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After Talauia’s heavy revelations, Ashlynn put the rest of their planning session on hold.

Everyone needed a bit of time to process and there wasn’t a need to rush and arrive in Crystal Lake City by a specific time.

Instead, Ashlynn took Talauia and Heila to one of Amahle’s vegetable gardens so to prepare for the evening meal.

With the oppressive heat, no one other than Jacques wanted to spend much time standing over a hot stove to cook. Still, when they returned to Amahle’s home to prepare for another family-style evening meal, Ashlynn felt like she had to put something special together for Talauia.

"You know, I think my friend Georg would love to cook for you," Ashlynn said as she carefully sliced prickly cucumbers into long ribbons before rolling them around a mixture of nuts and creamy cheese blended with tart berries.

"Most people only care about how a thing tastes, but you care more about the texture of a dish. I think he’d find that very special. "

"Extra crisp, crisp, or crunchy," Talauia said with a wide grin as she munched on a sweet pepper. "Doesn’t matter what it is. Peppers, nuts, bones, it’s all delightful once you crack into it," she said.

Getting back to basic chores helped to ground the Thistle Witch, and the close camaraderie of the family that had formed with Ashlynn and Amahle’s covens helped soothe the sharp pangs of hurt that came with memories of the tragedy that brought her here.

Over dinner, Ashlynn explained their plans to Amahle. When she suggested that they hunt a Giant Thornback Alligator, however, the older witch surprised Ashlynn with a fierce rejection.

"I’m not sure why y’all are so eager to hunt the most dangerous of beasts in the Briar, darling," Amahle said, tapping the floor with one of her spider-like limbs for emphasis as she spoke. "Perhaps it’s my fault for keeping everything as safe as we have here by the house, but you’ve never fought any creatures of the Briar.

You’re biting off too much more than you can chew with that one. "

"It’s my fault," Ashlynn said instantly. "I thought that..."

"I ain’t blaming you, darling," Amahle said quickly before Ashlynn could go any further. "I just realized, y’all haven’t hunted anything in the Briar since you got here, but this whole time, you’ve had one of us around you, keeping all the critters away."

"Dat’s de safest way, ain’t it, maman?" Jacques chimed while he ladled another portion of shrimp soup into his bowl. He still wasn’t sure that he believed Ashlynn that there were giant shrimp the size of a person’s palm that could be found in the sea, but even if the ones swimming in the waterways of the Briar weren’t that large, he more than made up for the lack of size with the quantity of shrimp he was able to lure into his nets.

"Safest isn’t always the best, sugar," Amahle said. Her crimson eyes flashed as she gave both Ashlynn and Heila a measuring look, evaluating their progress over the past several weeks.

Ashlynn was always troublesome for her to assess.

Her bond with Nyrielle gave her strengths and capabilities that most witches lacked and many of those strengths covered for the vulnerabilities most witches had.

Few witches of the forest moved with any kind of speed, yet Ashlynn possessed a vampire’s quickness, making her just as fast or even faster than Talauia.

Heila was much easier for the Mother of Thorns to gauge.

Despite the abnormalities of her trial, she held a seed of witchcraft harvested from an Ancient Willow, and that allowed her to make rapid progress compared to a witch with a more conventionally grown seed.

She might not reach heights that were any greater than she would have with a safer approach, but whatever her limits were, she would reach them much more quickly than other witches would.

"This isn’t really about creating one potion or another, is it sister?

" Amahle finally asked after an extended silence.

"You were training to fight with Jacques while Heila took her trial.

She insisted on becoming a witch who could fight by your side instead of being a passive healer. Tell me, darling," she said.

"What has you so thirsty for blood?" Amahle asked. "I know you’ve got a powerful desire to see your husband dead, but that can’t have twisted you into a maniac who delights in violence and murder. So what is it?"

"Nothing gets past my big sister, does it?

" Ashlynn said as she set down her utensils to focus on Amahle. "I’ve spoken with Heila about the visions we experienced during the trials we each faced. We were both confronted with visions of the upcoming war with the Lothians. Visions that... didn’t end well for us. "

"I told you, didn’t I, Auntie?" Jacques said, raising a brow at Ashlynn. "De trees, she pulls on your memories and your fears to show you de worst tings you can tink of. Dey ain’t real, dey ain’t predictions or prophecies. Dey’s jus’ nightmares."

"I know it was a nightmare," Heila said. Her right hand clutched her spoon like she was ready to stab someone with it and her cloven hoof tapped the floor as she fought to banish memories of those terrible visions from her mind. "We both know that they weren’t real. People didn’t act like they really would in those visions. They were all twisted up."

"But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a core of truth in them," Ashlynn said as she gave her diminutive friend a brief, reassuring squeeze. "The truth is that we need to be prepared to face a greater threat than the Vale of Mists has faced in generations. This won’t be one of their tame, generational wars. This time, it’s a Holy War with the support of the Church and soldiers from across the sea coming to make their fortunes in conquest. We have to be ready. "

"And y’all want to test yourselves to see how ready you truly are," Amahle said with a heavy sigh. "Part of me wants to confine you to harvesting herbs in the deep water region of the Briar. You aren’t supposed to be practicing your fighting, you’re supposed to be practicing your concocting and then taking a vacation. "

"I’ve half a mind to deny you healing magic if you get hurt out there with this foolishness," she said, giving both young women a sharp look. "How are you supposed to enjoy a vacation if you’re getting all banged up before it even starts? Little Sister, I know you’re strong and sturdy as Lady Nyrielle’s Seneschal but don’t you go acting like little Heila will heal as quickly as you will. "

Amahle’s words landed on both women like a bucket of cold water. Ashlynn hung her head in embarrassment while Heila hung hers in shame that she was holding her friend back. Neither of them had the strength to meet Amahle’s crimson gaze at the moment.

"Maman," Jacques said as he looked between Ashlynn and the Mother of Thorns. "Auntie Ashlynn, she really is something else. I ain’t sayin’ she can face a Giant Thronback Alligator," he added quickly, holding up his hands before Amahle could say anything.

"But she’s a fierce one, non?" Jacques added with a nod in Ashlynn’s direction. "And she’s capable of some surprising strength. She cracked my ribs wit’ her bare hands de other day and we was jus’ practicing a bit. If she had her sword wit’ her, it might not have been so even between us."

"Jacques, sugar, it’s not that I’m unaware of that," Amahle said gently.

"But y’all just became family," she said, turning to look at the sheepish pair from the Vale of Mists. "Is this what the constant fighting has done to the folks out there in the Vale? Y’all are so eager to rush off to your deaths I’d have thought you were young men. "

"I’m sorry," Ashlynn said, looking up to meet Amahle’s crimson gaze. "You’re right. We haven’t been here for very long and we’re taking on too much, too soon."

"Good that you know," Amahle said with a sharp nod.

"Since you can admit to it, I’ll give you permission to do a little bit of hunting on your foraging trip, but only a little bit," she said, tapping the table with the sharp point of a spider-like limb for emphasis.

"Since he’s practiced with you, you take Jacques along as well. All four of you will go on this trip."

"Jacques, honey, you have to keep them safe," Amahle said. "You don’t need to hunt anything for them, just be there to ward off anything that’s bigger than a copper-bellied moccasin. Anything smaller than that, you let them learn what it’s like to confront the lesser dangers of the Briar," she said firmly.

"And Little Sister," the older witch added. "I know Jacques thinks that you’re more than his match with a sword, but darling, you need to leave it behind on this trip. Show me what you can do as the Mother of Trees, not what you can do as Lady Nyrielle’s Seneschal. Some things, I know you can’t do nothing about, but as much as you can, you go out there to fight like a witch. "

Ashlynn’s eyes widened at Amahle’s decision and a grin appeared on both her and Heila’s faces as they looked at each other before turning their grinning faces back to the Mother of Thorns.

"I understand. Thank you, big sister," Ashlynn said with genuine feelings. She hadn’t realized how much pressure she’d been putting on herself until Amahle called her out for it, but the way the older woman had handled her, both showing her the error of her ways and giving ground on what she hoped to do.

.. It reminded her of how she’d handled her own younger sister growing up.

It wasn’t until this moment, however, that she realized just how good it felt to have a ’big sister’ looking out for her. Now all she had to do was prove to both herself and to Amahle that the older woman’s trust in her wasn’t misplaced.