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"A witch’s power is drawn from the elements of the world," Ashlynn explained as Ollie held the waterskin.

"I brought the water in that skin from the Briar, the home of the Mother of Thorns and a place where many cypress trees grow," she explained.

"That water has nourished cypress trees for hundreds of years, and now it will nourish you during your transformation. "

"I thought that the Briar was far away," Ollie said, suddenly holding the waterskin far more gingerly, as if the waterskin were filled with precious, expensive wine. "You brought water all the way from there, just to use for me now?"

"It froze in the High Pass," Heila added with a slight smile. "And it broke the jug it was in. But Lady Ashlynn saved it and made sure she didn’t lose a drop."

"Ah, hem," Ashlynn said, her face heating slightly in embarrassment. She’d treated it the same way that sailors treated fine wines when transporting them across the sea, packing it carefully in a box stuffed with straw, but she hadn’t considered what would happen when they entered the oppressive cold of the High Pass.

Thankfully, she noticed before they left the High Pass, and she was able to preserve it, or she would have had to choose something else to use for Ollie’s ritual.

"You should place the waterskin in the circle closest to the pond," Ashlynn said, trying to move on from discussing her mistakes. She knew that she still had much to learn and stumbling over something so small was a good reminder of that, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on those stumbles.

Not when Ollie needed to have confidence going into the ritual.

"No words are necessary," Ashlynn added. "But please be respectful in your actions as you place it. None of these items is as simple as they seem, and even humble water can become a source of great power when it carries the desires and intentions of one person to nurture another."

"Can I, can I add a little bit of water from the pond to the waterskin?" Ollie asked. "This pond, it’s only here because the Heartwood Clan built a dam over the stream. It nurtures the whole of the village and it’s a treasure to the people who I protect. If it’s all right, I’d like to add a bit of it to the ritual as well. "

"Sir Ollie," Virve said with a complex look on her face. For Lady Ashlynn to go through so much effort in making arrangements for this ceremony, it didn’t sit well with her to make adjustments at the last minute, especially when Ollie hadn’t learned that much about witchcraft in the days since Lady Ashlynn offered to take him into her coven.

"Witchcraft requires careful planning and delicate balance. I don’t know if you should make changes or. .."

"It’s fine, Virve," Ashlynn said with a gentle touch on the bearish woman’s arm.

"When it’s your turn, if something is important to you, we’ll make adjustments as well.

The elements of the world have no desires, no wants, or needs to command them.

We have to supply our desires when we shape the energy of the world, and if Ollie desires it, then including the waters of this pond will only strengthen his bond to the working. "

"Go ahead, Ollie," she said as she took the next item out of the box and waited for him to add a small cup’s worth of water to the waterskin before he placed it in the stone circle closest to the pond.

"Thank you," Ollie said, already feeling more anchored to the energy that had begun to gather in the circle. "What’s next?"

"This is a special kind of candle," Ashlynn said, conjuring a small flame to light the candle before placing it in his hands.

"I asked Georg to make it using tallow from the kitchens, but only after the tallow had been used for cooking," she explained. "It isn’t the best way to make a candle, but I wanted to bring flame from the kitchens to stand for your fire. I hope you don’t mind my decision," she said, giving him a questioning look and wondering if he would want to add something else or make a change this time as well.

"No," Ollie said, taking the candle carefully and inhaling the unique scent of fat used for frying that had begun to emanate from the candle. It was a familiar, comforting scent that had accompanied him from the kitchens of Lothian Manor to the kitchens of the Summer Villa and even the Vale of Mists, and he couldn’t think about anything better.

"The next one is my gift to you, Little Brother," Heila said, taking up a piece of polished marble from the box and presenting it to him.

"The walls of the arena in High Fen City were damaged in one of my battles there.

This is a piece of those walls. This bit of stone has seen the bravest champions to ever fight in the arena for hundreds of years," she explained as she pressed the polished stone into his hands.

"When you explained your virtues, I had the thought that, in addition to standing for the power of Earth, it could also represent your virtue of Courage," she said, holding his hand tightly until the stone began to carry a trace of the warmth of their bodies.

"I, I hope it doesn’t disrespect your traditions of knighthood," she added softly, searching his pale eyes for a sign of how he felt about the gift she’d chosen for him.

"No, it, it’s perfect," Ollie said, clutching the stone tightly as his eyes grew misty. Ashlynn and Heila had told him that a coven was like family, but it wasn’t until right now, as he witnessed the lengths that they had gone through to prepare for him, that he began to truly appreciate how much that meant.

For weeks and months, they’d prepared these things, thinking carefully about each and every offering they’d prepared, ensuring that they not only served their purpose in the ritual, but that they also reflected the things that were most important to him as well.

Ollie blinked away the moisture collecting in his eyes as he knelt to place Heila’s stone gently in the center of the circle of stones that the diminutive witch pointed to.

When he turned back to Ashlynn, however, he was stunned to realize that the object in her hands wasn’t nearly as simple as he’d thought when he first glimpsed it within the box.

"Is that," he started, finding it difficult to speak around the lump that formed in his throat as he gazed at the object in Ashlynn’s hands. "Who made that?"