“What do you mean kill her?” Seymour spat out the very question Linh was thinking.

“Ah. Well. She clearly tried to separate her magic from herself once she was done using it to get hitched with that Prince,” Gretta rambled, though Linh had a feeling Lady Ella had been thinking about freedom rather than the prince at the time, “and that never works out. It’s like trying to separate yourself from your soul. I’m surprised she was still sane. Usually, in these cases of magic-denial, the magic ends up killing you. Or you become a terrible rampaging chaos monster, your pick.”

Linh felt the need to sit down. [Chaos monster?]

Gretta shrugged. “You’ve probably heard the horror stories of witches that have destroyed villages or cities because of anger? Chaos monsters did that. Not any sane witches.”

“Are you sure about that?” Seymour scowled. “You can’t claim that for every rampaging witch story.”

“Well, how can you be sure that every  cleric is a good one?”

Seymour’s face darkened. “That’s different.”

“How?” Gretta challenged.

“Clerics serve the goddess! They have to perform her will—”

“And who decided her will is all?”

[Stop it!]

Linh waved her palms in front of them both.

[Lady Ella is unconscious! We should make sure that she’s alright! And Gretta, you need to explain what you meant by killing the Lady!]

Grumbling, Seymour muttered, “Fine,” and went to pick Lady Ella up.

Gretta, however, was still glowering. “It means exactly what you think it does, Miss Page. If the Lady Ella Circlet had succumbed to an overload of too much magic, she would have become a monster. In those cases, I need to do what I need to keep my business safe. I have to kill her.”

Both Seymour and Linh winced at the thought.

“You’d kill your own kind?” Seymour spat out, holding the Lady a bit closer.

“Would you rather I let her terrorize the innocent villagers out in the countryside? Or worse, the city? Hecate would do the same to me if I ever succumbed, and I would do the same to her. It’s our duty as witches,” Gretta said solemnly.

“Then what’s the point of becoming one?”

Gretta could only laugh. “Isn’t that what the Lady tried to avoid?”

No one could think of a response.

::

After a while, Seymour laid Lady Ella back down on the bed and all they could do was look sadly down at her. What were they to do now…? Would the Lady be alright?

“Excellent, case solved. May she pay us well!” Gretta clapped her hands. “Now, to bed! Bodyguard, you can sleep… wherever bodyguards sleep. The floor? Outside? Miss Page, come with me.”

She eagerly grabbed Linh’s hand. However, Seymour yanked Linh back.

“Where are you taking her?”

“Why, to wash up. To gossip. Women talk,” Gretta waved her hands. “Now shoo, shoo. I won’t do anything malicious to her, that’s for my enemies. And you’re both here to work with me, are you not? Or at least, the pretty one is.” Gretta winked at Linh.

Privately, Linh thought Gretta needed her eyes checked if she thought Linh  of all people as pretty. While she was weary of being alone with a woman who wouldn’t hesitate to kill her own kind, she knew she had to build some sort of repour with Gretta if she wanted to learn from Hecate.

[I’ll be fine.  I promise to break something if I’m not.] The sound would alert Seymour of any danger.

After a long pause, Seymour stiffly nodded. He decided to sleep in front of the Lady’s door, just in case.

“Just us girls now,” Gretta grinned. “Come along. I’ll set up some hammocks for us both downstairs. Don’t worry about our princess. I’ve set up some monitoring charms.”

Linh didn’t have time to answer as Gretta pulled her back down below. From Gretta’s bouncy steps and easygoing smiles, it was hard to believe she had admitted she would kill another witch without hesitation. Gretta was like a cat with no clear allegiance but her own.

She watched as Gretta danced and ducked her head down around the hanging jars. Gretta only had to flick her wrist and threads of blue silk would rush out like spider webs painting themselves to life. The threads twisted and turned, forming two hammocks that seemed to gleam like the night sky.

“Here we are! Nice and comfy! Hope you like it!” Gretta hopped to the hammock closest to the door. She gestured to the one next to her eagerly.

Linh hesitated.

“What’s wrong? Don’t like the colour? I could spell it green or purple if you like? Maybe you’re an orange girl…”

[Will the Lady be alright?] Linh asked, remembering how terrified Lady Ella looked when confronted with her memories. Linh still didn’t understand what it meant to reabsorb magic, how the Lady’s life might change.

Gretta’s smile fell away. “That depends on her and what she wants to do with her magic. You shouldn’t worry. The task is done.”

Silently, Linh sat down on the hammock, but she did not lie down.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Gretta asked, still staring at Linh intensely.

[…I can’t sleep, remember?]

“Oh.”

Gretta leaned back down against the hammock. Her breaths seemed tense and uncertain. Linh had the urge to retreat upstairs and stay by Lady Ella’s side, to make sure the Lady was, indeed, alright, instead of waiting in the dark by a witch.

“Miss Page?” Gretta was suddenly very quiet. “I just wanted to say… thank you. For whatever you said to Ella. She’s a sweet girl. One of my sweeter clients. I’m not always the best with words but… whatever you said, it stopped her from possibly becoming chaos. You did well. Better than I have, at least. You… you’ll be a welcome addition around here.”

Linh’s shoulders hunched in. She did not say ‘thank you’, knowing the words would be unseen in the dark.

She sat and thought about guilt and memories.