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“Before I go, how are you doing with all this? It was one thing when your mom decided it was time to start your courtship with Landon. It’s another thing now that it’s truly happening.”
“This is huge for us,” I say. “It would be the most high-profile marriage between a witch and a mainlander in history. It would completely solidify our coven’s place in society.”
Ivy rolls her eyes. “I didn’t ask how your mom persuaded you. I asked how you’re doing.”
I exhale, moving closer to her. “Did you read any articles about the dock fire?”
The words are so quiet I’m not sure if Ivy heard me, but after a moment, she slowly shakes her head. “Only what was in the paper here.”
“I went to the mainland and read every newspaper I could find,” I say, watching the door to ensure my mother doesn’t walk in. “And you know what? There was hardly anything.”
A look of confusion settles on Ivy’s face. The fire happenedone month ago, when a mainlander who didn’t trust magic or witches rowed to our island in a wooden boat and set our docks ablaze, trying to destroy the ferry route between the mainland and the Witchery. Trying to cut us off. As soon as my mother learned the details, she said it was time to begin my courtship with Landon.
“Why did you go there?” she asks me.
“I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to see how the mainland felt about it, how strongly they would condemn it. It never occurred to me that I’d find just three short articles that never even called it what it was. I know it’s a small subset of people who feel that way, but things like this will continue to happen until the mainland takes a firm position on the Witchery, and what better way to do that than the future ruler marrying a witch? It’s the most powerful statement they can make. If Landon and I were already married and the mainland had officially written their protection of the Witchery into law, would our docks have been burned? We don’t even know how harshly the man who did it is being punished, if at all. It’s easy to feel like we’re protected with the sea separating us, but we aren’t.”
Ivy nods along to my words. “Mom locked our doors that night. It was the first time I could ever remember her doing that.”
“It’s time for Landon and me to announce our courtship. I’m ready.”
The truth is that the fire only affected the timing. My life has been mapped out for me since the day I was born. This is my role—keeping my coven safe by cementing our place amongthe mainlanders. It’s a role I’m proud to play, even though it isn’t up to me.
“Well, then,” Ivy says, wrapping her arm around my shoulders, “I suppose it’s a good thing he’s handsome.”
“He most certainly is,” I say, laughing.
Ivy takes my cup from me and walks toward the door.
“Thank you for asking,” I say. She turns. “It’s nice to be asked.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, because I’m going to keep bringing it up.” She grins and walks out the door, saying goodbye to my mother as she leaves.
I’ve known my parents’ plan for this wedding since I was a little girl, and Landon is a good person. He’s decent and kind. We will formally announce our engagement on the same day as my Covenant Ball, when I will bind myself to my coven for the rest of my life. It’s the same ritual every witch must go through, a choice that can never be altered, can never be undone. I must choose my coven or the outside, seal it with magic, and never look back. Without that choice, magic becomes volatile and dangerous.
Even magic needs a home.
In many ways, I’ve been preparing for the ball for nineteen years. It makes sense to share it with Landon.
My mother has never sat down with me to ask my thoughts on the plans my grandparents set in motion, to find out if I would be okay with leaving the Witchery and becoming part of the mainland’s ruling family. If I would trade my magic for jewels, my swims for social calls.
Every so often, I think it would be nice if she asked, if only soI could look her in the eye and tell her with absolute certainty that yes, I’m committed to this path we’re on.
I love my parents and my coven with my whole heart. I love this island with my whole heart. And I will do whatever it takes to secure our place in this world, even if it means marrying a man I don’t love in order to protect all the things I do.
two
I always take the long way home. I like to breathe the salty air and feel the rocks under my feet, listen as the waves roll onto the shore over and over again. The eastern edge of the Witchery disappears into the Passage, giving way to the arm of the sea that separates us from the mainland.
The mainland rises in the distance, countless buildings and crowded streets stark against the horizon. A large clock tower anchors the city, and while we can’t hear the bells this far out, its presence is undeniable. It’s an impressive sight to behold, and from the shores of the Witchery, it looks almost fanciful, like something from a book.
It’s hard for me to picture what my life will be like when I marry Landon and live on the mainland. The Witchery is my home, with its rocky beaches and cobblestone roads, old stone buildings and plants that cover every inch of them. I love it here. And even though the mainland is only an hour-long ferry ride away, it feels too far.
I’ll still come here, of course. I’ll help my parents at the perfumery, and I’ll be here every full moon for the rush, but I want these moments of walking home, stopping on the beach, looking out at the mainland in the distance.
I don’t want to look at the Witchery in the distance instead.
I shake my head. It’s not that I don’t want it, I tell myself. It’s just that I’ll need to get used to it. I take comfort in knowing the earliest witches lived on the mainland, that they moved only to preserve their magic. If they could build lives there, so can I.
