Half Magic | Book 2

Twenty Eight: A Bath in the Valley

We hadn't talked about it out loud until now. I bit the inside of my cheek, cursing myself for even starting the thought out loud.

"Schula," I said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything like that."

She shook her head and frowned. "He may have sired me, but he's no father. I used to just think that he was cruel, but that all the kings were like that. And all of them have their own cruelties and vices, but not like DuVarick. He's mad, Wren. And he needs to be stopped before his madness harms all of the Wyldes."

I laid my head on her shoulder. "I want to repair the barrier, and I think I can learn how to do that with the witches. But to stop DuVarick..."

"We'll figure it out," Schula insisted. "It's the fae, Wren. They will play their games in the courts for some time before any actual fighting breaks out."

"Even though we... we..."

"Icehold will rebuild. We didn't stop it, only slow it down. The armories, the training holds. If anything we helped slow DuVarick's progress by taking them out." Schula stretched and yawned. "Now, before our whole night is consumed by darker deeds ahead, tell me about your studies."

I groaned. "Schula, it's so tedious. I mean, I'm fascinated to learn about this side of myself. And Lark. But every day I copy spells and try to brew them. The ingredients are different, and the methods vary some, but it's the same sort of thing every day. I wish I could learn something more useful to our current plight."

"I don't know, it's all rather fascinating if you ask me," Schula said. "It looks like you have a world of possibilities ahead of you if only you knew what items to throw together to make it happen. What sort of spell did you learn today?"

I snorted a laugh and looked over to her. "I learned how to make a wood varnish that doesn't peel after a few years."

"Oh." Schula coughed. "Well at least you are doing something useful. You're learning how to make things. You'll have all the time in the world to experiment with new spells and potions after we earn some peace. All I've been doing is cleaning and repairing our equipment. I think I've folded and un-folded our sleeping mats about a hundred times now."

I yawned. "At least I will have learned a few of the basics before this big witch meeting thing. I wonder what it will be like."

"I wonder if any of them will know how the barriers were made," Schula added.

I grimaced. "They had better, or I've spent a month here boiling frog skins and peeling bitterroot for nothing."

Schula nudged me. "Hey, you've also gotten to see Mila again."

I smiled at that. "Yes, and I'm forever grateful that I have. I missed her something fierce. I wonder if she would settle in the Wyldes with me if I asked."

"You can offer after we know what our lives will look like when we get back," Schula said. "Somehow I don't think Thanantholl will want a witch in it any more than a witch would want to be there."

I shrugged and stood out of the water. "I'm about to fall asleep in this pond. I think I'm going to head back."

"Well I'm not staying here if my bath warmer is leaving," Schula teased. "I hope you feel a bit better. You need to relax and get some sleep. I hate seeing you like this every night."