Page 27 of Home Is Where the Witch Is
“Rosie took me on over to the scene of death,” Ivy began. “I won’t lie—Aata was quite reluctant to come forward and when he did, he wasn’t easy to communicate with.”
“Had someone magically tampered with his spirit?”
“No, no, nothing like that,” Ivy assured the Council, her hands help up placatingly. “His connection to this world was just extremely weak. His spirit was already moving on by the time we managed to get a hold of him.”
“Interesting,” Emperia said. She was sitting on her chair leaning forward with her hands on her knees, peering at Ivy. “What happened?”
Between Ivy and Rosie, they filled the rest of the Council in on Aata’s appearance and what Maude had told them about the argument.
“Aata did show me a vision of a snake,” Ivy explained. “It became a watery dragon, changing to a red eagle. And when questioned about what he had been trying to tell Rosie, he gave us the word.”
“You’re sure the word was ‘tanny-fah’?” Emperia asked Ivy, her glacial gaze piercing. “Are you certain?”
“Yes,” the medium replied, nonplussed by her surroundings. “We Googled it and couldn’t find any meaning. Do you know what it is?”
“A Taniwha,” Emperia repeated, pronouncing it the same way Aata had, “is a powerful mythological creature steeped in Maori folklore. They’re basically a water demon, often resembling dragons but they can shift into other things as well.”
“That explains why he was a water dragon, and shifting,” Ivy mused, nodding now that she could appreciate the message coming together.
“That’s very interesting,” Chaoxiang murmured.
“I also have to disclose to the Council that before the first Ordeal, I overheard Tya and Aata arguing about a secret he had,” Rosie confessed. “I think she was trying to force him to tell us that he’s a Taniwha. And I think he was trying to tell me that before he was called to his Ordeal,” she added.
“Did you manage to talk to him later?” Hella asked.
Rosie shook her head. “He kinda freaked me out, if I’m honest. He was almost aggressive about it. I asked Declan to make sure I wasn’t left alone with him again.”
“And then he was murdered,” Dracula sighed.
“If Aata was a Taniwha,” Declan pointed out, “it could well have been the motive behind his murder.”
“Only one way to find out.” Rosie pressed her lips together, determined. “Let’s bring in the candidates for interrogation.”
The Council had gathered againin the old foreman’s office, sitting around the long board table in there as though this were a business meeting rather than an interrogation. It hadn’t taken them long to arrange for the three remaining candidates to come to the Mill. They were, after all, at the Council’s mercy until this matter had been dealt with, and no one had been allowed to leave the town once Aata’s body had been discovered. Seeing as it made the most sense to question the candidate he'd been campaigning against, the Council had requested Tya be the first to join them.
After thanking her for her time and attention, the questioning got underway.
“Thank you for being here,” Rosie told the young woman, nodding at her encouragingly. “We know this is a very difficult time.”
Tya’s brown gaze flicked from Rosie to Chaoxiang and back again. “Of course. I want to help however I can.”
“Thanks,” Rosie replied, holding out a hand to indicate to Ivy. “Ivy’s a medium, joining us at the request of the Council. She can speak with Aata, who's also here with us."
Ivy nodded her confirmation with a small, comforting smile in Tya's direction.
“Okay,” Tya replied, glancing warily in Ivy’s direction.
“You are how old?” Emperia asked.
“Nineteen.”
Yikes. Rosie could see that Tya was young but hadn’t thought the woman wasthatyoung.
“And you were put forward as a candidate… three months ago.” It was a statement, not a question. Tya followed it up with one of her own.
“Yes.”
“You do seem very young to be put forward to represent a whole realm’s hopes and dreams,” Chaoxiang remarked.
