Over the course of an hour, Cynthia was able to regenerate three plants that had eluded Aunt Rowan’s impressive skills. At first, she wasn’t sure what to do, but after touching the mint leaves, she felt a pathway through the veins, along its stem, and into the root system where she funnelled her energy to unfurl a rootbound knot that was strangling the plant, making it impossible to absorb any nutrients from the soil. It was like untangling a snag in her needlepoint, only far more satisfying as energy and life pulsed through the plant.
‘Well, I think we have another earthwitch among us!’ Aunt Rowan reached out and embraced Cynthia in a warm, hard hug. When she released her, Clio and Ellie followed suit. Ellie wiped tears from her eyes. And then Cynthia stood in front of Helena.
Instead of embracing her, Helena reached down to pet Hamlet between his alert ears, but he ducked away from her. The poor fox had been pacing between Helena and Cynthia all night. He was distressed. When Cynthia had tried to communicate with him in between healing an orchid and a rosemary bush, he refused to answer. Instead, the copper fox whined and turned to pad back to Helena. But when Helena reached out to him, he spun away to come back to Cynthia. He couldn’t settle, and Cynthia empathised with his plight.
‘Hamlet,’ Helena called to him, but he looked to Cynthia instead and whined. Helena finally looked at Cynthia. ‘What have you done to him?’
Cynthia could only manage so many emotions at once. The tenuous control she had on her patience snapped. ‘What haveIdone? Truly?’
Helena’s chin quivered. ‘He’s never acted this way before.’
Cynthia might have felt bad for her if she wasn’t feeling angry for herself. ‘I’m sorry about Hamlet. I don’t know why he is drawn to both of us. I wasn’t stealing your magic, and I promise now I won’t steal your familiar.’ She turned to Hamlet. ‘You must choose Helena. It’s as simple as that.’ Something ached in Cynthia at cutting the bond connecting her with Hamlet. But dividing his attentions between them when they were at such odds wasn’t fair.
Helena shook her head. ‘I’m not saying that. It’s just… nothing about this is simple.’
Aunt Rowan stepped between them. ‘I think we are all tired. It has been a long night. Cynthia, you needn’t travel back to that empty house. Stay here. You can take Clio’s old room.’
Cynthia should go back to her home, but the idea of sleeping alone in her bedroom, a room that would soon no longer be hers and already felt like a stranger’s place, did not appeal.
‘Yes, please stay. You’ve been through so much. I don’t think you should be alone tonight.’ Ellie placed a soft hand on Cynthia’s.
Helena stayed silent. Which should have pushed Cynthia to leave. But she wanted to stay in a house full of love and laughter, magic and mystery. Even if Helena didn’t want her there.
‘I don’t have anything to wear…’
‘Don’t be silly! You and Helena are similar in size. You can wear one of her nightgowns, can’t she, Hel?’ Clio smiled brightly at Helena, who scowled back. ‘Well, now that’s settled, I shall take my leave. I promised Thomas I would be home in time to… err…’
‘Lollygag!’ Sir Robin cawed.
Sparks scattered from Clio’s fingers. ‘Really, Sir Robin. We must work on your vocabulary. I’ll be off.’ She hugged all the women and pulled Cynthia close. ‘Remember when you told me not to worry, that Thomas was half in love with me already? Well, now it’s my turn. Don’t fret, Cynthia. She’s half in love with you already.’
Cynthia pulled back, staring into her sister-in-law’s frank gaze with a mixture of shock, hope, and disbelief in equal measure. She knew Helena didn’t hide her sexuality with her family, but it was hard to believe they were so accepting. And it didn’t matter anyway. Because Clio was wrong about Helena. She wasn’t falling in love with her. If anything, she was slipping away.
And what about Cynthia? Did she want to fall in love with Helena? She had just been released from a lifelong commitment to another person. She wasn’t sure she wanted to enter into a new relationship, even if it was with a woman who made her feel things no one ever had. Who might be intertwined with her very soul. Who might hold Cynthia’s future in her magic-infused hands.
After Clio left, both Aunt Rowan and Ellie looked at each other for a moment before speaking at once.
‘I’m exhausted.’
‘Look at the time.’
Helena’s eyes widened. ‘You can’t both go to bed at once.’
If Cynthia didn’t know any better, she would think Helena was scared.
‘Whyever not?’ Aunt Rowan’s innocent question was followed by a wicked smile.
‘Because… err… we still have to sort out Cynthia’s sleeping arrangements.’
‘I may have peeked into the potential of this evening running late.’ Ellie’s cheeks grew suspiciously pink. Apparently, all the Blair women were prone to blushing, except Aunt Rowan. ‘It appeared we would need a guest room tonight, so I made up Clio’s bed.’ She scooped Ophelia from where the ferret had curled into a white ball on the settee’s velvet cushion. The ferret gave a half-hearted, disgruntled chitter before resettling in the crook of Ellie’s arm. ‘Don’t worry, Cyn. You should be quite comfortable. Helena is just across from you if you need… anything. Aunt Rowan and I areallthe way down the hall, so we don’t hear much if you happen to be a night owl.’ She winked. ‘Well, I’m off to bed.’ She gave a final blinding smile and swept out of the parlour, followed closely by Aunt Rowan.
‘Sleep well, my little witches,’ Aunt Rowan called as she ascended the stairs.
And then there were two.
‘Right. Well. You must be exhausted.’ Helena fiddled with her cuff. Cynthia had never seen the woman fidget before.
She shrugged, not willing to make this easy on Helena. ‘Not really.’
