Chapter 5

Katie

Brewster Hall came into sight, stately as always with its pale bricks and glass windows. I hadn't always appreciated how beautiful a place it was until people had started moving to Purple Oak and I realised that some of them hadn't grown up in such beautiful homes and with plentiful lands around them. It was one of the many reasons we'd done things like open up our land for others to use, and why the Brewsters and Steepers had set up the infirmary where they could use their magic to heal anyone who needed it.

A loud shriek came from the air, breaking through my thoughts. Even without meaning to, I flinched back as the shadow of Howie descended upon us. Oliver had better get his familiar trained and in a more compliant mood.

Banjo barked loudly, though I wasn't entirely sure if it was because of the loud noise, or because he sensed the tension.

The young owl flapped his wings and collided into Oliver, almost knocking my brother off his feet.

I smothered a laugh, unable to help myself. I wasn't sure what it was about the bird, but Oliver seemed to have very little control over him.

"Ouch, you birdbrain. You have to slow down," he grumbled, earning new scratches on his forearm as the owl tried to perch on him.

Grandpa let out a disgruntled hum. "You're not teaching him right."

"I'll teach him however I want," Oliver countered as he gave Howie an affectionate stroke.

I just shook my head and gave a confused Banjo a pat between his ears, grateful that my beautiful familiar had been a delight to train.

"Maybe you should've left Howie at home," Grandpa suggested as we made our way inside.

Oliver gave his owl a gentle kiss. "No chance. This is a great opportunity to teach him how to behave in a crowd."

And a crowd it was. Even though there were only four families in charge of Purple Oak, it was a lot of people crammed into one room, even one as big as this. The long banquet table was already set with glasses of water and the Millers' daughters were in their usual seats, far apart from each other.

Taz raised her hand and I headed over to her, smiling in greeting.

"Hey. How's your mother?" I asked.

"She's resting," Taz replied as she brushed some of her short hair back. "Giving birth is hard work."

"I can't imagine. How's the newest Miller doing?"

"Well, I think. He cries at all times of the night. It doesn't make me want a baby."

I snorted without meaning to. Not having any younger siblings, I didn't really have any experience of it, but I'd seen enough babies around the settlement to know that they were loud and needed a lot of attention, which was one of the reasons Mrs Miller wasn't here.

We exchanged a few more pleasantries before parting ways and I went to sit down in my chair in the middle of the table, while Oliver and Grandpa went to opposite ends. Considering all the arguments they had about Howie in the past week, that was probably for the best. Family disputes needed to stay at the farm. There was no reason to bring the other residents into them. Something I was willing to remind them of if they got out of hand.

The door on the other side of the room opened and the first half of the Brewster family sauntered in with the expected ruckus of Cami and Brew's heated discussion. It was no surprise that they had designated seats on the opposite ends of the table as well. It wasn't that they didn't get on, more that they did. That could cause just as many problems.

"Hey, all." Brew waved broadly before sitting down in the seat directly opposite of me. He looked directly at me, his smile changing into something I didn't really recognise. "Hi, Katie."

"Brew," I acknowledged before greeting the rest of his siblings, just so he didn't think he was special.

Because he wasn't special. I had no more interest in Brew than in any of the other members of his family.

The rest of the Brewster siblings arrived, including their cousin Reese, and Mrs Brewster who always looked like she meant business. I admired her composure with which she could enter a full room and be noticed right away.

Everyone exchanged greetings and more idle chatter surrounded the table while we all waited for the Steepers to arrive. I couldn't say I loved these meetings, but I knew they were crucial to keep the hub running smoothly. And I was glad I was invited to them. It would be difficult to work the way I did for the good of the oasis while not being able to participate in the running of it.

But as it stood, all the power of the settlement resided within our four families and that responsibility weighed heavily on all of our shoulders.

It didn't take too long for everyone else to arrive which didn't cause too much of a disturbance since the Steepers always sat at the end of the table.

"It's beautiful weather today so let's keep it short," Mrs Brewster announced. "We'll start because we have some unfortunate news. There's a rat infestation in our tea stores. We're doing our best to get rid of them but they've already caused significant damage to the tea."

That was indeed bad news. Without tea, the tea witches couldn't perform their healing duties properly. The infirmary was always busy with minor maladies and injuries, but without tea, there could also be some bigger issues to the health of the surrounding areas. Especially when it came to plagues and other deadly diseases.

"If you need help, I'm teaching Howie how to hunt. I can assist," Oliver volunteered.

"Thank you," Mrs Brewster said. "We're planning on doing a thorough investigation so we can make sure we have enough tea to last us until the trader gets here or the new tea plantation can sustain us."

Mrs Steeper cleared her throat. "Have you had any news from Zoe or your brother?"

The mention of her family made Mrs Brewster stiffen. "No, not yet. I don't think it's cause for concern yet, they've only been gone five months. I wouldn't expect either of them back considering the enormity of their errands."

Reese nodded. "My sister and Stella are stubborn, I'm sure they'll be able to convince the Spire to lend us some weather witches. And my parents... Well, I'm sure they're just fine too."

I caught the little quiver in her voice but I admired her composure. If all my immediate family was somewhere else and I had no idea if they were safe and sound, I would be a mess. Especially as this was the first time Zoe and her friend had gone on a mission on their own.

"Speaking of making alliances," Taz interjected. "A dryad came to our mill. She said she was from Grower's Cove. They're a settlement for dryads and nymphs out east. They sound like they might be willing to enter an alliance with us."

"Grower's Cove?" Hana Steeper echoed from her spot by her mothers. "I heard they're fanatical."

"Fanatical or not, we should consider forming an alliance with dryads," I interjected, not afraid to speak up when needed. "While my family has specialised in growing wheat and corn for generations, the magic of a dryad's influence is not something we can capture. Everyone would benefit if we could grow more food."

Brew nodded. "Not to mention, our tea plantation. We need help, we need to be able to grow our own tea, then we'll be less reliant on the travelling merchants and what we can buy from them."

I flashed him a grateful smile. I knew he wasn't backing me up for the sake of it, he'd only said something because he believed it, but I appreciated the support all the same.

He returned it with a hesitant smile of his own, which was so unlike him that I wasn't entirely sure what to do with it.

Murmurs of agreement sounded through the room, distracting me from my confusion over Brew.

"It might be worth hearing them out," Jasmine said, looking at her mother.

Mrs Brewster nodded. "Then we should send someone to negotiate with Grower's Cove and see what they want. Let's decide who in our next meeting so everyone has time to consider it and volunteer."

So impressive.

The conversation moved on to less important topics and I could feel my mind drift. While I didn't doubt the importance of it all, most of it had nothing to do with me. I was a glorified fence fixer.

I made accidental eye contact with Brew who pulled a funny face, clearly distracted too.

"Behave," I mouthed at him, while smothering a laugh. It wasn't proper for me to laugh right now.

He made bunny ears behind his own head, his grin never faltering once. It was a good thing his mother was sitting far away because she would've scolded him for his silly behaviour.

I stifled a snort. He was such a goof. I hated to admit it but there was nobody who could make me laugh like him. And that was just Brew. He might flirt with anything that moved, but at the end of the day, he showed the real Brew to the people he cared about, and I liked that side of him a lot more.