The words came out as a sob from a young woman from Linserin, describing the way that the storms hadn’t stopped in months, and the way the tide rose higher and higher with each day. Coastal homes and buildings that have housed families for generations are now deep beneath the watery depths, and sudden tidal waves whisked people away, never to be seen again. The girl took in a shaky breath, fingers brushing away the tears that ran down her cheeks. “My mother stood in this very spot many times to tell King Brennan that this shows clear signs of a witch’s hand. Now that the tides have taken her, I feel it’s my duty to make it known to you. Nothing about what is happening to Brenoris is natural - rains like this never existed in decades past. This rain, and these tides, will soon devour the land whole. Only a witch can curse a land so thoroughly, with such vehemence. Please - I urge you to see to this. Before the sea takes more away.”
Vamir looked at the girl thoughtfully, the pitter-patter of rain against the glass the only sound to mask her quiet cries. Persistent rains are all he had ever known - and they had gotten more and more persistent was time went on. Bright and sunny days weren’t incredibly common when he was young, but they felt like a rarity now. When was the last time I saw the sun? he wondered.
“You’re not the first person to bring this forward. I think many people can all corroborate your concerns, myself included, that the rains and the tides continue to get worse. I hadn’t considered the possibility of this being a witch’s curse.” The fact that this was brought forward to his uncle in the past surprised him. What didn’t surprise him was the possibility that Brennan had brushed it off; it seemed that many things were ignored by him, and this was one of many. The edge of the royal circlet bit into the crown of his head, the weight of it bearing down on him. He looked at the girl again, his voice kind but resolute. “Thank you for making the journey here. I will look into this immediately and see to it that a resolution is found.”
He felt Aris go deadly still next to him as he spoke. The King’s counsel had made it very clear that in these meetings, he shouldn’t make promises he wasn’t sure he could keep to the citizens that came in. Kallan and Theron remained silent during the exchange, as is expected of the King’s guard and secondary counsel, but the claims of a witch being involved made them visibly tense as well. As soon as the doors shut behind the girl, Aris’ voice cut through the quiet room. “Your Majesty, I would not advise making this issue a priority. The tides have been a decades’ long concern with no leads.”
“Did my uncle look into the concerns of a witch’s curse?” Vamir turned to face Aris, their steel grey eyes meeting his. For the past couple decades that he had known them, they maintained their bone white hair kept cut close to the scalp - as is typical of their people within Schi’s Divine Order. Aris was counsel to the previous king, and Vamir inherited them after his uncle’s passing. The knowledge they maintained, both of Brenoris’ workings and the worldly affairs as a whole, made them invaluable. However, despite the mutual respect they’d developed for one another over the past two years, there were times where Vamir’s stubbornness in what was right and Aris’ stubbornness in what was logical caused a friction between them. From the look on their face, he could tell it was going to be another one of those days.
“No, he did not. That would require finding and convening with one.”
Vamir stared at Aris. “…I think this would warrant at least an attempt at finding a witch to get some answers.”
“King Brennan didn’t believe it did,” Aris said cooly, as always. “He worked on combating the issue with moving unhoused individuals further inland, increasing structural integrity - ”
“Those aren’t solutions, they’re temporary mends. How could he hear this multiple times and not even look into it once?”
“Vamir,” Theron cut in. “I don’t mean to discredit the girl when I say this, but it doesn’t seem like her mother’s claims were founded on any real evidence. This could quickly become a goose chase that leads us nowhere.”
“If the claims lead us nowhere, then it leads us nowhere.” Vamir closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, fighting to keep his voice level. “I’m…apprehensive about the idea of dismissing this. Quite frankly, I think anyone that gives a shit about what’s going on and what’s plaguing our people would go on infinite goose chases to fix this.”
His brother rolled his eyes, as he often did when he felt Vamir was being self-righteous. “Okay, sure, let’s say we looked into this - even if we managed to track down and question a witch that was willing to talk to us, I highly doubt they would want to help our cause.”
“Brenoris has to be home to a witch somewhere,” Vamir insisted, his voice taking on a firm tone that made it clear that his opinion was unmovable. “Even if they’re as self serving as you say, it would be worth the effort to at least speak to them. If Brenoris is their home, maybe they’d want to save it. The girl was right - this land is drowning. The sea will take away more homes and more towns, and it’s only a matter of time before the floods and lack of sun leads to significant crop failure. It would be foolish not to look into every possibility.”
The three of them didn’t disagree - but none of them jumped to accept his request to find a witch either. Aris and Theron made their opinions clear on witches as a whole, that it would be a waste of time. Kallan remained silent, but when they locked eyes, Vamir knew what was on his mind. Kallan, more than likely, agreed with everything Vamir said - but, his brother had an apprehension towards witches which had nothing to do with the rumors or common fears surrounding them. Like calls to like, so the saying goes. Avoiding magic in its many forms was a habit Kallan had developed throughout the course of his life, in an effort to quiet the lightning in his veins. To place himself into a situation where he could interact with high levels of magic felt like tempting fate, and going against everything he had done to contain his own magic. But, despite it all, Vamir knew that if he asked Kallan to find a witch, he would go against his instincts and do it in an effort to do the right thing; and it was for that reason that he couldn’t ask it of him.
He sighed, standing from his seat. “Alright. We’ll discuss this more later, with the other noble houses.”
The room sighed with relief that the subject was dropped, especially with the knowledge that the other houses would likely push back as well. As king, he could make any of his requests a command and everyone would be compelled to see to it - but, he had never imposed that power, and likely never would. It made his requests easier to push out of the forefront. So, he let them believe the placating lie that the other nobles would see to the end of this request of his.
The relief they felt was likely brief, when in the morning they would find a note left in his chambers: Seeing to the issue of the tides. Theron and Kallan shall lead in my stead until I return.
