We stopped at a mid-sized cottage with a thatched roof, reminding me of something from a child’s fairytale. I took it in, the ancient quaintness relaxing my shoulders.
“Scarlett and Valik will arrive shortly. I’ll have Scarlett escorted here once she does. Would you prefer to share a cottage with her or be alone? Your choice.”
I thought over the question for a moment, analyzing every angle the scenario could play out. Scarlett could be offended if I chose to stay alone, especially being in yet another foreign place. But I needed time to myself, especially after learning how to use telepathy. Either way, I didn’t think Scarlett would be angry with me.
“Is there a cottage next to me available that she can stay in?”Iasked, searching the surrounding thatched homes as if I could tell whether they were vacant or not.
Nell nodded. “There is. These cottages are for guests. And if you can’t tell, we don’t get many these days. At least not in the last thousand years since the Celestials were banished.”
I swallowed.“Well, I think I just need to decompress alone. But please bring her by when she arrives.”Excitement bounced in my bones at the thought of trying out my new abilities with her for the first time.
“Certainly.” Nell grinned, her gentle features relaxing me. “Here is your key. We’ll ensure that you have clothes and everything you’ll need. No need to worry about any of that.” Shaking her head, she clasped her hands together in front of her. “Who knows? It might do Valik some good to get out of that castle for once. Solitude for that long isn’t healthy for anyone’s psyche. Regardless of how powerful they are.”
I snorted. She wasn’t wrong. Somewhere along the line, Valik had begun to lose some key factors that composed a functioning being. The question was whether he’d always been that way, or if time alone in that castle had done it to him.
“I’ll let you decompress before Scarlett and Valik get here. We’d love for you to attend our upcoming ceremonies and rituals. There’s one set for the new moon tonight. I hope that we’ll see you there.” Nell dipped her chin to her chest. I returned the gesture, thanking her telepathically before she turned around to leave me to my own devices.
I studied the iron key. It had been years since I’d used a physical key, not a card or keypad, like back at the Palace. This one was ancient in its shape. Its square and elongated teeth jutted out, and the large ring on the end provided me a place to tie a string to it.
Sticking the key into the lock on the rotund wooden door, I gave a jiggle and twist until the mechanisms shifted and clicked. When the door creaked open, the fresh smell of saltwater and oak trees filled my senses. My shoulders instantly unfurled from a tensenessI’d been carrying. My muscles eased, and I inhaled, feeling the purifying air cleanse me from within.
A floating candle in the corner of the front room flickered to life, followed by multiple others, bringing the ethereal space into view. I took in the pristine, yet quaint interior. It held all the things necessary to get by, even a stove and oven in the kitchen. Various shades of vines hung from the stone walls. It wasn’t an overly large space, but it wasn’t cramped either. Minimalism was my forte, so it was perfect for me.
A room hooked off to the right of the kitchen. I took a step and paused when it registered to me how soft the floor was. Grass. The floor was actually a carpet of neat, plush grass.
I walked into the bedroom, then froze, mesmerized. Everything within the house, aside from the older appliances that I believed were powered by magic, was a component of nature. Tree trunks had been carved to craft the bed frame and all the pieces of furniture. A large arched window peered outside, granting me a view of the magical parts of nature that existed in the Mystic territory right from the bedside.
In the connected bathroom, I found a dark stone tub filled with water. I dipped my fingertips inside to discover it was already warm. Everything about the space spoke of coziness and warmth. Nature seemed to be infused into every facet of the home, something I had never experienced before. The Celestial Palace contained parts of nature, but even still, it was grandiose in a way that this little cottage was not.
On my way out of the bathroom, I watched as a white outfit materialized neatly on the edge of the bed. I paused, looking around the room skeptically before reminding myself that the Mystics possessed a different form of magic than I was accustomed to.
I knew it would be a while before Scarlett would arrive because of the walk, so I laid down on the bed, soaking in the calming and quiet energy.
I must’ve dozed off because I jolted upright to the sound of thefront door nearly being beaten down. I leaped from the bed, racking my mind for where I was. The day’s events all crashed into me one after another until I was caught up to the present. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I opened the front door to find Scarlett glaring at me.
At first, I thought she was pissed that I opted to have a different cottage than hers, but she cleared that up the moment she opened her mouth. “How dare you leave like that! I was convinced you got eaten by a fucking Endarkened unicorn.”
Squinting, I noted that the sun had begun to sink in the sky, meaning I’d slept for a few hours. I opened the door wider. Without hesitation, Scarlett pushed into the quaint cottage. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked to me for answers.
I shook my head, remembering that I could now speak to her telepathically after my session with Nell earlier. But I needed the cobwebs to leave my brain first. I hadn’t realized how exhausted I had been.
“Seriously, Cotton. What in the gods fucking names were you thinking?” Scarlett chastised. “You think I could handle Valik by myself?” With a sniff, she suddenly looked around the whimsical room with floating flames. “Whoa.” Her tight posture slumped, the anger seeming to flee her body. She exhaled, her chest deflating.
I bit back a chuckle at how closely her reaction to the room had mirrored my own. I grabbed her hands, guiding her to a sofa resting against the wall beneath an oval window, then sat beside her. “This place is so relaxing, right?” She had obviously been to her cottage already, as she wore clothes that were more aligned with the Mystics: a loose white tunic and pants to match.
I nodded, looking around the room again, still amazed at how something so quaint and small could be so soothing and wonderful.
While Scarlett sat and took in the space, I worked on clearing my mind, just as I had during my session with Nell. When the invisible cord connecting our foreheads came into view, I latched on.
“I’m sorry I took off like that. I couldn’t keep depending on you to be my voice,”I said into Scarlett’s mind, making her gasp and jump.
Scarlett’s mouth opened in shock, her wide eyes brimming with unshed tears. “Cotton?” Her voice broke. She squeezed my hands.
“Yeah. Gods, it’s so great to be able to speak to you again.”
Scarlett threw her arms around my neck. “It’s so wonderful to hear your voice. How are you able to do it?”
I shrugged.“Apparently, I have a Druid somewhere in my family lineage, which allows me some new abilities that I never had access to until I got to Arcadia. I think it’s due to the aether. Valik and I were discussing it yesterday, just before you woke up.”
