Witch of Tanbarun
An Akagami no Shirayukihime (Snow White with the Red Hair) Fanfic
Travelers didn’t come to their town often, not since the old tavern had gone out of business several years ago. A new one had sprung up a year or two later, but the damage had been done, and now most people chose to take a different route to the capital of Tanbarun.
Apparently no one had bothered to tell the stranger. Eito wasn’t sure it would have made a difference. He didn’t seem the type to appreciate advice.
Eito had been playing cards with a couple of his friends in the evening, when the man walked in, asking for a meal and a room for the night, then joined their game.
“What are you in town for?” Seiichi asked as he dealt the cards.
“My wife was born here,” the stranger explained. “She’s been wanting to show me around for years now, but we’ve never had the chance. Of course, now that we’re finally here, she abandons me to go shopping.” He spread his arms and grinned, as if to say, “what can you do?”
“Be sure to check you still have money when she comes back,” Hiroto teased. “The markets here are famous for emptying pockets.”
The stranger grinned and made his first bet. “No, she made a list of exactly what she needed to buy, and that list won’t change. I don’t think she could alter it if she tried.” Everyone laughed and began making their own bets.
They finished the hand, and the stranger collected his winnings before breaking the silence again. “I’m surprised I got a room, as full as this place is.”
Seiichi snorted and dealt the cards again. “Every room here is empty except the one you’ve got. Everyone else here lives in town and just comes to chat with friends and neighbors. We don’t get travelers all that much.”
The stranger studied his cards and frowned. “Anything I should be worried about?”
“No.” Eito hoped the stranger hadn’t noticed the hesitation in Seiichi’s voice. He was probably right considering the witch had been gone for years, but witches meant bad luck, and the town had certainly had its fair share of that.
Of course, the man almost looked like some sort of spirit himself, what with those strange gold eyes of his, so he probably had nothing to fear.
“How long are you and your wife staying?” Hiroto asked as he raised the bet.
“A few days. We can’t stay away too long, or our friends tend to fall apart.” The stranger winked, and Eito chuckled.
Seiichi matched the bet, but Eito folded. His cards were worthless this hand. The bell on the door rang, and Seiichi glanced back to check if it was a customer. Eito didn’t bother. It never was.
A woman bumped into their table, nearly dropping the packages she carried, and Eito glanced up–then his jaw dropped.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the woman squeaked, and Eito couldn’t take his eyes off her apple-red hair. It shouldn’t be possible, but there was only one person he knew with hair like that.
“Don’t worry about it,” the stranger said, and the woman’s eyes met his, worry melting into a pleasant smile. He smiled back, and she gave a slight wave before joining a table of old women who drew her right in. Those older folks had always had a soft spot for her, and never would listen to reason.
“What’s the witch doing here?” Hiroto muttered as soon as she was out of earshot.
The stranger didn’t look up as he collected the winnings from the second hand (twice in a row, what luck), but his posture stiffened, and his head cocked slightly, betraying his interest. “A witch? Her? She looks harmless enough.”
“They always do,” Hiroto said wisely, and Eito snorted.
“How many witches have you met?” he asked.
Hiroto flushed. “In stories, I mean. They always look like pretty women to trick you.”
Seiichi flashed an amused grin at Eito as he started another round. “Well, she was certainly a heartbreaker when she used to live here.”
The stranger leaned to one side to consider her figure approvingly. “I can see why.”
“Don’t let her catch you looking, though,” Seiichi snickered. “Or you’ll suffer the same fate as Eito, here.” The stranger glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow, but Eito buried his face in his cards and ignored him.
Hiroto piped up, of course. “He caught her out in the woods alone and tried to steal a kiss. She cursed him with a rash instead.”
The stranger’s face went strangely blank, and Eito felt a chill run down his back. He should probably close the window.
Then the stranger laughed, and the chill was gone. “How do you know it wasn’t just something in the woods?”
“She threw something in my face and chanted something. It was definitely a curse.”
“Once, my grandmother got really sick,” Seiichi began, voice slipping into the low, smooth tones of a storyteller, “and the doctors couldn’t do anything about it. She started begging for the witch to come, over and over, every day, but of course we were afraid the witch might curse her and make the illness worse. She was insistent, though, and then she took a turn for the worse. We brought the witch, afraid it was too late, but she got my grandmother back other feet in less than an hour.”
“Where I’m from, we call that ‘healing’,” the stranger said dryly before dropping his cards to reveal a winning hand. Again.
“You don’t understand,” Seiichi said. “Her heart even stopped, but the witch was able to bring her back.” He settled back in his chair and shook his head. “But she’s never been the same since.”
“Hmm.” The stranger dragged the stack of coins over to his significantly larger pile.
“The point,” Eito began, “is you would do well to stay away from her. You should tell your wife too.”
“Excuse me?”
Eito jumped and spotted the witch standing over their table. He swallowed, wondering how much she had heard, and whether she would curse him again for it.
She frowned at the four sets of eyes now fixed on her. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
The stranger flashed a broad smile and draped back across his chair. “Nothing important.”
She glanced at him dubiously, then cast a glance at each of the others in turn. Eito felt another chill when she reached him. “Okay.” She turned back to the stranger. “Which room is ours? I’m ready to go upstairs.”
A wave of cold washed over him, and Eito felt like he was sinking straight into the ground–straight into his own grave.
The stranger pulled the key the innkeeper had given him earlier out of his pocket. “First door on the left.” Eito heard the key change hands, but he found he couldn’t force his gaze up past the table. “Did you find everything you needed?”
“Yes.” The witch waited, for what he didn’t know, and Eito kept his gaze firmly on the table. “Well, I’ll just be going then. Will you be up soon, or . . .?”
“I will,” the stranger promised, and just past the rim of the table, Eito saw him take her hand and pull her closer, then heard the smack of his lips against her cheek. “Good night, darling.”
The witch hesitated another moment, and Eito couldn’t decide if he wanted her to stay, or to leave them all at the stranger’s mercy, then she whirled around and marched up the stairs.
The stranger turned back to the table and slid the deck of cards over to Seiichi. “What do you think about one more hand of cards?” The words startled Eito into looking up, though he wished he hadn’t when a grin spread across the stranger’s face, flashing dangerously. Eito swallowed and nodded his agreement.
“Oh, and I’ll keep your warning in mind.”
Obi had a hard time keeping a straight face as he walked upstairs. He managed until Shirayuki, already changed into her nightgown, let him in, and he flopped onto the bed. Then he threw his arm over his eyes and started laughing, remembering the terror on each man’s face through the last hand.
He felt Shirayuki climb onto the bed beside him, and she poked him. “What was that all about?”
He lifted his arm and grinned up at her. “Oh, your old friends were just telling me a little town history.” He propped himself up on one elbow. “You didn’t tell me you’re a witch, sweetheart.”
She groaned. “Who told you that?”
“I never heard his name, but the blond one with the ponytail.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Of course it was Hiroto.”
He shook his head solemnly. “The things I’ve learned about you tonight . . . I heard you brought a woman back to life!”
“She wasn’t dead. Seiichi can’t take a pulse to save his life. Or, his grandmother’s life, I guess.”
“And cursing that rude boy who tried to kiss you in the forest?”
She buried her face in her hands. “I was gathering plants, and I threw them at him to make him leave me alone. I didn’t know he was allergic!” Obi rolled back over, clutching his stomach and shaking with stifled laughter. She threw a pillow at him.
“It’s not funny!”
“Yes it is, and he definitely deserved it.”
She shifted uncomfortably and chewed her lip. He often thought her too forgiving, but he could hardly complain about that. He took her hand and drew her down beside him. “You came over at exactly the right moment.”
Her brow furrowed, and he wondered again how he had convinced this beautiful girl to marry him. “I did?”
“They were just warning me away from the witch and told me I should warn my wife as well.” He leaned over and brushed his lips against her cheek. “So consider yourself warned.”
She smiled, though it quickly faded, and she slid closer, pressing into his side. He slid his arm under her. “There–there hasn’t–” she let out a long sigh. “Besides me, there hasn’t been a herbalist here in decades, and they don’t really understand it. They have . . . other, newer kinds of doctors, and they think it’s all a joke. Everyone else calls it magic. The rumors were always uncomfortable, and I didn’t want them to follow me to Clarines.”
Obi nodded. He was no stranger to uncomfortable rumors. He grinned and dug his fingers in her ribs. She shrieked and shoved his hand away, but relaxed. “But still, think of all the fun we could have had,” he said. “We could have terrified Raj at the palace.”
“It sounds like you still had fun with it today,” she said dryly.
He shrugged only one shoulder to keep from shifting her. “I definitely won a lot of money off of them. Actually probably more than you paid today unless prices have changed a lot since last time I was in Tanbarun.” He turned his head and raised an eyebrow at her. “I still don’t understand why I couldn’t go with me today.”
“Because today I needed to buy boring stuff, and I want your first trip to the market to be fun.”
“I’ve been to markets in Tanbarun before.” He pouted. “You didn’t have to abandon me.”
“I didn’t abandon you, and you’ve never been to this market before. I’ve been wanting to take you for years, and I want it to be special.”
He grinned and leaned closer. “It will be special because I’ll be there with–”
“Oh! I want to show you something!” She sat up and leapt off the bed, running over to the packages she had brought back.
He groaned and sat up. “You know that was the least romantic thing you could have possible said then, right?”
She straightened up, hiding something behind her back. “Are you sure?” He raised an eyebrow. Shirayuki being secretive was never a good sign.
“Since I know the most interesting thing you bought today was a headache remedy, I think–” He broke off as a piece of blue cloth appeared in his face.
He took it and held it a little further away. It was a scarf like he usually wore, but light and silky for warmer weather, and it was a deep blue with mountains embroidered around the rim. Shirayuki climbed back onto the bed and sat on her feet, clasping her hands in her lap and beaming at him. “Do you like it?”
He did, very much, and he opened his mouth to tell her so, but instead what came out was, “I guess I was wrong.”
She frowned. “About what?”
“I told those guys downstairs I didn’t think you could buy something that wasn’t on your shopping list.” A strange look crossed her face, and her cheeks grew pink. Suspicious. “What?”
She dropped her gaze and picked at her skirt. “It was on the list. I added it after I showed it to you.” He started laughing again and fell back on the bed, covering his face with he scarf.
“Don’t laugh.”
“You’re adorable, Shirayuki, and I love the scarf.”
“You do?”
He lifted the scarf off his face and peeked at her. “Yes. It’s perfect. Thank you.” He fingered the fabric and studied the embroidered mountains. “It’s impressive handiwork too. Maybe I can convince that Eito guy you put a spell on it that makes–”
“No spells!”
“But–”
“No!” She crawled further up the bed and threw back the blankets. “I’m going to bed.”
Obi got up and changed into his own nightclothes, leaving the new scarf carefully folded with his clothes, then he climbed into bed as well. Shirayuki snuggled close to him and buried her face in his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“About what?”
She curled tighter into him, and he could barely hear her when she spoke again. “For not telling you.”
“I don’t care.” He slid his arm around her and held her tight. “I really don’t. I just wanted to tease you about it.”
She sighed, and he felt her breath across his neck. “Okay.”
He waited until he felt her relax, then said, “I still think we should pull a prank on those guys, though. I mean, think of the possibilities–”
He broke off when he spotted her glare, and he started laughing again, until she reached up and stopped him with a kiss.