The Witch of Storn

Chapter 3

In a space recently visited by Rey, a curious conversation was taking place. Two beings sat looking at each other, one on a grand throne and the other on the floor. The enthroned being, whom we shall refer to as Him, glared down from his throne at the sniffling being below him. The other cringed and sniffed loudly, fat tears rolling down their cheeks. He glared even harder, wishing the other would just be quiet. Unfortunately all it did was make the other being cry harder, soon becoming a sad mess of tears and snot.

He snapped.

“SHUT UP! RIGHT NOW!”

Instantly there was quiet. The other being stared up at him with wide eyes, sniffing softly. He rolled His eyes at the being, who almost burst into tears again but swallowed them quickly at the look He threw at Him. If looks could kill they would most certainly be dead.

He sat up. Now that the cry fest was over it was time to get down to business.

“Do you know your wrongs?”

They nodded frantically, bobbing their head up and down so fast it was a wonder it hadn’t been separated from their body.

“And what exactly are those wrongs?” He said slowly, as if he was speaking to an i***t. Well, maybe he was in fact speaking to one.

“I pulled a living soul out of her body.”

They sniffed, wiping at their eyes with the back of their hand.

He looked at his scepter, rolling it in between his hands. “And?”

They sniffled again and shifted, getting more comfortable on the floor.

“And?”

His hands were now gripping the scepter a little harder. The other rushed to answer. It was never a good sign when He stopped toying with his scepter.

“And I put the soul into one of her past lives. I’m very sorry, Your Magnificence, and I promise it won’t happen again.”

A bark of laughter rang out as they spoke the last words.

“Of course it won’t happen again! It had better not. You know what we do with the useless ones, don’t you?”

The being failed to suppress the shivers that racked their body. They had been very lucky this time. Sending them a satisfied smile, he resumed playing with his scepter.

“Well? What are you going to do about this mistake?” he scoffed at the confused look on the other’s face.

“Did you really think it would just end with a pat on the back? This has to be fixed, fast.”

******

“Are you ready, Miss?” The maid stepped back, admiring her handiwork. Rey nodded, eyeing herself in the mirror with a smile. She looked like a billion dollars (or whatever the currency was here). Picking the lacy purple and black dress had definitely been the right choice. She turned to the maid, who took an uncertain step back as she eyed the smirk on Rey’s face.

“Yes, Miss?” she asked with no small amount of hesitation. It only served to make Rey’s smirk even wider.

“Don’t you think the dress looks nice?”

The maid nodded in agreement. It was obvious she didn’t understand what Rey was getting at, and the girl pouted. Teasing wasn’t any fun if the person being teased didn’t even know they were being teased.

She sighed. “Never mind. At least I’m not wearing that…thing.” She shuddered as she shot a disgusted stare at the abandoned dress, lying on the bed. The maid looked like she wanted to protest but Rey beat her to it.

“I know, I know. It’s my uniform; I’m supposed to wear it, blah blah blah. I won’t get punished for not wearing it, will I?”

The maid replied in the negative and Rey hummed in satisfaction. She supposed it was time to move, wasn’t it? And then the butterflies in her stomach began to buzz again. Loudly. The two of them stared at her stomach, and Rey felt the blood rush to her face as she placed a hand over her stomach and smiled sheepishly.

For the first time since Rey had met her the maid smiled.

“You must be hungry-“

“I’m not-“ Rey protested, but the other just ignored her and turned, talking as she made her way to the door.

“- breakfast should be ready right about now.”

She paused as a bell rang loudly from somewhere in the house and sent Rey a triumphant look over her shoulder as if to say See? I told you so, didn’t I?

Rey rolled her eyes but she let her have the small victory. She gave herself one last appraisal in the mirror and turned back to the expectant girl by the door. The butterflies refused to quiet down, and Rey wanted to run into the bathroom and empty her already empty stomach, but she pushed past the feeling and squared her shoulders.

She locked eyes with the girl across the room, finding sympathy and reassurance in the other’s gaze, which left her confused, but she thought nothing of it and nodded at the maid.

“Let’s go.”

******

Walking down the corridors gave Rey an idea of just how rich Rhaenar’s family was. They turned left at the first turn from Rhaenar’s room, and then left again, and then they took two consecutive rights, and then a left again, and that was when Rey gave up on memorizing the route. After a few minutes they still hadn’t reached the dining room, and Rey wondered how large the house was if it was taking them minutes to find their way to the dining. Along the way Rey noticed portraits everywhere: children showing off brilliant white teeth, old men with Gandalf-like beards drooping to their chests, beautiful women adorned in jewels. They all had one thing in common, which was the panther painted into the picture. Sometimes it would be in the background; other times it would be curled in the arms of the portrait’s subject as a miniature version of itself. Something about that panther nagged Rey. Where had she seen it before?

Finally they came to a landing. Rey marveled at the size of the hall laid out below her. It was the grandest thing she had ever seen: a single chandelier hung from the ceiling high above both the stairs and the wall, crystals of aetherglaze dripping off it like raindrops. Below it the hall spread out in a deep purple ocean of carpet, looking as soft as the carpet in her room. Then she noticed the two men standing at the foot of the stairs. It seemed they had noticed her too, as they were looking up at her while putting a halt to the conversation they had been having.

Her eyes immediately went to the taller of the two, wearing a purple and black jacket decorated with medals over his shoulders, the sleeves hanging loose and empty. Under that was a black shirt, across which a purple sash ran from shoulder to hip. He had black hair which was already graying at the edges, and sharp eyes softened by the smile on his lips as he looked up at her. Without needing to be told, Rey knew instantly that that was her father. The familiarity she felt towards him was disconcerting, as in no way did he remind her of her late father from Earth. Even still, she only felt good vibes from him and towards him. The other man, whom she felt absolutely nothing for, just stared at her with no expression on his face.

With a nudge from the maid, she realized that she had been standing there for some time and quickly made her way down the stairs. She took a deep breath as she stepped off the last stair.

“Father.”

She greeted her father, the words coming naturally to her lips. Then she turned to the other man and stopped short. How did people in this world greet each other? She gripped the sides of her dress, preparing to curtsey, but then thought better of it and simply nodded to him. He had already been frowning, and his frown only grew more curved when she nodded at him.

Rey was not bothered. If she had really done something wrong, her father would have called her out on it. But he didn’t, so she refused to worry about it. She was already turning to her father when the man spoke in a voice that sounded like crunching gravel.

“Has the lady forgotten her manners? No matter the distress, one must always be courteous and respectful of simple etiquette-“

Her father cut him off sharply.

“Helcin that’s enough! No lectures for today, please. When this is over, you may berate Rhaenar all you want.”

Helcin grimaced, but accepted silently, placing his right fist above his heart in a shallow bow to Rey’s father. He straightened up and asked for permission to leave for some reason Rey didn’t catch, and her father let him go. He bowed again to Rhaenar’s father, and walked away without even a look in her direction. Rey rolled her eyes inwardly. She didn’t like him much from the little she had seen of him, and it was obvious he had no good feelings for Rhaenar either.

She turned back to her father and found him assessing her with a slight frown. Her heart began to thump hard against her ribs. Did he suspect anything—?

“You seem different today.” He broke into Rey’s panicking.

“Are you sure you’re alright? I can get you out of the trial if you don’t want to deal with it…?”

Why does everyone keep talking about a trial? Why wouldn’t I be OK? It’s not like I’m the one getting tried…am I? It was a worrying thought, but she smiled at her father.

“I’m fine.” He looked unconvinced, so she smiled brightly at him.

“Really, I’m doing just fine.”

He nodded, but she seriously doubted that he actually believed her. He changed the subject, looking her up and down.

“Wearing the House colours?” he turned to go, slapping Rey gently on the shoulders. “I approve.”

As she followed behind him, heading towards the butler (?) holding open a door, through which they passed into the dining room (it was more of a hall than a room, tough), Rey remembered the panther and knew why it was so familiar. Somewhere in her room she had seen it, a black panther crouching against a purple background. It was the crest of Rhaenar's House...the name was lost to her though.

So they have noble houses in this world...

They got to the table and her father pulled out her seat for her, ignoring (or not noticing) her awkwardness as she thanked him and sat. After that he made his way to the seat at the head of the table, directly facing Rey who was at the other end.

He nodded to the butler, who turned and opened a previously inconspicuous door at the side of the hall. Servants trooped out from it like busy worker ants, each one holding a dish or some cutlery. There was even one boy who carried a box of glassware, depositing them in front of her father and then dropping just one for her, as opposed to the three in front of her father. Rey wondered, but the servants approaching her with covered plates distracted her.

Finally everything was done. The table looked drastically different from its previous state. The bareness from before had been covered with dishes, glasses, spoons and weird looking sticks (chopsticks? She couldn't tell). She looked over at her father and then back at the table in front of her. It was clear they had very different diets.

Must be nice to be able to eat whatever you want without worrying about the cost, Rey mused, as if the person the food was prepared for wasn’t her. Although in a way it actually wasn't.

Across from her there was a throat clearing, and she broke off her thoughts, looking at her father. He only bowed his head, and when he began to speak Rey hastily did so too.

"We give thanks for this food."

While Rey was debating whether to say an amen or just play dumb the man had already begun dishing out his meal, pausing to send her a quizzical look.

"Not hungry?" He asked with concern lacing his voice.

Rey shook her head quickly. "Of course I am!" She turned towards a large...pot? It looked like one, with two handles and a lid which possessed a handle too. It looked like a pot, but pots weren't made of glass where she came from. Was everything in this world made of glass? Rey wondered as she placed her fingers around the handle on the lid and pulled the lid off the pot.

A creamy, sweet scent wafted into her nose, and she closed her eyes to savour the aroma. She hadn’t expected the cuisine to be the same as Earth's, but this was something entirely new to her senses. Feeling a bit better at the prospect of good food, she picked up a large spoon with a short handle and a wide, deep bowl. She dipped it into the pot, watching with delight as it broke the surface of the tender broth. She was halfway through with assembling her meal when she paused in the middle of pouring some purple juice into her (glass) cup.

Wait, how do I even know what to do? I've never even seen any of this before, yet I'm dishing and plating like I've done it all my life?

Rey just shrugged it off. She was a bit bothered, but it wasn’t the strangest thing to happen to her that day. She finished pouring herself a drink and wholeheartedly dug into the meal. She didn't notice the look of surprise her father had, too engrossed in her meal. He chuckled to himself and continued eating his own food.

When they were done and Rey’s belly was pleasantly full the butler rang a tiny bell and the servants trooped in again, packing up the dishes and leftovers. Rey looked on as a middle-aged woman took away the jug with the purple juice inside, wishing she could have some more. She really wanted to, but she remembered that they were going out and she didn't think it would be very seemly if she showed up at wherever it was they were going with a potbelly. Plus, the dress was a little thither after her meal. It might have burst open if she had eaten any more.

Her father got up when the servants were done and Rey quickly followed suit. They left the dining room by a different door, coming out into a smaller corridor lit at intervals with lamps placed in tiny nooks in the walls. After the corridor they passed into another large hall and ended outside, in a courtyard where a carriage waited.

Helcin was there too, this time in some kind of armour and wielding a long spear with purple and black tassels attached to its neck.

They made their way to the black carriage, where her father stopped to talk to Helcin in a low voice while Rey stepped up the wooden stairs and into the carriage.

Unsurprisingly it was upholstered in purple and black. She sank into the soft seats. Alone with nothing to do except stare at her hands, Rey finally noticed the butterflies in her stomach. They were roiling, threatening to fly out of her stomach, up her throat and out her mouth. She pressed a hand to her mouth, swallowing hard. When her stomach was settled she slouched in her seat, resting her head against the top of the seat so she wouldn't feel the urge to throw up again.

Why am I so nervous? Nothing’s going to happen to you, Rey. Calm yourself.

The words of her maid and her father echoed in her ears though, asking if she was nervous. Why should I be? Rey had wanted to ask then. She didn't, in the end, and now she was stuck with her anxieties and the rioting butterflies in her belly.

She broke out of her thoughts when her father entered the carriage, settling in beside her. She gave him a small smile which he returned and then proceeded to knock on the roof of the carriage. They were off.