody from where I’d thrown it on the chair and climbed the small wooden steps to hang it in the wardrobe. ‘Course, it’s not natural, what they’re doing. You should be out enjoying yourself, living your life, a young woman like you.’
I flipped around to stare at her, my mind racing. What were the chances I could brazen it out? She was just a Brownie, after all, a creature of no standing in this house. She didn’t even merit a name from her employer. But... her bedroom was directly above mine, a poky little attic space that only she could stand up in. I knew from experience that there were no sound barriers between us, just the plank floor of her room, and we could hear every movement the other made.
My plan was to get up at eleven thirty and sneak out to meet the goblin outside the Cathedral. Mrs Mac went to bed at an early hour, but what were the odds I could do this successfully, especially now that Patsy was on the alert?
‘If I told you, you’d tell on me,’ I said, trying my best to look menacing.
The brownie laughed unexpectedly, not cowed by me at all. ‘What, tell her downstairs?’ She shook her head. ‘The drama’s not worth it. I’ll not be getting mixed up in anything. I’m just stupid Brownie, who doesn’t know anything.’
For the first time she smiled and looked at me, and I could see the intelligence in the eyes which she had up to this point shrouded. I made a decision right there and then. Hugh had said I needed the support of others right now, and I was prepared to take a chance on t
his ill-treated maid.
‘Your real name is Patsy, right?’
A faint look of surprise came over her face which changed to glee as I told her my plan. Well the part about sneaking out anyway. I didn’t mention Auld Meg. ‘And there’s this... person I promised to meet...’
‘Don’t ye worry about it,’ she said fervently, her small brown eyes glinting with pleasure. ‘I’ll make sure Herself sleeps soundly tonight with an extra dollop of brandy in her tea. Leave it to me. And I’ll leave the door unlocked so’s you don’t make noise.’
‘I may be late coming back,’ I told her. I had no idea what would happen with Auld Meg, even if Trevor could get me to her.
‘I’ll cover for ye,’ she said, giggling, her rosy cheeks bunched up and a new lightness to her eye. She no longer looked so mousy when she let her personality shine through. ‘Ye’re a bold one, you are, putting it over the Kin like that. The little witch slips out of their grasp for a midnight lovers’ meeting. The other Brownies’ll love to hear this one.’
‘Uh, well, Patsy, I don’t know if we want to publicize this.’ But there was no harm in letting her believe what she wanted to.
I’d made an unexpected new ally in Mrs. Mac’s house and I was about to meet the wickedest witch in Kin history. Although I had a suspicion she might not be so evil, at least, not more evil than I was. The clock ticked slowly toward the appointed hour as the moon slowly rose over the roofs and chimneys of the Old Town.
PATSY WAS AS GOOD AS HER WORD. The house was almost silent, only the soft snores of Mrs. Mac’s brandy-induced sleep sounding as I slipped down the carpeted staircase in the dark, and the front door was unlocked.
I walked quietly down Ramsay Lane, picking my way along the cobblestones, helped only by the light of a single streetlamp. The main boulevard still had some life even at this hour, the remnants of a tour group in the pub down the road and a few dark shapes lurking in the shadowed alleys. I didn’t stop to look too closely, for I didn’t want to know their business, and I didn’t want anyone to know mine.