The Magician's Witch

Pomegranate Seeds

The next day Eilis spent getting to know Danu better. Behzad and Erik had decided to go into the marketplace. She started after breakfast, walking down to the stables to see to her brushing.

Eilis brought her phone with her, which she had fully charged the night before. She placed her phone in her back pocket after she selected her music choice.

Debussy's Claire de Lune floated in the air as she tended to her horse. Danu whickered at the melody, swishing her tail.

When she was finished, Eilis turned her music off and selected her tack, and made Danu ready for riding, guiding her out into one of the empty paddocks. She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, but she had seen enough movies about horses to get the gist of what she was supposed to do. Eilis brought Danu around the paddock a few times, getting them both used to the space. Eilis squeezed Danu's sides to encourage her to go a little faster, something she had seen Erik do on the road. Danu accelerated to a trot. Eilis worked on posting as Danu encircled the paddock again and again.

They continued with these exercises until the sun was high.

Eilis rubbed Danu down, making sure she had enough water. She had turned her music back on as she was working, selecting her Broadway musical playlist. She sang along with the leads and the chorus. It had been a while since she had listened to this list and had forgotten how much she liked it.

Eilis heard the men arrive back from their visit to the market. Behzad sounded cross. Erik said something back to him, a dismissal.

She heard someone come into the stables.

"What is that" Erik called into the stables in Persian. "Is it a nymph?" His voice sounded dreamy.

Eilis snorted. "Nope, just a witch and her horse," she called back to him in English.

He appeared around the corner of the stall. She looked at him and couldn't hold back a laugh. He seemed almost whimsical in the way he peered around the angle, like Puck from a Midsummer Night's Dream.

"What are you laughing at," he asked curiously.

"You," she returned bluntly. "You call me a nymph, yet you're peeking around there like a sprite yourself."

He considered this for a moment, then grew more serious. "I only meant I heard music playing," he explained, sobering slightly. His mood still seemed lighter than usual.

Eilis pulled her phone out from her back pocket, showing it to him. Erik came forward, captivated by the score.

"Cabaret," Eilis explained.

They stood and listened together for a minute as Liza Minnelli's voice soared through the final notes of Maybe This Time.

Erik nodded. "I like it," he finally admitted.

Eilis smiled.

"Liza Minnelli is classic Broadway, along with her mother, Judy Garland."

Eilis looked up at him, peering closer. His pupils were dilated.

Her eyes narrowed.

"What have you been smoking," she asked lightly.

Erik looked surprised. "How do you know I've been smoking?"

"Because your pupils are the size of needle points," Eilis pointed out.

Erik hesitated. "I'm not telling you," He stated, turning on his heel to leave.

"Why not?"

"Because last time, you chucked it out the window," he called back.

Eilis frowned, following him, but he had already made it into the house. She stopped and turned on Behzad who was still standing there.