CHAPTER SIX
Renovating a building was a lot harder than Nyssa expected.
Of course, it would have been much easier if she’d been willing to use her magic, but whenever she tried, her heart would start racing in her chest, her hands turned slick with sweat, and her ears began ringing.
The small amount of magic she had managed to summon had been weak, and the scent it had emitted had carried a faint, bitter tang that made Nyssa ache for the comforting aroma of her old magic.
At least no one else had noticed her lack of magic use.
Or, if they had, they were polite enough not to comment on it, Nyssa thought ruefully as she looked around the shop.
Liora was balanced on a rickety old stool with her lips pursed, her arms outstretched as she tried to slot a recently polished shelf into place.
Elowen stood at her side, ready to catch her should she fall, while Alaric sanded away at the wooden counter he had spent days painstakingly building with his bare hands.
She’d been surprised at how willing everyone had been to help with the redecorating.
No doubt Liora’s infectious excitement that evening at The Pixie’s Grove had helped to convince Elowen and Alaric that sorting out the space would be more fun than hard work.
Nyssa had taken on the task of painting the recently plastered walls, and so far, had managed to get about as much paint on herself as on the walls themselves. She sighed, turning back to continue the haphazard painting.
‘Do you need some help?’ Elowen asked. Nyssa had been so focused on covering a stubborn patch of wall she hadn’t noticed the elf come over to her, and when she saw the amused, dimpled smile on her face, her stomach gave a frustrating flip.
‘What gave it away?’ she asked, gesturing to her paint-covered clothes.
Elowen let out a small, melodic laugh and reached down to grab the spare roller next to the paint tray at the same time as Nyssa went to hand it to her.
Their fingers brushed, a brief, ghost-like touch that made the elf flush a pretty, sunset pink.
‘Sorry.’ Elowen retreated a little too quickly. ‘So, um, how about I tackle this wall, and you get started on the space around the windows? I think you’ll do less damage with a brush than a roller.’
She was right. In fact, Nyssa ended up finding the intricate detail of painting by brush far more relaxing than using the roller, so much so that she even started humming as she worked.
It was a past habit she hadn’t even realized she’d lost until that moment, and the realization made her hum louder, until Nyx’s ears perked up and she began meowing alongside her, and the entire group dissolved into fits of laughter.
The moment filled Nyssa with such warmth, such joy, that she was still grinning when her companions left for the evening half an hour later.
It was the first time she’d been in the shop alone since buying it, and as she took in the freshly painted walls fitted with various shelves, imagining how it would look once she’d brought in plush, velvet armchairs and sofas, she was hit with a sense of something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
Satisfaction.
Nyssa’s fingertips began to tingle with her magic as the feeling settled over her.
For the first time since the incident with her coven, the thought of using it didn’t fill her with dread.
Slowly, cautiously, Nyssa focused on the tingling sensation building in her chest, willing it to stay rather than pushing it down.
And as she did, she caught the briefest kiss of her magic’s scent in the air, a fleeting sweetness mixed with a tang of cacao.
It was like catching the smell of smoke on the wind, there and gone so fast she could have convinced herself she’d imagined it if it weren’t for Nyx – who had taken to curling up in one of the window seats while the others worked each day – lifting her nose up to sniff the air and letting out an approving meow.
‘Hmmm …’ Nyssa tapped her toe on the floor, her eyes roaming the shop for a task that still needed to be done.
She’d wanted to hang fairy lights up on the engraved ceiling so that it gave the impression of a night sky with twinkling stars, and had been waiting until she could borrow Gwen’s extending ladder to do so.
I suppose one small enchantment won’t hurt.
With a heavy mixture of both excitement and anxiety, Nyssa focused on the fizz of magic in her fingertips, envisioning it as an energy ready to be released. It responded almost instantly, flowing out of her skin as Nyssa wove it around the tangle of fairy lights coiled in a corner.
Unlike an actual spell, minor enchantments didn’t require any sort of incantation – just a focus on intent and weaving her magic into the fabric of the item was enough for a witch of Nyssa’s level to cause the lights to uncoil themselves.
The faint scent of her magic hovered in the air again.
It was still too weak, and the sharp edge of bitterness to it caused Nyssa to worry her enchantment would fail.
But the magic held. The fairy lights slowly began to rise towards the ceiling as Nyssa pictured where she wanted them to go, willing each strand to its designated spot until the entire sun-and-moon ceiling was alight with sparkling flecks.
The sight was almost as thrilling as the feeling of using her magic again after all these weeks.
The smell of her magic was gone, and Nyssa’s breath caught as she waited for the electronics to spark and set the place on fire, or for the bulbs to shatter and send shards of glass raining down on her. A minute passed. And then another.
Nothing happened.
Her enchantment had worked. Nyssa let out a small, breathless laugh, her smile spreading so wide that it made her cheeks ache. Nyx hopped down from the window seat to weave between Nyssa’s legs just as the bell above the door rang out and a loud gasp of astonishment filled Nyssa’s ears.
‘Oh, wow.’
Nyssa jumped, her cheeks flushing, as Liora re-entered the shop with two large, steaming cups in her hands.
‘I thought you and Swyn had rehearsals,’ Nyssa said.
She hadn’t yet met Liora’s mysterious roommate and occasional singing partner, but she was eager to.
Liora swore that Swyn’s voice was even better than her own, which seemed impossible given how enchanting Liora’s singing was.
But if Swyn could even match Liora’s talent, hearing them together would surely be something close to magic.
‘We do! They’re running late, so I thought I’d bring you a hot chocolate after all the work you did today.’ She came to stand beside Nyssa, the small, sparkling lights reflecting in her eyes like stars as she took them in. ‘They look beautiful! Did you borrow a ladder in the end?’
‘Nope! I did it myself with a simple enchantment.’ Nyssa couldn’t keep the pride from her voice, and when she finally tore her gaze from the ceiling, it was to find Liora looking up at her with a small, wry smile.
‘That’s the first time you’ve mentioned your magic since I met you,’ the bard commented knowingly. ‘I’m assuming that’s because it’s the first time you’ve cast it since you got here?’
Damn Liora and her perceptiveness. A week or so ago, Nyssa would have made up some excuse, but Liora was no longer just an acquaintance. She was a friend. The most patient, understanding one Nyssa had ever had.
Perhaps it was time to start letting her in.
‘It is, yes. I guess … it’s the first time I’ve felt like using it.’
‘That makes sense. You seemed so … lost when you first got here, and maybe now you’re finding yourself again, you’re reconnecting with your magic, too.’
Nyx bumped her head against Nyssa’s calf.
It was the signal she always used when she wanted to be picked up, and Nyssa scooped her into her arms, grateful for the familiar comfort of her weight as she thought over Liora’s words.
‘Maybe you’re right. I … was lost when I got here.
More than I even realized, I …’ She sucked in a deep breath through her nose.
Pressed her cheek into Nyx’s fur. ‘I’m the one who messed up The Coven of the Sacred Owl’s warding ritual. ’
Nyssa waited for Liora’s judgement, but the bard simply offered her an encouraging smile, silently saying: I’m here, I’m listening.
And perhaps it was that, or perhaps it was the exhaustion of holding on to the secret for so long, that led Nyssa to finally admit everything that had happened.
‘Everything was fine with my coven leadership up until a few months ago, when things started going wrong with my magic: small things at first, like enchantments doing the opposite of what I wove them for, or weather spells backfiring. I thought it was something I could fix with a good night’s sleep and more practice, but then, the night of the ritual, I …
’ Nyssa’s throat tightened at the memory of Noah’s bulging eyes.
‘I hurt someone, and I put the entire coven at risk. So they suspended me. They didn’t say I had to leave the covenstead, but I couldn’t stay there after that, so I just started flying.
I didn’t even realize I was heading for Nighthaven until I saw it in the distance. ’
‘Oh, Nyssa,’ Liora said, ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s my own fault. I let myself get burnt out, and I became a liability.
Now, if I want to rejoin the coven, I have to prove myself by completing three trials, and I …
I don’t know if I can.’ It was the first time Nyssa had admitted it out loud, and it took everything she had to keep the tears burning her eyes from escaping.
‘You can.’ Liora sounded more adamant than Nyssa had ever heard her. ‘Anyone would buckle under the weight of the kind of pressure you were dealing with. I don’t think it’s a coincidence you managed a successful enchantment now that you’re feeling more relaxed, do you?’