Agnes got up from the table and ostentatiously headed towards the bedroom. Along the way, she let her hair loose, and when she entered the bedroom, she slammed the door shut with a bang. The living room fell so quiet that you could hear mice in their holes in the wall.
Martha sat there dazed. It felt like Agnes was hurling insults, new information, and orders straight into her face with full force. The red-haired witch placed her hands over her mouth and took a deep breath. She tried to wrap her mind around all the events and information.
“Wanda… How far is the royal town? And who were those hooded beings?” she thought. Sitting at the table, staring blankly at the wall, she tried to organize her thoughts. “We’ll have to change clothes. We must blend in seamlessly with ordinary people,” she continued in her thoughts.
On the other side of the room, Deirdra nervously breathed in through her nose. She stood with a pile of blankets in her arms, trying not to think about the uncertainty that tomorrow might bring.
“Martha!” she shouted.
“What?” Martha replied, but her tone was mechanical, as if she were responding absent-mindedly.
Deirdra was impatient. She wanted to lie down and calmly think about tomorrow’s expedition. Since Martha was not eager to help, Deirdra nervously threw the blankets on the floor and started arranging them. “I have to do everything myself, as usual,” she thought bitterly. Her black, curly locks began to fall onto her face. With a nervous sweep of her hand, she pushed them aside and continued to lay the blankets on the beautiful, colorful carpet.
“Martha, you need to lie down and rest. You’re tired,” Deirdra said. She kept trying to reach her friend, but in vain. Martha was lost in her thoughts. “No, I won’t force her,” thought Deirdra, annoyed, and continued spreading out the blankets.
From the pile scattered on the floor, a bright green blanket caught Deirdra’s eye. She recognized it. She reached for it and took it in her hands. It was soft to the touch, not as rough as the others. She held it, staring at it, trying to remember where she knew it from.
Suddenly, the scent of delicious sorrel soup came to her mind. The witch felt a sudden pang in her stomach. She had been so absorbed in preparing the sleeping area that she had forgotten about her hunger. Meanwhile, Magant entered the living room carrying a pot full of aromatic soup.
“Where did you learn to cook like that?” Deirdra asked, surprised. She pushed aside all the blankets and rushed to the table to satisfy her hunger.
Magant smiled proudly and said that sorrel soup wasn’t a difficult dish to make. All it took was the right proportions, and the dish practically made itself. Deirdra was already seated at the table, pleased that she would soon be eating something. She was so hungry that she forgot to warn Magant about the maze of blankets that made it difficult to get through.
Magant wasn’t prepared for such an obstacle. Moreover, his conversation with Deirdra distracted him, and he stumbled, spilling the pot of soup. The still-steaming soup flooded the entire carpet, blankets, and floor. Magant burned his hands trying to soften the fall.
“Magant!” Deirdra shouted in alarm. She rushed to help him. Along the way, she stumbled slightly on the hem of her dress, but quickly regained her balance and reached her friend swiftly.
The noise woke Martha up. She returned to reality from the realm of her thoughts and tried to make sense of what had happened. She looked around the room and saw the mess everywhere. Steam rose from the hot soup on the floor, and Magant lay among the blankets, with Deirdra helping him up. Startled, she didn’t know what to say.
“What happened here?” she thought anxiously. She sat staring at her friends, her green eyes wide open.
“Could you maybe give us a hand?” Deirdra snapped. She held onto Magant’s burnt hand and tried to lift him up.
“What? Ah… yes, I’m coming,” Martha said. “Why is she angry with me?” thought the witch.
When Martha got up, the bedroom door swung open dramatically, and Agnes stormed into the living room like an angry wasp.
“You’re abusing my hospitality. If you’re going to behave like animals, you can sleep outside,” the ice witch gritted through her teeth.
Martha looked at her sister with horror. She began to explain, but it came out very disjointed. She gestured with her hands, trying to make her sister forgive them for the incident.
Seeing her sister’s awkwardness, Agnes rolled her eyes and said, “You’re impossible. Clean this up immediately, or…” Here Agnes paused. She saw that hot soup had spilled all over her expensive carpet and blankets. The ice witch felt her anger rising. “Do you know how much this carpet costs!? You’ve been here one day and caused thousands in damage! People work their whole lives and can’t earn such wealth!” Agnes’s shout pierced the dark night.
Martha lowered her gaze to the floor and stood quietly, as meek as a mouse. Deirdra and Magant glanced at Agnes. They weren’t afraid of her. They were simply fed up. Even patient and understanding Magant couldn’t bear being trampled on any longer.
“We apologize for the damages, but if you hadn’t told us to sleep on the floor, none of this would have happened,” Deirdra said confidently.
“Oh, so it’s my fault? Are you kidding me?” Agnes yelled.
The ice witch stood with fists clenched. She breathed quickly, furrowed her brows, and clenched her jaw. She stared intensely at her sister and her friends. Her long blonde hair cascaded down her back. She was dressed in a white nightgown, with a mint silk robe over it.
“Agnes, please, let’s calm down. It’s my fault for spilling the soup, and I owe you an apology and compensation. Is there something I can do to make it up to you?” Magant said calmly.
The monster was calm. He tried to understand everyone gathered here and their emotions. The ice witch looked at the monster, unable to believe what he had just said.
“I’m supposed to calm down like this?” Agnes asked. “Since they attacked Ely, all I’ve done is beg the Sabbath to spare my sister. When she involved you in her problems, I begged for mercy for you too. I humiliated myself, repented, and lost sleep trying to find a solution beneficial to you.”
Agnes felt immense helplessness. She felt unappreciated for her tremendous efforts. Her posture changed. She hunched over, and her hands hung limply at her sides.
“I searched for you all this time, moved heaven and earth to find you and help you. And you… you come here expecting to be treated like kings.”
Martha heard these words and felt tears welling up in her eyes. She looked at her sister and felt a pang in her heart.
“Agnes…” the forest guardian whispered.
“Quiet!” Agnes shouted. “Just because of our family ties, I’ll spare you trouble. But you have to leave. Right now!”
Agnes also felt burning tears beneath her eyelids. Ashamed of her emotions, Agnes turned on her heel and locked herself in the bedroom.
Deirdra and Magant stood and looked at each other, bewildered, while Martha stared at her sister’s closed bedroom door. Tears ran down her cheeks. She didn’t want to pretend anymore that she could hold back her emotions. The situation made her feel incredibly guilty. Above all, she wanted to talk to her sister, no matter what.
Despite the internal blockade Martha felt as the forest guardian in front of her sister, she took uncertain steps toward the bedroom. Martha wanted to fix this situation, even if it meant her sister would insult her, shout at her, or do other unpleasant things to her.
The forest guardian approached the door and was about to knock, but realized her sister would probably tell her to go away. So she grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. Inside, she saw her sister sitting on the bed. Her hands were folded on her knees, her posture straight, and her eyes closed. It was evident she was trying to control her emotions.
“Weren’t you taught to knock?” Agnes asked.
Martha let that remark go over her head, entered the room, and gently closed the door behind her.
“Agnes, I really want to apologize,” Martha said timidly.
“I also wanted to thank you… You’ve done so much for us, and we…” Martha didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t know what she could say. Admitting to herself and to Agnes that she and her friends had behaved badly was too difficult. She decided to omit a few points.
Meanwhile, Agnes looked at her sister. She turned her head to the right and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I accept your apology,” Agnes said firmly.
“But you’ll have to reimburse me for the carpet and floor replacement,” she quickly added.
“Of course, we’ll try to gather the money as soon as possible,” Martha said happily. She was glad she managed to appease her sister.
Martha smiled at her sister, clasped her hands together, and leaned against the wall.
“I really thank you for everything you do for us. It means a lot to me,” Martha said.
In her usual manner, Agnes gently shook her head, indicating her irritation.
“Martha, none of this would have happened if you had consulted with me earlier. If you had quickly informed me that people were approaching Ely, the Sabbath would have reacted and sent their forces to pacify the situation,” the ice witch tried delicately to convey to her sister what a big mistake she had made.
“But… but you said yourself that the Sabbath knows everything. Why didn’t the witches send help themselves?”
Martha tried to phrase the question so as not to offend the Sabbath’s decision. Agnes got up from the bed and began pacing around the room.
“We decided that since you didn’t ask for help yourself, you would be able to handle them,” Agnes walked over to the nightstand and pulled out a small box from the drawer.
“These are medals our father received for his work for the Sabbath. Both you and I got positions solely because of his influence. Understand, Martha, we can’t match him. He was an exceptionally talented and wise man. Let’s try at least to not let his legacy go to waste,” Agnes held the box with great reverence.
She looked at it with great fondness and longing for her parents. Meanwhile, Martha, looking at the wooden box adorned with many carvings of leaves and flowers on its lid, felt sadness. She was also ashamed that her incompetence had tarnished her family’s good name.
She could only nod in agreement, indicating that she agreed with her sister. Longing for her family and immense shame choked her voice. Agnes invited her sister to sit on her bed. Martha obediently did so and gently sat on her sister’s bed. Agnes stood in front of her sister, clasped her hands behind her back, and looked deeply into Martha’s eyes.
“The next expedition won’t be easy. You’ll have to adapt to living like ordinary mortals. You’ll have to walk like them, talk like them, and live like them. Magant’s red eyes will be an additional challenge. You’ll blindfold him with a bandage, he’ll pretend to be blind,” Agnes explained.
“Wait, I thought the Sabbath wanted to examine him,” Martha interjected.
Agnes sighed. She closed her eyes to not be provoked by her sister. After a moment, she continued:
“Yes, we do want that. But that can wait. First, fix what you’ve broken.” Martha nodded in understanding.
Meanwhile, as the sisters talked, Deirdra and Magant tried to clean up the mess. Magant wiped the soup with a cloth, while Deirdra took the blankets outside to dry them.
“Good thing you didn’t make onion soup, we wouldn’t be able to get rid of that smell,” Deirdra joked.
Magant smiled at his friend. He observed how Deirdra, now fully recovered, busied herself with the chores. It brought him great joy. He was immensely grateful to the medics for saving her health, and even her life.
Deirdra carried out the last blanket, hanging them one by one on the washing lines outside. The chirping of crickets and the hooting of owls calmed her slightly. She was still angry at Agnes for her awful treatment and deliberate provocation of Deirdra, but she also tried to be thankful for the help she had received. She didn’t realize how much Martha’s sister had done for her until Martha explained what she had to do to appease the Sabbath.
Deirdra was carrying the final blanket when she noticed it was the light green one that reminded her of something, although she couldn’t quite recall what. She stood outside with it, illuminated by the faint light from the cabin’s candles casting a dim glow on the path to the washing lines. The water witch stood there, trying to jog her memory, when Magant approached her quietly and snapped her out of her thoughts.
“Need any help?” he asked gently.
He placed a hand on Deirdra’s shoulder and smiled softly at the water witch. Embarrassed by such familiarity, the water witch nervously began to decline, saying the monster should rest or prepare for the journey ahead.
“After all, we won’t be staying here overnight, we’ll need to find firewood for the campfire…” she explained awkwardly.
The truth was, Deirdra had come to terms with her feelings and admitted to herself that she felt something for the monster. However, she didn’t want to show it. She felt they hadn’t known each other long enough to become so familiar. Moreover, she was embarrassed in front of him, feeling butterflies in her stomach, knowing her blushing face would reveal her feelings.
The monster was not indifferent to the water witch’s playful nature and beauty. He genuinely liked her. Yet, he didn’t fully understand his additional feelings towards Deirdra. He wanted to protect her like no one else and also wanted her to be happy. Since he wasn’t familiar with emotions, he couldn’t label these feelings. Deirdra left the monster alone and quickly went to hang the last blanket. Magant watched the water witch as he heard the bedroom door of Agnes open.
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