Upon returning to his flat, Briar was intent upon setting himself up for success.
He unpacked loose paint swatch cards he’d collected from hardware stores and arranged them on his desk in an appealing palette. Periwinkle blue, lavender, and dusky pink. With a calligraphy pen, he inked his to-do list on one of them in exquisite, curling lines.
Derringer had always told him,If you spent half as much time practicing spells as you did the calligraphy of your notes, you’d perhaps make a half-decent enchanter.
This wasn’t encouraging.Half-decenthad always been the superlative prediction of his peers and masters, but Briar would not settle for less than fame and the undiluted adoration of the masses. Thus, he labelled the pink cardDreams and Aspirations.Below, he detailed those far-flung fantasies.
1.
Make clothes.
2.
Make clothes that make people happy.
3.
Make lots of people happy so they remember me when I x_x
It brought him a measure of accomplishment to pin these to his corkboard and mount it on a rusty nail above his desk.
“Is that really necessary?” Vatii griped.
“It helps me organize my thoughts.”
“It’s procrastinating, but in a fancy way.” Vatii plucked up the card he’d yet to pin—the one with his immediate to-do list. “This is most important.”
The list, he’d thought, was simple, but looking at it now, a knot of worry formed in his throat.
1.
Brew Diarmuid’s potion.
2.
