Chapter 2

B y midnight the rain had stopped and three bleary-eyed witches had been roused from their beds to join Evelyn in her tower, as she frantically packed her necessities. Four glowing lanterns, each stuffed with a different hue of filmy fairy moss, cast faintly colorful light throughout the room.

The gentle rustle of wings drew Evelyn's attention, and she turned to where Odessa Fairbairn stood near the worktable. The fairy-witch met Evelyn's eyes, her pale blue skin even more faint than usual, nearly gone white. "Are you sure this is what you want to do, Evelyn? I mean, of course, the leaving Benenfar part—but a blight? That sounds like a big job for one witch."

Odessa was nearly as tall as Evelyn, but with her pointed ears and large, prismatic purple wings, she was clearly one of the fairies of Frostlace Hollow .

Evelyn stiffened, her hands tensing as she rolled up one of her favorite dresses, dyed the color of spring's first lilac buds. "I don't see that I have much choice. Unless you think I should go and throw myself at King Ayren's feet, or worse, deliver him a foul poison."

Odessa ducked her angular chin.

On the other side of the tower, Merielle Bluevale and Tansyleaf Bramblehedge worked to roll up the thin bedroll Evelyn kept atop her mattress. Merielle was of a similar height to Evelyn and Odessa, but Tansy had to stand on her tiptoes to work, as she was one of the gnome-witches of the Golden Meadows.

"I think if anyone can lift a blight, it's our very own Evelyn!" the gnome exclaimed, followed by a soft grunt as she all but threw herself onto the rolled-up mattress while Merielle worked to secure it with a cord of leather.

"I never said she couldn't," Odessa interjected, her wings flapping more quickly than before, casting strange shadows across the floor. With a frown, she turned back to the worktable and, with a flick of her wand, sent potion bottles flying toward the open satchel spread on the floor at Evelyn's feet.

The satchel was made of soft, supple leather and enchanted with several spells, the most useful of which enabled the center pocket to store nearly anything that could fit through the bag's opening, with no impact on the shape or weight of the satchel itself. Evelyn watched the potion bottles vanish into the pocket, knowing they would all be stored neatly and safely inside, until she had need of them and could summon them back to its surface.

When the last of the bottles was gone, Evelyn sighed and leaned forward, feeding the treasured dress to the bag, which she often thought of as some sort of insatiable beast. Granted, a kind one.

"I know you're only worried about me," she told Odessa as she straightened.

"At least take this," Odessa said, crossing the room with a tiny vial resting on the palm of her hand. The vial was smaller than a pea pod, but made of unbreakable glass. A gold chain wrapped around the top, allowing it to be worn as a talisman around her neck, should she so choose. "You might need it."

Evelyn's heart thumped as she reached for the vial. It was nearly empty, but for a single golden drop at the bottom. The last drop of a fortune potion brewed nearly a century ago, back when the world was quite a different place.

"I don't know that I'll ever bring myself to use it," she told Odessa, meeting her friend's eyes. "But I will take it with me."

Odessa watched as Evelyn slipped the necklace over her head and tucked the vial under the neck of her dress. Evelyn knew Odessa didn't mean to instill doubt, at least not in a hurtful way. The fairy-witch was her closest friend of the royal witches, each from a different far-flung corner of the kingdom, where their covens resided.

"Do you want to take these with you, Evelyn?"

Turning, Evelyn found Tansy climbing onto a stool to gesture at a collection of books on a high shelf. The gnome refused to wear shoes in most circumstances, and her toes gripped the sides of the stool's seat as she tottered nearer the shelf.

"Oh! I think I pulled the ones I need," Evelyn said, lurching toward her dear friend in case she lost her balance.

Merielle placed the bedroll beside the door, then went to finish packing the clothing Evelyn had draped at the foot of the now bare mattress. "Where is Archie? Is he off making his own goodbyes?"

Odessa snorted a laugh. "I'm sure Sorsha is at the top of his list. You know she will miss him."

Evelyn laughed softly. For as close as she and Odessa were, their familiars were on decidedly less friendly terms. Well, Sorsha, a gorgeous red fox, liked Archie just fine, but that was mostly because she enjoyed chasing him about. "I'm sure."

"Scallop would have come with me," Merielle said, "but he ate five too many clams at supper, and is all but hibernating in the cave."

Evelyn smiled, imagining the snoozing otter, his paws likely still clasped around an empty shell. "That's all right. This isn't goodbye forever, you know."

Tansy clambered down from the stool and sniffled. "It sort of feels like it."

When they'd first arrived, Evelyn told them of the arrangement with Lady Kilgour, including the part where, if she was to succeed, she would be released from her service, although none of them quite knew what to make of the bargain.

"I will come back to Benenfar, to visit," Evelyn said, then quickly added, "We just might have to meet in the city, and not here… at the castle."

A quiver of uncertainty rippled through the room, but none of them gave voice to the myriad of questions and worries that circled through their minds.

"Of course you will!" Merielle finally said, grinning widely, her warm brown skin glowing in the light thrown from the pale green fairy moss in the lantern beside her. "Come on now, let's get you down to the courtyard. I can't imagine Lady Kilgour will be too pleased if she has to trek up all these stairs to come and get you herself."

Evelyn smiled through a haze of unshed tears, then hurried to gather her satchel, her cloak, and her staff. The others left the tower ahead of her, and she hesitated in the doorway, glancing back at the room she'd called home for the past five years since arriving at Crownvale Castle.

Then she quickly shut the door.

Archie was already waiting in the courtyard, keeping a keen eye on Lady Kilgour and Captain Ardley, who appeared in deep conversation near a row of rose bushes. At seeing the four witches, they broke apart—with Lady Kilgour seemingly getting the final word—and came to join them.

"Are you sure you do not at least require a horse, Evelyn?" Captain Ardley asked, earning him a sharp glare from Lady Kilgour, who snapped, "I already told you she has her own means."

Evelyn held up the staff, whispered a word, and gave it a firm shake. Broom bristles sprouted from one end. Captain Ardley flinched back half a step. "I see."

"Take this," Lady Kilgour said, pressing a small leather pouch into her hands. Evelyn knew without opening it there were coins inside, though she wondered if they would be enough to get her through to harvesttime, should she need them to.

Merielle helped Evelyn secure the bedroll to her back, as it was too large to fit through the satchel's opening. Tansy held the broom while Evelyn donned her traveling cloak. Archie flew over and settled on her shoulder, never taking his golden eyes off Lady Kilgour, though if she noticed his disapproving stare, she did not acknowledge it.

Odessa crushed her in a tight embrace, the fairy-witch's wings fluttering as fast as a hummingbird. "Please, be careful, Evelyn. And promise me you will write."

"I promise."

Evelyn embraced Merielle and Tansy in turn, then climbed astride her broom. She thanked Captain Ardley, bowed her head to Lady Kilgour, and took off into the night sky under the light of a waxing crescent moon.

"I am pleased to report, there are no bears nearby." Archie puffed out his chest as he landed atop a pile of kindling Evelyn had gathered to help keep the fire burning low through the night. "But I did get quite a bit of lip from a rather shabby looking squirrel in that tree over there!"

Evelyn suppressed a laugh. "The poor creature probably thought you intended to turn it into supper!"

Archie's feathers ruffled. "A gangly little thing like that? Hardly!"

Evelyn smiled and prodded at the sticks already set ablaze, coaxing them to burn brighter and boil the water in her small copper kettle. The journey to Shieglas had stretched for eight days, and while she was more than ready for a proper bed and perhaps even a hot bath, her mood was far lighter than she could recall from recent memory. The more distance she put between her back and Crownvale Castle, the more the muscles in her shoulders relaxed, and as the hard line of her jaw softened, a smile sprang more easily to her lips.

"Well, feel free to tell the squirrel we're only passing through," Evelyn replied. "Though, I suppose, as forests go, we could do a lot worse."

She leaned back on the fallen log she'd claimed as a bench, and peered up through the rustling boughs of evergreens to the slivers of a star-flecked sky. The air was clean and earthy, aside from the wisps of smoke, and the night was quiet, but for some crickets chirping and the sound of a nearby creek rushing down the hillside toward the quaint village they'd passed through that afternoon.

She'd longed to stay in the village, and spent longer than she'd meant to, wandering down its many side streets to admire the charming shops. Many sweet and savory scents tempted her to linger, as she passed a bakery and a public house, and a collection of market stalls selling fresh fruit and roasted nuts and caramelized vegetables on sticks. They'd even had a cheese shop!

But each time she reached for her coin purse, prepared to fish out a copper fernel or a silver rivermark to buy a night at an inn, or a hot meal at a tavern, she'd been reminded just how little she had to her name. The coin pouch from Lady Kilgour had contained ten gold sunmarks and even fewer rivermarks. The woman seemed to be under the impression that Evelyn had her own reserves, but they were even more meager.

The conscripted term of service to the crown was an unpaid undertaking, with only her lodging—drafty and leaky and inconvenient as it was—and meals provided for her trouble. Of course, if she needed potion ingredients or new tools to do her work, she could petition the royal porter, but for every request granted, several others were rejected. They'd slammed the coffers shut when she'd requested a pair of new gloves to keep from burning her fingertips on the edge of her cauldron, and barked at her for so quickly ruining the last pair.

Over the years, she'd taken to selling potions and salves to those who worked in and around the castle, but somehow it never seemed to stretch quite far enough.

Archie hopped closer to the dancing flames, turning to warm his feathered posterior. "We should be safe here, in any case, so far from the road. And by this time tomorrow, we'll have ourselves a proper room at a proper inn."

Evelyn smiled at her companion through the pillar of fine smoke. "If I didn't know better, Archie, I'd say you were turning quite domesticated."

Archie flapped his wings at this, turning around with three little hops on his stone perch. "Don't be absurd. I still catch all of my own meals, don't I?" He hesitated a moment, his feathers smoothing once more against his plump sides. "Although… I wouldn't say no to a spoonful of orange marmalade. Do you suppose the inn will have some?"

His eyes glittered in the firelight and Evelyn laughed. "I can't make any promises. But I shall ask."

Evelyn's mind conjured an image of a sweet little countryside inn they'd passed on their way into the woods only a few hours before. Surely they would have had marmalade. Probably a hearty stew and hot rolls served nightly. The carved sign out front, flanked by two barrels of gorgeous spring flowers, had also promised live music on the eve of every Talimorn. They'd charged two silver rivermarks for a night's stay, though the price included a hot bath, and a few fernels more would add laundry service.

"We'll have to be careful with our money," she continued, shaking away the image. "I brought some extra potions with me, and I might be able to sell them for additional coin once we get settled. Even still, we'll need to be mindful, or we'll be back out here."

Archie sank down, forming a ball until his scaled feet were almost hidden from view. "Right, right. But still… a spot or two of marmalade, Evelyn."

Evelyn ate her simple meal of dried meat and hard cheese—gifts from Odessa before she left the castle—then turned her attention to making a cup of tea with the hot water she'd set to one side of the fire. As she was finishing the tea and starting to drift off, Archie made his goodbyes and took to the sky, flying off to the denser woods to find his own supper. When the sound of his wings faded, Evelyn forced herself to get up and arrange her bedroll, not too far from the fire, then let the cricket's song, carried on a gentle wind, lull her to sleep.