The inside of the witch’s shop was as eclectic as she was. The shop looked like two different people were fighting for control. One was a neat shopkeeper; the shelves were stacked and labelled carefully with whatever they had followed by a neat description on the back of them.

  It only managed to heighten all the mess everywhere else. There was a literal cauldron in one part of the shop that was boiling without supervision, and another corner had a bunch of different things piled together that Ratface could tell weren’t meant to be together. Abigail had put herself between the pile and the rest of them which had them all on edge.

  The witch didn’t seem to mind, she led them all past the mess into a cozy room filled with half finished projects. This room was completely organised, the half made equipment was held up in place and little notations had been made on it. There was a desk in the middle of the room and the witch slid into the chair behind it.

  “So, what can old Amber do for you?” she asked. She propped herself onto her elbows and steepled her fingers. Ratface looked at the others and shrugged.

  “I’m taking the Lady’s trials, and I need to make some armour to pass the next one. Unfortunately, I’m currently unable to interact with runes.” Ratface would’ve been more careful with that information in any other circumstance. There were some people born completely without a connection to mana, but they were few and far between. The more like conclusion the witch would make was that Ratface was a goblin. The only thing she had going for her is no goblin would be stupid enough to take the trials.

  This was all moot when some random witch could see through her.

  Amber’s face twisted into a frown.

  “The Lady’s trials? More like the rune knight trials,” she said with venom. Ratface looked at Abigail in confusion and the knight elaborated.

  “The trials used to be more flexible, it was less about runes and more about magic in general. That’s apparently changed in the decades since I was last here.”

  “That’s partly your fault,” said Amber. She was watching Abigail but there wasn’t any anger in those eyes. “After your supposed betrayal, it was decreed that the rune knights would oversee the trials. Once upon a time there would be more types of mages in there. There hasn’t been someone other than a squire to pass it since me.” She saw Ratface and Kryssa’s confused faces. “The Lady is a teacher of magic, not just rune magic. It may be that’s mostly what she teaches but it’s a shame to only let one sort of magic flourish.” She clapped her hands. “Enough about that. You need armour that works like runes for a goblin with no magic. I assume you have a core?”

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  Amber had a way of bouncing through topics in a way that could almost be called traumatic. Abigail looked like her betrayal being called an annoyance had stunned her.

  Ratface pulled out the core she’d got from the serpent. This at least pulled the witch up.

  “Oooh, I haven’t seen an alive one before. How did you get this?” asked the witch. She pulled it nice and close to her face till her nose was touching.

  “I asked,” said Ratface.

  The witch barked out a laugh.

  “I bet that just made little miss ‘champion’ furious. Well on the bright side this should make making your armour that much easier. Most armour draws from its wielder or from charging, but your armour will be alive enough that it wont need anything from you. The real issue is you need something to guide it.” She moved away from the desk and grabbed some armour off a stand. “Your classic armour, and what you’ll be tested on, should be able to do at least three things; attack, defend, move.” She pointed at a series of runes on the armour she’d pulled out. The defence was on the arms whereas the attack and movement were on the legs. “A lot of knights combine the attack and movement. Your knight here famously started the trend with her one-woman knight charge. I’ve heard that she can even break the sound barrier.” She gave Abigail a questioning look and the knight shrugged.

  “That particular skill works better in a formation. These days I have to be more creative.”

  Ratface had seen a lesser version of that used on the people who had tried to kidnap her. It sounded devastating but Ratface could see why she wouldn’t use it. When they’d fought the elf she was more likely to hurt them than the elf.

  “Hmm well, the point is that the knights can choose what part to use. You’ll need someone to guide it in your stead. Someone like your glamour perhaps?”

  Ratface instinctively stepped in front of Kryssa. Amber seemed nice, her blatant dislike of the Lily had made Ratface like her, but she was still asking things of Ratface’s friends.

  “I won’t let you imprison her in armour.”

  “Who said anything about imprisoning? It’s not like she’d all be in there, just a part. Of course, we’d need to get her in the right head space first.”

  Ratface went to interject but an arm on her shoulder stopped her. Kryssa pulled her back.

  “I’d like to try it,” she told Ratface. She turned her attention on the witch. “Very well witch, you may help me with this.”

  “Oh yeah she’s an elf for sure,” muttered Amber. She offered them all a shopkeeper’s smile. “Well, that’s fine, you come sit with me while your goblin girl goes and talks to the outcasts outside. She’ll need their lightning if she’s going to have any movement.” She waved Ratface away and Ratface left feeling like she’d talked to a tornado instead of a person.

  It was only a few streets down that she realised she’d agreed to this all without asking the price.