"CAW!"
Thud.
I glared up at Puko, who was perched on my chest and looking at me with his good eye. He had startled me right out of Mila's tiny bed, and onto the floor. A giggle above me had me glaring at Schula next.
"I'm glad you're amused," I grumbled.
"I'm not laughing at you," she giggled, keeping her eyes closed. "I'm just having a very funny dream."
Nassir at least tried to hide his laugh with a cough and he rolled over from his pile of blankets on the floor in front of the fire.
I sighed and sat up, stretching and removing Puko from my chest. Mila's cabin was dark, not even the dawn sun was making it's way over the valley's high cliffs yet. Mila herself had given up her cabin to us and stayed with Gilly last night, so we had the place to ourselves.
I got up and washed my face in the basin and crept out the door, letting my friends fall back asleep. Puko stayed on my shoulder the whole time.
The morning air was almost crisp with a spring chill. It was pleasant after the time we spent in Sulls and the trek through the desert. But at least when I was in the desert I had a goal, a path laid out in front of me. Here I was conflicted. The valley filled me with an uncertainty. It didn't feel like I was getting anywhere. Sure I was going to learn some of the witching arts, but I wasn't here for that. I was here to find out how to fix the wards at the edge of the Wyldes.
Puko pecked my temple and tugged at a bit of hair.
"Ouch! Stop it. I'm not sulking if that's what you're thinking." I glared at him.
He stared back for a moment, and resumed pocking and prodding at me.
"Ugh, go on then." I shrugged him off my shoulder and he flapped away. "Go get yourself some breakfast or something, I'll be at Gilly's."
"Caw."
Puko flew off, his black wings catching the first traces of soft light that were finally coming over the horizon. He went off toward some tall grasses and I lost sight of him. I went on ahead to Gilly's cottage.
To my dismay, she was already up. I thought I could find a spot by the door and take a little nap until she woke up, but Gilly and Mila were sitting on the front porch, sitting and drinking tea.
"Good morning," I tried to sound cheerful as I walked up to them but Mila's sharp eyes held onto me and she gave me a pointed look.
"Did you sleep or did you stay up all night fretting about it?" Mila asked.
Gilly laughed and reached behind her with another cup and leaned over the edge of the porch enough to ladle some brew in from a small copper kettle over a fire pit. It must have been whatever they were drinking, and Gilly offered me one.
"Thank you," I took the cup and sat down with them. "I did have difficulties sleeping, but it wasn't because I was worried about my lessons."
"Oh?" Mila raised an eyebrow.
I took a sip of the brew in the cup and nearly spit it out. "Ugh! What is this stuff?"
"That, my dear Wren, is a potion," Gilly said with a wink. "One you're going to replicate today."
"So what does it do?" I asked, now eyeing it with suspicion.
"It will aid you in remembering things as you learn," Mila said. "You had better get used to it, as you'll want to be drinking it each morning. You want to absorb what you can while you're here and leave with your answers, correct?"
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.
"Yes," I said. "This is the one. Um, if that's alright."
"Of course it is," Gilly laughed. "Nyla, we'll take it. How much do I owe you?"
"A jar of milk a day for one moon," Nyla answered, not looking up from her work.
"Oh come on, you need more than that!" Gilly insisted.
Nyla just smiled, still looking at her hands that wove the pages together. "Fine, the milk and two of your goat pies the next time you make them."
Gilly shook her head, but didn't argue further. Something told me that this wasn't over between them though.
After I chose my book, Gilly walked us back to her cottage where Mila had made a late breakfast with eggs and cheese. We ate, and Gilly explained some of the basic principles of brewing with magic. When we were finished eating, I helped clean everything up and then Gilly brought out a book of her own and laid it on the table.
"Hm, haven't had this out in a while." She wiped her hand across the surface which had begun to collect a bit of dust at the edges. The cover was a woven green fabric that at one time had golden paint on it that has since faded away. Vibrant and inviting, just like Gilly.
"You should still keep better care of it," Mila scolded. "You worked hard for that book."
"You don't have to remind me, you're the one that put me through all those chores to earn it!" Gilly said.
I hid my grin behind my own book as I held it up over the bottom half of my face, then I realized I had a question. "Gilly, do you not need your book anymore?"
She shrugged. "After some time I've memorized most of the spells. It's not often I need to refer to it again. You'll be that way too if you end up brewing regularly as I do."
"Wren, I will leave you in Gilly's care. I'll see you both for dinner." Mila got up and nodded at us as she walked to the front door and turned around. "Come early enough to chop turnips."
I just nodded my agreement while Gilly stifled a laugh. Gilly and I waved her off and I turned back to Gilly, eager to start.
"Now let me see if I can find the page... oh here it is. Alright, Wren, copy down the recipe here and we'll go gather the ingredients. Then I'll introduce you to my equipment, though I'm sure you've seen it all before in Mila's house."
"Alright," I agreed as she slid the book my way. I turned to the first open page and I began slowly inking the letters. It had been a couple years since I'd had to write anything down, and it wasn't long before my hand was cramping with the effort.
While I was busy writing, Gilly did her own morning chores. She fed and milked her goats, took a couple jars of milk to other houses, and pulled weeds in her herb garden. She came back from another witch with a bowl of apples and finally sat down at the table with me as I finished up.
After copying the instructions carefully, Gilly let me dig in her cabinets and shelves for the ingredients to see if I could recognize them for myself. I was able to find all of them except a root that I had never seen in powder form before but I did recognize it by the smell.
The hours passed as I slowly worked through the instructions and incantations. There were times I had to stir constantly, and other times when I had to add very specific increments of things in order. Puko came and watched for most of the physical process of the brewing, taking a nap about halfway through. After a lot of effort and figuring things out, I had a concoction that smelled very much like the cup I drank that morning.
Gilly tasted it, scrunching up her face and closing her eyes.
"I think you have it," she finally announced.
I sank back in my chair on the front porch and sighed. "Thank the stars. That was a lot harder than I thought it would be."
Gilly grinned and put the ladle back in the simmering kettle. "Well you passed, I hope you're ready to do it all again tomorrow."
"Ugh." I let my head fall back and I closed my eyes. "I suppose I must. Hey, when can I address the collection of witches with my questions?"
"At the new moon, in nearly a month. We have very few spells that need to be done on that night, so it's the most convenient time for all of us to gather." Gilly went inside and began bringing out small jars. "Here, help me get these out and we can store this properly."
I pulled my body out of the chair and helped her get them all from a cabinet. "We're jarring it?"
"Yes, you need to drink one every morning, remember?" Gilly asked with a wicked grin. "Now, help me get them all done so you can get to Mila in time to chop those turnips."
I groaned, and we jarred, and that is how I spent my first day as a witch in training.