Alice found herself looking out the window again. It was hard to tell what time of day it was what with the storm, but she figured it was early morning. How had the weather turned for the worse this hard? This fast? The hostess had mentioned something about ferals, but could the maidens manipulate the weather as well?

Alice’s eyes lingered on the sky above as the thunder streaked through the clouds.

As much as she wanted to keep her thoughts on the impossibility that some human sized creatures might be able to make a storm spontaneously burst into existence, there was something more pressing that was trying to gnaw at her thoughts.

Monica.

The image was clear, bound in heavy chains, forced into a curling position, wrists and ankles restrained in iron. A shudder ran through the teacher. Her mouth twisted as if she’d just bitten into a lemon. All the philosophy and logic in the world could not dissuade her from that gut feeling that burned bright within her.

This was wrong.

Not able to just stay put in the room any longer, she stood up, hoping she’d perhaps find something to eat downstairs. Much to her surprise, the three cooks from the other day were there already, apparently starting the day early.

“Not Kat or May?” The purple haired one asked the maiden whose name Alice was sure she’d heard at some point but forgot.

“They have their own schedules.” Alice stated brusquely, frowning. “I have a quick question. Who is the Baron? To the village, I mean.”

The red-head wearing the golden collar was the one to speak. “He’s the village’s ruler. He manages the land and helps the village thrive. We’re a border town that wasn’t even on the map until his family showed up some fifty years ago.” Her hand gestured at the ceiling, at the flickering orange light. “It’s thanks to his family that we have electricity and running water.” A little pause and a solemn nod. “But that was his father’s work, mostly.”

Alice nodded grimly. “And do you know anything about the current Baron?”

“Not really, he was born in the capital as far as I can tell.” The woman stated, her hands flared with flickering flames as she caressed the stone slab. “Only showed up around these parts five or so years ago… showed up looking for White Claw.”

There was a nonchalant nod at that proclamation, Alice opted to keep things at that, filling out her plate and turning to sit down to take her breakfast. Or so she would have wanted to, her focus was interrupted as she saw a craggy old woman entering the breakfast hall. A familiar and unwanted presence. The sight of her made Alice’s turn and churn, a sense of revulsion that swept through her.

Ms. Dodson looked just about as shocked to see Alice, but her face hid the emotion quickly behind a mask of indifference. Turning away, the older woman approached the chefs, meanwhile, Alice just left her plate on the table and walked out. Her jaw was clenched tightly, feet almost stomping her sneakers down against the brick floor on her way out.

“Miss Smith?”

The voice snapped the psychology teacher out of her internal fuming. The woman turned to focus on the one who’d called out to her. It was a maiden. A blue collar and green uniform denoted she was part of the Hunters. “Yes?”

“The Baron sent a request to meet with you.”

If there was anger before, it was jolted right out of her, Alice’s shoulders squared off and the one who’d called her out shrunk slightly, lowering her head in a partial bow. “The invitation is an unofficial one, the lord emphasized you need not come if the circumstances weren’t proper.”

The proclamation gave something for Alice’s mind to focus on, something to do. A target. She had two problems troubling her mind. Might as well address one of them directly.

Her thoughts defaulted into her experience at the university. What to do when told to participate in one of those stuffy meetings that were thinly veiled attempts to gather funding? “I’m not exactly presentable for an official meeting with a… the Baron.”

“The Baron said not to worry, and if the madam was bothered, then his wife’s personal seamstress would be able to have something made easily enough.”

There was no way in hell Alice would want to indebt herself to the man. “If that’s the case, is the invitation for right now?”

The maiden hesitated. “I was instructed to bring you at whatever time you found to be most convenient, ma’am.”

Fuck it. “Then let’s go.”

In a blur of movement, the uniformed maiden turned around, heading towards the main entrance, vanishing past the doors, and returning after barely ten seconds. She was now holding a purple silk trench-coat and a nervous smile. “I will be your guard along the way, ma’am.”

Alice twitched. “What do I need to be guarded from?”

“Ferals.” She replied briskly. “We’ve observed increased activity as of late. We are keeping a close eye in the perimeter, but better safe than sorry.”

The psychology teacher blinked at those words, frowning for a moment. “Better safe than sorry…” She frowned ever so slightly.

“That’s how the saying goes, no?” The maiden tensed, fingers scratching the collar lightly. “I’ve heard it many times. Is it wrong?”

“No, not wrong, just… unexpected.”

Something about it had felt off to Alice, but she wasn’t about to let herself be distracted from her objective. The young teacher took the offered coat and draped it over her shoulders. Immediately, a wave of warmth washed over her, a toasty heat that seeped into her body through her skin. Had it been near a fire? Alice pulled up the hood and followed behind her currently nameless guard.

Seeing the torrential rain, Alice expected to be immediately beset by a downpour of water all around. Instead, she’d walked a good twenty steps out of the building and had yet to hear the first droplet touch the hood of the coat. Hesitating, she looked upwards, finding nothing above save the cloudy sky. Eyes widening, she pulled the hood off of her head to look upwards more comfortably, and…

“ACK!” A shrill shriek and a coughing fit, one second her face had been dry and the next a deluge of water poured down against her face.

Before she could react, a hand had snapped the hood back in place, the water stopped pouring down on her there and then. The young teacher looked at her guide, the maiden grinning with some amusement. “The coat is enchanted to protect against the rain, ma’am, but the enchantment only works so long as the hood is in place. Or so I was told.”

“Enchantments.” Alice spoke with a deadpan.

“Yes, ma’am, enchantments. Expensive ones I’d presume.”

Looking down at her hands, Alice frowned, reaching outwards and away from her. The air was devoid of rain until it wasn’t. There was a line where the rain started, no more than a half-arm away. It was an invisible wall, within there was no rain, outside it was a deluge. “This can’t be real.” She muttered, reaching to her hood and hesitating.

She opted not to remove it and get herself even more wet.

Her eyes moved towards her guide, the woman looked dry. “What about you?”

“Me? It’s just a little trick we learn during basic.” The maiden grinned, flicking a loose strand of black hair over her shoulder. There was a hint of pride lingering on her face. “Most maidens can walk around the rain without issue if they learn how to use their energy properly.”

“What’s the difference between that and this?”

“Yours is more expensive.” A little wink and she turned around. “We should move before the enchantment runs out. It likely has a set amount of usefulness per day.”

Alice’s steps hastened, watching how even the cobblestone dried before she’d step on it. “How much does it have left?”

“I don’t know, but would you want to test it out, ma’am?”

Yes.

No.

Alice grimaced.

Her guide took the gesture in a different way, nodding and hurrying her through the empty streets of the village. The young teacher noticed that they weren’t moving away from the village but rather towards its center.