After a minute had passed, seeing the man’s shoulder relax Katie asked him,
“What’s going on?”
“Someone uninvited is out in the town, walking through the streets,” he answered going to check the door was locked firmly and he then asked, “Why aren’t you asleep?”
“I was about to sleep when I saw someone pass by the window. What do you mean uninvited?”
“It’s one past seven, an odd hour for a human to be strolling in the town unless it’s a third which I doubt it was.”
“I am not sure. Who ever it was seems to have gone now. You should go sleep,” he said leading her back to the room.
Seeing her settled in the bed with her eyes closed, Malphus decided to leave the candle in a corner.
The next morning Ralph had already left when Katie woke Malphus, leaving her alone in the house as there was no need for her to work today.
She cooked and cleaned, washed and let the the clothes wring outside. With the lack of sunlight there was no doubt that the clothes would take a longer time in drying up.
Getting back in at noon she decided to write a letter, not to Lord Alexander but to Elliot and the others. She missed them immensely. With the days she had spent in Valeria, it was the best time she had had in her life. Thinking back about them brought a smile on her lips. Taking the parchment and ink, she took a seat in front of the desk. Biting her lip while thinking, she began writing telling them about Mythweald and asking them if they were well. Once she was done, she set down the pen and folded the parchment. When Malphus comes back, he could send the letter along with the report.
As they were out of vegetables, she sauntered over the main road that lead to the market. Looking around as she walked, she found two men beating another man. Though her footsteps slowed down, she didn’t stop to watch it, instead she carried on. The last time when she had seen something similar like this, Malphus had stopped her, reprimanding her to walk and not butt in others’ matter.
She was supposed to keep herself away from trouble while she was in the south empire.
Picking up the vegetables and necessary ingredients for it, she started to head back when she heard a loud commotion being caused near the dias which was used to make announcements by the town crier. Wondering what the sudden clamour was about she walked near the crowd that had formed.
She noticed two men holding down a woman whose hands and feet were bound tightly by rope.
“P-please stop it!” the woman begged as she cried, struggling to free herself from the ropes, “Y-you have misunderstood!”
“Silence you witch!” a bulky man said who was in a uniform, “Don’t try to fool us,” he spit on her face.
“My men as you can see here, we have captured one of the witches who has been trying to abduct children from our houses. We have lost men, women, children because of these cursed creatures who are responsible for disrupting our peaceful life. What do you think we should do with her?” He asked loudly to the crowd around him.
“Rip her tongue!”
“Burn her!”
“Kill her!” Were the angry voices of the mob directed towards the young woman who was bound.
The woman cried helplessly, begging the men over and over again but they were having none of it.
“I am not one of them! Hear me out! Please!!” She cried as the men began constructing a pole quickly in the middle of the crowd.
Bringing the woman forward, they tied her to the pole before placing sticks and twigs around her legs. The man in the uniform torched the twigs, letting the wood catch fire slowly. The woman thrashed and screamed, and the townsfolk looked at the act that had performed like it was nothing.
The screaming quietened after the woman died due to the burn and heat, her body engulfed in flames. Katie couldn’t do anything but stand rooted in her place in shock at the view in front of her. She didn’t know how long she stood there staring at the body turn into ash. It wasn’t until she felt Ralph pull her hand, dragging her away from the scene.
“Why…” She whispered sadly before the emotion of anger took place, “She- they didn’t even hold a trial! She was a human! Why would they do that…”
“That is how it is with the witches. The witches are terrorizing the townsfolk. People here don’t want to take the risk and would rather burn the witches once they catch a whiff of their existence in the town,” her cousin explained taking her back to the house.
“But-”
“This is how it works, Katie. Everywhere. We cannot change it, it is not ours to say but the Lord and his authorities. Here,” he said passing over a glass of water to her, “Will you be alright alone?” He asked concerned and she nodded.
“I’ll be fine,” she whispered looking at the half filled glass.
“Don’t think too hard about what happened, okay?” He patted her head and left.
Even though her cousin told not to think too much about what happened in the town, how could she not when an innocent woman was burnt alive without giving her a chance to explain. If this was how the south empire ran she didn’t find it fair. The officials of the south killed women in the name of witch with groundless accusation.
Was this how Lord Alexander’s mother was burnt alive? She was killed right in front of his eyes, a small boy, she thought to herself clutching her skirt in sadness. The thought itself was painful.
Katie spent her time inside the house while Ralph had gone to work and Malphus had gone missing like many other times without notice.
The day dragged to night quickly and when Katie saw Malphus drawing something in the parchment, curious she peeked to see what it was and her brows furrowed.
“How do you know about this?” She asked him.
“I found it in the town. Why do you ask?” He asked her. Ralph who had been outside got in with a crumpled parchment. Seeing Malphus’ drawing he said,
“I’ve seen this somewhere,” he tried recollecting his memory, “Ah! I remember now. I saw it when we were held captive by the witches. So there were witches in the town who have left their signs. If we follow the sign it will be easy to find the witches,” he said but Katie was thinking something else, “By the way, is this yours?” He asked Malphus giving him the parchment he was holding. A look of astonishment passed through his face.
“Where did you find this?”
“It was outside near the bin. Is that the report you sent to Lord Alexander?”
“It is,” Malphus turned around the parchment to see the state it was in, “Looks like it never got delivered.”
Katie then asked Malphus, ” Where did you see this sign?”
“Last night when I went out to look at the town and it’s area. I found it marked over the town. It was a long walk but I had to see what it was,” seeing her turn pale both the men gave her questionable looks.
“I…I don’t think the witches reside here,” she said looking at the drawn parchment that had a circle that touched the corners of the triangle,
“This is for the preparation of the towns massacre.”
