Unnamed Memory - Volume 1 - Chapter 7

7. Breathing Life into Form

A thin layer of clouds covered the afternoon sun, and in a corner of the training grounds, Tinasha and Suzuto were sparring.

Suzuto’s speed and strength weren’t poor for a soldier, but to a seasoned warrior, he lacked a certain element of surprise. As a result, Tinasha could predict and parry Suzuto’s thrusts with ease.

He grew impatient with the witch as she fended off his cuts by merely adjusting her stance, then throwing his whole body into a downward thrust. His opponent did not even meet the attack with her sword.

Tinasha crouched into a low lunge, holding firm against him as she just barely dodged his blade. Then, with a dancer’s elegance and the sure speed of a fighter, she brought her sword within a hairbreadth of his neck and held it there.

“All right, this is as far as we go,” Tinasha declared.

“I—I lost again…,” Suzuto lamented.

“You need to either learn how to read further ahead or get faster,” the witch offered.

Suzuto looked crestfallen as Tinasha sheathed her sword. The witch’s blade was her own, not a borrowed one. It had been crafted to be thinner than a standard blade. In battle, Tinasha often carried a magic-infused sword, but this was an ordinary one meant for practice.

Tinasha touched her hair, making sure it was all still bound up in a braid. She felt someone place a hand on her head and looked over her shoulder to see Oscar standing there.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

“I wanna get a workout every now and then. Can we spar?”

“No. From the very bottom of my heart, no.” Tinasha glanced behind him and saw the lady-in-waiting girl pop up; she must have come along to wait on him. The witch waved expressionlessly at the girl, whose name was apparently Miralys. Evidently embarrassed, Miralys turned red and bowed her head. Tinasha smiled at the reaction.

“Even if you want to work out, you can’t spar against anyone because of the protective barrier.”

“Oh, I guess that’s true. Can you lift it temporarily?” Oscar asked, making the powerful magic sound like it was nothing too troublesome.

“It would require a lot of effort, so I’d prefer not to. But there is a shortcut built in,” Tinasha explained.

“You thought of everything, huh?”

Tinasha showed Oscar her right palm. After concentrating only a little, a small cut appeared on her pointer finger.

Oscar looked at the blood oozing out and frowned. “What are you doing? You’re bleeding.”

“I am,” answered the witch. Tinasha floated up and rubbed her finger along the back of his ear. She murmured to him, “While my blood is on your body, the barrier will relax. That said, it will still repel strong magic… Think of it like a net. This a dangerous bit of info, so don’t tell others about it.”

“Got it,” Oscar agreed. Tinasha was still floating in midair, and he hugged one arm around her waist.

Als came over to the two and bowed to the lord. “Your Highness, are you here for practice?”

“I haven’t sparred in a while. Would you be my partner?” Oscar inquired.

“Gladly,” Als replied.

Oscar set the witch down and took a sword from Als. Released, Tinasha stood next to Miralys to observe.

It was hardly a surprise to Tinasha at this point, but Oscar was fascinatingly strong. So much so that, while she had looked on sourly at first, a cold laugh bubbled up within her partway through the duel.

Normally, Als was the one putting countless soldiers through their paces during practice and winning against all of them, but now it was Oscar gunning for that position. Members of the Farsasian army watched respectfully as their future king defeated General Als and Officer Meredina rather easily. Tinasha, who was usually no match for Als, watched the spectacle with her arms crossed.

“Anyone else wanna go?” Tapping the flat of his blade against his shoulder, Oscar made an appeal to his many spectators. None stepped forward in response to the challenge, however. Likely because they knew they stood no chance.

Oscar’s eyes were dancing when Tinasha met his gaze, and the witch was suddenly struck by a very bad feeling. She gathered magic, preparing to teleport away, but before she could, Oscar beckoned to her.

“Tinasha, come forward,” he requested.

“I refuse!”

“Wow, instant rejection,” Oscar quipped.

“Because I’ll get nothing good out of it,” Tinasha retorted.

“It’ll be good training,” he wheedled.

The witch simply stuck out her tongue, turning him down. Oscar eyed her with amusement for a moment before seemingly hitting upon something. The prince set his sword down.

“How about I let you use magic?” he suggested.

“Do you want to be burned to a crisp?”

“Most of it will still get repelled, right?”

It was true. The barrier would repel strong offensive magic capable of striking a mortal wound in one blow, even if it came from her. Even so, there were still all kinds of other spells that could knock people out fairly easily.

Tinasha wondered if Oscar knew how mages without a vanguard fought on the battlefield.

She looked into the prince’s eyes and saw they were brimming with a dauntless confidence. Suddenly, a heady mix of hope, curiosity, and resignation washed over her. Until now, there had never been anyone who could hope to kill any of the witches, let alone Tinasha, the most skilled in warfare.

This man standing before her had a chance, however. He could very well kill her.

Tinasha made up her mind and answered Oscar’s assured look with one of her own. “Fine. But I have a condition.”

“What is it?” Oscar asked, eager.

“Use Akashia.”

Silence fell across the training yard.

The royal sword, with its total magical resistance, was the enemy of all mages. With a single stroke, it had once cut down a mad mage endowed with enough power to bring a country to ruin. This match was sure to be something explosive. Whispers abounded through the crowd.

Oscar, however, seemed unfazed by the condition. “I don’t mind, but it’s not blunted.”

“I’d be surprised if it were… In exchange, allow me to bring out my own personal weapons,” Tinasha said.

“Sure,” Oscar agreed, grinning with anticipation. He ordered Miralys to go fetch him Akashia.

About ten minutes later, both the prince and his witch were ready. Their match was to be held in an area slightly larger than the grounds normally used for practice fights.

Akashia in hand, Oscar faced off against Tinasha, who held a short sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. When she’d come down from the tower, she’d asked her familiars to bring these weapons along just in case.

Oscar eyed her choices with surprise. “Two-weapon fighting?”

“Essentially, yes. Normally, I’d keep one hand free, but it’ll be pointless to use magical obstacles against that sword of yours.”

“I see.”

Both of Tinasha’s weapons had been imbued with magic, but that wouldn’t have much effect against Akashia. She’d chosen them simply because she was used to wielding them, though she hadn’t done so in a long time. She adjusted her grip on the weapons’ hilts.

“Anytime you’re ready,” Oscar provoked.

Afraid of getting caught up in any magic, the soldiers had given the two a wide berth. Even so, everyone present at the training grounds awaited the start of the fight with great anticipation.

Tinasha slowed her breath and gathered her thoughts. Oscar’s blue eyes were staring her down.

“Then I’ll take you at your word… Give me everything you’ve got,” Tinasha declared, and on her final word, she launched seven balls of light into the air. Oscar’s eyes narrowed a fraction. On an exhale, the witch murmured “Go,” and the spheres assailed Oscar at varying speeds.

Two came for him from the front and the right, but Akashia readily dispelled them. The third changed its path before he could slice through it, arcing its way behind the prince.

Without a hint of hesitation, Oscar advanced, cutting down two more orbs that flew in from the left. Instantly, the witch’s sword thrust in from the right. The blow was aimed at Oscar’s neck, but he parried it away with Akashia’s hilt.

Unfortunately, the prince felt a pain in his left ankle at the same time. The sphere that had been chasing him from behind had collided with his leg while he’d been fending off Tinasha’s attack.

Doing his best to push the pain from his mind, Oscar dodged a lunging dagger attack. Tinasha’s attacks were equal parts relentless and elegant.

Oscar blocked the thrust with a burst of force and put some distance between himself and his opponent. He then cut down another ball of light headed his way. The last slipped through Oscar’s guard, however, colliding with his right shoulder. Pain and numbness traveled down his arm.

“Wind,” Tinasha cried, giving the prince no chance to catch his breath. Conjured blades of air sped toward Oscar from all directions.

Putting his injured ankle through more abuse, Oscar jumped to the left. Using Akashia to offset the blades that aimed for fatal spots, he slipped through the rest with only a few cuts on his skin to show for it.

It was a succession of attacks like nothing he’d experienced before, and Oscar began to feel an elation take hold of his body.

His mind felt sharp and aware. Somehow, the prince could tell that air filled with magic was slightly different. Normally, Oscar couldn’t sense magic at all, but his vision had suddenly been honed, and now he could sense where the energy was amassing and what path it might take once it appeared.

* * *

The blades of wind had been a decoy for an invisible rope that attempted to go for Oscar’s back, but Akashia cut through the transparent thing easily enough.

Tinasha smiled as she watched her spell get scattered. Oscar certainly had some natural aptitude. His intuition wasn’t bad, either. In fact, he seemed to be growing stronger by the second.

Cutting through the air with the sword in her right hand, Tinasha loosed a blast of scorching wind from the spot she had seemingly torn. The heated blast raced in Oscar’s direction, with Tinasha only a hair behind her own attack. Oscar cut through the eddy of hot wind, and the witch leaped to his left-hand side, hurling her dagger at him.

An ordinary person wouldn’t have been able to respond to such an attack pattern; Tinasha had known that when she’d thrown her dagger. That was why she was dumbfounded to watch Oscar catch the weapon by its hilt so easily.

“Return,” Tinasha commanded gently, and the dagger soared back from Oscar’s hand to its owner’s.

“What’s this?” Oscar asked, surprised.

“That’s just the kind of weapon I have,” Tinasha answered.

Oscar looked astonished but recovered quickly, moving in closer.

Tinasha guarded a downward stroke of Akashia’s with two blows from the sword in her right hand. With Oscar loosing such swift attacks, faster than even those of General Als, the witch had her hands full deflecting them with no room to spare for concentrating on magic. She leaped back to get some distance, but Oscar closed the gap just as quickly. Frustrated and annoyed, Tinasha fended off Akashia.

That’s when the flat of Oscar’s sword grazed her elbow.

Tinasha felt a cold sensation as the magic in her body began draining from the spot where the blade made contact. Quelling her ramping fear, Tinasha thrust her dagger toward Oscar’s chest.

Before the tip could reach his body, Oscar lifted his sword and deflected the strike. Tinasha’s blade collided with Akashia and shattered like glass against stone.

“What?!” Tinasha exclaimed. She kicked off the ground, teleporting beyond the reach of the Mage Killer.

After reappearing, she raised both her hands. “C-can we end it there?”

Glancing at her left hand, the witch saw that her dagger’s blade had been reduced to splinters and was now utterly useless.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Oscar asked.

“Not really,” Tinasha answered as she used magic to heal the little cuts that dotted Oscar’s body. Despite the two combatants now sitting in the shade, the soldiers had apparently gotten rather fired up. They had gone back to their training drills with renewed enthusiasm.

“That’s good. I don’t really want to hurt you,” Oscar said gently.

“You’ll get yourself into trouble saying things like that,” Tinasha retorted, dodging Oscar’s hand as he tried to place it on top of her head. Finishing the healing, Tinasha sat back down next to Oscar. She gazed at the hilt of the dagger lying in the grass.

Unfortunately, the damage to the blade was irreversible. Many plain weapons could be used as a medium for spell casting, but this dagger had been rather unique in that magic had been embedded in its structure. That was exactly why Akashia had shattered it. Tinasha tucked the hilt into the front of her outfit.

“Were you going easy on me?” Oscar asked.

“Not particularly. Incantations and concentration are both required for more complicated magic. To be honest, I don’t want to fight you at close range ever again,” Tinasha answered, remembering the sensation of Akashia touching her skin.

She’d thought of it as just a simple sword unaffected by magic, but she hadn’t expected it to steal her own magic energy from her at just a touch. That meant that she couldn’t cast spells.

Most likely, Oscar didn’t know about that. If he did, he’d probably use a different fighting style. Shattering the dagger had been an alarming consequence, but Tinasha still didn’t have any desire to tell Oscar just how strong an effect the sword had on her.

Remembering something important, Tinasha reached out to wipe away the bit of her blood that was lightly smeared behind Oscar’s ear.

While they sat side by side, mulling over things they couldn’t share with each other, Oscar watched the witch’s every move. Her profile looked somber beneath the shade of the tree.

“I really don’t want to kill you,” he said.

“You’re naive,” Tinasha replied, her dark eyes emotionless. She offered Oscar a tiny smile, however.

Oscar ran his fingers through her silky black hair, carding them slowly through the strands. He felt that something about the dark color of the witch’s locks seemed to embody the loneliness she felt.

“Do you want to die?” Oscar asked.

Tinasha tilted her head, confused. She stared at Oscar with a cool, clear expression. Something about the gaze very nearly betrayed her desires, but whatever it had been disappeared after a single blink, and she smiled broadly. “No. I still have lots of things to do… Like breaking your curse.”

“You could just marry me.”

“I refuse! Think about our age difference!”

“You’ll be a spirit sorcerer your whole life with that attitude,” Oscar said, standing up and offering Tinasha a hand. She took it.

When he helped Tinasha to her feet, Oscar was overcome with a desire to pull her in close, to rip her away from that distant place in which she had resided for so long.

The first time they met was truly anticlimactic.

True, she was breathtakingly beautiful, but because she looked like a girl, the way she laughed and got angry seemed very innocent.

He found that funny and enjoyed that about her. Of course, she also provided invaluable help with his curse, but he felt like he’d never be bored with a companion like her.

That was why he wanted to make sure no harm would ever come to the fragile-looking slip of a thing.

It didn’t take him very long to realize that wasn’t what she was, however.

She drilled it into him over and over; she was a witch—she was fundamentally different.

No matter how close by she was or how calmly she smiled at him, no matter how much kindness she showed others, she could never devote herself to the humans around her. She always stood alone in a place distant from all others.

After realizing that, he wanted to know the truth of everything about her.

Her smile, her angry face, her cruelty, her pride, her kindness, her loneliness.

He sought the truth that dwelled within all of them.

Perhaps if he could touch the inner truth of this witch…he’d long to cherish her.

“I mean, to be honest, I was pretty damn shocked. Miss Tinasha was incredible, but so was His Highness. Is he even human?”

Als and Meredina were sitting at a table in the castle courtyard during their lunch break. Als stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth as they discussed the mock battle from the other day.

“I’m glad I saw it…,” Als continued, “but at the same time, I feel like I’ve lost my confidence… I don’t think I could ever win.”

“Against who?” Meredina asked.

“Either of them.”

Meredina’s childhood friend was acting unusually insecure, but she smiled and took a sip of tea. “Don’t go doubting yourself now. It’ll be bad for the soldiers’ morale to hear you say things like that.”

“I guess,” Als replied.

“That’s what happens if you use magic in melee combat. And she was going easy on him, wasn’t she?”

“I don’t know about that, but it looked like she was only using quick, flexible spells. Hmm, I guess a regular mage wouldn’t do that, so that makes me feel a bit better, at least,” Als reasoned.

“You think so?” Meredina asked.

Als poured tea into his cup. Meredina took a bite of one of the cookies she’d brought.

“I’ve never seen one of our mages using a sword,” Als said. “Normally, mages let swordsmen handle the front lines, while they launch large magic attacks from behind. The enemy uses mages to defend against that. I don’t think there are many mages like Miss Tinasha, attacking and defending with a sword to compensate for not putting up a barrier.”

“At the magical lake, she used an ordinary wave of huge magic to burn everything around us to ash,” Meredina pointed out.

“That just means she knows how to fight the more traditional way, too. I guess a lifetime of centuries provides a different perspective.”

Meredina smiled at Als’s words. Before, she’d had a bit of an inferiority complex about the witch, but as she’d gotten to know Tinasha as a person, those feelings had faded. Perhaps Meredina’s change had been because she’d caught sight of the witch, who seemed to have everything, casting a long, lonely shadow. Seeing the witch like that had made Meredina feel like Tinasha shouldn’t have to look so sad—at least while she was in the castle.

With a bittersweet smile, Meredina took up her cup. “She was testing His Highness…or maybe teaching him? That’s how I interpreted it.”

“You think?” Als asked.

“Yes. She wanted to show him what type of moves a mage like herself would use in a real fight,” Meredina explained.

Glimpses of a terrible, heartrending sorrow sometimes flashed in the eyes of that woman who had lived for many lifetimes. Her eyes seemed to convey that, while she balked at getting involved with humans, she wanted to leave something behind. Perhaps what Tinasha wanted to entrust was something she could give to Oscar.

Als evidently hadn’t seen what Meredina had in the battle. With his chin resting on his hands, he looked up at the sky. “She said before that she didn’t really want to give away her hand, though.”

“Couldn’t she have changed her mind? I mean, she started smiling halfway through.” Meredina drained her cup with a bitter smile.

The weather was excellent. The castle walls encircled the sky, and clouds drifted slowly across the enclosure.

In a rare occurrence, Oscar’s father, the king, asked Oscar to meet him in the royal family’s salon that adjoined the audience chamber.

Told it was an emergency, Oscar came over in the middle of his work wearing a quizzical look. His father handed him a letter.

“What’s this?” the prince asked.

“An envoy has come from Cuscull, a minor country to the north. He’s asking to meet the Witch of the Azure Moon.”

Two things struck Oscar about that, and he decided to inquire about the less important of the pair first. “I’ve never heard of that country.”

“It appears to have gained independence from Tayiri a year ago. It’s a small nation, but it’s investing heavily in magic research.”

“Magic…”

Tayiri was the northernmost major nation in the mainland, and it shared no border with Farsas. Such distance meant that state visits only occurred between the two sovereignties around three times a year.

The most pervasive characteristic of Tayiri was its belief in independence. It was also well-known as a land that frowned heavily upon magic. Children born with an aptitude for spells were banished as soon as their talent emerged. It was also not unheard of for them to be killed, depending on the region.

An internal faction within Tayiri declaring independence and founding a nation dedicated to magic reflected poorly on the power of the ruling state, which was likely why any news of the event had been quashed. It would’ve been far more surprising if Farsas had known of Cuscull’s founding.

Oscar nodded in understanding, then asked about the more pressing doubt he had. “So how do you think they know Tinasha is in Farsas?”

Most of the witches weren’t open about their whereabouts, with Tinasha being the sole exception.

That said, the only widely known fact was that she lived in the tower. It wasn’t as though she’d left a note on the door saying where she was whenever she went out. Though it had been officially revealed to those within the castle that Tinasha was a witch, it was still a tightly kept secret beyond the walls. The rest of Farsas was unaware of the truth. How could a distant, newly founded country have learned of Tinasha’s true identity?

King Kevin shook his head in response to his son’s question. “I don’t know. It just says they want to meet her.”

Oscar fell into thought for a bit. Tinasha was probably in his study at the moment.

“Got it. I’ll meet with them first,” Oscar declared.

The king gave a little nod, like he’d anticipated that reply.

The envoy from Cuscull was a short, somewhat unpleasant man. He wasn’t ugly, but his eyes were narrow slits, not unlike a reptile’s. A vicious aura also seemed to emanate from every pore of his body at all times.

Though unsettled by the visitor’s smile, Oscar made sure not to let it show on his face.

The man introduced himself as Kagar. “Please forgive my sudden intrusion. If you would be so kind as to introduce me to the esteemed witch, I will promptly take my leave.”

Oscar responded to Kagar’s polite greeting with a bit of audacity. “A witch? Sorry, but we don’t have anyone like that here. I’d like to know who told you that.”

“Please dispense with the jokes. I don’t wish to occupy your valuable time, Your Highness,” Kagar said with a grandiose flourish of his hands and a sly smirk. “A little while ago, a pack of fools from Druzan attempted to revive the demonic beast. If they’d succeeded, it would’ve meant serious trouble for every nation on the mainland. Fortunately, the witch’s heroic actions appear to have prevented this. However, if word were to get out that someone with the power to kill a demonic beast had allied with a single country… Well, it could quickly become a very real problem.” Kagar’s haughty attitude made no secret of the threat he was making, and Oscar narrowed his eyes.

The envoy knew of the demonic beast incident, even though it had been kept confidential, and he was trying to exploit Tinasha as Farsas’s weakness. It was a bold move to be sure.

Oscar’s problem quickly became how to dispose of this ambassador from a newly founded nation. He’d never wanted Kagar to meet Tinasha, and meeting the man had done little to change that attitude.

What Kagar said next quickly changed the prince’s mind, however. “She’s here in the castle, isn’t she? Lady Aeti. Oh, I believe she’s going by Lady Tinasha now, correct?” Kagar glanced over at Oscar with both triumph and conceit in his eyes.

Shortly before Oscar met with the envoy, Tinasha had come to the study, discovering it absent of the crown prince. Miralys was there instead. The lady-in-waiting sounded utterly flustered as she stammered out an explanation. “Um, His Highness was just summoned out of the room. Would you like to wait here for him?”

“Oh. No, that’s all right. I didn’t really have a reason to come by anyway,” the witch answered crisply.

Miralys leaped to her feet, looking panicked. “But, um, you should still wait here…”

“It’s fine; I know my place. I’m his protector and nothing more than that…and I’m aware of your place, too,” Tinasha said smoothly.

Miralys paled. “Um…wh-who told you that…?”

“No one. I can tell by looking at you. I’d wager that Oscar is the only one who doesn’t know.”

Such a thing happened often in court and wasn’t a matter of particular concern. The witch smiled reassuringly, but Miralys cowered in fear. Tinasha felt a little sorry for the girl, but she had another job requiring her attention.

She returned to her quarters and resumed her analysis of Oscar’s curse. A complicated spell pattern of several interlocking rings floated up from the scrying bowl Tinasha kept in the center of the room after she’d waved her hand over the basin’s surface.

To that, the witch added a carefully pronounced incantation. Little by little, the spell began changing shape in response to the whispered magic words.

The labor seemed endless, but Tinasha had continued working on it in bits and pieces since her arrival at the castle. Rounds of trial and error and research, and she was almost in reach of the Witch of Silence.

Tinasha concentrated on her curse-breaking work, only idly waving a hand when someone called her name, even though no one else was present in the room. She waited for a good stopping point, then put the analysis spell on hold.

“Act a little more surprised,” came the pouting voice of a woman standing by the window. Her light-brown ringlets shone gold in the daylight. Surprisingly, a magical or perhaps ornamental dagger was fastened around her waist.

“Yeah, yeah. So why are you here, Lucrezia?”

“I found a book that might be useful to you, so I brought it!”

Tinasha took the book her friend handed her. It appeared to be a rather old volume. Flipping through a few pages, Tinasha saw it was a detailed treatise on spells and words.

“…Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

While her friend could be capricious at times, Tinasha was grateful for the help. She put the book on her desk and started to brew some tea for her guest. Lucrezia sat down in a chair and watched her.

“So you had a mock battle or something with that contract holder of yours?”

“…How do you know about that?”

“Some soldiers in the courtyard were talking about it.”

“Ah, you were eavesdropping.”

Lucrezia rested her chin in her hands and her elbows on the table. She made no attempt to hide her appalled expression as she stared at Tinasha. “What were you thinking, exposing your skills to him like that? Do you have a death wish?”

“He said something similar,” Tinasha replied.

“Even without any further training, that guy is incredibly strong. If he gets any stronger, it’ll be a problem for me, too,” Lucrezia scolded.

“I’m sorry.”

Indeed, as Lucrezia was also a witch, she didn’t want the wielder of Akashia to grow any more powerful. No one knew what the future held for the witches. With the lifetimes of experience between these two women, that much was obvious.

Tinasha took a seat as well and let out a deep sigh. “For some reason, I’m so tired lately…”

“Rest more.”

“I know, but that’s not it…”

Observing the emotion wavering in her friend’s dark eyes, Lucrezia gave a resigned look. “If it’s too much of a burden to stay neutral, just give up or something.”

Tinasha had no answer to such a suggestion. Choosing silence, she stared at her own palms. Even she herself didn’t quite understand why she’d felt like fighting Oscar.

It was just that she did feel, if only a little bit, like it wouldn’t be so bad to have someone capable of killing her, should the need arise. If Oscar was to be that person, she was all right with it.

Perhaps she was just feeling fickle, or maybe she really was getting tired. She kept waiting for news that never came. Tinasha still refused to give in, however. Such a concession would mean all her time as a witch would be for naught.

Lucrezia stared at Tinasha. For a short while, there was a silence between them. When the Witch of the Forbidden Forest opened her mouth to say something, there came a knock at the door.

“Miss Tinasha, is now a good time?”

Lazar entered at Tinasha’s approval, looking flustered. He recognized Lucrezia and froze in shock. She took gleeful notice of his reaction and waved at him teasingly.

“Did something happen?” asked Tinasha.

“W-well…a visitor has come demanding to meet with the Witch of the Azure Moon.”

“With me?” Tinasha pointed to herself.

Lucrezia let out a low whistle. “Ooh, sounds sketchy.”

“It certainly does, but I’ll go and take a look. What about you?”

“I think I’ll wait here for it to blow over and give the castle a nice little show.”

“Don’t pull any pranks,” Tinasha warned.

“Of course,” Lucrezia replied with a beautiful and calculating smile.

“Aeti.”

Tinasha was stupefied to hear Oscar suddenly address her by that name when she arrived at the antechamber. After a span of several seconds, she answered, “Yes?”

Oscar scowled at the reply, having heard all he’d needed to. “So that really is your name?”

“…It’s my childhood name. Did the visitor use it?”

“Yeah.”

This unexpected development threw Tinasha for a loop, and she shook her head.

Only once since becoming a witch had she ever called herself by that name. It had been shortly after she’d just transitioned, before she’d holed herself up in her tower. Few relished speaking the names of witches, and none alive recalled the one she’d been given in Farsas seventy years ago. What could it mean that someone who knew her old name had come to see her?

Tinasha pondered a number of possible explanations, but none of them sounded particularly appealing.

“If you don’t want to see him, I’ll send him away.” Oscar patted her head, clearly troubled himself.

Shaking her head, Tinasha replied, “No, I’ll see him.”

She reached for the door leading to the audience chamber.

Kagar let out sigh of admiration upon catching sight of Tinasha. He fell to his knees and bowed as low as he could. Tinasha surveyed him haughtily.

“It is an honor to meet you, Lady Aeti.”

“Stop calling me that,” snapped the witch.

“I apologize. May I address you as Lady Tinasha, then?”

“You may,” she said.

Kagar got to his feet and opened his arms wide before her, as if really trying to play up his part. “With the foundation of Cuscull, we have restored the rights of the mages who suffered oppression in Tayiri. We have made it our foremost mission to set magic at the foundation of their citizenship—working to utilize and develop their skills. Lady Tinasha, I have heard that you are the only person who commands myriad, powerful old magics that have otherwise fallen into disuse. Would you please come to our country and lend your support to our further development?”

Hearing that, Oscar’s face clouded over. He didn’t try to hide his displeasure. Although he’d previously professed not to care about Farsas having a witch, it was clear Farsas wanted Tinasha’s power, too.

The witch calmly listened to the emissary’s request. “You said you have heard that about me. From whom did you hear it?”

“You’ll know once you come to Cuscull.”

“Is it the same person who told you my name?”

Kagar merely laughed at that, not giving an answer.

“How did you learn I was here?” Tinasha probed.

“Well, we have talented mages in our country as well…”

“I see,” the witch replied, sighing. A cruel smile flickered across her face. Such an overpowering grin was enough to enchant all who beheld it.

Kagar shrank back slightly at the sight.

Tinasha’s lips parted, and an icy voice spilled from between them. “I am here as this man’s protector. No more and no less. It is only because of that agreement that you have been able to meet me. Why do you think I would just listen to the word of a mortal who hasn’t even climbed my tower, much less be obliged to provide any sort of assistance? Do you think witches possess the sort of mercy that compels them to do something for those with neither readiness nor strength of their own?”

Kagar’s lips trembled with rage. Until now, he had believed himself to be superior. Like a cornered mouse, he moved to strike, preparing to lash out with his words, but Tinasha never gave him the chance.

“Begone.” She turned on her heel, a declarative action that she would suffer no further audience, and came to stand next to Oscar. Stroking her hair, Oscar threw Kagar a sharp glare.

Kagar turned an imploring, frustrated gaze on them but ultimately said, “I understand. I will leave for today. But you will become a citizen of Cuscull someday; I can assure you of that. I look forward to the next time we meet.”

The witch left the room without granting the envoy a response.

Kagar left the audience chamber and gnashed his teeth violently. He’d been so confident that he could bring the witch back. That was why he’d been so audacious in using a long-forgotten name. He thought that once she heard it, the drive to know who Kagar had learned it from would lure her to Cuscull for sure.

He recalled what his lord had said to him before he left the country.

“We’re not in a rush, so don’t worry about it. Do not mention me.”

Judging by those words, Kagar would likely go unpunished for returning without the witch. Even so, he hated the idea of going back and having to honestly admit that he’d been incapable.

At the very least, Kagar wanted to separate the witch from that impudent contract holder of hers.

Kagar glanced out the window and spied the courtyard. There, in the shade, a woman in officer’s attire was dozing. A vicious smile spread on Kagar’s face at the scene.

From the audience chamber, Oscar followed a few steps behind the witch as they made their way back to his study. Both of them wore extremely sour expressions. Each and every nasty thing Kagar had said clung to them like a stubborn stain.

As he attempted to swallow his lingering irritation, Oscar suddenly heard a woman coo “Is it over?”

A witch appeared next to Tinasha, who glanced at her friend and answered bluntly, “It’s over. That was awful.”

Lucrezia shrugged while Oscar’s eyes widened considerably over the surprise of seeing her. “You were here?”

“It’s only been a few days since I saw you. How have you been?” Lucrezia asked, giving him a wave without even the tiniest trace of guilt.

Oscar gave her only a wan smile in response. “Thanks for half killing me.”

“Whaaat? Didn’t you have a good time? Should I have let you keep your memories?” Lucrezia purred.

“Are you looking for trouble?” demanded Tinasha, her voice tight. Despite the apparent threat, Lucrezia seemed to be enjoying herself. Visible sparks of magic flickered and collided between the two witches.

Oscar frowned, shaking his head. “You’ll destroy the castle. Stop.”

No one had ever heard of a fight between witches before. If something like that happened, no building would be left standing. Tinasha tutted at Oscar’s warning and cut off her magic.

Lucrezia listened to the story of the envoy with rapt fascination. She tapped a red fingernail against her forehead. “Cuscull, huh? I’ve never heard of it, either.”

“It was originally just some small territory, apparently. But one day, mages started pouring in, and it declared independence,” Oscar explained.

“Something’s fishy,” said Tinasha.

“…I agree. Come to think of it, haven’t you sensed ripples of strange magic coming from the north every so often lately?” Lucrezia asked Tinasha, her pointer finger in the air.

Tinasha was silent, then shook her head.

“Really? Maybe it’s because I live farther north than you do. The eddies are weak, but I do feel them occasionally. They’re fluctuations of magic, like the ripples from a magical lake.”

“A magical lake…,” Tinasha repeated, biting her lip as she sank into thought. For a moment, Lucrezia gave her an incredibly pitying look. From behind the two women, Oscar caught sight of it, but Tinasha was too lost in contemplation to notice.

Oscar was about to say something when the three rounded a corner in the hallway and saw Als standing there. Meredina was right behind him. Als stared at Tinasha and the unfamiliar beauty standing next to her, then noticed Oscar behind them and attempted to bow.

That’s when something none had seen coming occurred.

Silent and swift, Meredina drew her sword and stabbed at Tinasha.

“Wha—?!” Als froze in shock for a second.

Oscar moved to help but couldn’t reach her in time.

Before Lucrezia could erect a protective wall, the tip of Meredina’s sword reached Tinasha.

Just as everyone had thought it too late, Tinasha casually, yet quickly, drew Lucrezia’s waist dagger and used it to deflect the sword coming right for her. Meredina’s sword fell to the floor, and she was left defenseless as Tinasha slid the blade of the dagger toward the other woman’s throat.

Meredina was helpless to defend, but a counterattack came from Als, who drew his own sword reflexively to intercept. He batted away Tinasha’s dagger and pushed Meredina behind him. The tip of his weapon nearly leveled itself at Tinasha before Als stopped himself.

Als had suddenly found Akashia thrust before his neck.

“What do you think you’re doing?” An anger-laden voice lashed out at Als. He froze up, realizing he’d made an unintentional mistake.

Just when he was about to sink to his knees, his childhood friend let out a bloodcurdling shriek from behind him. “Foul hag, deceiving people’s hearts! You should leave this country for good!”

“Meredina!” Both Oscar and Als rebuked her at once. It was obvious who she was referring to.

Tinasha looked down at Meredina from behind her long eyelashes.

Although Tinasha was wearing her witch face, there was no trace of a smile anywhere. Her doll-like, perfectly crafted features were devoid of expression. Her eyes, the color of darkness, were alive like the water’s edge.

“…I have been accused of that many, many times… But I have never once warped anyone’s heart to my whim. Perhaps you’re merely frustrated with yourself?” Tinasha said. Unlike her expression, which betrayed nothing, the witch’s voice was charged with feeling.

Such a mix of emotion was carried by her words that those listening were unsure whether it was sadness, anger, or something entirely different coming through.

Tinasha bit her lip. In a quiet voice, she managed to say, “I’ve never wanted…anyone’s heart.”

Her voice was trembling, but it was a clear denial. For a moment, a flash of pain lit up Tinasha’s dark eyes, and Oscar caught it.

Stowing Akashia, Oscar reached to pull Tinasha into his arms. He gave her slender back some light pats.

She said nothing.

Lucrezia was concerned about her friend, but when she saw Oscar embrace Tinasha, she turned her attention to Als and Meredina. She glared at them with hatred in her narrowed eyes. “That woman is being controlled. Her mind has been tampered with, apparently by someone with a fair amount of skill.”

Lucrezia waved a hand casually, and Meredina collapsed. Als managed to catch her before she hit the floor.

With his back to her, Oscar asked Lucrezia, “Can you heal her?”

“Why should I?” she retorted acidly.

“Please,” he pleaded.

Lucrezia was extremely reluctant, but after dragging her heels, she made an obvious sound of displeasure and said, “It’s going to cost you.”

“Please do it,” Tinasha urged, and Lucrezia let out a huge sigh.

Lucrezia, Meredina, and Als left for the treatment, while Tinasha and Oscar remained in the hallway. Oscar placed his hands on either side of the witch’s face, tilting it upward. She blinked once, then smiled. She seemed happy, but Oscar knew it wasn’t real. The smile was a mask, a guise she wore to appear as mortals did.

Oscar refused to pity her, however. He didn’t think it was right to ever feel that way toward her.

“When was the last time you cried?” he asked.

His face was reflected back in her dark eyes. “I don’t remember,” she answered, still smiling.