Aldric Wandermere's Arc

Chapter 6 of 9

Inside, the hut smelled of nettle and woodsmoke. A cauldron simmered over the fire, and a ladle turned slow circles in the soup. Agatha waved them to a round wooden table set with cups and bread. Mara sat first. Kendra stayed by the door, arms crossed, antlers scraping the low beam. Agatha poured tea and looked at Aldric. "Tell me the whole thing," she said. "From the start. Leave nothing out." Aldric wrapped his hands around the warm cup. He told her about Valen's soft hands and the lie that Jane was taken. He told her Jane crossed the bridge east on her own. He told her about the elk, and about hunting for someone who could help. He drank while he spoke, and the tea was bitter and green. When he finished, the cup was empty. Agatha took it from him. She tilted it and studied the leaves clinging to the bottom. Her thumb traced the shape they made. For a long moment she said nothing. Mara watched her hands. Kendra watched the door. "You didn't come to steal her," Agatha said at last. "The leaves say you came asking." She set the cup down. "But asking is easy. Say Jane won't go back. What then? Do you drag her? Do you leave?" Aldric shook his head. "I don't drag anyone. Valen paid me to find her, that's true. But I took the job to know she's alive. There's a curse loose in these woods." He glanced at Kendra's antlers. "I've seen what it does. I only want her safe from it. If she stays, she stays. I'll tell her father the truth." Agatha held his eyes. Something in her shoulders let go. She poured herself a cup and sat. "Then I'll tell you what I've kept," she said. "Jane is my apprentice. Has been for two years. I found her in the woods east of here, half-starved, running from that cottage. She wanted to learn. Not to swing a sword. To read leaves and mix cures." She nodded at the herbs on the wall. "She passed the elk because I taught her the words to pass it. She's no captive. She's mine to teach." Kendra pushed off the door. "Two years," she said. "You've been out here two years. Then you know curses." "I know who spreads them," Agatha said. She looked at the antlers, then at Aldric. "And now I know you'll do right by the girl. So I'll help you. But not the way you planned." Aldric leaned forward. His mission had turned under him. Jane wasn't lost. She was being trained by the one person in these woods who knew the curse-maker's name. He had come to retrieve a runaway. He was leaving with a guide. "Then help us," Aldric said. "Tell us where to find him."