Part 22 In which people are kind sometimes out of fear

Marlot woke up with the sun shining in her eyes, she reached up to rub the sleep out of them and made the mistake of hitting her nose.

Her yelp must have woken Jack, “Are you alright Marlot?” he said yawing from her other side, she rolled over and smiled at him, “did something bite you?”

“Have you been dreaming again?” she giggled as he stretched like a cat and nodded sleepily. Without thinking Marlot looked to the foot of the bed where her cat usually slept at home. “I miss Jinx, we haven’t been apart this long in years. Are you ready to go home?”

Jack actually pouted, “I thought we were getting shoes and a book.”

“I doubt we will have any money after I pay for this room, the food, baths, and laundry. I’m not even sure we have enough for that. It was a stroke of luck that the little seamstress let us have these clothes for free.”

“But I wanted a book,” Jack whined.

“And I didn’t want to stay the night in this village but we weren’t given much of a choice. Come on, get up. I want to leave before the townsfolk think of another way to get rid of me, and if they touch you again I’m not sure I will be able to stay in control.”

“Control of what?” Jack sat up and tilted his head to the side.

“Did you hear me when I told Lilly it wasn’t a good idea to insult a witch?”

Jack nodded and Marlot was amazed once again by how much he had picked up while in the cauldron, “Well it’s not just that I have a short temper and would get upset with her, it also has to do with the amount of control I have other my magic. Raw angry power isn’t easy to keep contained.”

“Have you ever lost control before?”

“Once,” Marlot whispered, “a very long time ago.”

They both got up and gathered their few belongings. Out in the hall a maid was sweeping the floor and she directed them to her mistress. The inn keeper sent a little girl who looked so much like her she had to be her daughter, off to gather the pair’s robes.

“They should be clean and dry by now, or at least dry enough to travel.”

Marlot thanked her and bowed low out of respect, “How shall we repay you?”

The woman crossed her arms and looked sternly at Marlot and Jack in turn, “You can repay us by never coming back, my father is a kind man, a little too kind if you ask me, but I am with him on this one, neither of you actually started the fights, but you were still in the middle of them and I will not tolerate that behavior in my pub.”

“But our room and dinner?”

“We aren’t short on rooms here, giving up one for the night shouldn’t hurt profits much, you were attacked here after all, and I thank you for leaving my inn in one piece, I have heard stories of what witches can do when provoked, and not just the fairy stories.”

“So does this mean I get shoes?” Jack looked hopeful.

Marlot bowed low to the inn keeper again before linking on arm through Jack’s.

“Yes dear, and any book you want, but can we make it fast, I’m sure Jinx is hungry.”