Wendy narrowed her eyes. “I thought I explained this already. The world needs a firmer hand from magical botanists. Plants are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate. If we don’t get more botanists in positions of power?—”
“Mom,” Callan said, taking a step forward so that he was positioned between me and Wendy. “This ends now. I’m going to medical school. Briar is going to do whatever she wants. We’re adults, and you don’t have a say in it.”
Wendy’s face became very still, and she looked at Callan then me then our intertwined hands and back at Callan again. “Youth. Always thinking you have it right.”
“Following our dreams and believing we can make the world a better place through our actions isn’t a delusion of youth,” I said, meeting her eyes. “It’s our superpower.”
Wendy pursed her lips and held my gaze for several moments. When she finally spoke, she said, “I hope I’ll neverhave to say I told you so.” With that, she turned and went back to the head table with Feathergrass.
“There. Let’s hope that bombshell will keep her distracted while we get down to business,” Callan said.
“Are you okay? Did you really transfer your field studies assignment? Are you working on the medicine research fully now? Did Feathergrass approve it?” I asked.
“Yes to all except for Feathergrass’s approval, and I feel better than I have in a long time.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you.”
He touched a hand to my face and ran a finger along my bottom lip. “That’s worth a lot, Briar. It’s worth everything.”
Hollis cleared his throat. “Hate to break up this little love session, but how about you two try not to draw the attention of the whole academy tonight?”
I looked around and noticed that most of the students were getting seated for dinner. “What?” I turned to Hollis. “Eyes aren’t on the fern founders’ descendant for five minutes, and you have to intervene?”
Hollis grinned at me then said to Callan, “She’s a keeper.”
“I know. Let’s get seated.” Callan took my hand, and we went to the table, taking a spot by some of the tree affinities.
My friends were sitting directly across from us, with Hollis and the other ferns, and Meadow was pretending she was too cool for any of us, as planned. Aside from Callan’s little display of affection that I hadn’t seen coming, the plan was to keep everything about our actions as normal as possible.
Before the meal was served, Feathergrass rose for what was Professor East’s traditional speech. “Happy equinox, botanists. With the changing of the seasons, I hope you can all reflect on your accomplishments this term. Consider whether you’re working as hard in your studies as you should be. Judge whether you’re giving your all to your field studies assignments. And most of all, consider how you can pursue excellence in magical botany so that you may climb the highest ladders of our society and change the way humanity interacts with plants. If you are ever unsure if you’re being ambitious enough in your plans, please do not hesitate to make an appointment with me.”
Feathergrass stood for a few more moments as we gave a weak round of applause, then he took his seat.
“Lamest equinox speech ever,” Coral whispered.
“Let’s hope it’s the last one he ever gives,” Hollis said.
We brought our glasses together in a toast at our section of the table.
“Cheers to that,” I said.
Chapter Sixty
The vernal equinox dinner and dessert passed uneventfully, if you could count an outdoor garden party with flowers floating in the air and blooming in front of our eyes on the tables as uneventful.
By the time the window for recharging neared, I was ready to confirm that everything was in place.
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath as members of the Root and Vine Society gathered in the forest. Laurus and Kaito had made sure the food that had been served would give the guests an extra sprinkle of endorphins, and we could hear the rest of the school making merry by the pond. It was now or never. “It’s almost time for me to meet the others at the wall. Does anyone have anything new to report?”
Meadow nodded. “My mom’s coming. She wants to be here to show that this has support from more than just students. She’ll meet us at the wall.”
I raised my eyebrows but nodded.
“The jewelweed pods are all primed to explode… loudly,” Laurus said, excitement gleaming in his eyes. “I spent a lot of time on the cellular adjustments, and when I did a small test, it worked like a charm.”
“Nice work,” I said, hoping the distraction we had planned for Feathergrass would function as designed. With Laurus on the job, it seemed a safe bet.
“I got the intel from Professor East’s office during dinner,” Kaito said. “Feathergrass seems to know about two of the petal portals, but thanks to Aurielle and the cartography class, we can use one he doesn’t know about. Enter by the orchards, and you should be clear.”
