Page 9 of Healing Elixirs & Wicked Crows

My meal finished, I crossed to the large bedroom tucked into the back of the cottage.Briar's hair still looked pristine in the braid I'd twisted it into days ago, but I carefully pulled the ribbon from it and combed my fingers through the long length.Her pale blond hair lay in gentle waves down to her waist when I finished.More strands had fallen free from it again today.Something that had only begun happening a few weeks ago."I'll be right back, Bri."

I grabbed my cloak and stepped into the dawn.I needed fresh water for my sister's bath, so I made my way to the stream just past the tree line.I filled the bucket to the brim and grunted at its weight as I turned back toward the cottage.My eyes scanned the trees, the uneasy feeling of being watched settling around me.I hoped the unseelie wasn’t lurking in the woods, and for the hundredth time since coming home last night, I hoped he hadn’t followed me.It had been careless of me to scurry off like that, but I hadn’t the nerve to stand there a moment longer.

Herb followed me all the way back, his movements curt and his beady eyes glaring at me as he angrily cawed at my back.I hurried back home, knowing I would give him more seeds once inside.

Opening the door wide, I waited for Herb to enter before swinging it shut behind him.He settled onto my worktable, his usual place to perch, as he flapped his wings at me impatiently.

I heated water for Briar's bath.Twenty minutes later, she lay smelling like the roses I'd used to create my soap, dressed in her light-yellow dress.I left her hair in waves around her body.None of it made up for the lack of attention I'd given her these past days, but it felt good to care for her.

After tidying up, I returned to the kitchen and realized I hadn't opened the window for Herb to leave.I rushed to open it, but Herb stayed put on the worktable.Exasperated, I sank into my chair, sighing with relief.

"For over a century, all I've wanted is to fulfill my promise to my mother, to wake my sister, my best friend, whom I miss dearly."My voice faltered, tears burning at the back of my throat.They stung my eyes, trailing down my cheeks as I sniffled.My hair framed my face as I hung my head, failure weighing heavily on me.

Herb cawed again, as if he could sense the downward spiral of my thoughts.When I looked up, he shook his head.

"You're right," I murmured, wiping my damp cheeks with my sweater sleeve."I can't succumb to this way of thinking.I must refuse to let it sink its claws into me.I need to save my sister, and inevitably, my kingdom, no matter how long it takes."

A loud crash sounded from outside as if every one of my buckets and pots had just collapsed.Before I could wonder what had happened, a high-pitched string of curses hit my ears, and my shoulders drooped with recognition.

"Magdalyn!"I shouted, shocked as I rose and hurried toward the door."It's been over a decade since last you called!"

"Peter's balls!When did you move this here?"she demanded, brushing debris from her legs.A deep frown creased her face, but I couldn't suppress a laugh at her disgruntled antics.Once her pants were mostly cleared of dirt, her wings flitted, lifting her off the ground.

"I always place those there near the end of a growing season.You know that.Where have you been all this time?"

When my mother had sent us away, she’d entrusted our care to this fairy.Fairies never stayed still for long.Magdalyn visited us occasionally, checking in on 'her girls' as she pleased.I practically starved my first winter before she decided to check up on us.After that, I learned not to rely on her help.

"That doesn't matter, dear.What does is this: Are you ready for a magic lesson?"she said, peering at me with her pale blue eyes.

"You mean, the magic lessons I should be having on a daily basis?"I questioned, my brow lifting.

While I might be skilled with potions and elixirs, my magical capabilities were completely underdeveloped.I should have been receiving magical lessons since childhood.

"Precisely," she replied, a satisfied grin lifting her thin pink lips.She lowered her fingers toward the ground, and the dirt she'd disturbed danced back into place as she magically tidied my front yard.

"Maybe another time, Magdalyn.Try in another ten years.Today, I have plans."Magdalyn flinched at my harsh tone.Normally, as a healer, I took pride in my caring nature, but Magdalyn had a way of bringing out the worst in me.She was a lingering reminder of a world that had abandoned us.

Magdalyn huffed, glaring at me."Listen here, young lady.Today is lesson day.Now, you turn that attitude around and maybe you will learn something new."

I laughed, my head falling back."Mags, I’m one hundred and twenty-two years old.I’m not a child any longer.You cannot speak to me as such."I swatted my hands toward her."Now flitter off to wherever you come and go from."

Mags stilled.Her small body drooped before she finally landed on a nearby table.Herb chose this moment to join us outside, landing near her and snapping his beak at the small fairy.She lifted herself back into the air, floating before me with her face scrunched with worry.

"I...I didn't realize so much time had passed."

Something cold settled in my stomach.Her tiny face crumpled like a child's."Magdalyn, you don’t remember all the times you've come over the years?After the first ten years, I grew and became very different.Or the years where I'd grown so thin and fragile due to hunger?"

"I didn't abandon you," she squeaked, shaking her head."I just...I can't remember.There are gaps, Rosemary.Holes where memories should be.Your mother, her death.It took from me.Took because of our bond.”Her tiny shoulders sagged heavily, as if carrying the weight of the world, as she shook her head with a palpable sense of defeat.

The delicate, butterfly-like wings on her back flickered nervously, catching the light and scattering it in a dazzling display.My anger, which had been boiling within me like a storm, began to fizzle out, replaced by a reluctant empathy as I watched her struggle.

"Your mother was desperate those final days," Magdalyn whispered, her tiny wings trembling."She knew she was sending you away, knew she might never see you again.A mother's love can work powerful magic when it's driven by the need to protect."

"What kind of magic?"I asked.

Magdalyn's expression grew distant."The kind that ensures a child can grow up safely, without the weight of impossible burdens.Sometimes...sometimes forgetting is a gift, until you're strong enough to remember."

A chill ran down my spine."What burdens?"