Release That Witch

The rain had basically stopped. The layers of clouds were dyed red by the setting sun.     

Roland pushed open the guestroom door to see Margaret walking back and forth in front of the fireplace seeming rather agitated. The moment the guard Sean saw Roland coming, he bowed and left. Upon seeing Roland, Margaret hurriedly walked up and asked, "Your Highness, how's Lightning doing?"     

Roland was startled, unexpecting such a response from her. He had speculated that she might be peaceful, angry, or maybe cold, but never expected that she would show any concern for Lightning.     

"She's fine... only tired."     

"Really? That's good." She looked relieved.     

"You seem to care about her."     

"She looks very much like her father, especially that pair of long and narrow eyes and her pointed nose... I can tell she must be Thunder's daughter."     

After saying this, Margaret unbuttoned her collar and took down a string of gold jewelry on her neck. "The verification you mentioned... you mean to judge me with the help of a witch's magic power, right? If my sincerity can be proved like this, then could you ask her to also join the conversation? I don't like being spied on."     

The string of jewelry was composed of a gold chain and a light blue gemstone which was cut into a polyhex. "It must be a high-quality God's Stone of Retaliation," Roland thought.     

Roland was surprised by her proposal because he had just been thinking about how he should bring that up without making her uncomfortable or suspicious. To be honest, he kind of admired this Fjords woman. Although she was in a fairly disadvantaged situation, she was still trying to take the initiative of the conversation. Both her negotiation skills and her conduct proved her a successful businesswoman.     

Roland took the God's Stone of Retaliation from Margaret's hand and hung it on the clothes rack beside the fireplace. With such a good quality, this God's Stone of Retaliation might be able to restain any magic power within a one-meter range. In Nightingale's eyes, this was the same as a huge black hole. Perhaps Nightingale had dodged far away to escape from this stone.     

"Let's talk in the living room," Roland said. Since the woman had shown sincerity, Roland did not want to appear too harsh. When the two of them stepped into the living room, Nightingale had already shown herself and sat on the seat of the host. Holding her chin with hands, her position looked as if she had been waiting a long time. "It seems she's thinking the same as me," Roland thought.     

After everybody was seated, Roland started to introduce them. "This is Nightingale. She can tell whether you're telling the truth."     

"Hello, Miss Nightingale." Margaret nodded toward Nightingale, and Nightingale greeted her likewise.     

"You once said that you meant no harm to the witches. What do you mean by that?" This was the first question that Roland posed, which was also the thing he wanted to know the most. "As far as I know, the church also has power in the Fjords."     

"But its influence is incomparable to that of the Three Gods. Or in other words, most of the people in the Fjords have similar beliefs to Sand Nation. They worship the sky, the ocean, and the earth. As to me..." She paused. "I used to have a very close friend. Once we encountered a storm when we went fishing in the sea. Our sailing ship was cut into two by a giant wave. Through this disaster, my friend became a witch who could breathe like fish. I lost consciousness in the ocean, and it was she who found me and dragged me ashore."     

"What happened next?" Nightingale asked curiously.     

"When I woke up, she'd left... Perhaps compared to staying with me, she yearned more for living in the sea," Margaret said regretfully, "Since then, I've never seen her again. The villagers use to say that when there was fog on the sea, she would guide the fishing boats with her singing to avoid reefs. No matter what, my friend can neither be an evil person, nor can she be the devil's minion."     

Roland nodded. "Witches are awakened commoners. If one has had a profound understanding of the witches before their awakening, the impression one has on them won't be easily altered by what the church advocates."     

"You seem to know much about witches' abilities. How did you guess that I have more than one witch here by the few words that I said?"     

"To be honest, because of this childhood friend, I became very curious about witches. I even considered taking in such special girls," Margaret said with a smile.     

Up until then, Nightingale had not found any evidence of Margaret lying, which basically ruled out the possibility that she would be a snitch to the church. Roland felt relieved and then said with a bit of guilt, "It seems that I've been too suspicious. I hope you won't mind."     

"Of course not. I understand that Your Highness was doing this for the safety of Lightning and... this girl," Margaret said while waving a hand, "It'd have meant you're too irresponsible if you did nothing but stand by."     

"Are you familiar with Thunder?" Roland asked, "Your concern toward Lightning indeed exceeds the kind of concern one person shows toward the children of a hero."     

Faced with this question, Margaret hesitated for a moment. Then Roland said it would not matter if she did not want to answer, but slowly she began to tell the story, "To be honest, after I left the village, I used to join in Lord Thunder's expedition team and went through a fairly long period of going on exploration trips with him. As a new member of the team, Lord Thunder and his wife showed particular care to me. When Lightning was born, I was there to witness it."     

"Was she born on a ship?"     

"Yes, during a fierce storm. Out of the cabin, the thunder and lightning never ceased. Not long after her birth, Lord Thunder's wife passed away due to an infection of septicemia, and I... acted half of her mother. Since there was no breast milk, I chewed oatmeal, mixed it with fish roe and fed her bit by bit." Margaret's voice became very tender. "Lord Thunder was extremely sad, but yet he still managed to command the whole crew. Without a backbone, the crew was likely to collapse through the months' long voyage. I lived in the cabin and watched Lighting growing. That expedition ended when Lord Thunder found Shadow Islands and we returned to Sea Dragon Bay. After that, I... left the Fjords and settled down in the king's city of the Kingdom of Graycastle."     

"That's what happened!" Roland thought to himself, "No wonder when she heard the name of Thunder, she reacted so strongly. As to why she stopped following Thunder with his expeditions, it's not hard to guess. Not every story started with a love scenario ends up with a love scenario."     

"But what a twisted and turned coincidence... having such a connection with her. Will I get a bigger discount on my trade with her?" Roland coughed twice. "Miss Margaret, you and I are sort of acquaintances now, so our business..."     

"Your Highness, that's not how it works," Margaret said with a smile, "Business is business. That's our unwavering principle."