Aurelia burst into the chamber, curls flying, cheeks flushed from running. At ten, she had long limbs, quick eyes, and an expression that always seemed halfway between excitement and suspicion. Dani’s heart softened at the sight.
“Aurelia,” she sighed, dropping her hands from the cauldron. The temperature of the room cooled instantly. “You’re supposed to be studying runes with Sister Brynn.”
“I was,” Aurelia said, coming to lean over the cauldron. The potion’s surface shimmered silver-blue. “She said we could take a break. Also,” Aurelia paused, her nose wrinkling, “why does it smell like an old bonfire in here? ”
Dani grimaced. “I’m practicing heat control.”
“Is it going well?”
“No.”
Aurelia tilted her head, eyes bright. “I could try?”
“Absolutely not,” Dani and Edith said at the same time.
Aurelia sighed dramatically. “I didn’t mean casting. I meant thepotion. You know how fire sorta speaks to you? Well, I think the same thing happens with me and healing stuff. I justknowwhat temperature it needs to be. Oooh, I smell ginger. Is this potion for Sister Connie’s bad tummy?”
Dani and Edith exchanged a look.
Aurelia’s magic had begun stirring very young, and she was only getting more curious. But it wasn’t alarming—if anything, it was a good thing. She’d have more years to master the basics before moving on to more exciting witchcraft.
Years that Dani decidedly hadn’t had.
Still, it was proving to be more and more of a challenge to rein her daughter in. The younger girls in the coven, the ones still learning and still curbed by the High Sister’s rules, were constantly chaffing at the limitations. But Aurelia took it to a whole new level. She had been the ringleader of a misguided attempt to establish a ritual circle out in the woods for her and her friends. Several humans out on a hike had needed their memories wiped when the trees came to life and started stealing their equipment.
Aurelia had a fire in her soul that came straight from Dani.
As for her adventurous spirit and tendency towards mischief, well, that…
That came from her father.
“Can I stay and watch?” Aurelia begged, eyes widening and lower lip quivering for dramatic effect. “Please?”
Dani sighed. The last thing she wanted was her daughter getting hurt because she couldn’t contain her own magic. But Edith was here, and it was better that her daughter indulged hercuriosity under careful supervision. “A little. But no touching anything.”
“Obviously,” Aurelia said, rolling her eyes.
Dani tried again. Her hands hovered above the cauldron, magic flowing carefully, not a wave this time, but a thread. The air warmed…gently. Evenly. The potion shimmered…
Aurelia leaned closer. “Oh wow, it actually—”
The room flared with heat again.
Dani recoiled. “Auri!”
Aurelia threw her hands up. “I didn’t do anything! You got excited, and everything spiked.”
Edith laughed into her sleeve, poorly disguising it as a cough. “Dani, your emotions are still tied to your magic. You must learn to separate the two.”
“I’m trying!”
“Try harder.”
Dani groaned.
Aurelia touched her sleeve. “It wasn’t that bad. Only a little hot.”
“You’ll get there,” Edith said, giving her a sympathetic pat on the arm. “Your great-aunt certainly took some time, Gaia rest her soul.”
