Chapter 5 -The Witch-

-The Witch-

The man moves exactly when I push him to, although it is not nearly as smooth as I would prefer.

There is always that moment where the body hesitates before it obeys, as if some part of them is still trying to hold on to control even after it has already slipped away. It makes everything look clumsy, which I do not particularly enjoy watching. Still, he moves forward. That is all I need from him. I do not waste time watching what happens to him after that. He is no longer useful to me. What matters is everything happening around him. That is where people reveal themselves.

Princess Avianna.

I expect at least some reaction from her. Not fear, because she has clearly been trained out of that, but something. A pause. A flicker of uncertainty. A moment where she needs to understand what is happening.

There is nothing.

She is pulled out of the way, but she does not struggle against it or question it. She does not look around to find the threat or search for reassurance. She simply continues as if she always knew she would be safe. That is not normal. That is either very strong discipline, or it is trust that has been reinforced so many times it no longer needs to be questioned.

My attention shifts immediately to her guard.

He is already moving before most of the others even seem to register what is happening. There is no hesitation in him, no adjustment, no moment where he needs to confirm what he is seeing. He moves with certainty. I watch him take the man down, and I do not see anything wasted in the way he does it. Every movement is deliberate, he does not rush, and he does not hesitate. He simply does what needs to be done and then finishes it.

That kind of control is not common, and it also makes this harder. 

Men who rely on strength are easy to manage. Men who rely on precision are not. I study him a little longer, making sure I am not missing something obvious. There are no visible markings. No sign of magic. Nothing that should set him apart from the others. And yet he does not feel like the others. That alone is enough to make me nervous. I need to figure him out before I go any further. I have to know what I am dealing with here. 

I let my attention shift again, because I already know what I will find next. Rhydon. He is exactly where I expect him to be.

He does not move forward. He does not step into the conflict. He positions himself near the princess, close enough to appear involved, but far enough to remain untouched by anything real. I almost feel embarrassed for him. There is so much effort in the way he presents himself, and yet when the moment demands anything genuine from him, there is nothing there to give.

He has always been like that, too polished and empty where it matters. A doll is the easiest way to think of him. Carefully made, pleasant to look at, and entirely dependent on the hands that shape him. I have seen him like this before. In Veylan. In halls that were quieter, where he did not have to pretend quite so much, where it was easier to see what was underneath the performance. There were nights where he did not even bother maintaining it at all. That had been… useful.

He is still useful. That has not changed. He will not surprise me, though. He will not interfere with anything in a meaningful way. He will continue to behave exactly as expected, which makes him simple to manage. I move on from him without giving it another thought.

The kings are more interesting.

King Erik moved first, and there was no hesitation in it. He does not pause to assess or wait for confirmation. He simply acts, and there is a certainty in the way he does it that comes from experience rather than performance. That kind of instinct is not easily taught. It is built over time, shaped by real situations where hesitation would have cost something. I do not watch him for long. He is dangerous in a straightforward way, and I understand that kind of danger well enough. It is power you can see, power you can anticipate if you are paying attention.

King Alexander is different.

He does not move the same way. He watches. That alone would not matter, but there is something behind it that I do not like. The stories about him are far too consistent, even when the details change. They all circle the same idea, which is that he sees things he should not be able to see. Truth magic. No one explains it the same way twice, and that makes it worse, not better.

I do not know how far it reaches. I do not know what it requires, or what it costs, or how much of it he chooses to use. I do know that I have no interest in being anywhere near him when he decides to look properly at something. There is no reason to take unnecessary risks when I have other ways to get what I need.

I return my attention to the princess.

And her guard.

There is something there between them, and I do not understand it yet. It would be easy to decide that it is loyalty. That is the most obvious explanation. It is also the most comfortable one. But it does not feel like that. It feels quieter than that. More certain. Like something that has already been decided, rather than something that is still being proven. I could make a decision about it now and move forward, but that would be careless.

I cannot afford to be careless.

Not when I have already come this far. Not when I crossed kingdoms to be here. Veylan had already given me everything I needed from it. Rhydon was never the end of anything. He was only ever a step.

This is where it matters. Caelthar. The princess. The truth-magic they guard so carefully.

This is not something to rush. This needs to be done properly. I will need to be closer. I let my attention return to the princess and her guard one last time, fixing them in my mind. I will come back to them. I will take my time with that. The market will give me what I need next.

There will be more people, more movement, and far less control. They will not be able to hide things as easily there, and I will be able to see what holds when the structure is gone. That is where I will learn what I need to know. For now, this is enough. Let them believe the moment is over.

It will make what comes next much more useful.