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Some of the spells also involved complex arm and hand choreography, like movements to a dance. Others required specific ingredients, most of which I’d never even heard of.

If I was going to try any of them, it needed to be something simple and basic, just to test if I had any magical aptitude at all. No sense in memorizing dance moves if I turned out to be a dud.

I flipped through page after page, searching for a spell I’d be brave enough to tackle while also pawing over those that were much more difficult and wondrous.

So many possibilities in this precious book. Spells for healing, spells for harming. Spells to help you remember or make you forget. Spells for bringing luck and spells for cursing. Sleeping spells, elemental spells, combat spells. There were so many!

At last, I found one that not only seemed fairly simple but would also help me with a current predicament—if it worked.

Filled with a mixture of excitement, curiosity, and foolishness, I hopped off the couch and took the book through the castle and out the kitchen exit to the garden. The damp earth felt nice on my bare feet, and I didn’t care that I’d track in clumped dirt when I went back inside.

I made my way through the various vegetable plots until I reached the rather pitiful looking tomato plants. Despite my best efforts, the thick bushes wouldn’t bear fruit. I had trimmed them and watered them carefully all spring, but the stalks would just fill out with more leaves.

Considering that tomatoes were a major component to most Varinyan recipes I knew, they were a vital food source to me. Sure, I could survive on potatoes, carrots and leafy greens, but tomatoes offered such rich flavor, and I really craved that small comfort.

I knelt beside the garden bed and looked down at the open book in my lap. The spell was calledFruit of the Earth, intended to tap into the magic in plants to help them thrive and bring forth fruit. It was a simple incantation.

Aste brennum vuarte.

I had no idea what the actual words meant, but I didn’t think that mattered.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” I said.

I looked at my tomato plants and concentrated on that place inside me where I felt the tug of intuition. Then I spoke the words aloud.

“Aste brennum vuarte.”

I waited, holding my breath and staring at the plants, but nothing happened.

Sighing in disappointment, I hung my head and looked down at the page. Something tugged inside me, guiding my gaze to the instructions.

“Ugh! Idiot,” I mumbled.

I was supposed to be touching the plant while I spoke. I took a long breath and flung out my fingers before putting both hands on the base of the stalk in front of me, then repeated the words, concentrating again.

A soothing yet exhilarating warmth pooled in my belly, then trickled up my chest, across my shoulders, and down my arms. I could see the faintest golden glow radiating from my hands as the warmth transferred into the stalk.

When the warmth left me, I felt oddly cold and drained. But I ignored those sensations as I stared open-mouthed at the ends of the branches, which all at once sprouted little yellow flowers, then green bulbs. To my amazement, right in front of my eyes, the bulbs grew and turned from green to vibrant red as they became plump, juicy tomatoes.

Holy shit! I actually did it! I can wield!

So many possibilities were now open to me. I could change my life for the better, could ensure that Willow and I stayed healthy and lived long lives.

Maybe I could even find a spell to help me locate survivors, if there were any. Maybe I wouldn’t have to be alone for the rest of my life!

I reached up and wrapped my hand around a fat tomato, then plucked it off the stem. It felt so delightfully firm. Bringing it to my lips, I took a big bite.

Oh, sweet heavens! I couldn’t remember the last time I’d tasted something so delicious. I devoured the whole thing, letting the juices run down either side of my mouth and soak into the fabric of my thin slip.

I was a Wielder, and I was going to study every inch of this book, memorize every word, and make my ancestors proud.