Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz - 36

“Violet is the Thornwitch,” Nathaniel said miserably as he burst through the door of the town meeting, scrubbing a hand through the mess of his hair. His neighbors and friends stared at him in shock, eyes wide and jaws slack. “She’s behind the blight. I—”

“Hold on now,” said Quinn, putting her hands up. “Start over.”

Nathaniel sighed, feeling completely drained, and leaned against the wall of the inn, closing his eyes as he explained to them what had happened. He could still see her, holes in her shirt, covered in thorns, that unearthly glow in her eyes when she’d first regained consciousness.

“She came here after his death, trying to hide,” he said on a sigh, “and she played us all for fools.” She certainly played me for a fool anyway.

The collected residents of Dragon’s Rest were silent long enough that Nathaniel had to open his eyes to be certain they were all still there.

“You idiot,” said Pru softly, Daisy curled up in her lap. “Nathaniel, go after her.”

He reeled. Of all the reactions he’d been expecting, this wasn’t one of them. “Excuse me?”

“Of course she worked for Shadowfade,” said Pru. “You thought it was a coincidence that she showed up here a week after he was defeated, all mysterious-like?”

“You knew?”

His sister shrugged. “It was an easy guess.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me ?”

Pru exchanged a look with Quinn, and Nathaniel got the impression that she hadn’t been the only person in on it. “Hang on now…”

Quinn stood to place a hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder. “It wasn’t anyone’s secret to tell but Violet’s, honey,” she said, and smiled a sheepish smile. “Just like it was my secret when I left that castle.”

His brain stopped working for a second. Nathaniel wasn’t sure how many more surprises he could handle tonight.

“Y-you?” His mouth dropped open. “What? When? How?”

“A long time ago. I was known as the Hornet Queen back then,” she said evenly. One of her bees buzzed around her hair as if to prove her point.

Nathaniel’s mind reeled. “What?” he repeated.

“Leaving Shadowfade was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, and Dragon’s Rest became a soft place to land after a difficult fall.”

“A place to start over,” piped up Jerome. “Where none of us had to be who we used to.” The gnome sat on his tall stool, arms crossed, legs dangling, glaring daggers at Nathaniel. “Where we could be someone other’n what he made of us.”

Us?

“You too—?” Nathaniel choked out, feeling absolutely flabbergasted.

“For many years,” began Quinn, “Shadowfade farmed this town for mages like you’d harvest an orchard for fruit. Those of us he could control, whose magic he wanted, he took from our homes.”

Quinn continued. “There was no leaving him, not while he still had use for us. And if any of us tried, well…” She looked over at old Guy, who opened his mouth, displaying the grotesque remains where his tongue had once been. His mouth snapped shut, and he winked at Nathaniel with a toothy grin.

Jerome scowled. “He worked us until we burned out and then kicked us to the bloody gutter.”

“My bees are all I have left of my magic,” Quinn explained, “and Jerome has none of his strength left at all. Fallon used to be a powerful fire mage, and now they barely have enough power to keep their kiln running.”

“Some days I don’t,” said Fallon with a shrug, brushing crumbs from one of Guy’s black currant tarts off their shirt. “Gotta do it the mundane way, and let me tell you, that feels like a kick to the face after what I once was.”

“Who else?” Nathaniel looked around the room.

“Are the four of us not exciting enough for you?” Jerome growled. Quinn shushed him.

“We’re the only ones left, but there were once more. Remember old Harriston? And Corrin’s grandfather Otho?”

“And Mum’s sister Althea,” added Pru quietly. “She was an alchemist for Shadowfade, taken from Dragon’s Rest. She didn’t just disappear like Mum said—she was killed working for him before we were born.”

Nathaniel drew his eyes up to meet his twin. “That’s why she didn’t want me going to the Crucible,” he said, putting it together.

Pru nodded. “Shadowfade stopped kidnapping mages from the town when we were young—probably around the time he found Violet—but Mum didn’t want to take any chances. She was terrified for you. It’s why she never fought you when you told her you were staying in Lokoa. She didn’t want you anywhere near the castle.”

“We’ve all lost friends and family members to his cruelty.” Quinn gestured around the room. “Dear loved ones who were brainwashed into believing his madness or were killed fighting his battles, or who burned through their magic and couldn’t survive the result.”

More heads were nodding in the room.

“And you knew all along?” He cut his gaze to each of them, the people he’d thought he knew well. “All of you?”

Pru shrugged sadly. “You were away for a long time, brother.”

Nathaniel stood shocked, taking it all in.

“I was there when he first brought Violet to Shadowfade Castle,” said Quinn. “She was such a scared little thing. I’d never seen so much power in a single being, and it was clear he hadn’t either. He banished many of us from his service and put all his focus into turning her into the Thornwitch. She never stood a chance of escaping his clutches.”

“And you just let her move in?” Nathaniel could feel his anger rising again, his betrayal a fresh wound ripped wider and bloodier. “You didn’t think any of us needed to know? You put our lives in danger, Quinn.”

“My bees kept an eye on her,” said Quinn with a careless wave of her hand. Nathaniel filed away this fact—that apparently the woman he’d known most of his life could spy on people through her insect friends—for later, when he’d have more capacity for intelligent thought. “And on that Sedgwick too. It’s clear to us when someone comes here to rebuild versus when they come to Dragon’s Rest to destroy, and we knew exactly which one each of them was trying to do.”

“We almost had her too,” grumbled Fallon. “Another week or two and she’d have trusted us enough to come clean on her own.”

Quinn shook her head. “I really thought she was going to say yes to the Thursday support group when I asked her the other day.”

“Support group?”

“Well, yes. Every Thursday, those of us who used to work for Shadowfade meet to chat and see how we’re all doing.”

“Guy always bakes the best snacks,” added Jerome.

“Violet was trying to start over, honey,” Quinn said. “She moved here to see if she could be someone other than the Thornwitch, and she wasn’t the first. Those first years right after leaving—they’re hard. Shadowfade makes you think you’re nothing without him, and the things you’ve done in his service…” She shuddered. “Well, it’s important to have support while you’re rising from those ashes.”

“The Thornwitch was infamous,” he argued, though doubt bubbled in his heart now. “She was known for being evil. She did terrible things—she killed people!”

His sister rose from her chair, her eyes ablaze in a way that reminded him, terrifyingly, of their mother. “Nathaniel Marsh, did you or did you not work for the Crucible?”

“That’s different.” Nathaniel thought back to those years. “I never killed anyone.”

“No?” Pru snorted. “You built weapons. Explosives. Devices that were made to hurt, to kill. Don’t deny it.”

He met his sister’s eyes. “I don’t.”

“You can parse the differences until your face turns blue, but the truth is you did things under the orders of someone with more power than you. It doesn’t make what you did right. But it also doesn’t mean we don’t understand.” Pru’s face softened. “I know it’s scary, Nat, but people change. They’re allowed to change. They’re allowed to try and be better than what they were before. And when we care about them, then we need to support them.”

Nathaniel wanted nothing more than to bury his face in his hands. He’d already known Violet was trying to start over; she’d made no secret of that fact. Moons, he of all people should know how important that was—coming back to Dragon’s Rest had given Nathaniel the space to grow. Here, back where he’d started, and especially since Violet came to town, he’d awoken from the sleepy half life he’d been living since he came home from the Crucible and since his parents’ passing.

He’d learned he could be more than his family’s legacy and more than what he was in the Crucible. Here, he could build his business on his own terms, in a way that spoke to all his skills and aspirations. It was like Nathaniel had removed an ill-fitting shirt he’d worn for so long he hadn’t realized that he’d grown out of it, only continued letting the seams dig into his skin and the buttons strain at their stitches. Now that it was off, he could see how it had kept him warm through the years, but he couldn’t fathom putting it back on. That was the thing about change, after all. It meant letting go of the person he’d been in the past.

Even here, among people who knew every last one of his wretched mistakes, no one had brought up his parents. They had given him the grace to start fresh, and he knew what it meant to him. Why hadn’t he been able to give Violet that same chance?

“But she’s behind the blight,” he said miserably. “She’s the one causing it.”

“And that’s serious indeed,” said Quinn. “She did that maliciously?”

He saw her face again, her horror, her shocked realization. Nathaniel, you have to believe me. And he hadn’t.

“No, I—I don’t think she knew she was doing it.” He averted his gaze, which was dawning with the realization that he’d acted every bit the monster he’d accused Violet of being. “She worked hard right alongside me to try and find the cause of the blight. I know she wanted to stop it. And I threw it all right in her face.”

And now she’d… oh no.

“Sedgwick,” he whispered, remembering her words. “She went after Sedgwick and Peri.”

“Pardon?” Quinn asked.

He told them what he knew. “She said Sedgwick had the Eye of the Serpent, and that if he could bring back Shadowfade, he’d—” He gritted his teeth. That Violet had killed the sorcerer was something she’d clearly held close to her chest. He’d spilled enough of her secrets tonight; he didn’t feel right sharing this for her too. “He’ll kill her if he returns. Thornwitch or not, Shadowfade’ll kill her. And then Dragon’s Rest will be right back where it was…” Another horrible thought struck him. She said she’d do what it took to prove herself. “And I let her go alone.”

He’d been such a spectacular idiot.

Pru was at his side. “Violet’s powerful. She can hold her own, can’t she?”

Nathaniel’s heart sank. The wreckage of Violet’s shop, of her crumpled form on the floor, flashed through his mind. “He’s dangerous. And after I accused her, with the blight…” He looked around the room. “I know I made a mistake, but I know her. I don’t know how exactly she caused it, and I don’t know if she does either, but she’ll hold back if she’s afraid her magic will cause any more blight.” He swallowed hard, pulling the vial from his pocket. “She doesn’t know I discovered the antidote.”

Pru’s face lit with surprise. “You did?! Nathaniel, that’s—”

“Not the time, Pru. She needs help.” He felt wild, like something had been set loose inside him.

Pru put a hand on his shoulder. “Then help she will receive. Violet’s as much a part of this community as anyone.”

“But we’re already too late.”

Quinn held up a finger, a smile spreading over her face though her eyes looked distant. “Maybe not,” she said, and turned to look at Jerome. “How fast can you be?”

The gnome was already on his feet and on his way out the door. “Don’t let the short legs deceive you.”

Nathaniel and Pru exchanged a long look, the kind that said more than words could. Hope flared in his chest. If Peri was the Eye of the Serpent, then it might not be the only part of the legend that was real.

“Pru,” Nathaniel said slowly. “Did you ever finish that book on rock goblins?”