Elowyn tilted her head. “You have purple eyes. My sister said she had a friend with purple eyes once,” she said.
I heaved a sigh. “Elowyn, was it?”
She nodded.
“Do you by any chance know someone called Lana?”
She nodded again.
A feeble ray of hope shone down on my situation. I felt foolish asking such a young child, but she was my only option at the moment.
“And do you know where she lives? Can you take me to her?”
Elowyn nodded yet again.
I nearly melted with relief. “Great. Which way do we go?”
Instead of pointing to a direction, Elowyn merely stretched out her hand. “Take my hand,” she said.
“Er...alright.” I took her hand.
Then, my stomach dropped to the ground and the field twisted away. In a blink of an eye, I was standing before the door to Lana’s hut. I stumbled back.
“W-what happened?”
“We transported from one place to another.”
Elowyn blinked up at me. I realized I was still clutching her hand and let go.
“How did you do that?”
“I’m a charmwitch,” she said simply. “Didn’t you know?”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.
Elowyn, seeing that I had nothing to say, shrugged. “Well, you’re welcome. I’ll see you around?”
I nodded and she skipped off without another word.
When I regained my senses, a figure was walking uphill towards me. It was Lana. Miriam’s warning came back to me. I had to have a death wish to come back to Lana’s cottage uninvited.
“Lana,” I managed to say as she approached.
If she was surprised to see me, she didn’t show it. A basket hung from the crook of her elbow, filled to the brim with glass containers and sprigs of herbs. She hardly spared me a glance.
“What did I tell you last time, Miriam?” she said. “This girl and her nannies are not welcome here.”
Lana slipped into the cottage and slammed the door. A purple glow surrounded the handle, but I twisted it and entered.
“Miriam isn’t here. It’s just me,” I said.
Lana set down her basket on a counter, her expression a mix of irritation and surprise. “That enchantment took me weeks,” she muttered. She briskly removed the contents of the basket, glass clinking as it hit the wooden surface. “What is it you want, girl?” she asked. “I already told you I do not take custom orders from humans.”
I bit my lip, cowed by her dismissive tone. “But I’m not,” I said. “Not really.” I let my bag fall to the floor with a thump. The silver bells of my bracelet jingled as I did this. Lana stiffened and turned, eyes flickering to the bag and then my bracelet.
“Look, I think I really do have magic,” I said. “Last night, I...I had a dream and the plant next to my bed grew.” I toed the bag, and the engorged leaves tumbled out.
Lana’s face remained stony. “Perhaps you used too much fertilizer,” she said and turned back around to busy herself.
