“Oh,” the woman laughed unevenly, “you don’t need to stay around here. There are no inns in the Eve Woods, that’s just crazy talk. Now, I can direct you out of the woods, and then you can go on your merry way and never come back, shall we?”

Her grin stretched out bizarrely, as if she wasn’t sure whether to laugh or scream. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, or perhaps wanting to leave right away, Seymour merely grunted.

But Linh shook her head, holding out her palms in Seymour and the woman’s sight. 

[No thank you. We came here to find the witch Hecate. Could you tell us where she lives?]

Seymour scowled at the reminder. “I am going to need at least five drinks before I can deal with witches right now.”

Linh frowned, about to argue, when the woman gasped, “You’re an unmentionable!”

Unexpectedly, Seymour’s scowl grew larger. “Don’t—”

“Oh my!” The woman grabbed Linh’s hands, the giant fang plumped down to the ground, and she began stroking the layers of paper rolled together for Linh’s fingers. “Such intricate spellwork. Every joint, a fold, and yet you haven’t come apart at all! And so many bits of paper to make up your limbs! How long have you been in this body? How do you keep yourself so clean and unstained? What—”

Linh shivered, trying to pry herself out of the woman’s grip. Unfortunately, undamaged paper can only be so stubborn without harm. Linh contemplated whether it would be fair to yank herself away, risking paper cuts on the woman, when Seymour’s hand came down on the woman’s wrists.

Both Linh and the woman glanced at him in surprised. Seymour shrugged.

“You’re hurting Linh’s hands. Let go.”

“Goddess,” the woman immediately dropped her grip, “I’m sorry! Is there any damage to your lovely hands? Here, come with me to my home and I’ll patch you up… Maybe get some burn salve for your bodyguard and steed too!”

“Not a bodyguard,” Seymour grumbled.

If Linh could laugh, she would.

[Will you tell us more about Hecate if you patch us up?]

The woman’s smile inched up higher, the way monsters do in children’s storybooks. “Why are you so intent on meeting her? Are you going to ask her for a cure? A spell to chase your pages away?”

[No. I don't think I would get what I want that way. I only want to work as her assistant and learn from her. Seymour is... my cousin. I'm not sure how long he's staying.]

Seymour did not bother to answer the implied question.

“An assistant?!” Sparkles returned to the woman’s eyes, “Oh that’s wonderful! I haven’t, well, Hecate hasn’t had additional help in such a long time! I’m Gretta, by the way. I’m Hecate’s apprentice. If you’re really looking to her assistant, then you’ll have to work with me first before she can see you.”

Linh stared at her in disbelief. This beautiful woman… was a witch’s apprentice? Why? She seemed too attractive, too full of life, to be a witch.

“…That sounds like a lot of work,” Seymour commented. Then again, as someone who quit being a cleric, just to lock himself in his room instead of helping Marie, anything seemed like too much work. “Suspicious, really. How do we know you’re truly this witch’s apprentice?”

Gretta’s smile suddenly turned sharp and Linh couldn’t help but shrink back.

“Boy,” she murmured darkly, her eyes aglow with eerie light, “I know magic that you can only dream of.” She lifted her hands, bits of static dancing between her fingertips. Sweat began to stream down Seymour’s brow. “So,” she flicked her wrist, letting the lightning sail up into the air and shower the sky with brilliant sparks, “don’t you dare doubt that I am anything but a witch."

Seymour gulped, but nodded twice, eyes wide.

When Gretta turned to face her, Linh fought back the urge to wince. 

“Now,” Gretta said, lifting the giant fang back in her arms, “I’m sure you understand my cautiousness. Witches aren’t the most popular lot in Eris. You could be undercover witch-hunters or spies from a neighbouring witch, come to steal my teacher’s secrets. Part of my job is to test your trustworthiness before you can see the great and all-powerful Hecate. Besides, haven’t you heard?”

She stepped closer, mere inches away from Linh’s face.

“Hecate is the greatest witch of this century. She could burn the Circled City down with the snap of her fingers,” Gretta demonstrated, a snap of her own fingers lighting the nearby trees aflame. Seymour and Sil panicked, rushing away, but with another snap, the trees were normal again.

Linh could still feel the heat rushing towards her.

“Of course, that doesn’t matter, does it?” Gretta grinned. “You’re here to be her assistant, not rat her out! I’m so excited! What about Hecate do you like the best?”

Privately, Linh wondered if it was too late to run.