Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch
Page 15
Sparkling in the light streaming through the window, the whole town of Auteri was made in sugar. Each building was spun out of golden sugar strands, down to the curtains on the windows and the cobblestones in the street. In the glowing afternoon rays streaming down, the sugary town was radiant.
Spun in sugar, Mayor Taira and Rin walked hand-in-hand with a much younger Charlotte along the docks. The sugar version of Charlotte looked up at both of them with pure adoration. Children sat on the orphanage steps, pointing at skiffs flitting on the foaming waves. Kyo swept down the steps of the magnificent town hall, a bag tucked under his arm and seemingly on his way to Ami’s florist shop. I even spotted Trixie and Trina, side by side, but looking like they were about to shout at each other.
A small card was propped up in front of the sugar-spun town.
NAME: Auteri, Home of the Festival of Lights
ARTIST: Toru Rydern
Five hundred gold coins.
My jaw dropped.
There were more sugar-spun creations. On a small shelf, a forbiddingly tall tower somehow radiated with cold, smothered in vines and deep in a thick forest.
On a different table, tiny sugar flamefoxes danced around the figurine of a portly old man—Vaud.
As the tourists inched along, drinking in the sights of the beautiful sculptures, I caught glimpses of more and more pieces, revealing Auteri’s glorious landmarks, even Queen Alliana’s magnificent crystal castle in Okayama. It felt like I was zipping over the Sakuya Mountains and traveling all around the realm.
“Davy, can you handle the register?” Yuri called, as a woman stepped up to the counter, cradling a handful of sugary dusklight flowers. “Just a minute, ma’am.”
A curtain separated the showroom from the back, and feet rattled down a set of stairs before Davy popped out and grinned. “Ah, great, you’re here!” He cradled something in his hands and set it on the counter as he rang up the customer. “One silver, please.”
“I traveled all the way from the western coast for these.” The woman happily handed over a silver coin. “I can’t afford one of the big sculptures, but these will help me remember this beautiful town.”
“From the west? The Walking Cliffs?” Davy squeaked.
“Oh, no, the mainland,” she said quickly. “I daren’t go by the cliffs. My sister’s been. Says it’s frightening—but beautiful. The bit she can remember from her trip.”
Davy bowed as she headed out, a dreamy look in his eyes. “The Walking Cliffs. I’d love to go there.…”
“Did you have something for me?” I prompted him, but Davy stilled as footsteps shuffled inside and Mister Rydern moved behind the counter.
“Hello, Pa,” Davy said, but his father only grunted.
Edmund cut a chunk of sugar and handed it over to Davy’s father. He slowly picked up a pair of scissors and started snipping away at it. In mere minutes, he turned a clear globe of sugar into a waterfall cascading down miniature rocks, with fish swimming under the frothing spray.
“Can you fix this?” Davy asked me quietly, when Mister Rydern shuffled away to a shelf in the corner, filled with tubes of food paint.
Davy held out a sculpture of three people, standing together: two parents, holding the hands of their son, who stood in the middle. The mother and father were smiling down at the boy, whose face was lit up with a mischievous look that I could recognize anywhere, even though the details had faded.
My throat went dry.
“Wh-wh…” But I didn’t need to ask. Even in sugar, Davy’s crooked grin glimmered.
Mister Rydern turned, as if he could sense the sculpture, and growled, “Why do you have that?”
I winced as Davy deflated.
“This is special.” Davy held it tightly to his chest.
“Pah,” Mister Rydern said, his eyes dark. “No, nothing. That’s nothing.”
Davy stubbornly slid the sculpture over the counter and repeated, louder, “This is special to me.”
Yuri and Edmund exchanged worried glances. “Would you like to come back later to work on the sugar?” Yuri asked Mister Rydern hesitantly.
“Going to the water.” He tossed the pair of scissors onto the counter, leaving it spinning in circles.
“It’s melting.” Davy’s eyes stayed glued to the sculpture as his father moved out from behind the counter. “I can’t… I can’t see the details anymore. I know Ma used to have a smile brighter than the moon. I know her eyes shone like water dancing with sunlight. But I can’t see it anymore. And I can’t forget her. I can’t. Then it’s like she’s gone forever.”
My heart ached, like it was shredding into pieces, falling apart bit by bit. I thought of Mother and her bright smile, always believing in me. Or Father, with his comforting presence, that constant warmth steady as his favorite baking oven. Just like Davy, I would be willing to search to the ends of the realm—even all seven realms—if my parents were lost. I wished, wished, wished I knew how to create an enchantment to bring his mother home. But I didn’t dare try it. What if it went terribly wrong, like when I’d summoned a thunderstorm instead of banishing clouds, or my “fix” for the twins?
I couldn’t find Davy’s mother. But… if I couldn’t do that, I had to do something for this sculpture.
“Arms from above, together with love,” I whispered, clutching my hands around my wand. The tip of my wand glowed with a yellow-gold light.
The statue shifted. I rubbed my eyes.
The spun sugar woman knelt down and gathered the small boy in her hands. The father turned and laid his arms around her shoulders.
The figures slowed, like molasses trickling, and solidified, locked in a warm embrace.
A sob burst out from Davy. “She… she used to hug me like that. At least, I think she did.”
A subdued, sad voice whispered, “Of course, of course she did.”
Davy’s father stood frozen in the center of the shop, with tears rolling down his cheeks. Mister Rydern reached out, slowly, like he was made of stiff sugar, too. He clasped his son in his arms, like the statue. Davy’s shoulders loosened, trembling softly.
“It’s terrible to have her gone. I wish I could trade places with her, every day.” Mister Rydern’s voice creaked, as if nearly rusted over. “Even though I miss your mother so much, I’m still glad she left you with me. I would be nothing without you.”
Yuri and Edmund slowly guided the customers out, whispering, “So sorry, but we’re closing the shop for the day.”
“You can relocate to my counter,” I volunteered.
Yuri shot me a grateful smile. I crept out of the store, with Yuri and Edmund gathering armfuls of yellow contomelon candies, powdery ginger chews, and sugar dusklight flowers to sell. Before we left, I placed a paper sign in the window, with an arrow pointing to my stand next door.
I spent the rest of the afternoon with Yuri and Edmund, selling their candies and meeting the tourists who gasped with delight upon seeing the delicate sugar flowers.
“It’s more beautiful than what I’ve heard!” cried one man, spinning the blossom in his hand.
“Look at the way the petals catch the light.” His friend brushed his fingers against it. “Now I understand why Auteri’s the hometown of the Festival of Lights.”
“Ah, and you should come to our festival.” Yuri winked at me.
I passed over a flyer and grinned. “Yes, come to our one-and-only Festival of Lights!”
The tourists nodded excitedly. “Why, it’s only a few weeks away. Maybe we can sail back for this.”
Yuri, Edmund, and I shot one another wide smiles as we sold the candies and kept handing out flyers.
Occasionally, we glanced at the store. The scent of bubbling sugar and faint voices drifted out the windows, but we didn’t strain to hear. I didn’t want to intrude on Davy’s time with his father.
Ember licked my sugarcoated hand and snuggled into my lap. I smiled. I’d thought Rin might be the only friend I’d make on my quest, but then I’d
realized I had Ember at my side, too. And Davy, now.
I glanced out at the horizon and my heart jolted as a dark cloud lingered in the sky, as if watching me. I stared back, blood pounding in my veins, until the cloud drifted north. But the uneasy feeling in my stomach stayed.
I’d have to do all I could to protect my friends and their town.
CHAPTER 19
SHELTER FROM THE SUN
The midday sun beat down as I sat behind my counter, examining Rin’s compass and occasionally calling out for clients. “Repair services!”
Then, breathing in deep, I added, “Semi-magical fixes, too!”
After all, I was semi-magical. With the fix for the boat and even for Ami’s watering pipes, I’d relied half on magic and half on my cobbled-together inventions to solve the problem.
I didn’t know if being semi-magical was enough to pass a Novice Witch quest, though. Or protect Auteri from the Culling.
As I was testing out another spell to fix the compass, Davy hollered from down the docks, “Eva! Our town witch!” He and Charlotte propped a roll of tarp against my crates with a sigh of relief. Charlotte moved as if to stride away, but Davy looped one arm over her shoulder. “One of the folks down the harbor had some supplies lying around, and so I asked if there were extra for you. I thought you could use some sun cover.”
“But—”
Davy’s eyes were gentle, as if he knew my doubts. “After all, you’re Auteri’s special witch, and we have to take care of you.”
According to the mayor, though, I was barely a witch.
Charlotte raised her eyebrow, as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. “Even though we were expecting at least an Elite witch, like Mayor Taira had requested.”
Her words felt like a punch to my stomach. It seemed that Charlotte was still a bit unhappy that I’d created a mess of the corn and cloudberries, even if I’d sort of reconciled Trixie and Trina.
Davy smiled. “Don’t blame Mayor Taira, Eva. She only wants the best for Auteri. And you helped a lot with the Hyodo, and me and Pa. We’ll just have to show her that you’re the best for our town.”
Even if Mayor Taira didn’t believe in me, I wanted to believe in myself. I stood up. “I do want to convince her.”
“That’s right. But you don’t just want to convince her.” He grinned. “You will convince her.”
His words were an elixir pouring strength back into me.
Charlotte crossed her arms. If I couldn’t convince her, I’d never be able to convince Mayor Taira. I met her gray eyes evenly. I can become the witch that Auteri’s always needed. I’ll find a way to help with the Culling, I promise.
She turned her nose up and looked away.
Davy glanced between me and Charlotte. “Er, well, let’s put up the tarp, then.” He nudged Charlotte with his elbow.
I put away the compass, and then they held up the tarp as I tried to charm a few extra planks to stand firmly in the ground. My first spell somehow made them burst with flowers and, red-faced, I quickly reworded it so they’d simply stand, not sprout.
Davy eyed my wand. “Can I use that?”
“Well… magicless can’t use magic.”
“Do you think I have magic?” Davy asked, turning his arms over as if he’d see WIZARD stamped on the crook of his elbow.
“No one ever knows if children have magic until they manifest,” I explained, and he pulled out a small, tattered notepad from one of the pockets of his overalls. “For me, it was when my father was on the roof of our cottage, fixing the tiles, and he slipped off. In that moment, I reached my hand out, wishing more than anything for the power to save him, blurting out a few words that almost sounded like a spell: Slow down, sky-fall. And that wild, unexpected magic slowed him midair, just enough to save him.”
Davy’s eyes were wide as saucers as he scribbled away. “So if someone needs saving, I might get magic?”
“No one knows. But for most witches and wizards, it happens before they’re five years old.” I grimaced, thinking of Conroy, who loved to remind me how he’d manifested on the day he was born. “They show a spark of magic doing something like unintentionally animating a toy to play with them. It’s rare to manifest so late, like me.”
“I’m curious…” He jotted down a few more notes. “Is there a way to test for magic?”
“None approved by the Council; they consider it bordering on rogue magic,” I said. “I manifested almost too late to go on my Novice quest.”
“Late or not, we’re lucky to have you,” Davy said, and my heart warmed just a bit.
“According to Mayor Taira—and a few others—Auteri isn’t so lucky.” I sighed. “Sometimes I’m not even sure it’s possible for me to become a Novice.”
He shook his head resolutely. “There’s got to be a way. Absolutely. It’s like my inventions for my future adventures.” He held up his watch, this time coated in something that looked strangely like sugar. “Each time, I try something new. Even if I fail or mess up, each attempt is one step closer toward my dream of a perfect, waterproof watch. Each one is a step closer to adventure.”
Under the new shade, he and I chatted about how to convince Mayor Taira, while Charlotte fiddled with a piece of paper.
“I think magicking the blue and gold rooftops of Auteri to flash with lights all day would definitely help attract visitors and make Mayor Taira proud,” Davy said.
I was certain that his idea would only get me kicked out of Auteri.
“Want to hear about the time my mother helped the queen trick her evil stepmother?” I said instead.
Davy raised his eyebrow. “You know I can’t resist a good adventure story.”
For a bit, he helped me forget about my failures as a witch as I explained how my mother had helped Queen Alliana sneak out of her miserable life as the servant at her stepmother’s house and enter the realm’s academy for potential princesses and princes. Even Charlotte seemed interested in my stories—“She charmed a pigeon into a nightdragon to fly away from her evil stepmother? Well, I guess flying away on a flamethrowing dragon as big as the town hall makes it certain no one would follow her”—as she folded parchment into different shapes.
When she noticed me watching, Charlotte said, “Rin showed me how to make this.”
Charlotte had a bandage on her palm, yet her fingers flew deftly over the paper. Her hands turned the paper in and out as she made a tiny dolphin and a turtle with a round shell.
“You made all that in the time it would’ve taken me to start a bird.”
“I make these to amuse the other kids at the orphanage. Davy gives us stacks of old scrolls from Kyo. So at least these toys are free.” She studied my face, as if searching to see if I’d pity her.
“I think that’s wonderful,” I said softly.
Charlotte widened her eyes, and her blue hair ribbon flashed as she turned quickly away, toward the water.
Davy bumped me with his elbow and drew my attention to him as he wondered aloud about ways to make his watch waterproof—short of using magic—and telling me about the other adventures he had in mind. “Someday, I figure, I can be the first captain to voyage to the other six realms around us. Constancia’s got the abyss blocking us off and they’ve closed their ports, but I’d find a way in. I’ll even go beyond the seven realms we know about. And, Char, if you had magic, what would—”
“Um, I have to go pick up the molasses cookies I ordered earlier,” Charlotte cut in, the tips of her ears suddenly turning pink, and she hurried down the street.
“Someday, Char will stop being so secretive and tell me what she’s really dreaming about. More than just working in the town hall.” Davy shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts, and turned to me. “Speaking of secrets… Char’s not the best at making friends, but you know, she tried to save you.”
“What?”
“Remember when you…” he said delicately, “fainted?”
I wished I could forget that. I cringed. “At t
he Hyodo?” I glanced at the tall, black cliffs and the trading ships moored in between the two massive walls of rock.
“You almost hit your head when you fainted.” Davy fiddled with his watchband. “Char dove and caught you.”
I blinked. “I thought it was Rin.”
He shook his head. “Rin was on the boat. Char stopped your fall. Did you see her bandage? That’s from when she hit her hand on the rocks.”
“Oh,” I breathed out. I had told myself I hadn’t needed Charlotte to like me whenever she flounced past me sitting alone at my counter.
Pass the quest, pass the quest… That was all I was here for.
But the way that Rin had vouched for me, without a second thought… and Davy’s steadfast confidence in me…
And Charlotte’s willingness to save me—even though she had hurt herself…
Davy grinned. “I know she’s stubborn, and after seeing how you wouldn’t give up on us, I think you’re stubborn, too.” He quirked his lips to the side. “But I think the two of you could be really amazing as friends.”
Friends. That word fluttered against my heart.
Back home, I had spent every free hour trying to get my magic to manifest. Conroy, when he’d lived with us, had always been too busy creating his own spells to spend time with a magicless girl, unless he was teasing me for his own amusement. After my powers had woken, I’d been consumed with preparing for this journey.
Before coming to Auteri, my parents had been all I needed. I’d never had a true friend. The other kids in Miyada had never cared about being a witch like I did, and they got bored with me trying and trying to cast enchantments. I’d never been surrounded by real friends before.
When Charlotte returned with a paper bag of cookies, she peered suspiciously at me and Davy. “What? What’s with that weird look on your faces?”
“Ah, nothing.” Davy winked. “I gotta go help out. I’ll see you later, though. I’ve got something I need to ask you.” He loped away, bypassing the crowd to sneak inside the shop. I glared at his retreating back.
Charlotte scooped her paper art into one of her pouches and turned toward the orphanage.