Nasty Little Witchling

“Why didn’t you introduce yourself as ‘Valeria’?” Yis asked after explaining how we knew each other in too much detail. “We could have avoided all this confusion.”

I stared blankly at him and glanced around to see if anyone else recognised the problem with his disgruntlement, “Really, Yistopher? You’re criticising me for shortening my name?”

He looked to Janette for help, but she was still angry at him for leaving me in the opera house. Faraya, Yanla, and Sweeka were off to the side, enjoying each other’s company and avoiding the discussion. Their only contribution to the conversation was Yanla correcting Yis’ defences on why he left me behind, which she’d heard from her mother, Donna.

Whom I learned used to have Jeremy’s chief position.

Faraya had wanted to know what Yis knew about me, but he still refused without a private area for a demonstration.

“What did you mean when you called me ‘that’ Valeria?” I asked, remembering the strange response.

Yis awkwardly glanced at Janette, who shook her head. “Vince is dragging his feet on that one. Maybe you can give him the kick he needs.”

I would join Yis in that, or at least push him along, to see what the duke was keeping from me. My stomach felt hollow at the potential answers to a question I didn’t yet know, and a part of me didn’t care to find out.

“Ma’am, would you like me to inform the handlers that we will be late?” Yanla asked.

“Oh, no. We can get moving now.”

Instead of entering the palace foyer, we walked around the building to the side of the horse pasture. We passed curious staff members, taking a break from their duties to watch the disturbance beyond the fence. A look from Yanla had them quickly remembering what they were supposed to be doing.

In a sectioned-off area of the pasture, people dressed for wildly different occasions stood with an equally bizarre assortment of creatures. A man in leathery boots that came up to his thighs stood with a snake coiled at his feet, complaining about the rough ground and longing for the smooth surface of the lake.

A boy and girl who looked alike were trying to corral a litter of floppy-eared brown puppies who were distracted by every new smell and wanted to investigate them. It took a moment for me to block their excited thoughts from my own. However, I didn’t entirely succeed.

A crocotta that looked like a larger and fluffier painted dog lay at the heels of a young woman. They were doing a better job than I was, ignoring the yappy puppies getting too close to them and by far the most docile creature of the lot.

A long-nosed mole was being held away from their only joy, the soil, by a man struggling to contain the upset creature. There were more handlers with an interesting assortment of canines of different breeds and sizes. They were by far the most common creatures and were different in temperament, with some rolling around at the heels of their handlers and others stretching the limits of their restraints.

I grimaced and glowered at those who yanked on the chains to draw them back when all they wanted to do was sniff their neighbour.

The barking, yapping, and cacophony of differing feelings from the group of animals grated against my tired mind despite my best efforts to block it all out and relax. I stood away from the group we were joining so as not to add another thing I needed to concentrate on.

A high-ranking member from each watch and the military was off to the side, talking with some of the stablehands. They enthusiastically greeted the former and current commanders along with Janette, giving me a curious glance, and then returned to their conversation on what would be the best creature to acquire.

They were each adamant about one in particular with reasons that didn’t quite make sense.

I stood outside of their inner circle with a young stablehand, who was holding onto the reigns of a smaller breed of horse compared to Missy and Polem. I couldn’t quite make out what the conversation had moved onto besides it having something to do with cost.

They should have been discussing the fact that the mole wouldn’t be able to detect the dragon’s breath. That the snake would spook people and wouldn’t be happy working on land. The different breeds of canines needed to be trained differently based on their previous jobs. The horse didn’t need to be considered at all, and the puppies were too young.

The only decent choice in this mess was the crocotta, but they might have been too large to enter buildings, and there was only one of them.

“Sorry?” I said to the stable hand, who tried talking to me over the clamour. One of the puppies was yipping at the snake while backing away, only to jump closer again. Two of the restrained canines were pulling at their collars, barking and growling with spittle flying everywhere while their handlers separated them.

The stablehand spoke again, almost shouting. “What’s your role in all this?”

“None at the moment,” I shouted back, not hearing the second part of his question.

“What?”

I was about to shout louder than before but gave up and sighed, pursing my lips. Yis wanted a demonstration, and I wanted some peace to talk normally. I took a deep breath with my fingers to my lips and let out an ear-piercing whistle.

There was silence as the sound bounced back off the castle wall. “Sit down.”

Only Sweeka, dangling off Faraya, and the horse that I told wasn’t included in my annoyance were still standing.

A puppy tumbled over in their attempt to stop in their tracks. The one yipping at the snake lay where he was despite fearing the colourful creature. I’d meant only to ask them to be quiet mentally, yet it wouldn’t have been much of a demonstration and may have been seen as weird if they behaved that way at just a whistle.

I walked over to Yis and Janette while they all continued to stare at me and motioned for Yis to bend down so I could talk to him quietly. “Do you want my help with this…or are you fine handling it?”

He glanced around at the now well-behaved animals. “Your help would be appreciated.”

Jeremy hoped over the pasture’s fence instead of using the nearby gate we’d gone through. By his hurried pace, it was in an effort to save time, and by the annoyed look he was throwing my way, it was my fault.

He stopped yards away and pointed at me, Faraya, and Janette. He then tilted his head and reluctantly pointed at Yis, beckoning us to come closer. “When she’s involved, you can’t have so many people around. Otherwise, they’re going to ask questions we don’t want to answer.”

“All I did was ask them to sit down,” I said innocently.

“Don’t you bother,” Jeremey said with a shake of his head. “And unless we want to completely retrain some knights and rear puppies for the job that will be taken over by spells before they’re grown, we may want to cut some from the selection.”

“More than that,” I said, explaining my reasoning for excluding more than just the puppies.

“We can’t be picky here,” Faraya said. “There could be more dragon’s breath crossing into our city or being made as we speak. This was always a temporary solution. Unruly canines aren’t the worst thing we’ve had to deal with. Not forgetting that we don’t even know if this is going to work. I’d only trust these mutts to find fresh blood and sausages, nothing else.”

“Perhaps a proof of concept?” Janette offered. “With the crocotta?”

They all agreed it was a good step forward and suggested the more secluded back gardens for it.

I let the animals know it was time to go, and all but the crocotta and the snake stood to leave. The first was because they didn’t want to listen to me, and the latter was for obvious reasons. Faraya was the one to let the confused handlers know what was happening. And, I may not have been needed here at all, considering how well-behaved the crocotta was, only getting up at the woman’s direction.

The watch member came up to our group after waving for the twins handling the puppies to wait before putting them in a cart. “The request was for animals with a good sense of smell. These are from the last litter at my brother’s top farm, so I can attest to their pedigree. They can smell predators coming from across the horizon.”

“Apologies, Captain,” Faraya said. “But we’re taking a different approach. Please convey our thanks for the consideration to your brother.”

Jeremy placed a hand over my mouth and took me by the shoulders to direct me away from the man when he noticed I was about to speak. “Let us not offend the family that makes all of the palace and knight uniforms, please.”

“I wasn’t,” I mumbled around his fingers. “I was going to say they were too young. Faraya is the one who called them mutts.”

“You weren’t about to ask for one of them?” he asked, removing his hand now that we were out of earshot.

I looked back at the puppies being picked up, their little limbs flopping about along with their ears. I hadn’t considered it before, but now that he mentioned it—Jeremy turned my head to face the palace again.

“If you’d asked for one without offering adequate compensation, it would have been a breach of etiquette,” Jeremy said. "They would have been obligated to acquiesce as you’re a guest of the duke.”

“That doesn’t seem so bad,” I said, wondering how soft their fur was.

“They would cut our discount for the palace in response,” Janette said, catching up to us. “They’d give us a long spiel about market trends and costs, but that’s a facade.”

The crocotta and their companion trailed behind us towards the back of the palace, past a series of hedges that created an enclosed garden. It was a private area unless you were watching from the castle walls or the top floor of the palace, but it was better than the pastures.

The two members of the watch and military had come with us because they were needed to help convince their leadership of the plan. Without the prospect of the puppies being chosen, the watch member seemed very reluctant to remain with this plan as introductions and explanations happened.

“I’m Darine, and this handsome boy is Raila.”

I went to run by hand through his long mane but got a growl of warning instead. Darine whispered reassurances to Raila and gestured for me to continue. “Sorry, he’s not used to being petted by strangers.”

They had no care in the world for what I had to say to them as I hesitantly reached my hand out again. Raila understood the thoughts and feelings I was trying to convey, yet they didn’t care if it didn’t come from Darine.

Sweeka wove between Raila’s legs without issue, lowering her antlers so as not to poke him. She was still ready to bury herself into the ground if the sharp teeth protruding from his mouth were turned on her.

Jeremy pulled out a small sealed jar of dragon’s breath and held it out to Darine, not trusting his hands anywhere near those teeth. She unscrewed the cap, and Raila looked to her for direction before slowly moving his snout towards the open container.

The first whiff of the pungent concoction made the crocotta recoil and paw at his snout in an attempt to get the smell out. Sweeka had already retreated from the area as soon as the jar opened, having a better sense of smell than Raila and knowing to stay away sooner. Darine crouched beside her companion and glared at Jeremy. “What the fuck is that stuff?”

I sympathised with the poor creature. Sticking my nose in the jar wouldn’t have been fun, and I only had a mediocre human sense of smell.

Jeremy didn’t respond to her concerns, resealing the jar and leaving to hand it off to an out-of-sight staff member to hide so Raila couldn’t follow his scent instead. We waited for it to be hidden, Janette doing most of the talking and diplomacy with Darine while Faraya and Yis dealt with the doubtful captains.

Sweeka finally forgave me for ruffling up her fur, padding over to sit by me in the shade of the hedge. We showed each other how we moved small sections of dirt, Sweeka being more in command of her element while I inefficiently copied her. Though, she couldnt get the hedges to grow and flower, and I gained some good will back by offering her fresh flowers to munch on.

Jeremy got the assurance that the jar had been hidden, Darine snapped her fingers and pointed to the gap in the hedges, “Hunt.”

Raila immediately stuck her nose to the ground and noisily sniffed the air, quickly moving outside and turning without hesitation. I stood up, cradling Sweeka, who was tired of walking and followed along with everyone else.

Raila was sure of her path, not straying from it for a moment.

That didn’t last for long as he got distracted at the base of the tree Bitsy was now living in. My silent calls for him to leave the rat alone were met with a growl and the declaration that he would not listen to anyone but Darine.

Sweeka also decided to leap out of my arms to investigate what was so interesting about the tree once Raila got bored. But, she was a little more receptive to my calls not to dig out the entire area to reach the rat beneath. Bitsy was harder to pacify after having two predators sticking their noses where they didn’t belong, even though one would rather eat flowers than rats.

“Raila, hunt,” Darine commanded, patting the crocotta’s side to make him continue on the original path. The person who hid the jar circled around trees and through a shallow stream, yet Raila kept on the trail.

He sat down near a thicket and pawed at a patch of dirt inside that had been recently dug up. Sweeka pushed aside the dirt to reveal the dirty jar of dragon’s breath for Jeremy to take back.

“Good boy,” Darine cooed, ruffling Raila’s mane about. She got a stick of dried meat from a satchel to throw so he could snap out of the air. Sweeka reared on her hind legs, placing her paws on Darine, pawing at the satchel to get her own treat.

It worked out for her, and soon, two animals were tearing and crunching on strips of dried meat.

“Well, it works,” Yis said. “In an unpopulated garden without anything to throw off the scent. Do you think he could repeat this out in the city with an alchemical store around the corner?”

“Ah,” Darine said, scrunching up her face. “No. Not if the target is stationary without a fresh scent to follow.”

“Then we go back to the generals’ suggestion,” the military member said. “More funding to attract researchers to our ranks so we don’t need to outsource to those we may not trust with the information.”

“That’s for the future. The watch needs to be given exceptional measures to allow us to start breaking down doors of suspected illegal alchemy practices. The chancery needs to overturn the order on how we are allowed to conduct searches.”

“That is a temporary solution. They made it through your patrols before; they’ll do it again. We need quicker detection spell development. That’s the only way to control this threat.”

They continued to argue with one another but kept directing their points to Janette. They didn’t care to win their counterpart over to their logic but rather wanted to convince the duke’s partner of who to award more roe and resources to.

When they mentioned the potential for the palace to be targeted, trying to get both of their asks approved as a final ploy, Faraya herded them away. She and Janette assured them they’d consider their plans, but after everyone else left, they turned to Yis for his option.

I was completely mystified by how they had yet to focus on the most important matter. Some of their suggestions had nothing to do with stopping the flow of dragon’s breath coming into the city or its production. It was all about denying the validity of their counterpart’s proposals, no matter how much sense they made.

“There were a few with merit worth bringing to Vince,” Yis said. “But in order to not gain one’s ire, we’d need to balance implementation between the two.”

All these unwritten rules of balance and etiquette made little sense to me. The etiquette part because I was being denied a puppy. However, the balance aspect didn’t because why would they want more work? Wouldn’t less dragon’s breath in the city benefit them both equally? A watch member died during the opera house incident. So, surely that meant they’d want every precaution possible.

“Vince would not want to grant the watch temporary powers, no matter the assurance that they will willingly give them up afterwards,” Janette said. “That kind of precedent will have them begging for more to do their basic function.”

And if I was confused at their hardheadedness, then the duke’s made even less sense. The safety of the city and the whole duchy was his responsibility. Why would he limit the effectiveness of his own organisations?

“My order does not have the manpower for any of their approaches,” Faraya said. “We will have to convince the duke to allow the watch some concessions for their cooperation with the military.”

I was avoiding Jeremy’s stare by playing with Sweeka while the three of them continued their debate. That was until he dragged me into the conversation. “So, what little secret is this one hiding from the rest of us, Yistopher? How did she manage to get herself included in this gathering?”

He was still looking at me, but I passed along the burden of answering by waving to Yis. He sighed far too dramatically for what little he needed to say, so much so that I decided to save him from answering. “I might be able to help with your manpower problem. That way, you don’t need to listen to either of them.”

“In exchange for?” Jeremy asked sceptically.

I would have protested the insinuation that I would demand payment to prevent more explosions throughout the city. But I would have been a hypocrite since I had already asked for rewards related to it.

“Jeremy,” Janette scolded. “How dare you, after”—she paused and looked to Yis—“after everything she’s done.”

He floundered and looked to me for help. I pouted as Janette turned to me, which made her expression turn from annoyed to angry.

“Jeremy will get you everything you need, Valeria. If he doesn’t, come find me.”

…

I didn’t need to find Janette to get the two items I needed. Bitsy was also more than happy to leave the dangerous garden to come back to the sewers with me. I unlocked the second underground door and walked through the enchantment without issue. I listened to the clicks and examined the multi-ridged key but couldn’t figure out how it was interacting with the mechanism on the inside.

I gently closed the door behind me and locked it again since I wasn’t supposed to be down here. Jeremy was under the impression that I needed to inform him when I would be so that he could disable the enchantment. Except, I didn’t need to do that.

I stepped over and around a scorpion snacking on another insect that was far too large for my liking, avoiding the stinger flailing around at knee height. I doubted I’d found every dangerous creature lurking in the depths of the city, and my list was already getting far too long.

Under my arm was the jar of dragon’s breath, the second item I’d gotten from Jeremy. After struggling to unscrew the lid, I tore off a piece to hand to Bitsy. He also didn’t like the smell and took a while to get used to it before scampering off towards the closest colony. Soon, I’d have every rat in the city looking for the stuff in every nook and cranny.

And a giant debt of food scrabs owed to my little helpers.