Half Magic | Book 2

Twenty Seven: Lessons to Learn

I grimaced and nodded. I pinched my nose and drank down the cup. My eyes watered as I swallowed, it was so bitter.

"Mila has told me a bit about what you're looking for," Gilly chimed in. "To fix that boarder... I don't know why it's breaking down now, but it's been in place for hundreds of years. I don't know if we have any witches left alive who know how it was made."

My shoulders sank a bit. That was... disheartening. 

"Well, no use dwelling on it now." Gilly drained her own cup and set it down, then stood from her chair and stretched. "Let's get you a book and we can get started."

I stood and set my cup by hers. "A book?" 

Gilly slung an arm around my shoulders and began to lead me away from her cabin. "You don't think I'm inscribing all your recipes for you, do you? When a young witch sets out to learn, she has to make her own spellbooks."

"So I'm copying down all the potions?" I asked.

"Yes, but not all at once. I'll give you a recipe, and then you can try to make it yourself. Once you've mastered it, we'll move on."

"Is that really how you teach all the witches?" I asked. I didn't know how many potions I'd be able to learn before I moved on, but I wanted to master at least one of the witching skills before I left. This seemed like it would take a lot longer than a few weeks.

"You have an advantage in your education," Gilly smiled and nudged my hip with her hip. "You don't have to learn the ingredients or how to harvest them. Mila made sure of that. This should go relatively quickly for you, usually I take a student for a good two years before they're done, and we don't go nearly this quickly."

"Then I'll just have to be the best student I can for the time I'm here." 

"That's the spirit," Gilly said. "Now, let me show you Naila's beautiful bookbinding..."

We spent some of the morning picking out a book and chatting with a very pleasant witch named Nyla who did all of the spell book binding in the valley. She was fixing a broken binding on a very old and beautiful book, and invited us to stay and watch while she finished up. Gilly sat to chat with her but told me I could look at the books on her shelves or observe her at work. I ended up doing a little of both. 

There were books bound in leather, wood, woven fabrics, and other strange textures I was almost afraid to ask about. Between looking at the beautiful books with the empty pages I stole glances at Nyla doing her work. Her hands were so fast and skilled, she reminded me of the craftsmen in Thananthol. 

A pang hit my heart and I clutched the pendant under my tunic. I gripped it hard and clenched my jaw. Thananthol. I fell in love with Thananthol the moment I saw it. If I had my way, I would have never left it to visit the other courts to begin with. I already lost my home once. Now that I had a chance to fight for it, I wasn't willing to lose my home again. I will fix the barriers, and I will topple the mad king, and if Baeleon had a problem with a witch in his city... I'd deal with that problem when I came to it.

"Wren, is that the book you've chosen?" Gilly startled me out of my thoughts, and I blinked at her.

"What?" I asked, letting go of my pendant. 

"The book in your hand, have you chosen?" Gilly asked with a smile in her eyes.

I looked down at the book I had half-gripped in my other hand while I was lost in thought. It was soft, made of a supple black leather I didn't recognize but it was mesmerizing to look at. If you turned your head just right, the black almost appeared purple or blue or green. Tiny leaves and vines were sewn into it with a fine copper thread, the perfect embellishment to compliment the leather.