Forever Green

~ 8 ~ Fighting for Answers

The daily walks continued, sometimes interspersed with the witch's songs, or "kulning", as she called them. Theiden and the witch never spoke much on these outings, and he partly wondered if the woman just saw him as a chore, like caring for a pet. He was useless in the garden and the kitchen, and Kettle took care of the cleaning at night. He didn't have a purpose in the cottage, and he mostly spent his time sorting through the stacks of books in the loft and picking out interesting ones to read.

The witch was usually gone in the evenings—she never told Theiden where she went or what she did, no matter how much he asked. The tomte wouldn't give him any answers, either.

"I was thinking," the witch began after a sip of her tea at breakfast one morning, "that we might travel to the east side of the mountain today."

Theiden raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Why?"

She shrugged innocently, and immediately Theiden became suspicious.

"Well, after your repeated attempts to attack me, I gathered that you like to fight," was the eventual reply.

"Only wild beasts," Theiden retorted. He was a hunter, after all.  She was no different from the other animals except in speech.

The witch ignored the insult and continued.

"You could practice there, if you like," she said. Theiden frowned.

"Practice what?" he asked.

"Your fighting. With me."

The witch wanted to fight with him? Theiden pretended to examine the porridge on his spoon, not wanting to appear too eager at the prospect of hurting her. "Would I get a weapon?" he asked casually.

She nodded. "I still have that hunting knife of yours," she said. "You could have that."

It was tempting, but then Theiden shook his head. "You'd just throw me to the ground with your magic," he said. Whatever trick she was trying to pull, he wasn't going to fall for it.

"I won't use magic."

Theiden blinked and looked up from his bowl in surprise. "How can I know you're not lying?" he asked.

The witch took another sip of her tea. "You'll just have to trust me," she said, and Theiden nearly choked on his food at her response.

"Never," he replied firmly.

The witch sighed. "It's not like you're that tough to beat without using magic to begin with," she said. "I was hoping to teach you a thing or two.  But I suppose you'll never improve, then. Oh well."

Theiden knew she was baiting him, but he finally gave in. "Fine, then," he snapped. If the witch was offering him the chance to fight her, he would take it. He wouldn't back down until one of them was dead.