Rune Mage [Fantasy/Adventure | Book 1 +2 | Complete]

Chapter 46: Witch of Iwade

Two hours later, Seiren had just about had enough of Iwade. The people had as much charm as horse muck and all the helpfulness to go alongside it. Barely any of them stopped when she asked questions, let alone responded with anything worth memorising. Despite the rapidly-cooling temperature as winter approached, the air here was stagnant and heavy with sawdust and smoke from the machines. Seiren's tunic stuck to her back and armpits; her short blonde hair plastered to her head.

"People are busier recently. There's been a lot of talk about the king of Hanna being quite sickly and maybe dying... there's a lot of uncertainty on the horizon so people want to be prepared. Stock up on coal and wood and things," said Felora, trying to be helpful and stem Seiren's simmering temper.

Unsurprisingly, Halen Ashworth did not spring out of the crowds, brandishing her knife. Shopkeepers grunted at her and passed her change when she tried to make conversation over the purchase of orange tea leaves and then hurried to serve another customer. No doubt if she announced she were a mage, she would be treated differently, but that only served to worsen her disdain for this place. For such a busy city, it felt horribly isolating and remote.

Not to mention the ground was made out of the tiniest slits of stones cobbled together so that every other step caught Seiren's toes and made her stumble, making her grumpier than ever. It seemed like a whole week since she'd taken on the latest assignment.

I don't like it, though. Who would send a rookie like you to catch a rogue mage like Ashworth? She's a professional serial killer now.

Wait, let me just question the Council of Mages... ah, not happening.

If someone really wants you dead, this is how they should go about doing it. Set you against someone who almost killed you, with a disadvantage against you.

Madeleine's comment unnerved Seiren, but she would never admit it out loud. Felora and Peron kept close to her on the busy Iwade streets. The faces Seiren passed looked progressively more sour. She rounded the end of the street; admittedly she should have searched harder. Halen Ashworth was unlikely to sit beneath a sign stating 'Serial Killer Here'.

You could ask that innkeeper.

The fat pious cow? No, thank you.

Sure. You can just knock on every door asking for Halen Ashworth, then. I wish you luck.

Seiren paused. Or I could just sit outside alone again like I did back then and she'll come find me.

Oh yes, use yourself as bait. Please do. Are you stupid?

I was joking. Seiren's eyebrows rose. Believe it or not, if I get bitten in the ass, I do learn my lesson.

Or stabbed in the stomach, as the case were.

Thank you, sister.

Sighing, she whirled round and stared up at the inn building. She could ask the greasy innkeeper, if she could suck up the pride and admit defeat. She'd spent an hour wandering pointlessly around Iwade. The place was too big, the people too unhelpful, and it was too busy for her to find anything meaningful.

Seiren racked her memories for the name and face of the mage assigned to Iwade. An older woman's face came to mind, with greying blonde hair and severe dark brown eyes. A grimace sat below an eagle-shaped nose. Recca Mirren. Seiren hadn't had much of an interaction with her, but she remembered her mother mentioning that name a few times, as Mirren was also a rune mage.

Oh, so you're entertaining my suggestion now?

She chewed her lip, the words tumbling in her head.