She shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s technically a swamp, but that’s what we always called it, Toby and I. It’s a wide stretch of boggy ground at a curve in the river that floods every year. Therains this spring were particularly bad. We’ll have to cut through part of it, but the more we avoid, the better.”
“When will we reach the swamp?”
“The day after next.”
He guided Kenzi around a fallen tree. The trail narrowed and the witch hunter drew ahead of her. Giving her space, she supposed. So she’d stop snarling at him. Like she was a wild dog.
Or a nettle.
Or a lame horse.
And she was the one with no manners.
While his back was turned, she fished one of Tilly’s charms out of her pocket. Best to test it on familiar ground. It warmed in her palm, tugging her in the right direction.
“Is there a problem?”
She looked up. The witch hunter had stopped and was looking back at her.
“No problem,” she said, pocketing the charm. “Just getting my bearings.”
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What was that in your hand?”
She nudged Copper forward. “It’s just a charm to keep us from getting lost. It’s easy to get turned around in here. Sometimes you get a dud. This one works.”
“Let me see it.”
She kept moving, and he fell in beside her.
“Rowan.” His voice sharpened.
She’d known he was going to be difficult about this. That’s why she’d checked it when he wasn’t looking.
“It’s just a charm. Everyone uses them.”
“I don’t.”
She rolled her eyes. “You might possibly be the only person in the kingdom who doesn’t. I suppose, being a witch hunter, itwould be awkward to brand women for selling charms if your pockets were full of them.”
“We don’t brand women for selling charms. We confiscate them when we find them in the market and fine the sellers. Potions, too. If a charm or potion is used to curse or injure someone, that’s when it becomes a matter for investigation.”
“Investigation.”
“Not every investigation leads to a trial.”
“It does if there’s fae blood involved,” she said. “If it’s someone with fae blood, they’re half-guilty already, aren’t they?”
“There’s only a trial if someone has been credibly accused by a person of good standing in their community. We don’t go rounding up people in the markets.”
“You’re lying about not using charms.”
His expression hardened. “I don’t lie.”
“I remember the charm you used on me in Jarn,” she said. “The one that glows when you’re near someone with fae blood.”
“The witchstone is a Church relic. Not a charm.”
“I know a charm when I see one.”
