It was a perfect night for burning effigies.
Not that I’d ever participated, nor even heard of this ritual before today. The sky was cloaked, the moon barely a sliver. People scurried down the cobblestone street with hoods pulled low or scarves tied as masks around their lower faces. Hoar crystallized into my cloak as I walked, grating together with a faint crunching as the folds tangled with my legs.
If only I’d asked the prince for gloves at the market, but it would take too long to tug off each finger while trying to access the magic if I happened to run into the Sheriff. Or the prince, I suppose. If I saw him and he was alone, misgivings aside, I’d be a fool not to act tonight. I shook myself, patting some feeling into my face against the bracing cold.
I shouldn’t have written the prince off entirely, not yet. And why? Because he had dimples and a cheeky smile? Because he almost bought me a gift? Because I didn’t know if he was guilty? None of it should matter. I had no intention of being with a prince for Goddess’s sake. My cheeks tingled as I patted them harder. I needed to get rid of this stupid weakness or I’d accidentally throw my own token into the bonfire instead of Lilyanna’s.
Halfway between the castle and the distant gates, the bonfire blazed, flames dancing wildly in the center of the main street. Crates from the market lined the edges with tall stones hemming them in to prevent stray sparks from igniting the houses crowded on either side. The thin washing lines had been removed, or disintegrated, giving the smoke an uninterrupted escape into the heavens.
One by one, solitary figures crossed to the fire. Some knelt, others bent their heads in worship while a few just stopped and stared into the shimmering heat. With each offering, the fire would gutter, then roar as it surged upward swallowing the token before settling again.
A stooped woman made her way to the front. The sparse crowd hung back to watch and catalog the offering. She threw a handmade rattle into the flames. The wood ignited easily, and a scrawled name etched in the wood glowed white along the handle before a rush of heat blanketed the crowd. The fire glowed green so quickly I would’ve missed it if not for the image burned onto my eyelids when I blinked.
“Magic, my dear.” Siobhan’s voice whispered directly into my ear. I jumped, snatching at my blown-back hood. “You should be careful with that...thing you are about to offer.” She took the doll from my hand using only the tips of her gloved fingers. It dangled by the solitary strand of straw-colored hair, the scalp bulging under the pressure.
I snatched it back. “Why do I need to be careful?”
She wiped her hand on her cloak—a beautiful ermine-lined velvet monstrosity that swamped her entire figure. Before she could answer, or more likely, change the subject, two castle guards bearing diamond-encrusted sabers jogged around the fire. Their heads swiveled in unison, feet unnaturally loud against the crackle of the fire. They stopped where the woman had barely been seconds ago. I scanned the crowd, catching a faint glimpse of a stooped back disappearing down a distant alley. The guards muttered to each other before melting back into the shadows.
“Prince Bellinor is rather clever,” Siobhan said. “While appeasing his superstitious population, this fire is also rigged to flare when contacting trace amounts of magic. He won’t be that interested in the green flare, but yours, my dear...well, I’d just love to see what fireworks true blood magic emits, especially as powerful as yours.”
No one else approached the bonfire. Quiet murmurings passed between strangers as dolls, toys, and gifts shuffled in cold hands.
She could be lying. Everything she ever told me was wrapped up in lies and riddles. I had no magic on my skin, and I hadn’t used it in over a week. People had still come out alone regardless of the fact there was supposed to be a murderer around town. Maybe everything was just rumors she’d planted, bubbling over in a small town, and Siobhan was making me follow through on a bounty of someone truly innocent because she wanted to test me.
Or just because she could.
“Did you send someone else after my bounty?” I asked.
“Oh no, my dear.” She reached out to adjust my hood, tugging me toward her as she did. Her perfume replaced the dense smoke in the air, and I inhaled deeply despite myself. “That’s better,” she cooed. “Although I do love it when you’re angry.” She kept a grip on my hood, forcing my head to remain angled toward hers. “I’m afraid someone else must have sent them, but a rival? How fun.”
“It’s not fun. It’s the Sheriff.” I pushed her arms away, turning back to watch the fire.
“The Sheriff. You’re only failure, right?”
I stayed quiet.
“Mhm. Well, you know two others were unable to catch him before you, and I had to lose both of them because of it. Just imagine if you fail on this bounty as well. I’ll have no choice but to bump you to Collector. Of course, you know what that would mean for your current ones. Such an interesting, desperate bargain they caught you up in, no? Tell me, have you made amends yet?”
I pursed my lips. The magic stirred in my veins, pushing toward my shaking fingertips. If I wasn’t careful, it’d ooze onto the street like blood.
“Then I could hire the Sheriff as your bounty hunter,” she continued. “Now, what a wonderful tangle of fortune that would be. Reminded forever of your failures.”
“I’m going to get rid of him.” Sticky heat welled under my nails, and I thrust my hands into my pockets. The whole fire would explode if Siobhan was right about the magic trap. She knew she did this to me. I forced a deep breath. “It’s an embarrassment to you as well that he’s still out there, and you couldn’t fulfil your promise to the client.”
She edged closer, the soft folds of her cloak tickling my legs. She turned her head, brushing the edge of my hood aside so her breath warmed the curve of my ear. “There’s nothing that can embarrass me.”
I tried to swallow, tried to move away, but it was too difficult to stop the blush arcing up my neck. Not when I had to stop the magic seeping from my fingers as my body relaxed and to coordinate my legs at the same time.
“At least tell me what the prince did. Who arranged his bounty? Is he involved with the murdered women?”
“Oh, I can’t tell you that. I don’t like interfering too much in the lives of mortals, it’s rather tedious.” She withdrew from my airspace, my body slackening as if she’d been holding me upright. She patted my arm. “That’s why I have you, dear. Now, off you go. It’s your turn, yes?” She nudged me forward.
Two other figures moved toward the fire at the same time. I grabbed the doll by its foot and flung it high into the flames as both other people did. The bonfire whooshed, growing a foot all around as it devoured the offerings. The orange glare flashed crimson before sparks screamed into the air, spiraling like a trebuchet’s grenade toward the midnight sky.
I was already backing away, the space where Siobhan had been moments before now empty. Heavy footsteps pushed forward, but I didn’t stop to watch. Tugging my hood down low, I skirted the crowd and melted into the nearest alleyway. It snaked left and right, disorientating me within minutes.
I slowed my pace, glancing behind me. The thick smoke belched into the sky to my right, but houses crowded either side leaving no openings to emerge back onto the central street.
