Teatime

"All the magical lakes really cleared away completely. It's amazing."

"That was my goal from the start."

One week after Tinasha awoke, King Oscar had handled almost all the

remaining post-battle cleanup, and Farsas Castle was completely back to

normal. Amid that backdrop, two witches were having tea in the castle

lounge.

It was a glorious afternoon, and Sylvia whispered to Kav at the next

table over, "It doesn't seem strange to me at all anymore to see Miss

Tinasha and Miss Lucrezia here at the castle… I suppose my senses are

dulled…"

"Mine too," he replied.

Two of the mainland's five witches came and went freely from the castle

of one specific country. This was probably the first time such a thing had

ever become commonplace during the Age of Witches. By and large, they

were the personifications of power and fear. The extent of said power had

recently been laid bare for all to behold. The sight of two witches calmly

sipping tea was oddly humanizing, however.

Teacup in hand, Lucrezia pointed at Tinasha. "I heard you inherited the

spirits, too? You were really prepared for the worst."

"Don't bring that up," Tinasha said with an annoyed scowl.

Behind her, Pamyra piped up wonderingly. "Why didn't you inherit

them before this?"

It was a perfectly natural question. The witch who should have become

queen of Tuldarr grimaced. "I've never felt a need for more might than I

already have, and the spirits are the symbol of the Tuldarr throne. Wouldn't

it be ridiculous to have a ruler but no country? Country and ruler are

concepts that exist to protect the lives of the people, after all."

Tinasha smiled, as if to say that, even now, she had no use for the

twelve.

What she said made perfect sense, and Pamyra simply nodded. Sylvia,

Doan, Kav, Renart, and the other mages all looked serious.

…Even so, she's a queen without a throne, thought Pamyra.

The witch brushed it off as something she'd done for a personal reason,

but she had chosen to exist for four hundred years in order to free the souls

of Tuldarr's dead. If anyone was fit to rule, it was her.

Lucrezia rested her chin in her hands and stared at the witch. Then her

eyes narrowed fondly. Before Tinasha realized it, the other witch was

wearing a bright, perfect grin. "By the way, I brought a new type of pastry

for you to try."

"Really? What kind?" Tinasha asked, her eyes sparkling, and Lucrezia

conjured up a plate piled high with confections.

"Here you go. Be my taste testers, everyone."

The pastry was cut into the shape of a flower and dusted with sugar on

top, but breaking it open revealed three layers in different colors. Tinasha

tasted one first, followed by Sylvia, Pamyra, and then the men. Perhaps

Renart didn't have much of a sweet tooth, because he hesitated. After a

moment, he gave in and partook, however. His eyes widened. "This is

good."

Looking delighted, Sylvia took a second one. "They're absolutely

delicious! I'm in heaven!"

"Mm, thank you. Have as many as you like."

Most of the group was enraptured, but Tinasha looked unsure after

eating one. She appeared quite dubious, and Lucrezia cocked her head.

"What is it?" she asked. "Do you not like the taste?"

"No, the taste is fine. Did you put magic in these?"

"Mm-hmm. Since I made them with three types of batter, I used magic

to adjust the baking time."

"I see," Tinasha said. With her doubts dispelled, she took another pastry.

As she savored the taste of it, she sipped at the tea she'd made. Lucrezia's

baking was always exceptional. Tinasha had been enchanted by the taste of

her friend's handiwork ever since she first became a witch. Lucrezia looked

on with a smile as Tinasha grinned happily to herself.

By the time Tinasha took a third one, the other mages had already eaten

through most of the plate. She took a fourth and twirled it around as she

asked innocently, "Is the magic you used new? You said we're taste testing

them."

"Nope, I put an aphrodisiac in them," Lucrezia admitted, grinning with

glee.

Everyone froze. Doan put down his half-eaten pastry. Kav choked on a

mouthful of tea.

This was unbelievable. A muscle in Tinasha's face twitched. "What

exactly are you playing at here…?"

"I buried it layers deep in the spell so you wouldn't notice, but you still

picked up on the magic. I suppose it was naive of me to hope you wouldn't

sniff it out."

"I'm asking you to tell me why you did that!"

Magic began to crackle and spark in the air over the table. The mages all

paled at the sight.

"Maybe we should call His Majesty…," Kav muttered to his peers in a

low voice.

"Oh, possibly."

None liked the idea of explaining how a castle fell to indecency.

Just as Kav tried to creep out of the room unnoticed, Lucrezia blocked

his path with a barrier.

The instigator of this chaos surveyed everyone with confidence in her

eyes. "At least listen to what I have to say first. You'll begin to feel the

effects roughly two hours from now. It comes on pretty strong, so I'll keep

the details to myself. Also, it will last about three days, so you can't just

hole yourselves up in your rooms."

The explanation was worse than expected, and Tinasha buried her face

in one palm, utterly exasperated. Sylvia begged Tinasha in tears, "Can you

break the enchantment?"

"This is Lucrezia's handiwork, so two hours won't be enough…"

"Oh no…What are we going to do…?"

There was no use in worrying. Dropping her hand, Tinasha crossed her

arms and leaned against the chair back. Sighing, she eyed her friend. "All

right, what do you want us to do?"

"Your intuition is spot-on."

"How many hundreds of years do you think I've known you?"

The two had shared countless conversations similar to this. A brilliant

smile on her lips, Lucrezia held out her right hand above the table. Above

her palm floated an image of a ring.

It was a silver band inscribed all over with spell sigils and inlaid with a

small garnet.

"I lost this a while ago. I'd like you to look for it."

"When and where did you lose it?" Tinasha pressed.

"Five hundred years ago at home."

"That was before I was born! Clean your house!" snapped Tinasha.

"It's no longer in my house, of that I am certain," Lucrezia replied.

Tinasha let out a little frustrated groan. Lucrezia loved riddles and using

tricks to demand favors of people. There weren't enough clues to go on,

however. Surely, Lucrezia wasn't so cruel as to deny them their best chance.

"Give me a bit more information. There's no way I can find it with so

little to go on," pleaded Tinasha.

"I made it, so it's tinged with my magic."

"You can't track it?"

"Nope. I can't see it," answered Lucrezia.

There were few scenarios where a witch couldn't track her own magic.

That would place the object either behind an extremely secure barrier or on

the person of a powerful magician. The treasure vault was the only place in

the castle with such a barrier. Tinasha herself had reinforced it after the

incident with Miralys.

After thinking it over, Tinasha stared at her friend. "Two hours?"

"Two hours. If you make it in time, I'll undo the enchantment."

"And if I don't make it?"

"Then I'll be entertained."

"I'll blast you into the sky," Tinasha grumbled, getting to her feet. She

looked around at the other mages. "Well, guess I better get to work."

Already, her voice sounded exhausted.

"So I need access to the treasure room."

"You haven't told me why. Explain that first," insisted Oscar, not

looking up from his papers. Tinasha had teleported into his study out of the

blue.

He was king now, but he still made use of the same rooms he had prior

to being crowned. Moving everything had proven too much of a hassle.

Tinasha had predicted his response, and she brought both her palms

together before her face and begged, "I would really rather not go into it.

There's no time. Please."

"No. Tell me. I'm already planning to lecture you later on your secrecy."

"Urgh…"

The Cuscull fiasco had robbed Oscar of his trust in Tinasha. With a great

deal of agony, she managed to relay the gist of her current situation. By the

time she finished, Oscar was doubled over with laughter.

"I can see you have no sympathy for our plight…"

"You can't expect me not to laugh at this. What were all you mages even

thinking?"

As the one with the most magic of the entire group, Tinasha could say

nothing. Instead, she hung her head dejectedly. Oscar got up from his chair

and patted her head. "Well, I find it highly entertaining, so it's fine by me if

you don't find the ring."

"It's not entertaining in the least! Have a little more value for your

subjects!"

"You reap what you sow. Don't eat suspicious stuff," Oscar chided

calmly as he headed for the door. He opened it and turned back to gesture

that she come along. "Well, come on. You don't have much time, right?"

Tinasha perked up and rushed after him.

As Oscar and the witch made their way down the corridor leading to the

treasure vault, Oscar went over each and every detail of Tinasha's

predicament.

"So this is really going to affect you, huh? I thought normal magic drugs

didn't bother you."

"The ones Lucrezia makes are an exception… She's fed me all kinds of

weird potions in the past."

"And yet you ate something she made again. I don't get it."

"Because it tasted good."

Shortly after passing a group of guardsmen, they came into view of the

doors to the treasure vault. Oscar approached and pushed the giant things

open. Once inside, Tinasha reached out with her magic to search the place.

It came as no surprise to her that she detected several unknown objects

that resonated with strange power, but none of them carried Lucrezia's

magical signature.

"It's not here… Hmm, so my guess was wrong…?"

"Too bad," Oscar commented, not sounding like he was really all that

worried. Tinasha glared resentfully at the man who looked perfectly content

to just watch things play out.

"Do you have any other ideas?" Oscar asked.

"I have one I'm pretty sure about. The Tuldarr treasure vault."

"That exists?!"

"It's been sealed off for a long time, but now that I've taken the throne, I

should be able to open it. I'm going to go check," Tinasha declared. She

then proceeded to draw up a transportation array.

Oscar stopped her. "Sounds intriguing. Take me with you."

Tinasha was surprised but quickly grinned and took his hand, resetting

the array to open up a gate.

The two teleported into the middle of empty wilderness. In the distance

loomed the cathedral ruins—the sight of the recent battle. After wandering

about for a bit, Tinasha caught sight of something and paused in her tracks.

Slowly, she raised her arms above the ground.

"I am queen. Open your path."

In response to her royal decree, a white spell sigil floated up from the

earth. Seconds later it vanished, leaving a stone stairway descending

underground in its place.

"Whoa, what's this? Amazing," commented Oscar.

"The entrance is enchanted. It's very likely that no one has come in here

since Tuldarr fell," said Tinasha, manifesting a ball of light in her right hand

and readily heading down the shadowy stairs. Oscar followed her.

After going down two flights of stairs into increasingly stagnant air, they

entered a wide room of stone.

The instant they stepped on the ground, candelabra on the walls

flickered to life. The glow illuminated messy piles of magical objects on

shelves and stone tables. It looked just like the witch's rooms in her tower.

"I've got to make sure to clean up in here from now on."

"Wow… Look at all these magic implements," said Oscar, picking up a

nearby crystal ball. Inside of it floated an image of an unfamiliar seaside.

Her eyes focused ahead, Tinasha warned, "Some of these things could

be activated by touch. They're dangerous, so try not to touch anything."

"Got it. I'll watch out," said Oscar, returning the crystal ball back to its

spot. Tinasha turned away and used her magic to search all around, just as

she'd done in Farsas. As nearly every object in the vault was magical, it

was going to take Tinasha far longer to distinguish one thing from the next.

Carefully, she sorted through every nook and cranny, taking care not to

overlook any small articles.

After he'd wandered all over the treasure vault, Oscar returned to

Tinasha's side. "Is it here?" he asked.

"It's…not!" Tinasha cried in horror. Judging by Lucrezia's account,

however, it really should have been. Tinasha checked the time and felt

something in her stomach drop as she realized only an hour remained. The

witch wondered if perhaps it was wiser to return to Farsas and admit defeat

to her friend.

As Tinasha fell into panic, Oscar dropped a hand on her head. "Think it

over one more time. There's gotta be a clue. What's different about today

compared with other times you've met with Lucrezia?"

"Hmm… The most obvious is that I've claimed the throne of Tuldarr.

Another would be that I have Pamyra and Renart, but Lucrezia didn't know

about them until she arrived at the castle today, so I don't think that's it. The

last thing I can think of is that you're a king now."

"That reminds me, I did see Lucrezia once after being crowned."

"You did?" Tinasha inquired. She was interested to know the

circumstances of their meeting, but now wasn't the time to ask about that.

"I really think it has to do with Tuldarr, since she lost her ring five hundred

years ago. Not much remains from that era. It was the Dark Age, after all."

"Are there no other structures still standing?"

"In terms of underground facilities, it's just this and the Spirits' Hall."

At that, Tinasha and Oscar exchanged a glance. Oscar ruffled the witch's

hair. "Looks like we know where we're headed next. Can we get there from

here?"

"No, they're not connected. I'll have to get the coordinates once we're

aboveground. The hall should be located directly below the remains of the

cathedral.

The pair returned to the cathedral ruins, then teleported underground

from there.

The Spirits' Hall was a round, empty cavernous space paved with stone

as far as the eye could see.

Normally, any of the twelve spirits that had not been claimed rested here

as statues. Tinasha inherited all of them, however, leaving not even a pebble

in the place.

Magic lights in hand, they each took a side of the vast hall and began to

explore. Along the way, Oscar discovered a singular door in the outer wall.

"Does this connect to somewhere?"

"It actually connects to the castle, but it's probably long since caved in."

Aside from the door, they didn't find anything. They made a loop of the

room and met back up in the center.

"Doesn't look like it's here," Oscar observed.

"No, it doesn't. I can't sense anything. I think I'll summon one of the

twelve and ask them… King Zayurk reigned five hundred years ago, so I'll

ask one of his old spirits."

Tinasha shrugged, then called quite casually, "Senn, come here."

In response, a spirit materialized before them.

"My Queen. What do you need?" asked the spirit in the form of a man in

his mid-twenties. His white hair was short and slightly bluish. Crimson

burned in his eyes. A devious smirk was on his handsome face.

Tinasha crossed her arms and spoke plainly. "Do you know the Witch of

the Forbidden Forest?"

"I know her."

"I'm looking for a ring she made. It's a silver garnet ring."

Since this spirit had been active when the ring was lost, Tinasha thought

he may have some knowledge on it. That was why Tinasha had summoned

him, but his reply far exceeded what Tinasha had been expecting.

"I have it," he said.

"You what?! Why?!" she shrieked wildly before she could stop herself.

She'd never dreamed that the spirit had the item in question. Her head was

spinning as she wondered what in the world was going on, but Oscar poked

her in the back to remind her about the time limit. Recalling the urgency of

her predicament, Tinasha asked, "Will you give it to me? She wants it."

"It's mine. But if the queen wants it, I'll obey her orders," he said,

looking a little doubtful but still smiling.

Tinasha felt somewhat indecisive. She was resistant to the idea of

confiscating someone's property simply because she was their master.

Under the circumstances, Tinasha was left with little recourse than to accept

the lesser evil. Looking sour, Tinasha nodded. "Then I'll make it an order.

Give me the ring. Once I've given it to the Witch of the Forbidden Forest, I

can try to negotiate it back for you."

"No need for that. If she wants it, that's all the answer I need," Senn

replied, holding out a hand. Tinasha held out her own in kind. A ring

appeared out of thin air and dropped into her palm. She looked it over and

confirmed that the sigils and the stone were all that Lucrezia had described.

To make sure she wouldn't lose it, Tinasha put the ring on her own

finger. It was extremely loose on her, as a man's ring might have been. She

closed her other hand around the little trinket.

"Thank you. I feel bad about this," she admitted.

"It was an easy task. I'll be off, then," Senn declared and vanished as

quickly as he'd arrived.

The witch turned around and showed Oscar the ring. He stared at how it

was practically falling off her slender finger. "You made it in time," he said.

"Thanks to your help…," Tinasha replied, breathing a sigh of relief.

Then she took his arm and cast a transportation spell back to the castle.

After Oscar gave his impressions of the little adventure—"That was fun"—

and returned to his work, Tinasha headed back to the lounge where

Lucrezia and the aphrodisiac-dosed mages were waiting.

They were still sipping tea just like when she left, and Tinasha gave

them an exasperated look. "I'm glad you're all taking this so calmly."

Doan looked up from a spell book, exhaustion plain on his face. "I feel

like we've had to adapt to all manner of things lately. By comparison,

something like this just doesn't seem worth a fuss…"

The others' expressions were much the same; it appeared they agreed

with him. On the other hand, the woman who was the cause of all this

grinned delightedly. "Did you find it?"

"Yes," answered Tinasha, taking the ring off and throwing it at her

beaming friend. Lucrezia snatched it as it arced through the air. The mages

all looked at her, nerves taut.

The Witch of the Forbidden Forest rolled the ring around on her finger,

inspecting it, then broke into a smile. "Mm-hmm, thank you."

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Tinasha massaged her temples,

thoroughly exhausted from yet another day she'd spent wrapped around

Lucrezia's little finger. "Next time, just ask normally," she insisted.

"Oh, but where would be the fun in that?"

"First things first. Go on and undo the enchantment," Tinasha urged.

Lucrezia reached her left hand out. Instantly, the spell design appeared there

before popping out of sight. At the same time, those ensorcelled suddenly

felt themselves free of the magic's insidious effects. As the creator of the

spell, it only took Lucrezia a moment to undo it. Anyone else would've

needed a long incantation and that was assuming they could crack it at all.

"Unbelievable… You always waste so much magic," Tinasha

complained.

"It's the best I can manage, okay? I'm not like you." Lucrezia sniffed.

"This is why they call it the Age of Witches…," grumbled Tinasha as

she floated over to her friend. After all that trouble, she wanted a proper

explanation.

Tinasha sat down and rested her chin in her hands, looking distinctly

displeased. "So what was that all about?"

The oversized ring on her finger, Lucrezia arched an eyebrow. The smile

melted off her beautiful face, and she pouted like a child. Throwing Tinasha

a sidelong glance, she muttered sulkily, "…I gave it to an old lover of

mine."

"What?" Tinasha said, eyes round and wide. She couldn't believe what

she was hearing.

Ignoring her, Lucrezia waved a hand. "Welp, gotta go!" With that, she

winked out of sight.

Left in the dust, Tinasha stared blankly at where her friend had been

sitting until just a moment ago. "Wh-what in the world…?"

Something had clearly happened between Lucrezia and the spirit Senn

before Tinasha had even been born.

Evidently, there were still things she didn't understand, even after living

for hundreds of years.

Tinasha stared at her bare hand. She had the feeling that the silver ring

contained someone's love and affection.