Light as they were traveling, and with Calyx’s size, they had reached the edge of the forest by late afternoon. Before them stretched pastureland, empty now. It crested and dipped downhill, but the first lights of Port Lorne twinkled beyond the rise.
Calyx deposited Charlotte, Arthur, and Maggie on theground. Elspeth dismounted her horse and made Maggie get on it instead.
“Guess we’re hoofing it from here,” she said, then frowned at Charlotte. “Where’s your cane, darling?”
Charlotte flushed at the endearment, slightly embarrassed that everyone had heard it but pleased at how easily it had come.
“I lost it,” she said with a grimace. She wasn’t sure how long the walk was down into Port Lorne, but she dreaded it already.
Elspeth considered the distance between them and the city. “What d’you want to do?”
Until she’d asked, Charlotte had planned to simply grit her teeth and walk to Port Lorne as she was, never mind any pain or fatigue that resulted. Even now,I’m sure I can make itwas on the tip of her tongue, whereI’m finehad dwelled for so long.
Likely she’d never return to the pre-illness version of herself. That frustrated her—angered her, sometimes—but she was so tired of pretending. Pushing through until her symptoms worsened, indulging in misguided self-flagellation as if it were somehow her fault that she’d gotten sick, just because the place she’d grown up thought she ought to do so.
Arthur touched her arm. “Lottie?”
He’d offered her help from the beginning and never thought less of her for needing it. Elspeth had done the same, before they’d even known each other’s names. Accepting their help—needing it at all—didn’t mean Charlotte was weak or worthless. It just was.
“It’s going to be difficult,” she admitted at last. “I’ll need some support.”
Elspeth nodded, but before she could respond, Ira said, “Here.”
He bent, pinching thumb and forefinger together in the dirt, and straightened again. Thin strands of greenwood followed him upward, braiding together into the shape of acrook. They aged and hardened in an instant, sloughing bark and leaves until the smooth, shining wood of a new cane was left behind.
Ira handed the cane to Charlotte. It was the perfect height for her, comfortable to grip, with tiny flowers and leaves carved or stamped or, well,magickedinto it. It would give her the support she needed to walk down into Port Lorne—and if it wasn’t enough, she knew Elspeth and Arthur would willingly pause a moment to figure out an alternative.
“Thank you,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”
To her surprise, Ira’s ears pinkened. She smiled; he seemed a far cry from her first impression of him.
Elspeth’s eyes flickered over Charlotte’s new cane. She hesitated, then said to Ira, “You’re welcome to join us.”
He gave a thin smile. “Thank you, but I’m... It’s best if I head home. There’s your mule to tend to.”
“We’ll see you on our way back?” Arthur asked.
Ira kissed his forehead. “I’ll be waiting.”
Arthur smiled thinly back at him. Charlotte reached for his hand. Calyx swayed at her side, its tendrils waving alternately between her and Ira.
Ira huffed a laugh. “Go with her, if you want. Mind no one realizes what you are.”
Calyx brushed against Charlotte hopefully.
“You’ll be a houseplant,” she warned. It leaped into her arms and wrapped around her. She laughed in surprise, burying her face in its appendages. She hadn’t imagined leaving it and was glad she wouldn’t have to.
Shrinking down, the plant creature wound itself around Maurice’s bridle to hide. Maurice snorted and pranced, not liking that, but Elspeth calmed him. She walked, holding Charlotte’s hand. Together, they all set off across the pastureland—except Ira. He stood in the tree line, gazing after them.
Charlotte moved closer to Arthur, on her other side, and lowered her voice. “Why isn’t he coming with us?”
“He can’t.” Arthur avoided her eyes. “He can’t leave the forest.”
“Oh.” It seemed like all there was to say.
They reached the top of the pastureland. Port Lorne spread below them, a maze of cobbled streets, tenements, factories, shipyards, and shops.
Maggie sighed. “Green Streets. Lord, but it does feel an age since I seen it.”
