Chapter 22
Enid
Pink petals fell from the sky. I arched my neck. Townspeople stood on their balconies, dumping buckets of them over the street, the sweet floral scent filling the air. I inhaled deeply, the smell reminding me so much of my mother it hurt.
Everyone flooded the road around Nevan and me, cheering and lifting their arms and faces as the petals brushed past us. One landed on my head, and Nevan plucked it off.
I laughed and lifted my face, our hands joined, chins tilted upward.
This was all so beautiful. Joyous. Something I hadn’t ever experienced with a community before. It was a different kind of beauty than my bog. But maybe I could appreciate both for what they were.
“The parade is starting soon,” Nevan yelled over the commotion.
“Parade? There’s a parade?” I asked.
He squinted at my hair.
“What?”
“Just . . .” He reached out, finger brushing my cheek as he plucked something from behind my ear. His hand came away with a petal. “I’m tempted to put it back. It looked lovely twined in your dark hair.”
We stood there, holding each other’s gazes for what felt like an eternity, when someone yelled, “You two better get out of the way before you’re run over.”
The townspeople now lined both sides of the road, everyone waiting expectantly for something.
Nevan let go of my hands, stepping back. “Right. The parade. It’s starting. This way.” He nodded toward the side of the street. I was about to follow when I caught a glimpse of what everyone was staring at so intently.
I froze, chest instantly tightening. My legs felt like lead, my insides like stone.
A statue of my mother was being wheeled on a cart through the city. Townspeople oohed and aahed, and Nevan was saying something, but I couldn’t focus, couldn’t make my legs move.
Petals now covered the street, painting it pink. My throat closed as I stared at the statue of the earth godwitch, vines covering their head, moss and leaves decorating their body. It was an exact likeness, the first time I’d seen them in centuries.
“Enid?” Nevan whispered. “Enid, are you okay?”
I nodded, struggling to get a breath out.
The statue’s eyes bored into me, a smile plastered on its face, the same smile Mother would give at public events like this.
Whenever they’d turned their head toward me, that smile remained.
But it was their eyes. Those stark emerald eyes that would signal I’d better behave, not cause any trouble, not embarrass Mother.
Those same eyes stared at me now, reminding me of all the ways I’d failed my mother.
I feared that any moment, the statue would spring to life and reprimand me for standing in the middle of the road and drawing attention away from Mother and toward myself.
“What is this festival celebrating?” I choked out. I already knew the answer, but I needed to hear it.
“The earth godwitch,” Nevan said. “We celebrate them every spring and ask for beauty and new life.”
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t recognized what this festival was celebrating. The caramel apples, the flowers, the garlands. Of course it was for my mother.
Other carts came behind the one of the earth godwitch, filled with elaborate displays of their favorite flowers. All the flowers in their gardens. Some of them were varieties and species created by my half siblings. Not surprisingly, none of mine were included.
Because no one would ever throw a festival to celebrate my existence.
Bile rose in my throat. I needed to get out of here. The statue wheeled closer, so close I could make out all the tiny details that made up my mother. The little flower petals that dotted either side of their eyes. The wisteria choker around their neck. And their voice in my head.
Abomination.
Mistake.
Monster.
Eyes began drifting toward me instead of the parade. Nevan gripped my arms, holding me upright. If not for him, I’d likely collapse to the ground.
The statue wasn’t real. Mother wasn’t actually here. Everything was okay.
But no matter how much I repeated the words, my brain screamed at me to run. To get as far away from here as I could.
Murmurs spread through the crowd, everyone’s stares weighing me down.
“Enid, let’s go,” Nevan whispered.
I was embarrassing him. Oh, godwitches. I needed to leave, but my body wouldn’t move.
Then someone screamed, and my gaze snapped up just in time to see Vine slithering around the statue of my mother.
Oh no. I knew exactly what Vine was about to do. It had been my fiercest protector since the day I’d created it.
I opened my mouth to tell Vine to stop, but I couldn’t speak, my throat still so impossibly tight.
Instead I watched in horror as its powerful body snapped the earth godwitch’s neck right from their head.
Screams erupted, townspeople shouting in confusion and horror.
A woman dropped to her knees, wailing, “It’s desecrating the earth godwitch.”
“Our gardens will be cursed!”
“It’s all her fault,” someone yelled and pointed at me, fury in their eyes.
Nevan had frozen, watching Vine in complete horror.
I shook my head at my companion, but it wasn’t paying any attention to me.
It wrapped its thick body around the statue, squeezing tighter, tighter, tighter until the entire thing exploded, chunks of stone flying in all directions. One piece went through the window of a business. Glass shattered and townspeople ducked for cover, others running to escape the carnage.
“She ruined our festival,” a man shouted.
“Enid,” Nevan said, and I couldn’t bear to see the look on his face, the disappointment, the disgust.
My body finally snapped back to reality, and I wrenched my arms from his grasp, turning and running away.