An Obstinate Witch by E M Graham

Author:E M Graham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: One Ear Press

HE WAS QUITE THE SIGHT as he led me through the Royal Mile, for those who had the eyes to see him. Carefully tap-tapping down the cobbled stones in his red heeled boots with the new scarf flapping in the wind, even his cap was set at a jaunty angle. Trevor was the proudest goblin I’d ever seen. The red looked good on him, I realized, sort of cancelling out the natural greenish pallor of his skin.

‘Where’re you taking me?’

He pointed further down to the end of the road, to a tall hill off to the right. ‘There. That’s Arthur’s Seat. Though of course Arthur was never here, that’s just a load of bollocks made up by stupid humans.’

I stopped to take a good look at the rocky summit. ‘No church on the spot? That’s odd, isn’t it,’ I thought aloud. ‘It’s the perfect place for a monastery, you’d think.’

‘The King protected it for us,’ he replied with a toss of his cap. ‘That’s the palace of Holyrood, down below it, see, in amongst all the trees.’

‘Oh, it’s inside the palace estate,’ I said. This was not promising. ‘I was really looking for a place that would be accessible after dark.’

‘Oh?’ His eyes lit up at that bit of information and he was onto it like a dog with a rat. ‘Why? What are you doing at night?’

Shit. I should have known better than to speak aloud. I certainly didn’t want to be dragging a goblin with me to the Ice Kingdom, no matter how well dressed he was. ‘Never mind,’ I told him firmly. ‘That’s not your business.’

‘Hmph.’ He kicked a chip wrapper out of his way. ‘You shouldn’t have secrets from me. I’m helping you, in fact I’m your only friend here.’

Never in a million years would I have described our relationship as a friendship, but I let that go and hoped he would too.

We were drawing close to the hill, and I was pleased to note there were no gates or wall surrounding it. The sign at the footpath even stated the park was open twenty-four hours a day. Today was Saturday, so there was no charge for us to enter. I wanted to climb in daylight first before attempting it in the middle of the night, moonlit though it would be, just to make sure this was the right location for my plans. I don’t know exactly what I was looking for – perhaps vibes, perhaps just the general setting.

There was a road which wound around the hill to the summit, but Trevor led me up over the rocky crags, straight as the crow flies. It was alright for a goblin, even one in high heels, but it was not easy on this human.

‘So why did you want to come here?’ Trevor couldn’t let it go. We were now sitting at the summit, the Seat. Edinburgh spread out before us in the valley below.

This was the perfect spot. I closed my eyes and looked for the magic within the hill.

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