Witch Bewitched (New)

Chapter 15

Misa couldn't face the captain the next morning. They had their breakfast in silence, packed some lunch, and headed out. The captain was equally quiet, and Misa's stomach dropped when she thought of what almost happened the night before.

Even the cat seemed to sense the discomfort, choosing to sleep next to the coachman than staying inside the carriage with Misa. The betrayal stung more than it should have.

She couldn't enjoy the breeze or the green foliage of passing trees. The memory nagged at her relentlessly, forcing her to convince herself with so many excuses that she wondered why she was even concerned. Nothing had happened, and nothing was ever going to happen.

"Miss Carpenter."

Misa jumped. She kept her eyes outside the window, too scared of what she would see if she faced him. "Yes?"

"I think we should discuss what happened last night."

Misa could detect a reluctance in the statement. She shut her eyes and cursed. There was no way out of it. She had to talk about it, so she could come to terms with it. She wasn't going to let some emotional breakdown get in the way of her mission.

"What happened was all an accident," Misa said. "Nothing transpired between us. You helped me gain control of my magic, and that's all there was."

"Why don't you look at me when you say that?"

Misa gulped. She didn't want to. She was afraid that if she did, the brief attraction she had felt towards him would return.

"I don't have to," Misa replied. "I know the truth. I know what really happened, and it was nothing."

"I agree," the captain said. "Nothing happened. May I suggest we forget about it and return to our old dynamic? It wouldn't be ideal if we can't follow through with the mission because we are too awkward to face each other."

Misa tore her eyes from the blurred scenic view. She cautiously trailed her gaze through the carriage: past the window, the cushioned seats with buttons pinning them down, the washed-out wood lining the leather. She tensed, expecting a reaction that would indicate that her feelings had changed for the captain. A flutter in her stomach. A loud pounding from her heart. Or maybe a shyness under his gaze. She was relieved to find none of those when her gaze finally landed on him, though it annoyed her that he was easy on the eyes.

He sat poised, legs crossed and his right hand pulling at the loose button on his left sleeve. He peered at her from under the shadow of his cap.

"I'd like that," Misa said. He visibly relaxed. The thread barely holding the button snapped. With a frown, the captain closed his fist over it.

"Very well." His stringent demeanor returned. "Shall we go through what we couldn't, then?"

Misa shrugged. "I'm wide awake now."

He paused to collect his thoughts. "We'll stay in Harthem for about four weeks, five if things get messy. The meets are sparsely spread out, giving us ample time to adapt to the city and begin our investigation. There's a secret market that does dealings with witches somewhere in the middle of the city. Our priority is to infiltrate it. Once we find it, you will ask for help, saying that you are a new witch looking to start witchcraft. If you get accepted, you'll always have a way to contact witches from all over Plathea. That is our goal."

"Right," Misa said. She repeated the plan, going over every detail until the captain was satisfied.

"We'll arrive by sundown tomorrow. The day after will be the first meet, then we'll have five days to start our search. Once you have been accepted as a witch in the market, we can start looking for the secret meets Nisha holds."

He pulled out a sack from under his seat. "I have common clothes that we'll wear when we get there. It'll give us enough cover to poke around without seeming too suspicious. You'll go by Misa when you're out in the streets. There'll be little chance of anyone finding out who you are, especially because you've been cut off from the public for most of your life. My alias will be Ben. We'll act as if we met in Harthem, though we'd have known each other before. Acquaintances meeting for the first time in a while. It'll give us a good enough cover story while we're there."

Misa resisted the urge to sigh. It was the plan that they'd gone over several times before, and their discussion bored her to tears. Thankfully, it ended quickly. Without a map to refer to, there wasn't much else they could plan out any more than they already had.

The awkward silence returned. Misa tried to ignore it, reminding herself constantly that the silence between them had never been awkward before. For once, she wished the captain would berate her like she was a child. At least then, she would have something to occupy her mind.

A pinch in her gut warned her of what was to come. Misa straightened her back. She tried to smother the magic. Breathing in deeply, Misa concentrated on everything but the captain. The gentle rock of the carriage, the cool breeze whipping through the window, the blur of colors passing by.

The sensation disappeared. Misa breathed out a sigh of relief. Her hand itched for a paintbrush. It had been too long since she had painted a picture. She wondered if the captain would give her enough time to paint the mountains.

The sun drew closer to its peak, bringing the heat with it. It shone through the window, and a rectangle of light burned into Misa's lap. Sweat dripped down her temples. The heat was stifling. She pulled at her collar in an attempt to let cool air fan her chest. She was quietly suffocating, turning her face from the bright light, when she glanced at the captain. Their eyes met.

"Why don't you sit in the shade?" He gestured to the spot next to him.

Sweat glued the uniform onto Misa's skin. Her back itched and prickled. The shadowed seat was inviting, but Misa preferred the heat of the sun over the proximity to the captain. For some reason, she felt the latter would scald her more. She shook her head. "I'm fine where I am."

Misa could feel the captain's stare. She tried to ignore it, but the discomfort it brought pushed her to meet his eyes once more. His expression was pensive, lips pursed and brow raised. She found his scrutiny more unbearable than the heat.

Captain Bentham flipped his loose button between the knuckles of his fingers. When it reached his thumb, he flicked it up and caught it in his palm.

"Is there a...reason?" His question was reluctant, almost cautious.

"I don't know what you mean." Misa crossed her arms to prove her nonchalance.

He squeezed the button between his fingers as if trying to mold it into something else. "We've established that nothing is going on between us, but if you still feel uncomfortable—"

"I don't want to sit next to you because I don't like you," Misa snapped. "Perhaps this heat is getting into your head, even though I'm the one directly under it. I wouldn't be inclined to feel anything for you if you were the last man in Plathea."

"Of course." His cool tone returned. His shoulders relaxed as if he was relieved by her answer. "Why don't we occupy ourselves with some training?"

"Training?" Misa scrunched her nose. "I've had enough training from the purgehouse. Can't you let me relax for one day?"

The captain slipped his button into his pocket. "I understand your circumstance, but you are still a cadet of the Urthan Purgehouse."

Misa sighed. She sat back, ignoring the way the uniform moved against her skin. "Fine."

The captain began to explain the way a cadet was to behave at a meet. He went into great detail about what to do when Misa was addressed by officers from other purgehouses and spent a ridiculous amount of time reminding her that she could not lose her temper when he would order her to run his errands—as was "expected" a captain would do to a cadet.

Hours passed with a growing list of rules drumming into Misa's head. She held back on more than one occasion the urge to shut him up. It crossed her mind that she had little freedom even when she was outside and travelling to a destination she could only dream of in her home. Her dislike for the captain began to rise like a steady growth of temperature when she realised his restrictions imprisoned her as much as, if not more than, her father's. It was a wonder her uniform hadn't caught on fire yet.

They took a break for the horses, having their cold lunch from the tavern while they waited for the beasts to feed. The captain offering Belmon a portion of the food did not go unnoticed, and Misa was once again reminded of the concern she had seen in him when he calmed her panic. Had she misjudged the man, or were his very acts of kindness motivated by what would benefit him? The coachman didn't argue this time and accepted the meal with a mutter of thanks. Then, they were on the road again. The afternoon turned golden, the air became cooler, and soon, the sky began to darken.

When the carriage halted at the gates of a village, Misa jerked awake. She rubbed her eyes, not recalling when she had dozed off. Loud voices carried over to her as Belmon demanded the village guard let them in. It took more than a few minutes to convince the guard to let them pass.

The village was much smaller than the one they had spent in the previous night, which meant the hostility towards the uniforms were much more apparent. The village leader didn't bother keeping his distrust a secret and offered only an empty barn to accommodate them. Even the warrant the captain carried didn't gain them a better room. This night, Misa gathered, would not be as pleasant as the one before.

Misa was spreading blankets over several bales of hay she had pushed together when the captain returned with what food he had managed to scrounge from the villagers. He placed the basket on an old three-legged table that rested against the wall and dug out three loaves of bread.

"Have a bite," he said. "It's not enough for a decent meal, but it's better than nothing."

Belmon took a loaf and broke it in half. His bushy brows shot up, reminding Misa of a bird's wings.

"I could, eh, share somma my provisions," he offered. He went to the carriage and fished out a sack from the coachman's seat.

Misa sat on a bale as she bit into her loaf. It was so dry she felt like her mouth had been coated in flour. The taste was even worse, but Belmon's jerky had taken care of flavouring her meal. Misa thanked the coachman when he handed her a cup of water that he had gotten from the village well. Without the obvious uniforms, Belmon had been much more welcomed by the villagers. It crossed her mind that this must have been the reason the captain was so good to him.

As the evening deepened, Captain Bentham lit two lanterns that hung on old, rusted chains from a beam. One was so eroded that he was able to break the chain to have a loose lantern in hand should the occasion to leave the area arise.

The barn was cold, but building a fire was not feasible, so Misa and her companions sat around the loose lantern. Misa hovered her hands near the light, taking whatever heat that it provided. She made small talk with Belmon, asking him about his family and how he ended up as a coachman for the purgehouse.

Belmon was once the son of a wealthy man. He had wanted to join the purgehouse, but he was disqualified in a test that cadets had to take—a test that didn't exist anymore because the corrupted reputation of the law discouraged new recruits. So, in recompense, Belmon had accepted whatever job he could to stay at the purgehouse, and after many odd jobs, became a coachman.

The captain remained silent throughout this discussion, seeming content to listen to Belmon's story. Misa answered some of Belmon's questions but brushed off most that struck too close to her secret.

Eventually, the day's work caught up to Belmon, and he wryly announced that he would go to bed.

"I'm old now, ye know," he said, scratching his beard. "These dusty ol' bones aren't gonna recover if I don't get some rest."

"That's fine." Misa smiled, feeling a wave of affection for the man. "You can sleep on the bales tonight."

Belmon at first refused, but Misa insisted, and when he realised he wasn't going to get any sleep if he argued, took the makeshift bed Misa had made. There was only enough hay to create room for one person to lie comfortably, and Misa thought it wouldn't be fair if Belmon, the oldest of the three, had to sleep on the cold, hard floor.

It didn't take long for the drone of Belmon's soft snores to echo against the barn walls. Misa felt her own eyelids struggle to stay open. She jolted awake when she felt something warm push against her back.

Her first thought went to the captain; her sleep wore off immediately. If he was touching her, she would make sure he never walked again. Then, the soft brush of fur and a mewl quelled Misa's concerns.

"I don't see why you had to bring the cat along," said the captain. His voice was stark and unnaturally loud in the cold, rickety barn. Misa was relieved to see him at the other side of the lantern.

"She looks after me." Misa let Min-Min clamber onto her lap. "She was the only one who always stayed with me when I struggled the most. Though, of course when my parents found out I'd brought her home, they'd thrown her out and built walls to keep me from the outside world. Min-Min still came to me every night, but she stopped once I picked up painting. I supposed she understood that I was okay, but it may have more to do with the smell."

"I think it proves to be more of a distraction. A cadet shouldn't be playing with cats like he's still a child."

"Not this again." Misa rolled her eyes. "I've told you multiple times, Captain, that I'm not a child and I'm not..." She glanced at Belmon, who had gone quiet. Then, a massive snore began another long symphony of sleep. Still, she hissed, "I'm not a man."

"We are not on a play trip, Miss—Mikim. If this cat distracts you from your duty, I will have it transported back to Giligha."

"I assure you that Min-Min will not get in our way." Misa stood, having enough of the discussion. "I'm going to bed, Captain. Goodnight."

"Mikim—"

"It's 'Misa,'" she snapped. "Or 'Miss Carpenter' as you call me. Is it too much to be called by my real name when we're not in a position to get caught?"

"Every situation has a potential to be dangerous. When you keep a secret, it's wise to always be careful, even if others are asleep." He gestured his head towards Belmon.

"Whatever." Just speaking to him exhausted her. "Maybe we could continue this conversation some other time. I'm going to get some rest."

Leaving the captain with the lantern, Misa climbed over an extra bale of hay to lean on the prickly surface away from sight. When all this was over, she promised herself, she would travel the world with Min-Min and paint the most beautiful landscapes by visiting them in person. Then, she would never, ever have to see that insufferable captain again.