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  An Enigmatic Witch

  Witch Kin Chronicles, Book Five

  E M Graham

  OneEar Press

  An Enigmatic Witch

  Copyright © 2022 by E M Graham

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used

  or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the

  case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,

  businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product

  of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual

  persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978-1-990667-00-8

  Cover design by James at Go-On Write

  Contents

  Dedication

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  An Embittered Witch

  Also by the author

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Mom, this one's for you.

  1

  After Tomnahurich and my non-sanctioned journey to the Ice Kingdom, my Kin-issued credit card was revoked. Technical difficulties, they said, and I believed them. But then the Kin sent me home for ‘rest and relaxation’ after that intense spring, and that’s when I knew, in that place deep inside my gut, there was something more to this story.

  Turns out I was right.

  ‘You want to go back and reconnect with your mother, don’t you?’ Hugh asked, reasonably enough. He sat on the low stone wall next to me, looking off into the distance over the darkening horizon.

  ‘Yeah, I do,’ I admitted. Despite my words, my voice was slow with reluctance.

  ‘And Alice?’ His eyes slid down to me.

  ‘Of course! And Aunt Edna, and Brin, but...’ I stared across the valley of Edinburgh, my back to the setting sun, and I thought about leaving this city. The Old Town was wreathed in wisps of mist rising from deep alleys, caught golden by the angle of the light. This place was magical, and it was the place I had really come into my power, and for that I would always remember Edinburgh fondly.

  But this wasn’t the reason I was reluctant to return back to Canada. And it wasn’t that I didn’t want to see my loved ones. It was just...

  ‘You’re going to China!’ This ripped out of my mouth before I could stop it, then I figured, why bother holding back? ‘I thought we would be working as partners, but you’re going off traveling to do all kinds of exciting stuff, while I am having a period of enforced relaxation. It’s not fair.’

  ‘After all you’ve been through,’ Hugh began.

  ‘I’m fine, I already told you,’ I cut in as I jumped off the stone wall and turned to him. ‘I’ve had plenty of time to recover from Tomnahurich and the whole Ice Kingdom thing, haven’t I just spent the last two months in Nachtan’s classroom? I don’t want to sit still anymore! I want to be using my power, pushing myself, learning the... the practicalities of it all.’

  Yes, I’d spent all those dreary hours with the Venerable Nachtan in his ivory tower as he drilled me with theory and he droned on about historical precedents and stuffed my head with all this useless information till it felt like bursting. ‘I want to be doing!’ I ended as I crossed my arms and stared at Hugh.

  He calmly gazed back at me, the wind ruffling the waves of his hair, his green eyes level with mine, then he crossed his own arms to mirror me. His white t-shirt glowed against the tan already beginning on those muscled arms. I didn’t allow myself to be distracted by his finely defined wrists and strong fingers – which were absolutely beautiful by the way. Before meeting Hugh, I’d never realized how sexy a man’s hands could be. I wrenched my eyes back to his.

  ‘You’re pouting,’ he remarked with the slightest hint of teasing in his voice.

  ‘It’s not funny.’ I could feel a full-on scowl spreading over my face. ‘Why can’t I go to China with you?’

  He sighed then held out his arms and pulled me inside his hug, his bare arms warm through the thin cotton of my blouse. ‘You will,’ he murmured into my hair. ‘This is just the preliminary talks. It’s dead boring, I promise you. There’s no action happening there, just bla-bla-bla between the political sides. You won’t be missing any action. Just go on home and relax.’

  I leaned my head against his chest.

  ‘You’ll come over after the end of the summer,’ he whispered. ‘And China is much lovelier in the autumn, when the August heat is finished. We’ll take a week for sightseeing, or two, as the place is huge and there’s so much to see. We’ll hike the Great Wall, tour the Emperor’s Palace...’

  He took a deep breath. ‘And also, it’s very important for you to go home and spend time with your loved ones whenever you get the chance,’ he said, slowly. ‘Y’know, in our line of work, we’re away so much travelling everywhere, working under very stressful conditions. It is vitally important that we maintain strong links with our family and friends so that we have a place to go and destress. We need this for our mental health.’

  ‘I suppose so,’ I agreed. ‘Still...’

  Still, I felt I hadn’t had a true education in using my power. I knew my potential far outstripped my knowledge base, and I wanted to know so much more. But it wasn’t like I had any choice no matter hard I complained, for the Kin Elders had made this decision and nothing was going to change it. As an official employee of their Special Operations branch, I had to do what I was told, go where I was sent, and I was proud of my new position.

  I lifted my head and looked off to the distance, to the soft raggedy clouds shining golden in the sunset, and I thought of the places I would go in my life, beginning with China. The land of mystery, of elegance, of soft draping greenery and silk, of mists and mountains, of dragons and their magic. As I looked upon the clouds, I saw them changing form, coming together, then elongating. Almost imperceptibly, a dragon’s snout grew out of one end, and then the main body of the cloud morphed into a thrashing tail and four legs and even wings, the diaphanous mist solidifying before my very eyes. It lifted its head and blew steam out into the deep blue sky over the east.

  I laughed with delight, I couldn’t help it. I’d done that. Without even trying, I’d created the dragon from the watery clouds, and it flashed golden and red and solid in the light.

  Hugh glanced over his shoulder to see what I was laughing at and I felt him start. My dragon turned its face towards us and let loose a bellow of ethereal fire.

  ‘Are you doing that? Stop it, stop it right now!’ He stared from me to the dragon.

  I loosened my hold on the clouds and they dissipated, slowly yet thoroughly, as if the beast had never been. Within moments, the clouds floated back to their innocuous path along the sky, the reds becoming purple and peach, and the gold of the dragon’s scales became the underside of the stratus clouds, now orange in this spectacular sunset.

  ‘You can’t do that!’

  ‘But I did. You saw it.’

  ‘Yes, I know you did, but you shouldn’t. You can’t simply spread your magic around like that.’ He looked shocked, horrified even. ‘Haven’t you learned anything about professionalism yet?’

  His sharp tone cut. ‘Jesus
. It was just a bit of fun,’ I said as I turned away, and felt my cheeks burning. Yes, Nachtan had added that particular subject, about why we as witches used ours powers judiciously and not just for amusement but only to effect change in our favor. I kicked an empty chip bag out of my way with more force than it required.

  ‘Why the hell are we given power if we can’t use it?’ I turned back and yelled at him. ‘What’s the point of it all?’

  ‘The point is... Oh, for God’s sake.’ Now he shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and began walking away from me towards the exit of this private stone courtyard high above the city of Edinburgh.

  Oh, no, he didn’t get to do that. We’d already had that discussion. I ran after him and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back to me.

  ‘We agreed that arguments would be settled right in the moment. No turning your back or pulling that sort of bullshit. Look me in the face and tell me how you’re feeling.’

  I watched as a play of emotions ran over his face.

  ‘Look, I’m sorry.’ I took pity on him. ‘Yes, it was a really stupid thing to do, and honestly? I wasn’t even trying, it just happened.’

  He glanced back at the innocuous clouds now drifting in the darkening sky.

  ‘That’s what I’m concerned about,’ he said, finally. ‘You have to keep it reined in, you can’t just let loose whenever the fancy takes you. You need to be conscious of everything you do.’

  We stared at each other a moment longer, then I nodded because he was right. It wasn’t just that I shouldn’t go putting off displays of magic and upsetting the Normals, but as Nachtan had drilled into my head, every single time magic was used, it had an effect, somewhere. It might just be that a single pebble on a beach rolled, or perhaps just a slight change in a gust of wind somewhere in the desert where no one could feel it, but there was always a counter-reaction, somewhere, somehow.

  ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Got it.’

  We walked downhill toward the exit of Edinburgh Castle, the one the tourists used, and pushed past the lingering crowds outside the walls. Those who had spotted my momentary cloud dragon were still talking about it, trying to express their amazement to their disbelieving fellow travellers.

  I couldn’t stay contrite for long. A secret smile formed on my lips.

  ‘It was really good, though, wasn’t it? Like, that dragon was pretty solid, not like an illusion at all.’

  He said nothing in reply, just kept walking. I drew closer to him and nudged him with my shoulder. ‘You have to admit, it was pretty fantastic.’

  Hugh stopped and put his arm around me, and drew me tight again. My transgressions had been forgiven, and we were good again. I smiled up at him.

  He nodded back at me and admitted the truth. ‘It was good.’

  ‘And real.’

  He nodded. ‘Yes,’ he said, then paused as if searching for the words. ‘But... how exactly did you do it?’

  I shrugged as I thought back to the creation of the sky dragon. ‘China was on my mind, about all the fabulous things there, and dragon magic. It just started forming. I didn’t intend to create a dragon in the sky, but it’s pretty cool that I can do it, don’t you think?’

  ‘Hmmm. Cool. I guess it is.’

  We continued walking down the path nestled close together, but I could feel a tenseness in his body that hadn’t been there before. I glanced up at him at the exact moment he looked down at me, and it was then I saw something new in his eyes.

  There was apprehension there, and - was that the slightest tinge of jealousy? I laughed to myself. Finally, I’d found a chink in Hugh Sabiston’s perfect armor.

  Imagine that. I was turning out to be a more powerful witch than him. Ignoring the tourists on either side of us, I stopped him and reached my mouth up to his, and kissed him with even more passion than normal. Being powerful was a turn on like nothing I’d ever felt before, and I intended to make the most of it.

  Once the Kin’s bureaucracy finally got around to making a decision, they acted fast. I was soon on a plane out of Edinburgh and headed back home, compliments of my new employer. I was not, I might point out, given the use of one of the fleet of private Kin jets. As a lowly and fresh subaltern in the ranks, I didn’t even merit a First Class ticket on a commercial flight. I was stuck in the rows of Economy, squished in between a family from Toronto returning from their visit to relatives, and a very quiet student headed out to Vancouver.

  It was uncomfortable but I sucked it up for the duration of the six hour flight. As Hugh had explained, I would have to earn any privilege that came my way within the structure of the Kin, and I had every intention of doing so. Right now I was known as Ensign Martin, but everyone knew I had de Teilhard blood, and one day my name was going to be right up there with the best of them. I was going to be famous amongst the Kin all over the world.

  I sat back in my seat, closed my eyes, and dreamed about all the wondrous achievements in my future, only waking when the pilot announced our approach to St. John’s.

  The trees down below, the deciduous ones, were all wreathed in their brightest spring green garb, and the streets were sparkling in the early morning sunlight. It was the first time I’d ever seen my home city from the air, and I was entranced. I could see our house from up in the plane! And the boulders which marked the fairy den on the Southside Hills, and Alice’s house tucked away by the overpass at Riverhead. Then there was Dad’s mansion on the hill in the east end of the city, surrounded by the green of his estate, and finally we were coming in to land.

  As I walked down the steps to the baggage claim area, my heart caught in my throat at the sight of the welcome party waiting for me. It was small, yes, but I’d never had a lot of friends or family. First of all I spied Brin, the refugee elf from Alt, he stood out from the crowd with his height and that silly top hat he still wore with his straw like hair stuck out in all directions under it. Other than that, he could pass as a fairly normal person.

  His long gangly arm rested on Alice’s shoulder. What a couple they made, both so tall and slim. I wondered if Alice had accepted the fact of her elf-blood yet, a gift passed down from old Nan Hoskins which had skipped generations of their clan.

  And next to them stood Mom. Would I ever get enough of looking at her? She’d been ripped away from me for half my life, yet she looked exactly like she had ten years ago, and then those months ago when we’d snatched her from the Ice King’s grasp. We looked alike, me and her, the same thick brown hair and blue eyes, we matched exactly in height, even, and the same dress size. I still wore her old jean jacket and long blue scarf. I hoped she wasn’t expecting to get them back.

  My eyes wandered to the person standing close by, a little apart from her as if reluctant to join this welcome party, and I stopped my descent. I couldn’t force my legs to take the next stair, for my head was pounding and I had to blink a couple of times, to make sure I was seeing him.

  It was Dad. Jonathan de Teilhard, waiting to greet me on my return just as if the past ten years hadn’t happened, as if all of the hurts and the hard words between us had never been said. As if he cared about me.

  What the hell was he doing there? He of all people had no right to make himself a part of my family group. I was tempted to just turn back up those stairs, keep on walking till I found the next plane out of there and not return until I’d gotten a promise from Mom that I would never have to see him again.

  He must have noticed my hesitation, for I saw him whisper in Mom’s ear then turn as if he was going to make himself scarce. She was having none of it, I could almost hear her scolding tone as she took a firm grasp on his arm and planted herself solidly, not letting him move from her side.

  What did this mean?

  I ignored him for now and jumped down the last few steps to land in the middle of my three loved ones. We babbled and cried and laughed for a full two minutes. Dad had disappeared by the time I lifted my head.

  ‘Where’s Edna?’ I finally had to ask. It burst from me
like an accusation, as if to suggest my father had now banished my aunt to some inhospitable land, for surely she should have been the part of this group, not Dad.

  ‘She had a chance to go the south of France, a Writer-in-Residence year,’ Mom said, still squishing me in her arms. ‘Mark retired from the RCMP, and they’re gone off together. She sends her love, and she knew you’d understand.’

  And I did. There’d be plenty of time to travel and see her, perhaps before I started my new job.

  We collected my luggage and went out into the brilliant sunny day, and there was his big dark blue SUV, parked blatantly right in the ‘No Parking’ zone, waiting for us.

  ‘You sit up front, Dara,’ Mom urged. ‘It’s been so long since you’ve been home. Go on, sit in the front so you can see everything as we pass.’

  And be forced to make polite, uncomfortable conversation with Jon? Not a chance in hell. I slipped into the back between my favorite elves before anyone could stop me. ‘S’okay Mom, I’m good here, right between my two besties.’

  It was a weird ride home, to say the least, but maybe I was the only one who felt it. Mom and Alice kept the patter of conversation going in a bright, almost forced way, while Dad was in a pleasant mood and contributed when required. Brin chattered in his way, outwardly very comfortable with everyone, I even saw Dad crook a grin at him through the rear view mirror. Yet beneath his light tone, I could feel the tenseness in Brin’s body, the way his long legs flinched back when they brushed mine as the SUV took the sharp turn onto Higgin’s Line, as if afraid that our touch might reveal something hidden inside him. Mired in my crookedness at having Dad present for my homecoming, I didn’t really think about it, just put it down to his elfish dislike of physical contact.

  ‘Is that my old jean jacket?’ Mom turned around in her seat and asked me at one point. She didn’t seem annoyed that I had been into her closet. ‘It looks good on you. And that brooch – I love it. Where’d you get it?’