Forever Green

~ 26 ~ A Different Kind of Magic

As Lenesa stared back at Audeste's glower, preparing for a fight she was likely to lose, something shimmered between them—a fold in the air that rippled with life. Lenesa frowned, and narrowed her eyes. Now that her attention was drawn to it, she could sense some kind of magic bubbling in the space between her and Audeste. Whatever it was, it made her head hurt if she tried to look too long at it.

"There will be no fighting today, ladies."

A gold-tipped hand parted a curtain of nonexistence, and Lenesa followed the painted nails as they floated skyward, closed into a fist, and pulled.

There was no denying the cascade of curls that tumbled from the scarlet hood. Kivirra's steely hair was as commanding as a coalescence of storm clouds, shot through with lucky streaks of silver. With only her head visible at the moment, she could have passed for a storm cloud herself.

"You," Audeste sneered when the scrying witch turned in her direction. "Stay out of this."

Kivirra calmly removed the rest of her cloak, draping the crimson fabric over her arm and giving it a reassuring pat.

Goblin magic, Lenesa realized. Of course. The cloak had not only concealed Kivirra's physical form, but her magic as well.

"If you want me gone, Audeste, then you should leave as well," Kivirra replied slowly. "After all, you're trespassing here too."

"I have a reason!" Audeste snarled.

"And I don't?"

"I want both of you gone!" Lenesa shouted, cutting off their little back-and-forth.

Kivirra looked over her shoulder to the healing witch. "After that little favor I did for you? I'm hurt." She didn't sound like it.

Lenesa huffed out a frustrated breath. The magic of two other witches on her land had created a fuzzy pressure in the back of her head, and the discomfort was making her irritable. If she didn't manage to get one of them to leave soon, she'd end up with a crippling headache.

"Fine," she told Kivirra. "You can stay, for now. But you—" she directed a glare at Audeste, who scowled right back "need to leave. Theid – the person you came for isn't here. There's nothing else to be done about that." She bit her lip, hoping that Audeste hadn't noticed her slip of tongue. If Lenesa accidentally gave away Theiden's name, there'd be no telling what harm might come to him.

Kivirra put a hand on her hip as she turned back to Audeste. "You're outnumbered, anyway."

Audeste's snarl was like that of a wounded, predatory creature. "Enjoy your victory while you can," she snapped. "Nothing but misfortune is soon coming your way."

"And here I thought I was the only one who could tell the future," Kivirra drawled, not looking the least perturbed. Though Lenesa had been startled by Audeste's words, she took some comfort in the scrying witch's reaction to them.

Audeste tuned on her heel and stalked off to the tree line, movements sharp and rough with unspent anger.

"Well!" Kivirra said, turning back to Lenesa. "I'd best make this quick. Heíleòn is waiting for me just beyond the trees, and I don't want to be separated from her for long."

Lenesa followed Kivirra's gesture to the right, opposite of the direction Audeste had gone. A large orange glow filtered through the tree trunks, hovering patiently, and winked at the brief attention of the two witches.

"What did you want to talk about?" Lenesa asked, gaze flicking back to the woman before her. Kivirra's mere presence reminded her of things she'd rather forget—it would be best to get their discussion over with as quickly as possible.

The scrying witch let out a soft breath in a somewhat bemused snort. "I mentioned it earlier," she said. "The favor I granted you, of course."

Lenesa frowned. "The teacup goblin? What of it?"

"The teacup goblin has a name, my dear." Her voice took on an offended tone that only one who personified objects could adopt. "It's Gil, and I've come to fetch him."

"Oh." Lenesa turned back to the cottage, ready to go inside to the kitchen, before her memory caught up with her and she turned back in horror. "Oh! I—"

"But there's a problem, you see," Kivirra continued, looking unamused but unsurprised. "Your little hunter took a liking to my Gil, and took him home with him. Accidentally, but it happened all the same."

Lenesa's eyes widened. "If you foresaw this, why did you let it happen?" Shock and embarrassment flooded her veins at the same time. How could she have been so careless? Theiden had put Gil in his pocket before she'd sent him back through the faerie ring.

Then a hand flew to her mouth as she realized the implication.

A goblin was in the city.

"Why didn't you stop it from happening?" Lenesa repeated, gaze unfocused as she ran through the scenario in her head. Theiden had put the teacup in his pocket. She had sent him home. There wasn't a possibility Gil could have fallen out of the pocket, was there? Theiden's clothes were shabby, but the holes in his coat weren't that big.

"I didn't stop it because I knew what it meant for you," Kivirra answered, breaking Lenesa out of her daze.

Lenesa's head snapped up to face Kivirra. "What what meant?"

Kivirra crossed her arms, looking displeased. "Don't pretend you don't know. You've been avoiding the city for some time, and now that Theiden is there—"

"You know his—"

"Name? Of course I do. I looked into his fate when he visited. One can't help but overhear things in visions." Kivirra cleared her throat. "But as I was saying. As a healing witch, you've been slacking in your calling. The medicinal herbs are wilting in your pantry while you sit up on your mountain, avoiding the needy below."

Lenesa turned away. "I can't just go back there all of a sudden," she said. "I have to give it time.

"You don't have time, Lenesa Evergreen," Kivirra snapped. Lenesa started at the use of her full name, and the force put behind the words.

Kivirra continued. "You're in the midst of a tapestry being woven. Any hesitation on your part is a snarl in the thread. You must return to your duties in the city."

"You've seen my future?" Lenesa asked, hesitantly.

Kivirra's mouth thinned to a hard line. "There are still several different possible endings to it. Make sure you pick the right pattern."

In a swift move, Kivirra had spun the goblin cloak over her shoulders again, limbs vanishing from sight as the red fabric covered her body. Now merely a floating head once more, Kivirra turned back to Lenesa one final time and fixed her with a frosty indigo gaze. "You have two weeks to return Gil to me. If he's not back by the new moon, you'll need to compensate."

Two floating hands flicked the hood up over Kivirra's head, and the air before Lenesa rippled and cleared, leaving her facing only the trees ahead.

It took a moment for Kivirra's words to sink in, and when they finally did, Lenesa let out a despairing moan and hid her face in her hands.

~*~*~*~*~

Uh-oh.  There's a goblin on the loose!

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