The Autumn Prince

37. Trees and Flowers

I nodded.

"What you have not been told is that she was an enforcer for the Winter Court, the Last Morrigan, sent to kill the man who became her husband. He was Cionaodh, son of Aodh, chieftain of the grove. Cionaodh inherited, or some say he stole, their most powerful possessions after betraying them to Lord Oberon. These possessions reside in the chest that was passed through his line to his only living descendant."

Katherine gasped, "You mean Thomas?"

"You're kidding," I protested, "I'm part druid too?"

Miss Gold rolled her eyes, "Do not be so eager to demonstrate your ignorance. The druids were simply a covenant of humans with detailed and specific knowledge of the Veil, nothing more. You are as much a druid as the chair you are seated in."

Both relief and annoyance washed through me. "So all that stuff in the trunk..."

"Is significant and valuable. Most of the relics within are infused with power, like the mirror we are speaking through, but the Glim and the Fferyn are unique. I had hoped you would be the one to master them."

"I can't even pronounce their names right," I complained, "I'm not a wizard."

"It is good, then, that one among you has taken an interest."

Becca blushed more deeply and cleared her throat, "Miss Gold? Do you know how to use it? Can you show me?"

"I?" my godmother replied with genuine surprise. "I know only it's history. The staff was broken before I entered this world. I am old by your standards, but not as old as that."

"Is the Glim from the druids too?"

My godmother hesitated again, but finally answered, "Yes and no. It passed through them and they contributed their knowledge, but the druids were not the first to penetrate the Veil. The Glim was created by an older order, the Magi, as was its sister, the Nain. Do not ask me to explain now, we should not keep this connection open for idle chat."

"What about the tree?" I asked quickly, sensing that the conversation was about to end.

"Of that I know nothing for certain, though I have suspicions. I will ask Finola to send someone who may comprehend more. I will return in person within the next ten days. When, precisely, I cannot say."

"Thanks," I said, and she acknowledged with a nod, then vanished. The mist faded, leaving the scrying bowl empty and dry.

***

Becca spent the rest of that day shut in her room with the staff and the Glim but the rest of us retreated into mundane tasks, passing Rachel's laptop around so we could catch up on homework. There was surprisingly little I could do online with my notes stuck back at the apartment. The deadline for Katherine's essay on medieval writers was approaching quickly, however, and that kept her busy for most of the afternoon. We weren't all in the same room again until dinner, and only then because Katherine insisted we eat our meals together.

After we cleaned the kitchen, I was compelled to sit in the common room while the girls watched the next episode of Bay City Bae. It began with Shawn having acrobatic sex with Lavonda then cut to a dinner with Marco, Brittney, and Blaise, where the three of them talked about open relationships. It felt stupid and forced, like the director was exercising some weird wish fulfillment, but I might have been projecting a little. I sat with three attractive girls, each of whom I kissed at least twice each day, and none of them complained about the arrangement. They appeared content, even happy. That part of our lives seemed less real than television, less than actual magic, but if it could stay as it was without the pressure to take it further, I might eventually be happy with it too.