?nnywella and her ladies-in-waiting park themselves in the cloister, right by the statue of Wilhelm, figuring it would give them the best chance of spotting Morziwayn.

  “She should be easy to find.” Says ?nnywella as she looks around trying to spot the witch through the falling leaves. “Just look for the hat.”

  “We know.” Enlynn responds with a groan, hoping to find Morziwayn quickly so she can start enjoying the food stands and the beer—hopefully the attention of some noblemen as well—not having purchased anything in the entertainment district, as the quality is significantly better at the ones who set up in the college forecourt. “We’ve done it every year for the past five.”

  Fifteen minutes pass before Enlynn, sick of waiting around, breaks the silence. “I want food and drink; does anyone want to go to the forecourt?”

  “Yes.” says Ede, hungry as well.

  Awenela nods in agreement.

  “I’m going to look for Morziwayn. Can you bring me back a snack from the stands?” ?nnywella asks Konstanze.

  “Of course; we will meet you back here.

  ?nnywella does a loop of the grand hall, spotting Didier, Ilsenila, Faerthryne, and Arn—as well as a very anxious-looking High Priestess Seliani with a half-empty stein in each hand watching the four from afar—but no Morziwayn.

  She returns to the cloister, slightly annoyed. She knows she will see Morziwayn after Faerthryne’s reign starts, but she would like to talk to her before.

  “Hello Katherina!” Morziwayn says, instantly recognizing the masked woman. “Congratulations on your ascension!”

  ?nnywella turns around and stares blankly at the lisping girl from behind her mask, unable to recognize who she is. “Thank you! May I ask who you might be? I don’t think we have been acquainted yet.”

  “Oh yes, we have! I’m Morziwayn.” She pats her chest.

  ?nnywella removes her mask and squints at the girl claiming to be Morziwayn. “Did you die? Where’s your hat?” It’s entirely plausible that this is Morziwayn, but the idea of the Lady of the Autumn Wake now being a short, red-haired girl—who is in dire need of dental work—just doesn’t seem right.

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  “I did; I died in my sleep on the first, and now I am here. Here, if you don’t believe me—” Morziwayn rubs her hands together and then extends the good one to her side and does a completely unnecessary spin; the remaining leaves on the oaks in the cloister quickly shift color and fall to the ground, covering the grass and those on it. “Believe me now?”

  A woman storms across the cloister, who ?nnywella and Morziwayn recognize as N?llig Bogwyr, a member of Eue-Lysae’s coven, and plants a large stein on Morziwayn’s head with a thunk. “I am on raking duty tomorrow. Since you just tripled my workload—you will now be joining me.”

  Morziwayn begins to protest, but Gysel is gone as quickly as she arrived.

  “I believe you now.” Removing her cigarette case from her pocket, ?nnywella habitually lights one on her ring and begins to smoke. “So what happened?”

  Morziwayn begins explaining the past few days and what happened to her hat. The two catch up while ?nnywella waits for her ladies-in-waiting to return, explaining what had happened since they had last seen each other three maidens ago [1].

  The ladies-waiting-return shortly, Enlynn holding multiple paper bags and four large steins, split between Awenela and Ede.

  Handing Katherina the bagged pretzel, Enlynn leans in. “Who’s your bumpkin-doppelg?nger?”

  “Morziwayn.” She responds.

  Enlynn looks at Morziwayn with a shocked expression.

  Morziwayn turns and looks back at Konstanze, giving her a toothless smile. “I died! I’m young again! Yippee!”

  “How? When?” Enlynn asks if it had to have been recently, seeing as how no one had heard about this until now.

  Morziwayn scratches her chin. “I’ll tell you—in exchange for that beer.” She says, pointing to the stein in ?denora’s right hand, picking the one with the least foam.

  “Euu, I, uhh, I’m not sure you’re old enough to drink.” Awenela says.

  “I’ll be fine.” She scrunches her face and shakes her head, waving her hand to dismiss the concerns.

  “Ohh, we also only have four, and there’s five of us now.” Awenela does not know how old Morziwayn is now and is trying her best to shake the witch’s persistence.

  “I’m sure Katherina can do without—it’s best for the queen to always be of rational mind.” Morziwayn reaches for her chosen stein.

  “No, euu, it wouldn’t be right for someone to not drink at a festival—ooh.” Awenela realizes she has checked herself as soon as she finishes her sentence.

  Morziwayn falls to her knees, good arm in the air. “So why shouldn’t I? this is my festival, is it not? a festival to celebrate the end of my reign.”

  “Just give her the stein; I don’t want a scene. I’ll have something later.” ?nnywella barely finishes her sentence before Morziwayn snatches the beer and starts drinking.

  “So.” Morziwayn recounts her past few days another time.

  Finishing her story—and stein—Morziwayn hands the empty stein back to ?denora and dismisses herself, hurrying toward the forecourt; she is intent on drinking more.

  ?nnywella and the others head into the Grand Hall, hoping to find Didier and Ilsenila before the main event.

  Footnotes

  [1] This would have been on the fifth of the eighth maiden, Oreyana (pronounced OH-ryah-nah), when Morziwayn enters her reign and the harvest season begins.