Forever Green

~ 38 ~ Accidents and Intentions

Theiden left the witch hunters' establishment with a heavy pocket and a troubled heart. The more he thought back to his conversation with Tareth, the more convinced he was that he had been wrong about Lenesa. No matter how difficult of a situation she had been in, it gave her no right to kill those men at the river gate.

Theiden turned down a street, staring at the cobblestones beneath his feet at he thought it over.

Hadn't Lenesa herself said that hateful acts corrupted a witch's magic? What was killing, if not but a hateful act? By her explanation, what she had done just a few nights earlier confirmed his suspicions. Just like Audeste, Lenesa must now be a Turned witch. She had promised him that she didn't kill. It had all been a lie.

If that ever happens, you can kill me then.

Lenesa's words echoed in Theiden's memory, bringing him to a standstill. Why did this realization make him feel...disappointed? She was no different from any of the other bloodthirsty witches out there, now. It would make things easier for him if he didn't have to distinguish between good witches and bad ones.

He thought of Lenesa, shrinking into her magically-upholstered armchair as she had explained all of this to him. The anguish on her face at the possibility of becoming a Turned witch had been real.

She hadn't wanted this.

Theiden took a breath and resumed his steps. It couldn't be helped, now. The last time they had met, she had even advised that they treat each other like strangers from now on. He didn't owe her anything. He shouldn't worry about her anymore.

Still, he couldn't stop thinking about the issue until he had pushed open the door of the tannery, eyes watering at the strong smell of curing leather and chemicals that met his nose, magnified by the summer heat. It took a moment for his senses to adjust, and he blinked to clear his vision.

"Evaly?" he called.

A familiar curly head of hair poked out from the back of the shop in reply.

"It's Theiden Guster, Father," she called back into the room behind her. "Do you mind if I take a break for a bit?"

Theiden couldn't hear the response, but assumed the tanner had given a positive one, as Evaly's grinning face reappeared moments later.

"You're back!" she exclaimed as she approached the counter, struggling to untie the strings of her leather apron. "I haven't seen you in a few days. How have you been?"

Theiden plunked the coin purse from the witch hunters down on the counter in reply, his mouth twitching upwards for a moment upon seeing Evaly's eyes widen.

"Oh my—is this the rest of it?" Evaly asked, forgetting about her apron strings and instead bringing her fingers to the laces of the leather pouch before her.

"It is," Theiden replied. "Enough to pay off the rest of my loan, and a bit more."

Evaly was shifting through the coins in the pouch but paused and looked up for a moment. "A bit more?"

Though his earlier thoughts hadn't put him much in the mood for smiling, Theiden forced one on his face anyway. "I did promise I'd take you out for drinks," he said. "What better day than the first of Midsummer Week?"

Her eyes lit up. "Oh! When were you thinking of going?"

He shrugged. "How long is your break now?"

Her response was instantaneous.

"Father!" Evaly called to the back of the tannery. "I'm going out with Theiden for a while!"