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“Let me call the resort—”
A shaking hand on Victoria’s stopped her. Seren felt like she was witnessing a private moment, and yet she couldn’t look away.
“Please, ma’am, I know the prices at the Astronomy Resort. I wouldn’t be able to afford it. I’m looking for work and was up there yesterday, scheduling an interview.”
Victoria nodded, and Seren noticed that she didn’t have her phone out. What game was her aunt playing?
“Well then, no use to fret about that, songbird. Captain here will take you to my house. Since it was a niece of mine who mauled you and another who wrecked your car, clearly, my family has wronged you enough. Now, on you go. Seren, don’t you just stand there, help Lark along.”
It was like being in the middle of a whirlwind. And Seren actually had firsthand knowledge of what that particular feeling was like, growing up with Rhiannon. But Victoria took things to a different kind of heights. Mainly, manipulative ones.
Ceridwen was watching the entire scene unfold with narrowed eyes. But it was she who reached first and gently pulled the woman toward the exit. She swayed again once, twice, and then was out like a light. Seren had no other options but to extend her arms and catch her.
If the world had been holding the floor steady under her feet before now, lifting the weak, unconscious body in her arms felt like the safety was gone, and the planet spun ten times too fast. Something was happening around her, but all Seren felt was the beating of her own heart trying to tear out of her rib cage. Fast, faster, faster. She closed her eyes and breathed, the notes of coffee dissipating under the subtle scent of some sort of citrus, an orange, a satsuma perhaps, so so sweet, so out of place, so out of time, in the middle of winter in Crow’s Nest.
She could feel commotion around her in the kitchen, Victoria and Ceridwen moving and talking, yet Seren was reluctant to open her eyes.
Not yet, not yet… Let it settle. Let yourself feel it.
“Dammit, Ceridwen, I told you to get that soup. She’s clearly malnourished.”
Victoria bumped Seren’s arm and ended the moment. Seren opened her eyes to see Ceridwen watching her with a shocked expression. Victoria’s held none of this surprise as she turned to Ceridwen and admonished.
“Well, we always knew this would happen. Staring at her now makes no sense, Ceridwen.” Victoria pursed her lips and then motioned Seren to follow her. “Bring her up to my place; she needs a real bed and food. I suspect she has been staying in subpar accommodations long enough. Bring that soup too, and see what else is left in the overnight pantry. My home fridge is nearly empty.”
The world was a little snow globe being vigorously shaken as Seren made the short trek from the Tavern to Victoria’s little cottage. From blinding white slowly accumulating in drifts, into the comfort and the cozy, dressed with wooden notes and scents from candles and herbs. And then there were all the books and candles, scattered haphazardly on all surfaces and even spilling on the thick carpets.
Seren lay Lark down in her aunt’s spare bedroom and straightened, still dazed, still uncomprehending of what had happened.
“Are you just going to stand there? You’ll have all the time in the world to do that later. Though if that’s your strategy, maybe it’s a plausible explanation for your solitude.” Victoria pushed her aside, leaned over the still form, and gently took off the scuffed boots.
Seren couldn’t help but notice the darned socks. For some reason, the care put into preserving the clothing made her throat close again. Victoria tsked and then covered Lark with two blankets at once.
“What should I be doing? Other than radioing the plowing coordinator that I’ll rejoin the snow clearing effort a bit later?” Seren pushed the words out with some difficulty.
“Be a bit more subtle with the staring, for one. Then go light the fires in the kitchen hearth and the fireplace.”
The door banged, and Ceridwen entered with a hot water bottle.
“It’s not like Lark can see her anyway. Let her stare.”
Seren felt her mouth open, but nothing came out. She really had no defenses here. Something was happening to her, to the air in the room, to the sheer architecture of the building. It extended the walls in a direction she was not entirely certain of and yet stood taller around her, making her feel that the ceilings that once felt low and accommodating were suddenly out of reach, and she was exposed in the midst of it all. Seren ran her hand through her hair, pushing the wet, cold strands out of her face.
“How did she get here?”
“Like I said, your sister mowed her down.” Victoria shook her head. Ceridwen rolled her eyes.
“I accept full responsibility, though to borrow your phrase, it was only technically my fault. The local feline ginger celebrity has probably more to answer for than I do. Still, she’s so thin, all I had to do was stand my ground, and she fell to the pavement the moment we collided.”
“You held your ground? What are you? Some kind of knight of the citadel protecting the Tavern or something?” Seren threw a glare toward her sister.
“Whoa, there, Captain of the Fire Brigade. I did not mean her any harm. And you know I’ll undo what I can.” Ceridwen smiled, but it held no teasing.
Victoria threw both of them a decidedly stern glare.
“Leave the bottle and go light those fires. Let’s give this girl a little time to recover.”
“Recover from what?” Seren followed her aunt out of the room, Ceridwen straightening the comforter a bit and laying a hand on the woman’s forehead before following them. All the dissatisfaction with her sister vanished as Seren noticed the little touch, felt the magic fill the air, the scent of apples and grass becoming comforting and soothing.
