Mayor Rokar sat down on one of the chairs in the library, sipping from his cup of tea. Both the chair and the cup seemed comically small in his huge hands. His old cheerful face was now gaunt with worry and tension. It seemed the kidnappings were affecting him as much, if not more, as the other citizens of Temuril.
"The Witch eh?" He said gravely.
Lucerne nodded, handing over the book they had just been reading to the Mayor.
Rokar casually flipped through a few pages before setting it down and shaking his head.
"I'm afraid on this I am of the same opinion as Raorka. I find it difficult to believe a being as ancient as the Witch would kidnap girls randomly."
"Have you found any leads?" Raorka asked, somewhat expectantly. After all it had been more than a week since the first kidnapping had happened. Surely the Mayor's soldiers had learned something.
However Mayor Rokar again disappointedly shook his head.
"There are no leads we can follow! The first three kidnapping happened in the rooms of the girls, with there being no signs of forced entry, no sign that anyone had been there at all!"
"What about Rowena's case?"
"That is a different kind of problem. No one knows exactly where Rowena disappeared, just that she didn't make it home."
"Or to your castle.." Raorka thought out loud.
Mayor Rokar looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Uh....when Rowena left us it was clear that she had some kind of idea about the perpetrator."
Rokar slumped back down on his chair. "Yeah I heard about that." He said somewhat dismissively.
"We thought she would have surely found out who it was after finding whatever she was looking for in this book." Lucerne chirped up.
"This book is quite well known in Temuril. I don't doubt that she would have read this before as well. It just mentions some details about the construction of Temuril, it's history in brief and how the Witch intersects with the same. Despite the name, the book is more about Temuril itself than the Witch." Mayor Rokar took another sip of his tea, wincing slightly at the bitter taste.
"Are you quite well acquainted with the Witch?"
Major Rokar did not answer immediately. He stayed silent for a while, looking at his cup of tea before answering slowly and deliberately, "To be a Mayor of Temuril you need to have atleast cordial relations with the Witch who created it."
Raorka felt there was something more, something else that the Mayor was not telling them. The usually jovial face now looked distinctly uncomfortable when talking about the Witch.
Lucerne had however also noticed the same.
"Do you mean that not having cordial relations with the Witch can cause.....unforeseen problems?" She worded the question carefully.
However the Mayor immediately started laughing. "Oh dear lord, no no I am afraid you have misunderstood me. You must truly dislike the Witch of the Woods young lady."
Lucerne blushed slightly at this, but retorted defensively, "I'm sorry but I don't doubt that most of the town shares my dislike. And not to mention your wording was quite ambiguous."
Mayor Rokar slowly shook his head. "No, the Witch herself is quite harmless. I truly believe, and will continue to believe until evidence is shown to the contrary, that she is innocent. But the Witch is an ancient being, much older than any of us. She knows magik that none of us have even heard of, let alone can use. She speaks with nature itself, she manifests the soul of magik itself. She endeavours not to learn how to use magik like we do, but instead to understand the very nature of it. Why do we have magik? What exactly is magik? Those are the fundamental questions that she researches. And of course it is possible that in the course of such research she comes into contact with beings or magik that we cannot comprehend."
Seemingly having finished his passionate speech, Mayor Rokar turned back to take another sip from his cup of tea.
"How is that relevant to the kidnappings though?" Raorka asked somewhat confused. "Are you suggesting that somehow some ethereal being that we cannot comprehend is kidnapping young women?"
"No, I merely mention that that is one of the possibilities we must consider."
Raorka was still not convinced. Everything Mayor Rokar said sounded like a deliberate ploy to distract from the real reason he was cautious about the Witch. Also it seemed to Raorka that the Mayor shared Drisnen's respect for the Witch, but combined with a fascination about her methods.
"But anyway," the Mayor started again in his booming voice, "suspecting the Witch or any other being makes no sense until we have any proof, or even any way to explain how it is occuring in the first place." He stood up and began pacing the room.
"I have already put all of my soldiers into protection and investigation duties. Some of my soldiers will be stationed near the house of any young women. Some of my soldiers will patrol the streets at night. No one will be able to escape this net. If we can't catch the kidnapper, we can damn well prevent another kidnapping."
"But how can you be sure that none of the Temuril soldiers themselves are the perpetrator?"
"I can't. I can only trust."
He then set the cup down and stood up. Standing up, he towered over both Raorka and Lucerne. In fact Raorka doubted there was anyone as massive and tall even back home.
"Well I must be off. I came here to assure the townsfolk that we will do whatever we can to find Rowena and the other missing girls." He said, and then with a nod went out towards the door.
As he exited, the townsfolk waiting outside cheered out loud, and Mayor Rokar waved at them, smiling reassuringly.
"Don't worry people! I promise to find the detestable kidnapper who has infested this town of ours and bring him to justice." Rokar made a fist with his hand and raised it skyward, causing the people to roar in approval. Raorka noticed he did not mention any of his suspicions or feelings regarding the ethereal beings he had mentioned during their talk.
"The Mayor is quite popular isn't he?" Raorka asked.
Lucerne nodded vigorously. "He was the one who repaired the dome after all! He has been immensely popular with the town after that, especially after he also started the program to send people from Temuril to join the Royal Guard. It is said that noone even has a chance against him in elections to choose a Mayor so he has been elected unopposed for I don't know how many terms now." She said, and Raorka noticed that even her face had awe and admiration for the large man waving at the crowd.
And Raorka had to agree as well. In the few days that he had got to know the Mayor, he seemed extremely dependaple and empathetic. He still couldn't forget how he had promised to find his mother and father by utilising the Temuril soldiers.
"Leaving already?" Mrs Frostbane's voice came through clearly even through the din of the outside crowd.
Raorka and Lucerne looked back to see the old librarian, standing there smiling at them.
"My grandson is also obsessed with that book you know. Rowena's disappearance has hurt and shocked all of them desperately." She continued.
"You were the last person to see her. Did she look different?" Raorka asked.
Mrs Frostbane paused for a while, tilting her head slightly in thought, then she said, "Well she didn't seem especially jubilant as I would have expected her to be if she had found the kidnapper. Even though she is usually quiet, Rowena is quite proud about her investigative skills."
Raorka sighed. It's not like he had expected something different or another kind of insight into the case, but Mrs Frostbane's response still disappointed him.
I guess I shouldn't have expected an easy solution like her saying the name of the kidnapper outright I guess.
"But..." Mrs Frostbane continued, her brows furrowed in concentration as she tried to remember something.
"But?"
"She did mention you Raorka."
"Me?!"
"Yes, in fact she said that she had to thank you later, since you pointed her towards the solution."