The Green Witch

Chapter Twenty Five

     Fat popped and sizzled as it dripped from the skinned rabbit into the fire. It was full dark now and the trees around them were lit only by the leaping flames, casting dancing shadows that Tala's imagination turned into an army of encircling enemies. She got a grip on her imagination and strained her green senses for any trace of the Crone's astral form. She sensed nothing, though. With any luck, the older witch wouldn't wake up until dawn.

     She stared at the rabbit impatiently, willing it to cook faster. She wanted to get some sleep so they could get an early start the next morning, as soon as it was light enough to see. She wanted to put as much distance as possible between herself and the older witch. What she was going to do about Gareth she had no idea.

     "Let me see that injury," she said, reaching out to Gareth's bandages with her left hand. The one that wasn't manacled to Gareth's left hand. The Knight said nothing as she untied the cut strips of robe and carefully peeled them away to reveal the wound beneath. As she'd guessed, new blood was clotted around it, and if blood could get out, infection could get in.

     "Probably going to have to be cauterised again," she said, feeling savage satisfaction as the man's eyes widened with fear. "And then it'll have to be sewn up. We need a needle, thread and some alcohol to soak it in. We might have no choice but to go to someone's house."

     "You know I'll get them to help me hold you prisoner," said Gareth. "Right?"

     "You'll probably still die if we don't. If you want to repay my help with betrayal, that's between you and God."

     "You think you can shame me into assisting the forces of evil?"

     "I don't know if you're even capable of shame."

     "I've done nothing to he ashamed of. I am a servant of God."

     "I thought you were a servant of King Abulard."

     "Who is a servant of God."

     "Yes, of course." She took Gareth's knife and cut the rabbit with it, opening the flesh to look at the colour inside. She wanted it well cooked to kill any germs the badger's teeth might have left on it, and rabbit meat also carried a disease called rabbit fever if not cooked properly. She decided to leave it a little longer. Better for the meat to be a little dry than to take any chances.

     "Have you ever seen anyone stoned to death?" she asked as she tucked the knife back in her belt.

     "We're taken to see executions as part of our training," the Knight replied. "To harden us."

     "Harden you? Weren't you all soldiers before you became Knights?"

     "Yes, but the majority of soldiers never see death up close. Not even those who've been in a battle. You see dead soldiers, of course, but generally all you see is the blood. The rest is hidden by the uniforms. So we get taken to see stonings so that we become accustomed to the sight."

     "Aren't common criminals hung?"

     "They stone a few, for our benefit. The worst murderers. The kind that deserve to die particularly badly."

     "And that's what you want for me?"

     "It's what you chose for yourself when you chose a life of evil."

     Tala thought about telling him that she hadn't chosen to be a witch, but she'd told him that before and he'd either forgotten or didn't believe her. Probably the latter. She cut the rabbit with the knife again, decided it was cooked enough and took it down from its frame above the fire to cool down. Gareth stared at it hungrily but said nothing. Probably kept silent by pride, she guessed, or maybe he was reluctant to eat meat then had been obtained by what he thought was evil means. Did he think he would be contaminated by evil if he ate it?