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Heila spent the next two days in deep study with Talauia and received a few lessons directly from Amahle as well.

Both witches worked to build Heila’s understanding of natural forces.

The little bit of knowledge that Heila had gained from Zedya about sorcery helped her to shape her will and at least complete the simple exercises that she’d been given, even if she wasn’t able to touch the energy of the earth to use true witchcraft.

"Now I understand why Madame Zedya spoke so highly of the lessons she received here," Heila said on the third evening since Ashlynn’s departure. "You both see the slightest mistake with incredible detail. I feel like I’ve made more progress in two days than I did in two weeks before coming here."

Zedya’s lessons had focused on practical activities where a little bit of sorcery could make up for things they lacked on the journey.

Using a bit of energy to draw water out of clothing they washed but didn’t have time to hang to dry, or creating a breeze to keep insects away while they rode through the night were practical lessons that gave her ways to practice using her energy without straining herself or risking the sorcery raging out of control.

The lessons she received in the Briar, however, were much more in tune with harnessing natural energies to do specific things. The formal incantations made it easier to focus her will and achieve greater effects.

Today, she’d stimulated the growth of several vegetables that now sat on a chopping board in front of her, ready to form the base of a salad weeks before they would have ripened naturally.

The process had been a little draining, but Talauia assured her that once she was able to harness the power of nature, she would be able to use the energy of any weeds growing in the garden to fuel the growth of the plants she wanted to cultivate while removing the ones who intruded where they didn’t belong.

"It ain’t so exaggerated as that, sugar," Amahle said as she puttered around the hearth with two of her four spider-like limbs helping her tend to different pots.

The rich and savory aromas of seared catfish rubbed in a complex blend of spices mingled with the soft, almost grassy scent of an herbaceous rice dish to create a tantalizing scent that left both Heila and Talauia eager for their evening meal.

For someone as sensitive as Amahle, with her webs extending to every corner of the Briar, it was impossible to miss the moment that Ashlynn’s trial had ended.

As soon as she realized that her little sister would be returning, she planned one of her best fish dishes to welcome Ashlynn home. If she had timed things right...

Suddenly, the two witches in the room paused in their work, turning to look at the front door.

This close, even though Jacques kept his presence restrained, it was impossible for a witch to miss the ripple of energy that flowed through the air carrying an evergreen scent that belonged uniquely to Ashlynn.

"Right on time, on time," the Thistle Witch said, rubbing her hands together while her wings fluttered behind her, humming with excitement.

"Lady Ashlynn is back?" Heila said, standing up eagerly from the salad she was assembling.

Before anyone could answer, the door opened to reveal the sturdy figure of Jacques as he supported an exhausted-looking Ashlynn into Amahle’s home.

After spending three days lashed to a tree, eating only a single meal with Jacques the entire time she was there, Ashlynn wore fatigue like a cloak. Her every movement was slow and deliberate and she leaned on Jacques for support as she made her way across the room to a waiting chair.

Despite her obvious fatigue and difficulty moving, however, even Heila could feel an almost stately aura radiating from her with a vibrance and strength that hadn’t been there when she left.

More than that, when Heila met Ashlynn’s emerald gaze, for a moment, she thought she saw a flash of a silvery-green glow flicker across her eyes, like a leaf drifting on the breeze.

"Welcome home, little sister," Amahle said, moving several pots off the heat before she strode across the room to bring Ashlynn a glass of chilled mint tea as soon as she took a seat.

"I was worried when it took so long," she confessed. Her crimson eyes roamed over Ashlynn’s figure, taking in every detail as she looked for signs of deeper injuries or distortions to her mark that would erode her power. She didn’t speak again until she was certain that nothing was amiss.

"I was frightened that your pact with the Harbinger of Death might interfere with your ability to pass the Ancient Willow’s trial," Amahle admitted with a relieved sigh. "I’m ever so relieved to see that it didn’t."

"It did," Ashlynn said flatly, giving Amahle an uncharacteristically unfriendly look. "It tried to pull us apart. It even offered to transfer my bond to the seed so that I could be ’released’ from the pact."

"That," Amahle said, taking two steps back before using her spider-like legs to steady herself, a look of horror clear on her face.

"It went that far? I never thought it would go so far as to harm you.

I know the Ancient Willow still bears some resentment toward me, even after your offering," she said with a brief glance at Talauia.

"At most, I thought it might reject you over your bond and refuse to help you," Amahle said sincerely. "I never thought it would act against you."

"I’m learning that some people have different ideas about what it means to help me," Ashlynn said with a gentle shake of her head. Placing a hand on her chest, she felt the tightness of the seed gripping her heart.

Even now, the pressure was difficult to bear but the energy of the seed had its own rhythm and it had come to pulse in counterpoint with the echo of Nyrielle’s heartbeat within her chest, as if it was offering strength to fill the gaps between Nyrielle’s heart beats.

"The Ancient Willow seemed to believe that it was acting in my best interests by attempting to ’free me’ from my blood pact," Ashlynn said. "From its perspective, it wasn’t harming me, it was helping me by attacking Nyrielle."

Ashlynn’s last words landed on the room like the crack of a whip, exploding in everyone’s ears but most of all, landing on Heila like she’d been struck by Amahle’s lash of thorns. The tree she was going to gain a seed from had attacked Lady Nyrielle?!?