“Zhen has something for you,” she said, pointing to where she’d left the envelopes from her mail run.
Ollas perked up, hurrying over to break the wax seal. His eyes flew across the page, then up to her. “It’s about the delegation plants.”
“She got the Sentinels’ records?”
“No, they’re still looking, too, but Zhen is friends with one of the archive clerks and got us some notes.” Ollas handed her a slip of paper.
“What am I looking at?” Eunny asked. There was a botanical drawing and a block of text with lots of grovetender jargon and plant parts that she didn’t understand.
“I’m positive that our plants are getting ready to bloom. Still not sure what they are, but they fit a lot of the criteria for rare bloom cycles,” Ollas said. “Weather conditions. Remember the note about all the rain? We’re having that again now. There must be a time element, too, since nothing induced them to change until now. And, I think it’s us. Source magic.”
Eunny frowned, setting the letter back onto the table. “Nev, but I don’t… I’ve never put magic into those plants.”
But that wasn’t entirely true. The night she’d fallen into the garden flashed through her mind. The plants had still been those grassy mounds back then. Some of her magic had escaped. A small amount. Surely not enough to set off this rare bloom event Ollas was on about. And the few drops she’d accidentally summoned over the little cutting he was trying to grow? That was nothing. It couldn’t be.
Ollas was oblivious to her rampaging thoughts. He began to pace, emphasizing his words with swipes of his hand. “I had them on me during the rescue. I’d been digging through the cache, and when the fighting broke out, I just stuck them in my pocket and ran out to help. When your magic went… when all that happened, what if the seeds absorbed it? We’ve seen how the plants seem to just take up magic. What if they’re storing it and it’s part of what gets them to flower?”
Eunny lowered herself into a chair at the kitchen table. It was possible, she supposed. Even if she was a terrible gardener and preferred to buy her herbalism wares already harvested, the practice of imbuing seed stock was common for the varieties with which it worked.
“Okay, maybe, maybe, I can believe some of that,” she said. “But why now?”
“I think it’s us,” Ollas repeated. “Our magic. An imprinting spell—they’re used sometimes to control supply. Seeds that’ll only grow for specific magic-users. Or, in this case, flower. You’ve felt it, too, haven’t you? The pull they have. It’s been building for weeks. Months.”
Eunny’s mouth opened, her lips forming a denial. But… that restlessness, the unnamed certainty she’d been feeling. I think it’s us. The eye twitches that had been plaguing her since summer.
Since Ollas had returned to Sylvan to resume teaching. And the plants had only changed once she’d come back to the school. Since she’d fallen in the garden bed, fed them more magic that had, in turn, caused them to change.
Ollas stopped in front of her, eyes alight. “Now we have direction. Light magic. We can tailor the amendments and treatments for that, see if we can get them to bloom.”
“I don’t have any magic to give,” Eunny said weakly.
Ollas shrugged. “Even on my best of days, I don’t have much.” He shook his head, optimism rolling off him in joyous waves. “We can bring the ingredients in from other sources. I’ll have to research imprinting spells more, but… will you try this with me?”
Seeing him so excited, it was hard not to feel the same. It filled her with a warmth, affection, and a swell of pleasure to be so wanted. A smile tugged at her lips.
She tapped her fingers together as she thought aloud. “Eyllic seeds. Fired up with my old magic.” She glanced up at him. “We thinking healing properties?”
Ollas grinned. “Let’s find out.”
“Deal.”
Ollas’s laugh faded as he looked around, slowly comprehending the additional crates on the floor. “You’re leaving?” he said, eyes sweeping over her bags, dismay in his voice.
“They finally had a place open up in Belle. I appreciated the room”—she waved back to the adjoining door—“truly, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want something full-size.”
Ollas cracked a smile. “Can’t blame you for that.” He sighed, the sound wistful as he stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I’ll miss you.”
“Not going far. I got promoted, remember? From packhorse to...whatever I am now. Lapsed apothecary who won’t leave. And now, your secret lab partner.”
“Won’t be the same.”
“True. I can think of a few differences.” Eunny slowly walked over until she stood in front of him. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this. Because I still owe you an answer, don’t I?”
The knob at his throat twitched with his swallow. “Y-Yes?”
His hazel eyes were mostly dilated now, pupils so large and dark that Eunny could easily see her grin in the reflection. His mouth dropped slightly open, leaving him looking equal parts awestruck and eager. This close, she could see that his freckles dusted more than his nose, the spots a mix of tiny specks and larger dots. She wondered if they existed elsewhere, if they were scattered across his body like stars. She wanted to trace each constellation, see what reactions her touch could bring. See if she could make him spark.
“Do you remember what I said back in the greenhouse?” She put her hand flat against his chest and smiled to feel how his muscles shivered in response.
