A dry, crackling sound emerged, the noise of water freezing rapidly. The temperature in the cell suddenly dropped. A cold mist rose from beneath Sue and the floor was covered in ice. The torches behind us went out with a hiss, as if the cold had suffocated them.
As Sue moved, the ice followed her. When she reached the edge of the cell, the iron bars became pillars of solid ice.
Arthur recoiled from the aggressive cold. In seconds, he felt the winter ice, but it was a different cold, coming only from a single person. One side of his body was warm, the other was still icy. He felt the sweat running down his back.
She does not fear the ice, he thought.
He remembered the head butler's words. Only now did he understand them.
How can ice be afraid of itself?
Soon, the iron bars changed from a gray to a milky white and began to freeze. They were at temperatures that seemed impossible to reach without insulation. He and the others moved away from the cell, leaning against the farthest wall.
If they hadn't, the cold of the ice would have made their clothes stiff. Sue's clothes became a thin layer of frost and crumbled into an icy mist.
After what felt like an eternity, the mist dissipated.
Before that, I had walked toward the cell, ignoring the knight who intervened.
"If someone is afraid of her, they don't have to stay here," I said.
"Don't be scared, she has blessed silver chains around her neck!" Gideon shouted to reassure them. "No matter how powerful the devil is, he cannot overcome God's protection."
Arthur stood in front of the cell, one arm's length from Sue. He saw her dirty and bruised face. Although her facial features were young, her expression had no innocence. There was no anger in her eyes, only a disturbing calm that he had only seen in documentaries. She was not like the homeless children who suffered from hunger and poverty, who used to cower with their heads down. Sue was standing, with an upright posture and her head held high, looking calmly at him.
She is not afraid of death, I realized, and she is waiting for it.
"Is this the first time you've seen a witch, my lord? Your curiosity can kill you," Sue said.
"If you had the true power of the devil, you could kill with a single look," I retorted. "If so, your uncle would be the only one to fear death, not me."
The torches in the prison suddenly went out. It was not an illusion. The flames shrank into small sparks. I heard the panic in the men behind me, the sound of prayers and people stumbling.
Her story, told minutes ago, echoed in my mind.
"Can you give me a clear account of what happened in the lumber mill fire?" I had asked.
Sue nodded and began to tell.
I expected silence or anger, but she answered all my questions without hesitation. The story was simple. Her uncle, a worker, was working when the lumber mill caught fire. Sue and the families of the other workers went in search of their loved ones. The area was known to have been a monsters' lair, with many sheds. Sue was with her neighbors, Truman and Vilma, when she found her uncle with a crushed leg.
Another worker was searching her uncle for money. Seeing Sue's group, the looter attacked Vilma with a pickaxe. Sue killed him before he reached her. Her neighbors promised to keep the secret and helped her rescue her uncle. However, the next morning, her uncle reported her to the guards as a witch.
"Why?" I asked.
Gideon sighed. "Probably for a reward. Reporting a witch can earn real gold coins. For her uncle, that would be enough for the rest of his life."
"Your attacker was a grown, strong man, how did you kill him?".
Sue laughed. "I used the devil's power," she replied.
"Are you sure you're not just crazy?" I asked in a low voice. "Did anyone know about your magic at the lumber mill?"
Behind me, Gideon cleared his throat. "My lord, the town has no news that she is a witch. The official report from the lumber mill talks about a fire caused by an accident."
"Heresy!" one of the guards shouted, pointing his sword. "She has no sanity, she is the power of the devil incarnate!"
"Silence!" Strefan approached, his voice low and full of authority. "Contain yourself, soldier. Remember your position and who is in front of you."
The guard continued, his face red with fervor. "She must be burned! Haven't you heard what she said? It's the power of the devil! And anyone who defends her..."
Two other men held him back, pressing him against the wall to silence him. The sword in his hand was firmly forced down.
Apparently, witches were more unsettling than I had imagined. Not just because of their powers, but because of the religious fanaticism they seemed to inspire in others.
While the crowd behind me murmured prayers, I reached into the cell, grabbed the pendant, and pulled the chain, breaking it. Even Sue was surprised.
Some torches still burned faintly, but Sue's clothes turned to ice, the cold air, and the frozen bars of the cell proved that it was not an illusion. Besides me and Eddard, the other men had fallen to the ground, and the jailer was so scared that he wet his pants. Sue was now naked outside the cell, with her wrist shackles gone. She did not hide, her hands hanging down and her blue eyes as peaceful as before.
"Now that I've satisfied your curiosity, my lord," she said, "can you kill me?".
"No." I took a step forward, covered her with my coat, and said in a gentle tone: "Miss Sue, I want to talk more with you, maybe there is something we still don't understand."
Since I'm here, it doesn't hurt to try to better understand the things of this new world.
And I certainly wasn't sparing her just for her appearance; even beautiful, my wife was more.
What I really want is... to have means to protect myself in this world because, from the memories I have, I'm screwed.