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Chapter Thirty-One
When Ethan left Lyonesse, he took Petal with him.
She could no longer feasibly hide herself away on the island, not so long as the Order was still calling for her arrest for questioning. Aidan had withdrawn any interest in her whereabouts on behalf of the museum, but the Order persisted. The islanders might have hidden Petal, but she and Bramble preferred to take their chances between the moors of Yorkshire and the forests of Nottingham, where no one traveled across the country for a glimpse of the most beautiful witch in Britain.
Petal packed only her dresses, her shawl, and the coins Briar pressed into her hand. “You need these,” Petal objected. “For Mother’s debt.”
Briar sighed. “They won’t make much of a difference now, but they’ll make a difference to you.”
“I’m sorry I caused you so much trouble.” Petal hugged her sister. “But when I go, I’ll take the trouble with me.”
“Be careful.”
“Better than that, I’m going to be invisible.”
As if he had been waiting for his cue, Basil was suddenly on the walkway, stars in his eyes and holding a posy of daisies. Daisies made Petal sneeze. “Miss Petal! Miss Petal, is that you?”
Bramble, who had been waiting in the lilac bushes, threw a shoe at him. It was only partially successful as a discouragement.
“I don’t even know how he spotted me,” Petal muttered. “Three Keepers walked right past me last night without noticing me, and they were bloody well hunting me.”
“Miss Petal?” Basil sounded confused, blinking furiously. Bramble’s rabbit magic had drawn veils of shadows across the cottage.
“She’s not home,” Briar called out before shutting the door and locking it.
“I should hurry,” Petal said. “And I’ll be careful, if you promise me you’ll be a little bit reckless.”
Briar snorted. “I grow flowers.”
“You grow poisons too, you don’t fool me, Briar Foxglove. And I know it’s not been all roses—”
“Except when it was.”
“Except when it was,” Petal amended. “But I’ve never seen you more yourself. You seduced an Iron Crow.”
“Hardly!”
“Ha.” She softened. “This tearoom is not everything.”
“I know.”
“You are more important,” she added fiercely. “Will you come visit me?”
Briar nodded, her eyes stinging. It had been her and her sister for as long as she could remember. Even when their mother was alive. “If I can find you.”
“You can always find me.” Petal hurried outside. The Sea Dragons would not wait much longer. “Are you coming to the ship?”
Briar shook her head. “We’ve said our goodbyes.”
Petal looked dubious. “If you say so.” She hugged Briar one last time, holding tight. “I like him, Briar. He doesn’t care for me at all.”
“You are so odd.”
Petal’s laugh trailed behind her as she darted into the long grasses with her rabbit wife.
She was not the only one eager to leave.
The lines of witches keen to get through the portal and back home wound all the way up the hill to the tearoom. Oliver and Ambrose were among the first to leave. Whatever Ethan had said to him had made him too scared to even look in Briar’s direction. Sorcha treated it as her own personal form of entertainment.
