33 Chapter 33: Of Men and Witches (1/2)
SALEM: Anja's father offered me and Elina a hut close to the center of the village. It was build using only wood. There were several heavy rocks on the roof to prevent the occasional storm from blowing it away.
Inside the hut were some thick furs to keep us warm for the night. Anja's father said that these were some of the best furs the village had. Skinned from a bear who prowled the forests some years ago.
Elina and I settled in.
It had been a long day. Neither of us said much. The silence between us felt tense. Well, it was always tense. But now more so than before. It started since I danced with Anja. It's hard to understand why she'd act this way.
Once inside the hut, Elina shrugged off her cape. She plopped down on the furs. But she didn't go to sleep. Her eyes and hair changed back to silver. But something was different.
Her eyes didn't just glow in the dark.
They pulsed. Like a heartbeat. Like her magic was breathing.
I've seen something like this before. Once during a witch hunt, I cornered a red eyed witch in a cave. She knew she couldn't escape. So she decided to cast one last spell.
Her eyes and hair pulsed. Like her magic was bursting out of her. At that time she launched a suicide attack by letting out all of her magic. It destroyed her body. I barely managed to escape.
Elina looked like that right now.
She said, ”Tell me, what would you do if I wasn't here?”
”What do you mean?”
She nodded at the door. ”With that girl. Anja.”
I said nothing.
”What did she whisper into your ear? When you two were dancing.”
Under any other circumstances, I would have interpreted this kind of question as a sign of jealousy. But not with Elina. Everything about her had more than one meaning.
I said, ”She said that she wanted to travel. To Merkelborough. See the world beyond this village, beyond this forest.”
”Not that.”
”What do you mean?”
”That is what she said to you while you two were dancing.” Elina looked at me. Into my eyes. ”She kissed you on the cheek.”
”Uh...yes...”
”Then she whispered something into your ear.”
I said nothing.
”What did she say?”
I was surprised that Elina could hear what Anja said to me. That she knew that Anja kissed me on the cheek. That she whispered something. Which meant Elina had kept a very close eye on me.
But why?
”What did she say?” Elina repeated. Insistence in her voice. Something in her pulsing eyes hardened.
I breathed in. I breathed out. I was stuck in this hut with her and then another eight days on the cart. Better tell her.
I said, ”She told me that she wanted to see me later tonight. That I should come to her hut.”
”Oh-ho!”
Something in her eyes changed. They softened. They smiled. With mockery. Some kind of smugness.
Then she said, ”You really like her kind, don't you?”
When you don't know what to say, it's better to say nothing.
Elina's hair turned blonde, her eyes turned blue. ”Do you really prefer this kind? If you told me sooner, I could've just maintained this form.”
I said nothing.
”No reaction? How cold of you. Then I suppose it's not just her looks that you like so much?”
I wondered what she was getting at. Anything I said now would just give her more material to work with. I decided to stay quiet. Just watch her have her fun.
She said, ”Hmm…I don't really understand a human's sense of beauty, but I know I'm prettier than her. So it must be something else.”
She didn't sound confident. She spoke as though it were fact. Like water was wet and fire was hot.
Her eyes pierced me, peering into my very being. I wanted to get away, but there was nowhere to go.
She said, ”I suppose what you like about her is her innocence. She makes you feel manly. A sweet girl who needs your protection.”
A pause.
”She is someone you can imagine spending your life with, no?”
I swallowed. Somehow she had managed to accurately guess my own delusional fantasies.
”And now you are wondering how I managed to see into your head.”