Page 64 of The Iron Hex

“Doctor?” Rhona prodded, waving her free hand in front of his face. He snapped to attention and looked at her again, bloodshot eyes glittering.

“Hmm? Oh! Yes,” he said, taking the glass container from Rhona’s hand. “I will examine this poison for you and find you with my thoughts. Thank you... for your work.”

The doctor tapped his too-long nails on the glass and mumbled as he walked away, leaving Rhona feeling stranger than after any conversation she’d ever had with Maeve. The term “worked on” echoed uncomfortably in her ears as she walked back to the barracks.

32

Eira

Nearly a week later Eira’s jaw still ached off and on from the wrenching grab the bounty hunter had given it when he’d attacked her. She remembered feeling the intense rush of magic go through her as she realized she was being attacked, but they’d bound and gagged her so quickly, and she didn’t know, didn’tremember, how to cast her magic without her hands. Eira watched the back of Hugo’s head as they rode. He’d saved her and then held her so gently she’d almost kissed him right there in the middle of the clearing where she’d nearly been killed.

“Ugh, it’s so cold here,” Evangeline interrupted Eira’s train of thought as they both looked into the distance at an eagle that was circling high over the lake in the distance. The princess rode the horse they’d bought in some small town the day before, after Eira insisted that Evangeline couldn’t keep turning into a rabbit anymore. It was creepy and inhumane, and it made Eira feel weird every time Evangeline cracked each of her bones and became a tiny bunny. On the flip side, Evangeline had been complaining about the increasing cold all day, whichleft Eira wondering if they should just have let her stay a rabbit, despite the abject creepiness of the whole process.

“We are quite literally heading into the mountains,” Eira chided. “The coldest region in Astra... andyouproposed it.”

“Yes, and I’m still allowed to complain about it,” the princess grumbled.

“You’ll be glad to hear that we’re almost there, then,” Eira retorted. “Right, Hugo?”

“Yeah,” he answered gruffly. “We’re nearly to Lichton.”

The three fell into a strained silence as the small lakeside town came into view in the fading late-afternoon light, the mountains of Astra’s northeastern corner looming in the distance. Through those mountains were Luwha and Giant’s Gate, the former hopefully housing the witch that could give Eira her memories back.

As Eira, Evangeline, and Hugo rounded the corner to the town center’s lakeside tavern, Eira noticed the amount of attention their arrival had brought... and the murmurs half the townsfolk weren’t even trying to hide. A flash of panic ran through her as she wondered if they recognized the princess, but all too quickly she realized they were whispering at the sight of Hugo, their eyes trained on him en masse.

“What’s going on?” She leaned over to him as they walked toward the tavern door.

“I spent a lot of time here early on in the Iron Empire’s reign,” was all he said, brusque and firm.

The color drained from Eira’s face as she realized exactly what that meant. Hugo had been sent here to purge witches, and as the commander had likely performed the majority of the early executions. These people recognized Hugo because he was the first iron fist to slam down on their town, to kill the witches they knew and loved—even if it was by legal decree.

They stepped into the tavern and the barmaid immediatelyscowled. Five men from the crowd outside filed in, barricading the exit with their bodies as they clenched their fists at their sides. Eira’s heart picked up pace, nervous that this would escalate into violence if they weren’t careful.

“Bold of you to step foot in Lichton again, Commander,” the barmaid spit at him, the glob landing on Hugo’s shoe.

“This is the last outpost before Luwha. We had no choice in the matter,” he answered evenly.

Evangeline watched Hugo, her eyebrow cocked and her body tense. Eira half expected her to make a snarky comment about Hugo being a terrible person, but she stayed mercifully quiet.

“We’re simply looking for two rooms for the night,” Eira interrupted, stepping up to the counter and placing her hands near the cleaned empty glasses the barmaid had been meticulously wiping when they’d walked in the door. “Two rooms, one night, and then we’ll be out of your hair.”

“I should make you leave and sleep on the ground.” The barmaid barked a humorless laugh. “We should slaughter your horses and exile you to the mountain so you die screaming, like our loved ones did.”

The antimagic rhetoric had been quickly embraced in the heartland of Astra, and Eira hadn’t seen the cities that hadn’t wanted to embrace it. Giant’s Gate—the north in general—it was wilder, harsh and untamed. She couldn’t say she was surprised that they clung to their beliefs about magic more than somewhere like Cilirien. Perhaps, and it was risky, but just maybe a show of magic could help them understand that Hugo had changed.

Eira closed her eyes, envisioning the empty glass the barmaid had just put down filling with liquid. If she could conjure vines, she had to be able to conjure water as well... right?

“Eira, don’t,” Hugo warned, but she was already casting.

She felt the Flow respond to her ask, and moments later shefelt cool liquid on her hands as she opened her eyes to a full glass on the table in front of her, overflowing with water as the barmaid stared at her unflinchingly.

“He’s changed,” Eira said.

“You mean to tell me the witch hunter travels with a witch now?” the barmaid spoke, throwing the towel over her shoulder and dipping her fingers into the cup of water, rubbing them together as she looked back at the men still guarding the door behind them. Eira turned to see the anger on their faces now tinged with confusion and uncertainty.

“Heprotectsme,” Eira corrected. “He’s not in the Iron Retinue anymore. It doesn’t fix what he did but... I can personally attest to the fact that he’s done nothing but protect an illegal witch since he left the empire.”

A tiny white lie. The barmaid didn’t need to know that Hugo had only found Eira recently, only that he’d changed.