The White Witch: Setsuna 2 (special preview)

Setsuna looks around. “I suppose so. But is it much better than where you came from?” He takes a step towards me. “Seems your father kept you on a pretty tight chain so you were never too far from his beloved apple tree.”

“I suppose,” I mutter. The apple tree had been my friend, so had Sir Tobi. I would at least have the voice from the apple tree to talk to, to read to, someone I could talk with.

“I suppose what is lacking here is a friend,” I confess.

“A friend?” Setsuna scoffs. “Are you serious?”

I shake my head slowly. “Back home, I was used to having people around. People I could talk to and share with.” I fidget in place. “Here, I am left to my own devices and it’s getting pretty lonely.”

Setsuna’s shoulders slouch and he tilts his head back. “I’ve been up here alone for far longer than you have been alive,” he tells me. “The Mothdust Mountains aren’t a friendly place. You have no idea how to cope without friends? I have no idea how to cope with them.” He lays his big hand over his chest.

“I just want someone to talk to,” I say with a shrug. “It’s not something so difficult.”

Setsuna wags his finger before the mask and clicks his tongue. “For some people, talking is a very hard thing to do.”

My expression becomes pinched and exasperated. “Then why even bring me here? Just to torture my father? I doubt that wholly the case.”

Setsuna reers back then. “You have everything you want on a whim, it is comfortable here for you. Why question it and not just enjoy it? You don’t have to deal with all the malarkey down there. You can finally just ‘be’ here. Don’t try to poke holes and go along with it.”

“Says the warden to the prisoner!” I snap back at him.

Setsuna balls up his fists then thrusts a finger towards me. “How dare you call me such a name! I keep no chains on you like your father did!”

“Then why can’t I go outside? Why am I trapped in here?”

“Because there is a blizzard outside!” Setsuna snaps his hands towards the door. “You don’t see from the observatory window because it is protected. But you set one foot outside without me and the blizzard would have you broken and bloody over a cliff!” He stomps his foot down hard on the ground. “I keep you in here to protect you until the storm has passed! Once it has, then you can decide where you want to go.”

I stand still for the longest moment. I avert my gaze, feeling ashamed for a moment. “I didn’t realize.” I rub my hand up my arm. “I just assumed there was a reason.”

“There is,” Setsuna growls. “But I do not have the heart to voice it yet. What happens between now and Spring, well, it is a matter of wait and see.”

“Does it have to do with the apple?” I step forward cautiously. 

“Maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t.” Setsuna places his hand on the doorknob. 

“You were willing to destroy an entire Kingdom for it,” I urge. “It must mean something, something important!” I then shake my head. “There was a voice that told me someone would be coming to take the apple, and if we didn’t hand it over-”

Setsuna surges towards me. “A voice?” He bends over me. “What sort of voice? From where?”

“The tree,” I gasp. “It always came from the apple tree.” I look up at him and his eyes are glowing underneath the mask. “The voice always sounded like a little girl.”

“What’d she say?” Setsuna’s voice is suddenly gentle and bewildered. “What else did she tell you?”

I shrug then clear my throat. “Anything personal she was vague about.” I look into the glowing shapes behind the mask, seeing colors of purple and soft pink with tinges of blue. “She told me the apple should be readily given. I suppose she meant you.”

“What else?” Setsuna snaps.

“I always just talked to her.” I squeeze my shoulders up around my neck. “She always sounded young, acted it too, so I just sort of became a big sister to her. She liked stories about animals the most, so I always had books on hand.”

Setsuna stands away and turns his attention elsewhere. His breath comes out slow and with a muted sob.

“Is something wrong?” I step towards him.

Setsuna swings his arm out and blocks me from coming any closer. He goes to the door again and shakes his head at me, “It’s nothing. Find that needle.” He disappears beyond the door again, slamming it shut behind himself.