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One substance to another in due course.
Both memory and nature here I hold,
Transform this stack of straw to thread of gold.
As I murmur the rhyme, I can hear Juliette shifting her weight from one foot to the other, probably aching to ask me questions, but to her credit, she stays silent.
Energy begins unspooling from inside me, as if I have a full skein of it tucked away in my chest, and it’s slowly uncoiling, slithering out of my body and into the spell. I must stop before I reach the end of that skein, but knowing when to quit isn’t an exact science. I usually use my hunger as a marker. When I’m unbearably famished, I’ll need to end this and eat.
When Juliette gasps, I know that my spell is working. I open my eyes and there is a perfectly conjured circle of transmutation, a vertical ring of sparkling golden light around the spinning wheel. The straw is already changing as Juliette’s necklace dissolves into the glow. The jewelry is gone for good, but its essence will guide the transformation of the straw. I have to keep the circle going now, as long as possible, because if it stops, I won’t be able to restart it without another gold object, one that means something to her.
“Oh my goddess,” Juliette breathes, one hand pressed to her heart. “It’s actually happening.” Her eyes swerve to mine, alight with wonder. “You’re incredible.”
That look. Those words.
No one has ever said that to me, or looked at me that way. I’m stunned for a second, wordless. I don’t like to analyze my own emotions but damn… that did something to me, deep down.
“More straw,” I order sharply, working the pedal and spinning the wheel.
Juliette hurries to seize more, then hesitates, staring wide-eyed at the whirling ring of magic. “Where do I put it?”
“Just feed it in, and then hand me a bobbin.” The first thread of liquid gold is already emerging from the transmutation circle. “Hurry!”
She picks up a whole box of bobbins and sets them beside me.
“Put one there.” I nod to the wooden spoke and she sets the bobbin in place. Even before I ask, she catches the end of the thick golden thread and winds it around the bobbin, giving it a head start. It coils smoothly around, while I pump the pedal and spin the straw, sustaining the magic with my own energy.
Juliette runs to get more straw before I ask her, and we fall into a frantic rhythm, she and I. The pedal clunks, the magic glitters, the wheel turns and the bobbin spins, eating up the golden thread until it’s full. Juliette trots back and forth, feeding straw into the spell, stacking up the full bobbins and replacing them with empty ones. She’s a tireless worker, and she has an eye for the most efficient way of doing things. I’ve never been hard-working or efficient, but I can admire those qualities in others.
“Anyone would think you’ve done this before,” I tell her.
She shrugs. “It’s easy.”
“Easy?” I snort.
“I’ve accomplished far more complex tasks.”
“Right, the baking.”
“And running the mill, and filling orders for local inns and shops. Bookkeeping, supply lists, unloading stock, hiring workers, conducting repairs—”
“Stop, stop,” I groan. “I hate hard work—you’re exhausting me just by talking about it.”
“What you’re doing right now is work.”
“Not really. It takes energy, yes, but it’s simply a matter of upholding the spell, keeping everything moving.”
She feeds another armful of straw into the transmutation circle, her full lips pursed in thought. “I do work hard. But I like it. It’s fulfilling. Sure, there are some boring bits, but I enjoy most of what I do. Besides, each task is a step toward what I really want.”
“Hmm.” I touch the transmutation circle lightly, feeling the buzz of the magic as it spins. “Maybe that’s the trick to liking work. Doing something you enjoy, with an end goal in mind. What’s yours?”
“Building a solid business that can sustain me and my brother. I want us to thrive, to build wealth, not just eke out an existence. My family has been riding the edge of poverty for generations. I want to change that.”
“Good news,” I say dryly. “Once the King sees this roomful of gold, you’ll be on your way to a crown and a throne.”
“I don’t want either of those things,” she says. “I don’t want to be Queen—especially not his Queen.”
“Then why are we doing this?”
