The witch squatted down and ran her fingers through the lynx’s brown and white spotted fur. The tips of her feathered ears glowed pink, a sign she was happy to see her owner, though she spent most of her time in Morton’s shop catching the unlucky mice that wandered in.
When Orelia scratched under Polly’s chin, the lynx’s ears brightened, and her purrs deepened. “It’s good to see you too, girl.”
The cat began licking her massive blood-specked paw and Orelia let her be. She didn’t want to know what animal the blood belonged to this time. There was a more pressing matter to attend to anyway. Careful to dodge the low-floating trulights, she made her way to the back of the shop.
Morton ambled over to a long table where a box of his most expensive trulights—ones that kept their luminosity for over a decade—sat untouched. Only the most practiced wizards could conjure the type of magic needed to fuel a trulight for years at a time, and he’d expected to make a killing upon arriving in Minro centuries ago. But the lights had collected dust, as the villagers could only afford the single-year orbs, and the people that could afford the five-year trulights were few and far between.
“I’m sorry I can’t hire you, dear. Maybe if folks weren’t so stingy with their coin I could, but I just can’t.” His eyes offered her the kind of compassion that made her feel guilty for having asked him months ago when her predicament first presented itself.
“It’s okay.” Orelia rested her elbows on the table. “I actually had an idea that might help my situation, but I’m not sure if it’ll work.”
“Let’s hear it,” the wizard said with his typical enthusiasm.
“I’m looking for a binding spell for my garden.”
“Hmm.” Morton stroked his decorated beard. “I remember doing a few some fifty years ago. Mostly for farmers whose livestock kept getting out of their pens, so I bound the animals within the confines of the farm.”
“Do you think if I used one on my garden and bound my healing powers to the earth I could make my plants grow faster and healthier?”
Morton pulled a fat brown book out of the stack on the counter and opened it somewhere in the middle. “Still looking to sell your crops for income?”
She rested her chin in her palm. “If I could actually get them to grow, yes, but it’s proving more difficult than I thought.”
He glanced at the shelves stocked with herbs in glass jars. “I may have something you can try. It’s like the spell I gave to the farmers, only I believe there’s something in this one specifically about nutrients. Let me check my other books.” Morton hobbled into the back room, his green robe with yellow embroidery dragging behind him.
While she waited for him to return, Orelia leaned against the staircase, watching Polly’s short tail sway back and forth as she cleaned her paws with lazy sweeps of her tongue. Displaying contentment, the cat’s ears were now a cerulean blue like the waters of the Shallow Sea.
Orelia’s attention drifted out the window to the people occupying the main road. She spotted Rae and a few other pleasure girls on their way to Beron’s, and even from a distance, she could make out bruises on the brunette’s arm.
Orelia shook her head. Rae was the most spirited and defiant human she’d ever met and refused to be healed, as if her refusal somehow amplified her strength and resilience. She supposed it didn’t matter now, as she wouldn’t be there to help even on the off-chance Rae asked.
“Ah, here we are.” Morton appeared with a different book and flipped through the warped, yellowed pages. He set the tome on the table, adjusted his glasses, and began reading.
“To bind for growth: For dying or afflicted plants, sprinkle azure sugar around the roots. Next, place your palms on the plant intended to receive the spell, then repeat the following phrase three times: ‘To mend is to grow and to grow is to flourish.’ Be sure to envision the growth of the plant as you recite your incantation, putting forth your most concentrated wishes for healthy growth. The area that has received the spell will illuminate with a flash of pink light, signaling the binding has taken hold.”
He slid his pointer finger to another section on the page. “For seeds: Bury the seeds, cover them with a few inches of soil, then place two sprigs of rosemary in an X shape on top of the soil. Place your hands on top of the X and recite the same spell. A flash of pink light will illuminate if the binding has properly taken hold.”
A smile burst across her face. “Do you think it’ll work? I mean, if I combine it with my powers it has to, right?” According to theOmnimagia, witches who dabbled in elaborate spells were evil, foul women. Women who forsook the gods in the name of being ‘devout’. She would never do such a thing, so Orelia stuck to using her natural healing and simple, trusted spells she got from Morton.
He cocked his head. “I’m not sure, but it couldn’t hurt to try.”
She sifted through her purse. “How much do I owe you for the rosemary, the sugar, and the spell?”
Morton closed a warm hand around hers. “Your money is no good here, my dear. Keep it.”
She hesitated. “But I want to pay.”
“How about you pay me back by bringing me some fruit when it grows. I am quite fond of strawberries.” His mustache curved upward.
Orelia hated accepting charity, but she desperately needed the spell and the extra coin. “Are you sure? I don’t feel right taking these things from you.”
Morton placed the rosemary and sugar in a jar and handed it to her. “You have been a loyal customer for years, Orelia. And you’re the only other person in this village that enjoys reading and learning about the magic of our world like I do. Consider this a gift. You have used your gift to help so many over the years that it is only right I return the favor.”
Her heart swelled, and the warm feeling was almost enough to erase the embarrassment of receiving a handout. “Thank you, Morton. I appreciate this more than you know.”
He closed the book, and a puff of dust shot into the air. “Do you need me to write the spell down for you?”
“No, thanks. I remember. I need to say, ‘To mend is to grow and to grow is to flourish’ three times with my hands placed atop the plants, then do the same over the X of rosemary for the seeds.”
