Nasty Little Witchling

“Why would I want her eating out of my hand?” I asked.

“Funny. I don’t know much about plants, but we have a garden Mum tends to. I’m sure she’ll appreciate the pretty flowers.”

“I’m glad." Both the appreciation and lack of suspicion. In hindsight, she hadn’t noticed me until I was breathing down her neck, but it was good to be careful.

“They’re expecting us later on, Dad probably isn’t back yet from checking the snares and Mum doesn’t like us getting in her way in the kitchen. We can watch the rest of the game if that’s fine with you? Unless you’re hungry?”

I shook my head, my stomach was queasy from worry. “I don’t mind watching.”

The skirt gave me some trouble while I was trying to sit without it getting dirty, or flopping in an unfortunate direction. The townsfolk found it improper to show your underthings, even if it was to bathe in the stream.

“This is why I only wear pants when leaving town,” Trissa said while kicking her legs out and offering me a hand to sit easier.

I ended up sitting with my legs folded to the side and leaning towards her. Trissa had picked her drawing back up and I kept my sight on that rather than the game. The gentle lines and scratches she made were far more interesting.

Trissa hummed and hawed while inspecting the drawing then lifted it up to show me.

“What do you think?”

I looked at what I thought was the most eye-catching feature. “What are those on his sleeve? I’ve never seen anyone wear anything like that.”

“Frills, men don’t wear them anymore which is a shame.”

I tried asking what each piece was and she pulled out a pencil to label each article of clothing and what they were, which area they came from, and who generally wore them. Her drawing seemed to be an amalgamation of three different duchies here in the Kingdom of Werl and some from our neighbours, Oclar.

“I only have a few books about it all and those are what Mum brought from the city. I used to ask the librarian every week if there were more, but we don’t have many books here."

I had not known the town had a library, to begin with.

“What would I need to do to use the library?”

“It's open to everyone, it's the smaller building near the mayor's residence. The Mayor’s partner runs it so make sure not to damage anything. She even barred Jacob from there once.”

People were starting to get tired and walk off the field without replacement which meant the game was drawing to a close. Jacob and Greyson leaving was the signal for the rest of the players to end the game. Some still stayed behind to kick the ball between them, but most were breaking up into smaller groups or heading back inside the town.

The two boys came directly to Trissa who was still absorbed in her discussion with me. I only noticed because of their heavy presence.

“Hey Tris, see that last goal I got?” Greyson asked in a raised voice before they got close.

“Hmm?” Trissa said after stopping her explanation on why my boots were not considered suitable to go with my skirt. “Oh. No, sorry. I was speaking with Val.”

The two boys seemed to look at me for the first time. Greyson was upset with me that she hadn’t seen him and Jacob was surprised, but switched his gaze quickly back to Trissa and walked up to us.

“It wasn’t that interesting anyway,” Jacob said while licking his thumb and squatting down. “Here, you got something on your cheek.”

Trissa’s smile strained as the thumb was rubbed against the smudge of charcoal. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Jacob said, standing back up without noticing Trissa’s unhappiness. I thought I might have been imagining things, people’s emotions were not the easiest things for me to understand. “Want to go get something to eat with me?”

“Sorry, no time. I’m taking Val straight home.”

Jacob glanced back over to me. I was still trying to process him touching her like that. Personally, I would have hated it, even from Jacob. It was too close for someone else to get to me.

“Your parents are okay with that?” Jacob said before leaning down. His mouth was now next to Trissa’s ear on the other side of me. “Do they know she’s…you know. Aren’t you taking charity a bit far?”

Trissa’s smile faded completely. “They do and they’re fine with it. They are actually willing to do something about it instead of denying she exists.”

Greyson was glaring at the back of Jacob’s head as they continued to talk. I was confused as to why he didn’t talk about the drawing that was sitting on her lap. Talking about his father having a dinner party later this week and all the plans going into it was dreadfully boring.

I sat and picked at thorns on a flower stem from the basket in my lap. It took four stems before the two boys were called away by other friends.

Trissa sighed as they left.

While I was not the best at understanding the what and why of someone's feelings, I liked to think I was right in guessing she didn’t enjoy the conversation.

“You didn’t like talking to them?” I asked.

“It’s not that I don’t. They’re just a bit…eager. Our parents are friends and mine have started blabbing about finding me a match before ‘all the good ones are gone.’ There are not so many boys our age here for me to be picky or wait.”

“And you have to find a match here? I thought you wanted to go to the city where all those ‘sophisticated ladies’ live.”

“Mum is from the city. She says she didn’t come all the way here to get away from the city just for her daughters to go back. You should have heard the arguments her and my sister had before she left.”

I started to imagine what ways her mother was keeping her here. Not everyone had a doll of them enchanted to keep from straying too far.

“We can probably head back now,” Trissa said.

I had walked through the town before but had always been carefully avoiding the crowds, so I didn’t bump into them and disturb the charm’s effect. Remembering my way through the similar-looking streets to the market square was also a challenge I needed to concentrate on. But with Trissa leading the way, and the evening foot traffic being lighter than the morning rush, I was able to look around more.

Most of the buildings were two storeys tall with some having a bottom floor displaying different goods behind glass panels. The bottom floors were made of stone or brick while the second was out of wood. A bell I could not see rang in the distance five times before falling silent.

Trissa was heading the opposite way of where I went to the market. The buildings were starting to look larger and more colourful.

The blocks of stone that made up the previous buildings turned into neat rows of brick and mortar. The crunch of gravel I was accustomed to when walking down the road became taps on a cobbled road. Single horse-drawn carriages and stables started appearing before Trissa stopped and turned down a path.

The path ran through a patch of grass, splitting in two around a flower bed before heading to different entrances. One with a sign announcing it was a tailoring shop and the other without any.

The other entrance was where we headed. It had a solid wooden door with small glass panels at the top. Trissa fished out a key to unlock it.

“Mum!”

“In the kitchen dear, did you bring your little friend?”

Trissa gave me an unimpressed look as she closed the door behind me. “Yes…You can put your boots here.”

I was more than happy to get rid of the things still pinching my toes.

We made our way through the hallway and past a cosy room covered in sofas and rugs. The door to the kitchen came next and was much warmer than the rest of the house. The warmth was accompanied by a mouth-watering smell.

Trissa’s mum turned from the pot on the stove top she was stirring to come towards us. I tried to hide behind Trissa, but she didn't let me and pushed me forward. My sock-covered feet slid on the tiled floor without any grip. I lifted up the basket between us to try to create some kind of barrier.

She dried off her hands on a towel hanging over her shoulder. “Hello, I’m Pilim. Are these for me? You're too sweet.”

“Ah, Valeria."

The basket was plucked from my hands and placed on the counter. Warm hands cupped my face while large green eyes peered into my own. “You poor thing, you’re too thin. Dinner will be ready in a bit once my he cleans up, so you two can go wait in the sitting room. The brute still had blood in his beard when he barged in here. Oh, I hope Trissa told you he’s a butcher, otherwise that sounds worrying.”

I nodded quickly with the soft hands still holding my face. The contact had shocked me at first, but I did not dislike it.

Pilim turned to go back to the stove and I escaped after Trissa back to the cosy room.

“Sorry, she can be a bit much,” Trissa said while plopping onto a sofa.

“No, it's fine." I sank into a different seat. I was shocked at how soft it was compared to the old one in the cottage. “Your mum seems nice.”

“She can be, usually I would have been conscripted to help with dinner, but since you’re here I get to relax.”

“I can go help her if she needs it.”

“No, no. Tt looks like it's almost done. If you go I’ll look like a bad daughter.”

Her words sounded playful, but I worried not helping with dinner would be enough to be disliked. My mother had said she wished her other curses worked on me when I was late with dinner.

They had a bookshelf in the sitting room full of large leatherbound books. We were in the middle of a conversation on why Trissa thought there was nothing worth reading, since the books she liked were in her room, when a large figure filled the doorway.

The gruff man had a woolly beard and a large brown apron covering his wrinkled white shirt.

“Hi, Dad, this is Valeria. Valeria, this is my dad.”

I looked at her for a moment, how was that supposed to help me? I wasn’t about to call him ‘dad.’

Trissa’s dad contrasted her mother quite well. Her appearance was soft and welcoming compared to the man who looked most comfortable at a butcher's block.

“Mhmm, call me Cragar. Nice to meet you,” he said with a nod to me. “I’m going to wash up before your mother tries to hang me for dirtying the upholstery.”

I expected to hear heavy footfalls as the man walked across the hall, but it was silent except for a single creak.

“I feel like I need to say sorry for him as well. My parents are a bit weird.”

My mother was an extreme outlier. I knew that even from the books she owned.

That said, I still had no clue what parents were supposed to be like. The only other one I had met was the treant and my opinion of them was quite sour.

…

“Dinner’s ready,” Pilim said from the kitchen. Trissa had been trying to teach me a game called succession, but her teaching method was to beat me until I understood what I was allowed to do about it.

I followed Trissa out, but instead of going to the kitchen, we went to another room with a table, chairs, and a fireplace with a mantle covered in ornaments. A large pot was already placed atop it with a ladle and pile of plates ready at its side.

Cragar was already seated at the table. Trissa took the place next to him and I went to the side of her.

“It smells really good,” Trissa said when Pilim came back into the room holding a bunch of spoons. I regretted not taking the opportunity to use that compliment, but I was scared to open my mouth. She thanked her and smiled while dishing out servings into the bowls and placing them at our seats.

She served me first, but I didn’t touch my spoon until I saw Cragar start to eat. It was far better than anything I ever deigned to call a stew.

I said a more basic compliment when I had finished and was offered seconds which I gladly accepted. I wasn’t happy about eating meat, but Mother insisted on it in our meals, so I was used to it.

Knowing what animals were feeling before they died spoiled it for me.

I noticed on my second helping that while I shovelled the stew into my mouth they carefully scooped it up. They sliced the bigger chunks while I would use my teeth to tear through them. I copied Trisha by dabbing at my mouth with a piece of cloth and ate more slowly, trying to copy them.

Trissa and Pilim chatted about what I assumed was sewing. They tried to include me at first, but the best I could do was stitch up a tear with excessive yarn rather than skill.

This was what my mother had wanted, a daughter to pass along their craft to.

The conversation I had been worried about started after her dad finished eating. “So, Valeria. Tris tells us you need a place to stay.”

“Y-yes.”

“She said you’re an orphan, but you usually don’t see them dressed so well.”

“Oh, stop interrogating the girl,” Pilim said. “What he means is we would like to know what your situation is, so we can understand.”

Mother had always been able to tell when I lied to her and I had learnt telling the truth in a more ambiguous way was better than lying.

“I do odd jobs for people, mostly in the forest. I get herbs like the ones in the kitchen. People don’t like buying and selling with someone in rags, so I bought these to wear to the market.”

“Really? The forest is a dangerous place. We don’t have the bigger predators the rest of the country has, but a snake can just as easily kill you before you can get back to town for healing.”

I nodded along, he was right for the most part. There were plenty of snakes in the forest and other dangerous creatures, but none of them wanted to attack us, they just got scared. The treant had made it clear I was weird for being able to ask them not to bite me, so I understood why he’d be worried. “I know how to avoid them by now. I’m in the forest quite often.”

“And that means you can pay rent?”

Pilim looked like she wanted to swat him as I pulled out the coins I had put in the different pockets of the skirt, so they didn’t jingle. The bronze and silver coins were stacked neatly on the table and I counted out the fifteen roe for him.

“Hold on there, we haven't decided if you’re staying yet.”

"Dad." "Cragar."

Cragar did not look at either, keeping his eyes on me. “What can you do to help out around the house? I won’t have a freeloader around even if you are paying.”

“I can cook, and clean, and I want to do the gardening. If that’s okay.”

He interlocked his fingers in front of him and leant his chin on them. It was quiet for a long while before he spoke again. “I’m never going to hear the end of it if I say no, like I want to, so we will have a trial. You pay that seventy something roe you have there and stay here two weeks and if this goes well you can have it back minus the rent."

“Can I read the books if I stay here?”

“Ah, you may.”

I pushed the pile of coins over to him.

…

I felt like gnashing my teeth together after the honey-covered pastries we had for dessert. The sweetness of them was not something I was used to, and my teeth agreed with me. I preferred the flaky bread of the pastry far more than its covering.

Pilim had tried to talk Cragar into giving me half my coin back. He had argued in very unsubtle terms it was in case I stole anything, and I agreed with him that it was a good idea.

I was surprised I didn’t feel insulted, but it was hardly much compared to other things said to me. In the end, Pilim took the roe for shopping expenses. I hadn’t expected them to include me in their meals, but it seemed that was her plan.

Trissa was taking me upstairs to see her room and the one I would be staying in. I’d never been inside one of the townhouses and was only now noticing they didn’t use ladders to go up and down. Trissa looked at me funny when I was apprehensive about going up the stairs.

They looked so steep, one wrong foothold and you would tumble down. I managed it before she carried out her threat of dragging me.

Trissa’s room was larger than the cottage and had a bed big enough for at least three of her. The floor had a rug that I could barely see past the scraps of fabric and baskets of yarn. The desk wasn’t much better, covered with paper in disorganised piles, a large contraption with a needlepoint, and drawing tools. There was a path in between the clutter that Trissa was tiptoeing along to get to her wardrobe.

She rummaged around in a few draws before pulling out some soft pants and a buttoned shirt. “Here, these are my old ones that might fit you if you tie the drawstrings.”

“Thank you…But what for?” I asked.

“To sleep in?”

It made sense to have different clothes to sleep in when I was wearing a blouse. I didn't want to try to get the wrinkles out every time.

“Mum is storing some old stock in the room you’re going to use, but she moved it to the side for now. I’ll show you, the bed has fresh sheets and we left Olera’s old clothes in there if you want them.”

The next room we entered was the opposite to Trissa’s. There was still clutter, but it was crates stacked up against the wall rather than items strewn about. The wooden planks that made up the floor were visible with the foot of the bed covered by a rug. The bed itself was as large as Trissa’s, but with fewer pillows and grey sheets compared to her purple.

The rest of the room was filled with a wardrobe, desk, trunk, and single-person sofa. I looked around in vain for a place to tie a hammock.

My best chance would be between a poster of the bed and the railing holding up a curtain, but neither looked sturdy enough. I’d tried to sleep in Mother’s bed, finding it far too uncomfortable and lumpy.

Trissa sat on the bed—my bed—and laid back with her legs dangling off it. “You like to garden?”

I went to sit down beside her. The whole truth was that I liked to use my magic to garden. “I do, it’s fun learning what each plant wants and needs in order to grow.”

We stayed there in silence until one of us thought of another question to ask the other and repeated that.

I felt guilty every time I kept the truth from her. I didn’t feel that way when keeping it from her parents, but Trissa was the reason I was now well-fed, warm, and feeling at ease. A smile had even stayed on my lips far longer than it ever had before, to the point where my cheeks hurt.

When she left to wash up and prepare for bed I changed into the clothes she had passed me. They were fluffy, with not a single thread out of place.

The bed was much softer than Mother’s, but it still felt strange and foreign. Against my better judgment, as I lay awake, I started to plan out how to tell Trissa I was the daughter of the witch.