Court Of Night

Favour

Fie Wright's P. O. V

Althea raises her eyes from me, the pleasant grin on her face turning into a slight frown as she scans the door behind me with a shake of her head. It's almost as if she's trying to listen to something that she knows is already there.

I am one second away from asking the woman what exactly is the matter but then stop as something clicks in my head and I feel the faintest blush creeping up onto my neck.

I guess you can't really fool a witch now, can you?

Locking eyes with Althea once more, she dips her head in a deep nod just as the familiar glances from me to her with a guarded look settled deep in its eyes. I watch the way the witch deftly runs a hand through the fox's soft orange hair and I'm almost tempted myself to reach out and pet at it.

I would if I wasn't worried about the animal snapping my fingers off in one fell swoop. No matter how talented a Mage Malleus is, I don't think even he's that good to restitch my fingers and get them working back to their full capacity.

"You may tell him to come inside." Althea says in a rather serious tone, her face slipping the sunny smile off, but not getting any bit hostile. Simply watching me with deep regard. I clear my throat and try my best not to look sheepish or caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

I need to learn to act unaffected when things like this happen. It won't work out well for me to act like a deer caught in the headlights whenever I'm slightly thrown off my game.

'You heard her.' I throw wryly at Malleus. The man not even bothered with his lack of stealth as he barges into the room, kitten cradled in his arms and only slightly offsetting the stern appearance that he has on his face. Althea's once calm facade is now thrown out the window. The sight of the fur ball in my mate's arms causing her eyes to grow to the size of saucers as she vehemently shakes her head. The fox deftly slips out of her lap and settles its body in front of her, posing itself low to the ground and ready to attack at a moments notice while its master clings to the chair for dear life, her legs propped up beneath her on the soft cushioning almost as if I just shouted;

The floor is lava.

"Don't worry. She's just a kitten. She's harmless I swear." I try my best to calm the woman down, coaxing her to relax with soothing words as the look of alarm slowly fades away.

Glancing at Malleus, I throw him a look which practically says 'get that kitten out of here' but he takes no heed. Not taking any chances with a potentially vindictive witch who could light us up into flames at any moment. But I don't think it's fair to play with her emotions like that. She genuinely looks like the kitten could smite her ass instead of it being the opposite way around.

"She's with Malleus, don't worry. I won't let her come near you." I say softly, to which she nods, slowly starting to sit back in her position.

"We made an agreement," Malleus chimes in, taking a seat next to me while still cradling Sushi. "We want to know about the black magic in the forest. Remember what we said before you came with us. I upheld my end of the deal. Now it's your turn. Please." He ends after a swift nudge in the ribs from my side.

It doesn't count a single penny to be polite.

Althea makes an odd noise and I go to ask her if she could repeat herself but then realise she never really spoke at all. The odd noise she made indicating her Familiar to come to her, almost as if the animal was some sort of comfort mechanism for her. As soon as the Familiar settles into the witches's arms, she regains her lopsided smile and her eyes go back to holding the weird spark they previously held.

"I know of the black magic in the forest," the witch starts out with a firm nod of her head. "In fact, it was my mother who is the cause behind it." Tilting my head to the side, I scoot subconsciously closer to my mate as his free hand comes to clasp at my own, just as I pipe up.