I wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but I let my mind sift through the memories of that time, trying to placewhat my days had been like then. I sat up a little, remembering something. “I’m pretty sure I copied that one from a botanical art book. There’s a collection of really old ones. I remember them because I was trying to be delicate with the pages.”
“Show me.”
I nodded, and we wound our way along the circular walls of the library atrium. I led us to the tucked-away table inside the tree where I’d spent most of my first quarter when I didn’t have any affinity studies. Some of the books I’d been studying were still stored in a drawer underneath it. I pulled them out and slid them across the table to Callan.
“Here they are. These books inspired the painting I did for the Floral Fete, actually.”
Callan bit his lip, face screwed up in concentration.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure. It’s just a feeling.”
I waited, hoping he’d say more. I was utterly confused about why we were even standing here, looking at these ancient botanical books that I hadn’t touched in months, but I trusted Callan’s instincts.
“Let me go get Professor East. Wait here.”
A few minutes later, Callan returned with Professor East and Professor Tenella. He indicated the heavy, weathered books on the table. “Briar was studying botanical art books and journals this fall. These are the ones she was referencing just before the winter solstice.”
“And you think this has something to do with her powers?” Professor East asked. I could tell he was having trouble making whatever leap Callan had made, just as I was.
But then Professor Tenella slid one of the books towardherself and opened it. She looked at me curiously, her head tilting slightly to the side. Finally, she spoke. “We haven’t heard of this for centuries. But maybe…” Her words were directed at Professor East, who waited patiently for her to continue. She glanced toward the library door and whispered. A ribbon of nearby viny flowered plants slid across it, and it softly closed.
“There are stories of magical botanists who had the ability to store their affinity powers in the pages of their botanical drawings. The rumor was that powerful botanical artists of the Renaissance period weaved a bit of their affinity magic into the pages when they created their books. The abilities to extract the magic from the books ran through a few family lines for some generations then disappeared. The theory was that the magic stored in the books had dried out. But maybe…” She turned toward me then. “Maybe the family lines just went missing for a while.”
I struggled to comprehend everything she had said. “You think that, by reading these books, I drew magic out of them?”
“Less drawing the magic out, I think, than activating the magic that was locked in you. An epigenetic change, perhaps, though they wouldn’t have known that back then. But these lines have been little more than myth for centuries. The details have been lost to time.”
“Fascinating,” Professor East murmured, running his hand along the pages as if searching for power he hadn’t known was there. “If that kind of affinity only ran in family lines, that means she’d be a descendant of one of the great botanical artists, correct?” He eyed some of the portraits that clung to the library’s walls.
Professor Tenella nodded. “That’s my understanding.Some of the most powerful magical botanists of the Renaissance period dabbled in art. Many of them became obsessed with botanical drawing.”
“And Ms. Whelan would be a descendant of whoever’s book activated her powers?”
I sucked in a breath as Professor Tenella nodded almost imperceptibly.
Professor East gently turned to the first inside page of each book—pages I’d always skipped right over—and I held my breath.
“These two books”—he turned them toward me and lifted his eyes to meet mine—“were authored by Leonardo da Vinci.”
Chapter Sixty
“Leonardo da Vinci?” Yasmin gasped as I filled her in on what had happened in the library earlier that night. “As intheLeonardo da Vinci? The one who painted the Mona Lisa?”
I nodded, and her hands moved to her mouth.
“Many of the students here have interesting magical ancestry, but this is a whole other level,” she said. “Your artistic skills must be a family trait, then.”
“This can’t be real, can it? I didn’t even realize how precious those books were when I was flipping through them last fall. Hand drawn and annotated bytheLeonardo da Vinci? They should have had a sign on them! I should have had to wear special gloves!”
I felt borderline hysterical now, talking to Yasmin. In the library with Callan, Professor East, and Professor Tenella, I had heard but not absorbed. Now, though, it was starting to sink in.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. All the books here have been sealed by natural protectants. You couldn’t even light them on fire if you tried.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” I said, though I didn’t feel much better. How important was having this history, anyway? I wasn’t a founder’s descendant who could help with the problem of the school’s verdant shield, and despite my affinity powers, I was falling further behind the other students because I could no longer do botanical magic at the academy. Aside from my heritage being a fun trivia fact, I couldn’t see how it improved the school's situation or mine at all. Still, I couldn’t deny that the connection fascinated me, and I was already formulating a plan to research my ancestor—if that was who he truly was.
“By the way, can you keep this to yourself for now? I’m not sure if this information means anything yet, and I’d rather not be more of an outlier here than I already am.”
