Page 58 of When the Witch Met the Minotaur

My heart pounds against my ribs and my mouth is dry, but I’m doing this.

I take the small box from my pocket and go to one knee. Tully’s eyes widen as I open the box to show the ring I made with the inert parts of the chaos mirror.

“It’s scary like you,” I say, chuckling.

She grins and lets me take her hand.

“Will you marry me, Mistress Tully, Witch of my Heart?”

Her eyes shine. “Yes, Argos. I will.”

I slip the ring on her finger. Three tiny skulls from the chaos mirror sit atop the copper band.

Rustion and everyone cheers.

“Only our witch would love a ring like that,” Cyrus says, smiling and raising his mug.

“It’s perfect.” Tully kisses the ring, then kisses me.

I’ve never been so happy in my life. Now, all I need to do is save my family’s estate.

Unless it’s too late…

Chapter 28

Tully

The next day, Argos and I mount two dappled gray horses—a mare and a gelding—and head out of Leafshire Cove. We should get to Mytilene, Argos’s hometown, in about four hours of riding through rolling hills, sleeping farmland, and a stretch of low, rocky ridges. Argos’s horse is called Fernie, a large female with a white nose and a swaying gait. My gelding, Orion, is a lovely fellow with a nice smooth gait and the tendency to wiggle every time we pass a field he quite obviously wishes to gallop through with abandon.

I lean forward and scratch behind one of his big, furry ears as we canter down the road. “On our way home, I swear I’ll give you free rein.”

“I’m a little worried you’ll toss me over for that horse,” Argos says.

“Orion is castrated, love. You don’t have anything to fret over.”

Argos shuts his eyes and shakes his head. “You’re killing me, Witch. But really, can you talk telepathically with that horse?”

“No. I can with some animals, as you’ve seen with Lady Owl. But not with all. I don’t know why some are open to me andsome are not. It’s a mystery that we might never have an answer to.”

“Hmm.”

“Oh no. Don’t get that look. I’m not participating in any experiments with animals. I have a life, you know. I can’t just be sciencing with you all day long.”

“Sciencing.” He takes two apples from his pack and throws one to me.

I catch the fruit. “Shhh. Just eat your food and hush, Minotaur.”

Orion tosses his majestic mane and snorts.

Scratching him again, I whisper, “Thanks for the backup.”

I eat half the apple, then use my wand to magic the rest of the fruit to Orion. Argos holds up the last third of his apple and I bespell the treat to hover at Fernie’s mouth. The horses chomp happily, and we ride through the town’s open gate.

Mytilene appears much larger than Leafshire Cove. Shops and homes are laid out in straighter lines, too. The buildings are two and three stories high rather than one or two. It’s packed full of humans, but there are several minotaur families, a few fairies here and there, and shrub gryphons everywhere.

“You have an infestation, Argos. I can help with that.”

One of the small menaces flies through a hedgerow at the end of a curving lane. The creature attacks the green growth, dislodging the snow on top and creating a little storm.