I nodded in agreement. “But Nevah… why didn’t it work? With five of you, I mean?” As I asked it, though, I already knew the answer. The soil was deteriorating more quickly than anyone had anticipated. But if there were a nearby chemical spill, shouldn’t those impacts be slowing by now? Was the spill somehow increasing in intensity? But I didn’t voice those things. I wasn’t sure if Professor East had discussed the salt and cadmium levels with Nevah.
Her expression darkened. “It should have worked. At the fall equinox and winter solstice, the three of us charged the shield on our own. The charging from the solstice didn’t seem to hold, though, since the shield flickered and Eli had to do thatold Floracantus to enrich the soil, ending up nearly as hurt as Callan was tonight. But with five of us… it should have worked. It doesn’t make sense.”
Her words followed me as I went to my friends and filled them in on what happened, only omitting the privileged information about the soil contamination.
Yasmin made up the spare bed in her room for me, and I climbed into it gratefully after answering their questions to the best of my ability and asking them not to share with anyone else.
Mind and body exhausted, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the lavender-infused pillow.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
It took Callan a few weeks to recover, and as far as the broader school knew, he’d gone on a trip with his parents after the equinox. Rumors about why our gems had flickered twice that night died out quicker than expected as the students were distracted with our new spring classes.
But there was one thing we couldn’t cover up, and that was that something had happened with me. I was still attending classes, but I couldn’t work any botanical magic on the school’s grounds.
In the new quarter, I was taking Latin, Flowering Plant ID, Ecology in Action, and Affinity Studies. I could continue to learn Latin, even if I couldn’t use any of the Floracantus that were derived from the language. And Flowering Plant ID was feasible to work through without powers as well. Professor Tenella assigned a lot of group work, so I teamed with Yasmin, Coral, and Aurielle. They would do any magical investigations required, and I would do all the drawing for our group.
Ecology was a different story. That class took place out in the forest, fields, greenhouses, or on the pond, and I couldn’t conduct any experiments beyond the non-magical measurements.
Fortunately, the instructors were supportive of my continued learning, and Professor Bowellia helped to ensure that I continued to participate, though at a level equivalent to what I would have learned in a non-magical SCC class.
Affinity Studies were the final thorn, and at times I wanted to throw in the towel on being a magical botanist altogether.
I’d started the year unable to do Affinity Studies because my powers had been locked away—for reasons still unknown. Then my powers had been unlocked in a flood, and I’d had affinities for everything. Now, I still had those affinities, but I couldn’t use them. At least, I couldn’t use them on Evergreen Academy grounds.
Professor East was determined that I be able to continue my studies, so he was encouraging me to practice discreetly off campus grounds. Still, this would severely limit what kinds of plants and equipment I had access to. But it was better than nothing, and I was just glad that he wasn’t mad at me for my unsanctioned attempt at charging the verdant shield.
I caught a few sideways glances from other students and murmurs of “Did you hear she tried to help charge the shield?” or “Have you ever heard of someone getting cut off by the founders?” right after the equinox, but thankfully, the comments died down as the new session went on. Magical botanists had the rapid growth phase of their plants and a new set of classes that drew their attention away from me before long.
It was exactly two weeks after the equinox when Nevah informed me that Callan was ready for visitors. Professor East had let it leak that Callan had returned to the academy the previous day, for the sake of any curious students.
I practically skipped to Callan’s room, though there was a slow coil of nerves there too. I entered his suite when I was sure the landing was empty.
“Hello, Briar,” Professor Sage greeted me. “Callan is doing much better now, but please keep your visit short.” He rolled out of the room and closed the door behind him. Once I left the entrance area and fully took in Callan’s living quarters, I inhaled sharply.
Yasmin’s room had blown me away the first time I’d seen it, and Nevah’s was a work of art, but this was something beyond my wildest imagination. Callan’s bed was circular and filled the inside of half a tree, which stretched to the high ceiling of the room.
I forced my eyes away from the tree bed to examine the rest of the space. Callan was nowhere in sight, so I assumed he was in the bathroom, and I took the opportunity to take in the notes and drawings on his desk, the tree sketches and diagrams pinned to the walls, the remnants of experiments that littered the various tabletops. A book on herbal healing concoctions was propped open, sticky note tabs peeking out of its pages. In the corner was a small table bearing a two-foot-tall bonsai tree, pruning shears on a tray next to it.
A door clinked closed behind me, and Callan appeared, along with a fresh woodsy smell, as if he’d just stepped out of the shower. He was wearing sweatpants and no shirt, and Iquickly looked away from his toned stomach. Unlike his arms, his abs were free of tattoos.
“Sorry. Professor Sage let me in.”
Callan didn’t say anything at first. He just walked to his closet and slipped a shirt over his head.
I took all of him in, studying to make sure he truly was okay. It had been hell the past few weeks, wondering if he would recover in full, as Eli had, or if there would be permanent damage from what he had done. Aside from looking a little tired and his hair being disheveled, he appeared like I remembered.
“What were you thinking, trying to charge the shield like that?” The words were out of his mouth so quickly—and so sharply—that I flinched.
“I had to try, Callan. So that one of you wouldn’t end up doing whatyoudid.” I put an emphasis on the word “you,” making sure he knew I wasn’t the only one who had done something reckless.
Callan let out a breath, and I sensed the anger draining out of him, transforming into a determined resignation. “We both did what we thought we had to do. But what about your studies? With the affinity powers you have, it’s essential that you train them. And you only have a little over a year left in this school before you’ll be expected to—” He cut himself off then, and I narrowed my eyes.
“Expected to what?”
“I told you that Professor East couldn’t keep your powers from the Board of Regents. There are people out there who want to dictate our futures more closely than they have in the past.”
“Nevah mentioned something about that. She said that they want to encourage more magical botanists to go into positions of power.”
