Jungle Witch

After five days of rest, Ebony was sitting on her new porch with Sith, watching Jay make furniture for the house. He was nearly finished with the bookshelves. This meant that tomorrow, when she got rid of the protective spells on the Southern Manor, they’d get some of her father’s books.

“Excuse me. We’re looking for the Jungle Witch.”

She groaned.

‘Why?’ she wondered irritably. ‘Why do they insist on calling me that? I am not, and never have been, a witch. Now, I don’t even live inside the jungle. And yet, they still call me the Jungle Witch.’

She sighed and gave up.

“That’s me,” she said as she turned to face the unwanted guests.

There were three of them wearing traditional wizard robes: two men and a woman. The man who’d spoken was in his upper thirties, while the other two were closer to her age. They had pale skin, very similar to her own, and brown hair. When they spoke, the accents were strange to her.

The older man bowed as he said, “I’m Ivan and these are my students, Travis and Yolan. We are Cavosian wizards. The Mista family sent us a request to teach you how to make the anti-pregnancy charms. Our Head Wizard approved the request.”

Deciding this was a good time for him to leave, Sith stood. “I believe I’ll go check on things in the jungle. Come find me if you need anything, Ebony.” He shot her a very stern look as he added, “And remember, you’re still recovering.”

Jay looked up at Sith’s wary tone then at Ebony. She didn’t seem surprised so he didn’t worry about it and went back to working on the shelves.

She nodded, understanding that wizards and witches made Sith uncomfortable. Wizards because they wanted to study him. Witches because they always wanted to steal his blood for it’s magical properties.

“Alright, Sith.”

With a final bow, he walked away.

The three Cavosian wizard watched Sith walk away with interest.

Ebony saw the look and cut them off before they could begin thinking too much. “I wouldn’t bother thinking about talking to him. Sith doesn’t like witches or wizards in general. I’m the exception.”

“That’s a shame,” the older of the wizards said with a regretful sigh. “We don’t have a basilisk in Cavos right now. Ah well.”

She was both grateful and surprised that he was willing to respect Sith’s wishes. Maybe the stories about Cavosian wizards being different from the ones on this continent were true.

“Thank you for coming all this way.” She frowned. “Wait. How did you get here so quickly?”

“We were already on this continent,” the older wizard informed her. “We just came here from Byespark.”

“My name is Ebony Desai,” she told them holding a hand out. She remained sitting because she was still regaining strength, and she wouldn’t dare disobey Sith.

“Desai. That’s the wizarding family that specializes in transformations, correct?” Ivan asked as he accepted her hand.

She nodded. “Yes.”

Ivan nodded in agreement. “You have relatives north of here.”

Again, she nodded.

“Why didn’t you go to them before?” Jay asked, surprised by this revelation.

“My father left them, so I’ve never even seen the rest of the Desai family,” she replied, turning to face Jay. “I might have eventually gone there if Sith hadn’t found me. Now, I don’t care. They had to know where to find me and that my father was murdered. I’m assuming they don’t care, so I don’t care.”

He smiled. “Their loss is our gain.” Jay glanced at the wizards then at her. “Should I leave while you talk?”

She shook her head. “Not unless you want to.” Turning her attention back to the wizards she gestured to the other seats on the porch. “I’m not supposed to be walking around too much yet, so have a seat right here and we’ll talk.”

As they sat, the one called Travis said, “We are here to learn as much as teach.”

“Learn what?”

“As far as we know, you are the only person in the world with your unique blend of powers” Yolan explained as she watched Jay carve the shelves.

For some reason the attention she gave Jay annoyed Ebony. Still, Ebony managed an understanding smile. “Wizard and darnot in one.”

“Correct,” Ivan said with a nod. “We will agree to teach you how we make an anti-pregnancy charm, if you’ll agree to let us observe you make the suppression charm.”

After thinking about it a moment, Ebony shrugged. “Alright. I can live with that, but I don’t have very good social skills.”

“Then we’ll work around that, shall we?” Ivan replied with a grin.

“Alright, we can get started.” She shifted her weight a little.

“Would you rather wait until you’ve recovered before we begin discussing the anti-pregnancy charms?”

Ebony almost agreed but thought about Esha, so she shook her head. “No. I need to make the suppression charm because one of those cursed is pregnant. There’s concern that the baby wouldn’t survive a transformation.”

“Ah, I see. Then we’ll get to work now.” Ivan reached into a pocket of his robes and pulled out a charm. “This is an anti-pregnancy charm...”

The following morning, Sith finally gave his approval for her to use magic again. Leaving the wizards at her home for now, she returned to Rivera with Jay to get rid of the protective magic around the Southern Manor.

To her surprise, she walked through the gates of the city and no one yelled at her. There were glares, but not from everyone. She blinked then looked up at Jay. “Did I miss something?”

He grinned. “After the fire, a lot of people had a change of heart because you saved the girl.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “Of course, there are plenty who think you planned the entire thing just to win the city’s approval.”

“Why would I plan running into a fire when I couldn’t use magic?” she demanded.

“I don’t know, but that doesn’t stop them from thinking it.”

She grumbled about this as they passed through the streets. The irritation began to fade as she noticed that only a few people turned away at the sight of her. Two even gave her a very small smile of greeting.

Jay listened to her, grinning again.

When they reached the manor, she looked up at him and asked something that had been bothering her since he first showed her the house. “What will you do about your father?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re living outside the city now.” She still blushed every time she thought of sharing a home, and a room, with him. Would that ever stop? “Your father is still in the city. It’s not in your nature to just give up on him. So, how are you going to take care of him?”

He sighed a little. “I don’t know for sure yet.”

She shifted before offering, “Why don’t you ask him to stay with us? One of those spare rooms can be his.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “For you, yes.”

He grinned again and hugged her tightly. That flustered her nearly as much as the rest of it. Sometimes, she knew he did this sort of thing on purpose, just to embarrass her.

“Thank you, Ebony.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said quickly. “Now let me go so I can undo the magic around the manor.”

He did, still grinning at her. Amusement danced in his eyes, telling her he enjoyed her reaction. She glowered at him before pulling open the front door to the manor.

“You better wait out here,” she told him. “I don’t want any of the magic to hurt you while I’m getting rid of it.”

He nodded and sat on the ground next to the gates. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”

She gave him a small smile before heading into the manor to work. Having throughly studied her father’s journals, she began to undo all the protective spells around the library and study. The task, given the amount of magic and power of the spells, took hours. By the time she finished, she was tired and ready to go home.

Home. It still made her smile to think about it. She had a home with Jay. To top it off, she was happy. Not just content momentarily, but truly happy.

She was still smiling when she stepped outside. That faded when she saw the crowd of people waiting at the gates. She recognized Abhay, Chanda, the Mista family, and the Tagore family. All the others were complete strangers, which made her very nervous.

“Jay?”

He turned and smiled reassuringly. “They’re people from the Southern District for the most part, and they’re here to help.”

“Help with what?”

“Get your things,” he reminded her, gesturing towards the manor. “We still have to move the books from here to our house, and get anything of sentimental value to you.”

She looked at all the people again. “Help? They actually want to help me?” Her eyes narrowed. “It’s because I won’t be back in the city, isn’t it? They want to hurry me out.”

Chanda, the dressmaker and Abhay’s childhood friend, stepped forward with a shake of her head. “You helped the Mista family then saved the Southern District by making Gensha Tagore the new lord. Then, you save a little girl at serious risk to your own life. We feel that maybe we’ve been misjudging you all this time, and maybe we owe you an apology.” She bowed at her waist. “If you’ll accept it.”

The others all bowed as well, showing that they agreed with her.

Ebony was speechless. She stared at them with wide eyes and a lump in her throat. Giving a jerky nod, she moved out of the way.

Everyone except Jay and Abhay went inside to begin gathering Ebony’s things.

Jay touched her shoulder gently. “Are you okay?”

She nodded again. “Yeah. It’s just very...surprising.”

“I know.” He hugged her tightly again and whispered. “I’m going to talk with my father. So I’ll see you at home.”

She returned the hug quickly, because it still embarrassed her. “Okay.”

Watching him go, she sighed a little. “I am never going to get used to him.”

Abhay smiled a little. “I don’t think you ever get used to someone caring that much when you don’t feel you deserve it.”

“Is that why you aren’t mated to Chanda?” Ebony asked, genuinely curious. Even she could see the seamstress had a soft spot for Abhay that went beyond friendship.

He shuffled his feet a little and looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Now she had to laugh. “Commander, denial is not your usual style. What are you afraid of?”

“Love is terrifying,” he admitted with self directed amusement. “Even for me. And, you’re right. I often wonder if I deserve it. Despite what others say, I am not perfect.”

“Sith tells me no one is, even non humans.” She looked back in the direction Jay had gone. “But, if the Jungle Witch deserves this kind of happiness. I’m sure the savior of Rivera does too.”

Abhay looked at her then at the manor. “Maybe you’re right.”

He left it at that, and she let him. Together, they walked into the manor to begin moving Ebony’s things. Books and her mother’s paintings were loaded into donkey carts and hauled towards Ebony’s new house. Chanda folded all the clothes she’d made for Ebony into a bag and carried them herself.

When the last item had been carried out, Ebony looked around. She’d chosen to leave the furniture for Kumar’s family. Jay was making some for their new home, so she wouldn’t need any of them.

“Good bye, Papa,” she whispered to her ghosts. “I hope that you can forgive me, but I think it’s time I forgive myself.”

Turning, she shut the door on her past and made her way out to the home Jay had built for them. He was already there with his father. Sith was talking with them. Her family, she thought with a smile. Her home.

Around them, people unloaded the carts of books and took them inside to the library. She’s already told them to just put the books down for her to organize later. Chanda had already told her that she was going to put the clothes away herself.

“Ebony.” Jay waved her over. “Come meet my father.”

She walked over and slid her hand into Jay’s, refusing to meet his gaze. The gestures and touches were still new to her. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be nearly as embarrassed by them later.

“Hello again, Gotam,” she greeted the disheveled old man.

His graying hair was a mess and he obviously hadn’t bathed in a while. Despite that, he didn’t have the lost and broken look in his eyes like the last time she’d seen him. Whatever Jay has said to him earlier must have been very effective.

“How are you feeling?” she asked him.

“I have a terrible headache and a lot to think about.” He shuffled his feet a little and looked away from her with shame. “I think things will get better though.”

Sith reached out and placed a hand on Gotam’s shoulder. “Come with me, Master Gotam. I know of some herbs that will ease the headache.”

Ebony was impressed when Gotam didn’t flinch at Sith’s touch. Instead, he nodded and followed the basilisk into the jungle. Trusting Sith to watch out for his father for now, Jay turned his attention to Ebony.

“The visiting wizards are behind the house now. They’re ready for your attempt to make the suppression charm.”

“I better get the materials then. Naveen told me a few days ago that Esha has been carrying around the charm and a vial of Devdan’s blood waiting for me to ask for them.” Ebony looked over at the crowd. “Are we feeding all of them?”

“Yes, but don’t worry. I have it all taken care of.”

“You always do,” she agreed before releasing his hand. “I’ll see you for dinner then.”

He nodded in agreement and brushed his lips over hers. “Until then.”

She knew she was red as a tomato and glowered at him for it. He merely laughed and walked away to help unload the books.

Ebony went over to Esha to get the materials for the suppression charm, then walked around the back to begin working. The hardest part was using both her darnot and wizard powers at the same time.

After several hours, she stood with a groan. “Finally.” In her hand was the completed suppression charm. “I was starting to wonder if I could do it.”

The wizards stood with her, looking pleased.

“It was certainly very interesting.” Ivan offered her a hand. “And, you learn very quickly.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a lesson,” Ebony replied taking the offered hand. “Thank you for teaching me. Now, if I know Jay, he’ll have a feast going about now for dinner. Shall we?”

“Yes,” Travis agreed. “I’m starving.”

They began walking back around the house together, still talking.

“Jay. That’s the handyman, right?” Yolan asked in a tone that had Ebony’s back stiffening slightly.

“Yes, he is,” Ebony confirmed, trying to keep her irritation down. The girl was probably just curious or something. “He’s the one cooking.”

“You can’t cook?” Travis asked, finding it odd that the man was cooking.

She shook her head and explained her background a little bit ending with, “So I’m afraid I lack a lot of skills that most humans have.”

“That is one amazing story,” Ivan told her, watching her. “So this is why you’re called the Jungle Witch?”

“Yes. It insulted me at first since I’m not a witch, but I’ve learned to live with it.”

They came around the house and saw a few tables set up outside. One of them had plates full of food. Ebony wondered when Jay found the time to make all that food, then decided that some of the guests probably brought some. There was some rule about that right? If you ate at someone else’s home, bring some food with you?

“There’s Jay,” Yolan commented.

This time Ebony did glare at her. “You irritate me when you do that.”

“What? Are you married or something?”

“I don’t know what that means,” Ebony informed her. “But, he is mine.”

With that taken care of, she walked over to Esha. The pregnant woman watched Ebony’s approach with hope in her eyes. The Jungle Witch stopped in front of her then held up a pendant dangling from a silver chain.

“You did it?” Esha asked, watching the pendant swing back and forth.

Ebony nodded and slipped it over Esha’s head. “Now, you have nothing to fear.”

A tear worked it’s way down Esha’s face, as for the first time in ten days, she stepped away from the darnot. Nothing happened. She laughed and cried some more as she hugged Ebony tight.

“Thank you.”

Ebony awkwardly patted her back. “Umm, you’re welcome.”

“Ebony,” Jay called. “Come over here.”

Esha released her then hurried over to Var to tell him the good news.

Ebony watched them for a moment, happy that she had been able to help. Turning she joined Jay.

He threw an arm around her. “So, how do you feel now that it’s done?”

“Good,” she said on a relieved sigh. Then she frowned. “Jay?”

“Hmm?”

“What’s married?”

He laughed which only made her glare at him. “I’ll tell you later. Then maybe I can talk you into it.”

Since she believed he could talk her into almost anything, she didn’t argue with him. Judging from his laugh, it probably wasn’t anything terrible anyway.

Sith joined them and handed Jay a vial with a very small amount of a thick red liquid.

Jay took it with a confused frown. “What’s this?”

“Three drops of my blood,” Sith explained. “Consider it a gift. I’ve only given this to one other person in my very long life. Welcome to the family, Jay.”

Jay’s eyes widened. Ebony had already told him about the properties of Sith’s blood. For Sith, this was a very big gift. He gave the basilisk a solemn nod then drank the blood. It burned down his throat and warmed his stomach. For a moment, his entire body tingled, then stopped. What had been just birds singing around them, turned into a conversation. He grinned.

Ebony took his hand. “Not overwhelming, is it?”

He shook his head. “No. Amazing.”

She laughed. “That’s what I thought too.” Her eyes scanned all the food. “Let’s eat.”

During their meal, someone came out of the jungle. The stranger seemed nervous and tired. He wore the garb of a farmer and had short dark hair. “Excuse me.”

Jay, being the friendly sort, grinned and waved the man over. “Welcome friend. There’s plenty of food.”

The man shook his head slowly. “Thank you, but I’m looking for the Jungle Witch?”

Ebony sighed at the title but smiled anyway. “That’s me.”

“I was wondering if you could help us. Our village is having trouble with a herd of the carnivorous pegasus.”

“They’re called volalero,” Ebony supplied, “And why come to me?”

“We’ve heard you can communicate with the animals, and were hoping these were included. You see, they’re attacking our cows and sheep. Even the goats. My village is poor and we can’t afford help from a lord or other wizards.”

She felt her heart melt and sighed. She was such a big softy. “Join our meal and we’ll discuss what can be done.”

He relaxed instantly and sat next to her.

“Looks like you’re going to become the resident Wizard of the region,” Jay told her. “Not bad for someone who hated humans a few tendays ago.”

She glowered at him. “I might have avoided all this if you hadn’t been so pushy.”

“Just wait until I tell you about marriage,” he warned her, still grinning. “Then you’ll be calling me pushy for the rest of our lives.”

Somehow, that didn’t seem too bad to her, but she wasn’t about to admit that...yet.