Noori needed to talk to Toddrick as soon as possible. The good news was that he would be back from his fishing expedition by now. The bad news was that Noori was still persona non grata at the harbor. Instead of running out to find her best friend, she and Keizsa sent word with Luck, who took off bravely to find Toddrick. In a tiny letter curled into a scroll that the humming bird carried clasped within his tiny talons, Noori asked Toddrick to meet her deeper in the city where they could talk in private.
To distract Noori from the constant low-grade anxiety simmering just below her surface, Keizsa put her to work. Together they set up the space where the witch would work on the counter charm to break Minty's curse.
"Do you think Luck is alright?" Noori fretted as she helped Keizsa hang the silk. "It feels like he's been gone an awfully long time."
Keizsa breezed to her, landing a soft kiss to her cheek. "Give him time," she said in a soothing voice. "Luck knows how to take care of himself."
"What about Toddrick? Do you think he's safe? Do you think he'll come?"
"If he's half the friend you believe him to be, he will come."
Hours later, Luck finally returned to the studio with Toddrick's response clutched in his claws. Noori breathed a sigh of relief when she read his reply — he agreed to meet with her that very night. Though brief, the letter expressed his concern for her safety and confirmed his own. He wanted to know her side of the story, and for that she was so grateful she almost wept.
Noori spent the rest of the day anxiously pacing about the studio. She had only been there for a few days but already she found herself resenting the small space that was now her entire world. What had once felt like a whimsical refuge now felt like a cage. Noori wondered how Keizsa had stayed sane after being trapped here for so long.
"Noori, please," Keizsa pleaded gently as Noori made another distracted lap around the room. "I know you're worried but I need you to find some calm. This counter charm is an enormous endeavour and requires far more focus that my regular spells."
"I'm sorry," Noori groaned. She rubbed her temples in frustration. "I just can't stop my mind from racing. Do you think my father is safe? I should have asked Toddrick. What will happen to them if Minty finds out about our plan? I hate not being able to do anything."
Keizsa took her by the shoulders and held her still in front of her. "Believe me: no one understands how helpless you feel right now more than I do. But until the sun sets there's nothing more you can do. Be gentle with yourself until then and conserve your energy. It may be a long night."
Noori nodded, knowing full well she was right. All the worrying in the world couldn't keep the people she loved safe; she would simply have to bide her time.
She dragged the armchair from the fireplace over to where Keizsa was working. Giving her plenty of space, Noori curled up in the plush seat to watch. Luck fluttered down and nestled into her lap, puffing his feathers up around him like a cozy little blanket. The two watched in respectful silence while Keizsa set to work, arranging her tools and focusing on her intention. In many ways the act looked no different than when Keizsa painted her other spells. But Noori could feel the ways in which this practice was different. The witch's vision was grand and sweeping; she worked with her hands as much as she did with strange new brushes Noori had never seen before — foreign fibres and enchanted wood for the handles which carried incantations carved into them. Keizsa threw herself into her magic, mind and body; it seemed to change the very air around them. Emotions Noori had never felt before passed through her alongside memories and places she had never seen. Keizsa's magic was everywhere; the process, it seemed, was all-consuming.
Keizsa worked tireless for hours on end, breaking only when it came time for Noori to leave. She pulled herself from the meditative trance her magic lured her into, blinking and breathless.
"This is difficult," she winced, gazing up at her progress so far. "Even more difficult than I imagined. I hope I haven't underestimated Vidonia's magic."
Noori stopped short at the unfamiliar name. "Who?"
"Minty," Keizsa said with a disdainful curl of her lip. "That's just a nickname. Her name is actually Vidonia, but I started calling her Minty when we were children because she always smelled like peppermint plants." Her rueful sneer sank into a sad frown. "I was actually surprised when you told me that she still goes by it."
"Hey." Noori tenderly brushed a loose lock of raven hair out of Keizsa's eyes. "Are you going to be okay?"
The witch forced a smile. "Of course I will." She leaned her cheek into Noori's palm. "What about you? Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be," Noori replied with a shrug.
Keizsa nodded. "I'd hug you but I don't want to get paint on you."
Noori laughed in spite of her nerves.
"Just remember," Keizsa pressed on. "If you don't make it back before sunrise you'll have to wait until the following night to find the door again. Be safe out there."
Keeping just enough distance between them, Noori leaned forward and stole a kiss. The air around them swam with Keizsa's magical aura.
"Don't worry," Noori assured her. "I'll see you before sunrise."
*
The dark streets of Fernweh felt especially cold and damp compared to the warm cocoon of Keizsa's studio. Noori shuddered as she looked around, trying to get her bearings. The looming shadows of the surrounding buildings slowly began to take shape and Noori realized she was still some distance from where she and Toddrick had agreed to meet. She set a brisk pace for herself and hurried on her way.
Perhaps it was the fear, but Noori couldn't shake the feeling that something about the city had changed. Gone was the familiarity she had come to appreciate in the dark streets and the camaraderie she had imagined between herself and the people who prowled and roamed in the night. The unease made her paranoid; every sound made her jump and the eerie sense that she was being watched followed her around every corner.
The sign for the pub she'd picked as a meeting spot shone like a beacon in the lamplight. Relieved, Noori sprinted to get beneath it, as if the sign provided sanctuary from the things she could not see lurking in the night. A ruckus sounded from inside but the street in which Noori stood shivering was desolate and bleak.
"Noori?" Toddrick's whispered voice nearly sent her leaping out of her skin. She whirled on the spot, turning frantically until she saw her friend step from the shadows beside the pub.
"Toddrick!" she yelped, nearly bursting with exhilaration. She rushed into his outstretched arms and didn't even flinch when his embrace threatened to squeeze the air from her lungs.
"Where have you been?" he hissed, holding her back to see her better. One of his hands clutched a small canvas sack while the other kept a tight grip on her arm, as though he thought she might vanish the instant he let her go.
Noori shook her head. She had too much to say and she worried not much time to say it all.
"My father. Is he alright? Is everyone safe?"
"Of course," Toddrick assured her in low, concerned tones. "He's worried sick about you but he's safe. Everyone is, why wouldn't they be? Come on," he glanced around, disquiet in his eyes. "Let's get out of the open."
Noori welcomed the opportunity to duck out of sight. Even though she was nowhere near the harbor, she felt like still felt like a criminal on the run. The pair found shelter in the inset arch of an entryway down the alley. They huddled against the door, standing close.
"What happened, Noori?" Toddrick asked. "I came home and the entire harbor was a complete mess. They say you stole cargo from ships?"
Noori groaned miserably. "No! Toddrick, you know I wouldn't do a thing like that!"
"What then?" he said. "Something must have happened for you to be banned from your own family's harbor."
"I was set up," Noori growled, the sting of the false accusations clawing open her hardly healed wounds.
Toddrick raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Set up for what?"
"To take the fall for a crime I didn't commit!" she snapped. The frustration was getting to her. "Remember the paints that Lourda had me to give to Keizsa?"
Toddrick tensed. He nodded stiffly but didn't reply.
"He's accusing me of stealing them from him. He convinced others of my guilt and confronted my father to have me thrown out."
"But I heard they actually found a stolen necklace on you, Noori."
Noori's jaw dropped.
"It was planted on me, it had to be," she exclaimed, amazed that she was even having to defend herself to him. "A man ran into me and knocked me over on the boardwalk. That's when it must have happened. Honestly, Toddrick, you don't believe I would really do something like this do you?"
A deep frown pulled at the corners of Toddrick's pursed lips. Crossing his arms defensively, he refused to meet her astonished gaze.
"I knew getting mixed up with that art witch was bound to cause you trouble," he snarled. Noori pulled back in shock.
"This isn't her fault!" Indignity ignited like a flame within her. "In fact, she's been the one helping me through this."
Toddrick's eyes snapped to her, a flash of something dangerous behind them made Noori's skin prickle, unsettled.
"Is that where you've been?" he asked, his tone accusatory. "With her?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact," she hissed. "It is."
She puffed her chest and held her head high under Toddrick's narrowed eyes. His face twisted with hurt and anger.
"You care about her, don't you?" he spat viciously. "That's what this is all about."
Noori was flabberghasted. "Toddrick, that isn't what this is about at all! I came here to—"
"Tell me the truth!" he shouted over her, his voice echoing down the alleyway. "You have feelings for this witch. You care about her more than you've ever cared about me."
Exasperated, Noori conceded. Honesty, she figured, might get her further than dancing around the truth.
"Yes!" she cried. "Yes I have feelings for her! And she has feelings for me. But I don't care about her more than you, Toddrick. I simply care about you both differently."
Toddrick's mouth curled with disgust. He said nothing but turned instead to leave. Noori gasped and grabbed his sleeve. In the tension of their argument she had almost forgotten the real reason she was there.
"Please," she begged, pulling him back to her. "I don't know what's come over you but we don't have time for this. You're in danger, Toddrick."
"Let go of me!" he growled, wrenching his arm away from her. "Leave me alone."
Noori lunged again, this time planting herself in his path.
"Minty isn't who you think she is," she blurted desperately. "She's a witch — she's the one who threatened Lourda and cursed Keizsa. She's powerful and dangerous and I fear she may try to hurt you too."
Toddrick looked down at her, his face dark and so unlike himself that Noori almost faltered. There seemed to be nothing left of her best friend in the man who stood before her now.
"Minty warned me you might say that," he said. His words sent Noori's heart plummeting. "You don't know the first thing about her!"
Before Noori could react, Toddrick reached out and shoved her. The move took her by surprise and she tumbled onto her back, hitting the ground hard. Wincing with pain, Noori gawked up at him as he stepped up to her. Though her eyes stung with tears, she could still see the coldness in his face plain as day.
"Here," his voice was deadpan. He dropped the canvas sack beside her head, making her flinch.
He walked away and didn't look back. This time, Noori let him leave, letting out a heartbroken sob as he disappeared into the darkness. She wept shamelessly, rocking in place and cradling her elbow. It throbbed from the fall; she let herself focus on the pain as a distraction from the ache in her heart. When her tears ebbed, her eyes landed on the canvas sack. Gingerly she pulled at its ties, somewhat fearful of what she might find inside.
To her surprised, the sack held a small seedling. It was a Splunk plant — the same kind that her father had loved so much despite its ghastly appearance. The sight of it made Noori want to cry all over again. Of course Toddrick remembered how she'd wanted to replace the one that died. But then she remembered where the plant came from in the first place, and her blood ran cold. Noori's first instinct was throw the seedling against the wall and leave it. She was not interested in accepting anything from Minty. The very thought of her — the fact that she had already gotten to Toddrick and poisoned his mind against her — made Noori's flesh crawl.
She picked up the seedling and looked at it as closely as she could in the dim light. It looked diseased and sickly under close inspection. Noori pulled a face.
What is this thing? She wondered. Why was Minty giving them away in the first place?
A rustling sound from somewhere down the alley made her jump.
"Luck?" she called warily into the darkness. "Is that you?"
The response was a high-pitched shrieking unlike any sound she had ever heard from the spritely hummingbird. The lamplight from the street glinted off a pair of eyes in the darkness. Whatever was out there, it wasn't Luck. With her heart in her throat, Noori scrambled to her feet ran from the alley as quickly as her legs would carry her.
Back on the main street, merry makers and rabble rousers took up space outside the pub. They laughed and shouted at one another, the air above them heavy with blue smoke from pipes and cigarettes. Noori scurried into their midst and hid behind them like a frightened kitten. No one seemed to notice her distress, and she found herself comforted by their ambivalent presence.
Noori looked down at the seedling in her hands as she fought to catch her breath.
What am I supposed to do now? she wondered hopelessly. Perhaps the only this she could do now was return to the studio. At least there she could regroup and come up with a new plan in safety.
Keeping her head down, Noori shouldered past the crowd and into the night. Her eyes darted around the street ahead of her, on the hunt for the strange animal from before. The pounding of her heartbeat was so loud that she could hear it in her ears, which is probably why she didn't hear the footsteps approaching from behind.
A pair of hands grabbed her from the shadows and nearly pulled her off her feet.
Noori started to scream, pitching her elbows against the body that closed in on her. A hand was clamped over her mouth. Before she could lash out again a voice hissed in her ear.
"Stop, Noori! It's me!"
She stopped flailing at once. Looking up, she found herself face to face with Captain Denali.
"What are you doing here?" Noori whispered, glancing around to see if her outburst had gotten anyone's attention. "And was that really necessary?"
"I was trying to be discrete," Captain Denali muttered. With an arm around Noori's shoulders she steered her back toward the pub. "Come with me — we need to talk."