In some ways, the Witch City of Magia was exactly what Rhiannon had expected. In others, it absolutely blew her mind. Broomsticks and magic carpets zipped around overhead, and statues and posters not only moved but spoke. Each street seemed made of a different stone painted in colors Rhiannon had never seen before, and no two of the buildings towering over them or floating in the sky were alike. Semiprecious stones glowed within the streetlamps lining the thoroughfares, casting the world in a constantly changing rainbow.
Some of these magical innovations she knew from her home in the capital city, but many more caught her eye in shop windows or hanging from the eaves.
“This is amazing,” she breathed as she took it all in.
Taliesin smiled as he took her hand. “It is,” he agreed, “but try not to get lost. This place is difficult enough for natives to navigate if they don’t have a broom. I would hate to see just how troublesome it is for a visitor.”
“Did Lady Tabitha teach you the trick to it?” Rhiannon asked curiously. “Navigating this city, I mean.” Taliesin chuckled at the idea, but neither confirmed nor denied it.
Wherever they walked, Rhiannon caught surprised looks cast in their direction. Taliesin would wave to this person or that. More than once, they were pulled into a lengthy conversation with a witch wanting to tease Taliesin about his lovely tagalong or a warlock wishing to know more about how they met. He took these interruptions in stride and gently corrected them as best he could. A few even asked him what he was doing on the ground when he could easily carry his lovely bride about. These questions he redirected to safer subjects before bidding them a quick farewell.
By the time the sun vanished behind gilded buildings with diamond windows glittering in the golden light, it seemed to Rhiannon that Taliesin must have greeted half the city. At least they’d reached their destination, a homely-by-comparison wooden house painted with splashes of shifting watercolors. Taliesin knocked and, without waiting for an answer, entered.
The parlor inside burst with countless magical devices and books. Rhiannon’s mouth fell open as she took it all in. Astrolabes made of a silvery blue metal rested atop stacks of dusty books so tall they might tip at any moment. A metronome ticked away the seconds while a miniature galaxy rotated within something resembling an oversized snow globe.
Taliesin threw his cloak over the hatstand and offered to do the same for Rhiannon. While he hung hers up with more care, he called into the house, “Arthur! Are you in?”
A boy with a sandy-colored mop for hair peeked down the narrow staircase. “Bloody hell, is that you, Taliesin?” The teen slid down the banister and leaped to his feet for a perfect landing. “Welcome back! It’s been too long!” He waved a hand, and a collection of dishes flew from the shelf to the table in the kitchen for three place settings. “If you’re here for Lady Gertrude, she’s already gone for the next few months.”
“Gone?” repeated Taliesin. “What do you mean, gone?”
“It’s that time of the year.” Arthur strolled to the kitchen and waved his hands. Ingredients plopped onto the cutting board, and kitchen knives chopped of their own accord. “Check this out! I’ve finally mastered movement magic!” A couple of the cubed potatoes dropped short of the pot. “Whoops...”
“You’re getting the hang of it,” Taliesin observed. “Where did she say she was going again?”
Arthur stared up at him. “You’re kidding. Did you really forget about—” He cut himself off, glancing in Rhiannon’s direction. He stood on tiptoe and hid his mouth with a raised hand to hiss meaningfully, “It’s the season.”
Shoot. Taliesin had been so caught up in his own worries that he forgot the date. “Isn’t it early for that?” he whispered back.
“A little, but Lady Gertrude said she could feel it in her bones that Lord Spinel would need her sooner rather than later.” He glanced again at Rhiannon and back. “Um, does she know about, erm, Lady Gertrude’s...”
“She doesn’t,” Taliesin confirmed. “Let’s keep it that way.”
Rhiannon had done her best to ignore their private conversation out of politeness, but she couldn’t help but wonder about the strange way they spoke about this Lady Gertrude. Soon, though, her attention was fully captured by the shelves packed full of books. Rather, she couldn’t help but study them once she’d seen the titles. Of the leatherbound books that had text embossed on the spines, many included a single word prominently: Dragon.
This book was on dragon habitats, that one on dragon eating habits. She slid one about dragon behavior from the shelf and flipped through the pages. The author was the Dragon Witch. Every single one, in fact, had been penned by this very same witch. Surprised, Rhiannon replaced the one in her hand with another, over and over until she’d exhausted the supply of dragon-related tomes. Only a handful hadn’t been researched and written by the Dragon Witch herself, but even these listed her among those consulted.
Taliesin watched her from over her shoulder. “Are you particularly interested in dragons?”
Rhiannon jumped and slammed the book she held—one on dragon history—closed. “A passing interest,” she lied. “You don’t often see this many books on the topic. Is the, er, Lady Gertrude particularly interested?”
“She’s an expert,” Arthur called from the kitchen. “Best in her field. Why do you ask?”
“Oh?” Rhiannon looked back at the book in her hand. “Wait, Lady Gertrude wouldn’t happen to be the Dragon Witch, would she?”
“The very same,” Taliesin replied. “If I’d known you were interested in dragons, I’d have sent a message on ahead so you could have met her. It seems she’s gone for the foreseeable future.”
“Ah, no, I’m not interested enough to bother her,” Rhiannon said. “But might I ask why you wanted to visit?”
“Well, you see...the Lady Gertrude is my mother,” he admitted, his voice tinged with embarrassment. “We were passing nearby with our traveling to the mountains, so I figured I ought to stop and say hello. Mother always lectures me for not visiting often enough, but I seem to have timed it poorly.”