Blissfully, with the help of Nurse Felicity’s potion, Riley slept. She slept almost all the way up until 10 o’clock, when there was a knock on her door. She stretched her arms out, not quite ready to pull herself out of the comfort of her bed when there was a second knock, this time more rapid. She pulled a shawl over her nightgown and blearily crossed to the door in a couple of steps.

  From the other side of the door she could hear Elliot’s speaking in a rushed tone, “This is a bad idea, Bruno! This is the girl’s dormitory! What if we get caught?”

  Riley cracked the door open so she could peer out at Elliot and Bruno, cautious to not let them see too much of the room behind her. She’d been preoccupied and hadn’t been keeping her space very tidy ever since her conversation with Professor Karasu.

  Bruno smiled when he saw her, looking relaxed as ever. Elliot, on the other hand, froze when he saw Riley, Bruno looking expectantly at him. It was true that boys were not allowed in the girls dormitories, and other circumstances Riley might have been alarmed, but it was just Bruno and Elliot. Their presence felt as natural to her here as it did anywhere at Ms. Purple’s.

  “Elliot,” Bruno prompted. “You had something to say?”

  “Oh, uh, no,” Elliot spluttered, glancing nervously down the hallway. “I mean, yes. Just, not here. I didn’t think… I didn’t want to disturb you if you were asleep and… well then Bruno just… I mean we’re not supposed to…”

  Bruno clapped Elliot on the shoulder, interrupting him, “What our friend here is trying to say is that it’s a beautiful day out there. Since we have the day off, Elliot thought we could all go down to Skolton.”

  “That sounds really nice!” Riley said cheerfully. “I’ll need to get Herbert and…”

  “I think someone is coming!” Elliot hissed, grabbing Bruno’s wrist and pulling at him. The sound of footsteps and chatter echoed down the hallway. Bruno raised an amused eyebrow at Elliot, not budging.

  “Meet us outside when you’re ready,” Bruno told Riley. When Riley nodded her agreement he finally turned and strode casually after Elliot.

  Riley dressed quickly, pulling on a light blue dress and her walking boots. She gathered up Herbert from a pile of leaves on the bedside table and made her way to join the boys.

  There were regular carriages that traveled between Ms. Purple’s and Skolton, but with the nice weather they decided to walk. It took about an hour on the wide dirt road to reach the village, which was located on the outskirts of the forest. Riley had been through Skolton on her way to Ms. Purple’s, but she hadn’t actually spent time there, and it was a nice to have a change of scenery.

  Ever since Riley’s conversation with Professor Karasu, she felt as though her whole life was hazy. Did she want to be an average person, or an average witch? Did she want life, or power? She and Herbert had gone over it many times, but hadn’t really gotten anywhere. Herbert was having trouble grasping what the decision even meant. To a jumping spider, 80 more years of life felt close to an eternity. He didn’t really understand what they would be giving up if they chose power. On the other hand, he didn’t really understand either what they would be giving up if they chose life. The ambition to study magic and use it to help others - that was all Riley. Sure, Herbert enjoyed learning new sigils and weaving them, but it seemed more like a fun hobby for him, rather than a passion. He would be just as content living out his days feasting on flies and messing up Riley’s hair as he would be channeling magic. From Herbert’s point of view, it was Riley’s choice to make.

  Riley was grateful to be outside and moving, the chilly autumn breeze helping clear her mind. She felt like she could put her troubles aside for once. Herbert was in a good mood too, pointing out in flashes of images things that interested him as they walked. A flower here, a bumblebee there, the warming touch of the sun on Riley’s hair. Riley drank it all in, trailing behind, letting Bruno and Elliot’s voices wash over and around her as the two of them chatted.

  “There’s a tea shop on the main street,” Elliot told Riley and Bruno as buildings came into view. “We should get lunch there, my treat.”

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  Bruno and Riley gladly accepted this, following Elliot to a round building with textured grey walls. As they stepped through the doorway into the tea shop, Riley was hit with the steamy smells of flowers and herbs and fruits. The tea shop was obviously a favorite place for many, the large main room bustling with locals and students from Ms. Purple’s.

  “What kind of tea do you guys like?” Elliot asked as they stood in line to order. “We can share a pot. I usually go for chamomile when I’m studying, but I think right now I’m in the mood for something citrusy. Thoughts?”

  “I don’t drink tea,” Bruno said simply.

  “We’ll see about that,” Elliot responded, a skeptical look on his face. “Riles?”

  “Whatever you want sounds good,” Riley said enthusiastically. When she thought of tea, she usually just pictured the simple green tea that her family would drink in the winter. The smell of this place alone told her that she was far beyond her depth here. She had no idea what kind of tea would be good, but she trusted Elliot’s judgement.

  “In that case, let’s do a lemongrass tea,” Elliot said.

  Once they had ordered their food and tea at the counter, Elliot guided them upstairs to the second floor of the building, which was comprised of many smaller sections. Riley was surprised to see these sections were divided by what looked like braided branches growing from underneath padded rugs on the floor. The smooth grey bark reached upward and culminated in a canopy of green leaves, bits of sunlight peaking through. She’d been distracted by everything inside the walls when they were downstairs. Now she realized that the whole building was constructed from the living branches of trees.

  “Woah,” Riley said, reaching out to touch one of the walls.

  “Pretty cool, huh,” Elliot said, smiling at Riley’s reaction. “There’s a whole bunch of buildings like this around Skolton. It takes ages to train the trees into the right shapes. An old tradition that was brought here from nobody knows where. They have to shut down in the winter because it gets too cold, but until then…”

  Riley smiled back, enamored by Elliot’s knowledge of the village. He always had tidbits of information like this to share and Riley enjoyed hearing them. The way that Riley wanted to know more about magic, it seemed that Elliot desired to know more about people and the places they lived. His enthusiasm for it shone through in moments like this.

  “Riley, pick a table, and we’ll go get the food,” Bruno instructed.

  “Sounds good,” Riley responded, accepting her mission. She passed by all the sections, but unfortunately they were all occupied. She did a second sweep, hoping she had been mistaken, but still no luck.

  Riley was about to give up and go back downstairs when a young woman sitting alone waved to her. “I’m almost done if you want to take this table!”

  “Oh, thank you!” Riley said, approaching. She realized that the young woman looked familiar. “Do we have a class together?”

  “Indeed we do! I’m Marisol,” the woman said. “But my friends call me Mar. Come, sit down! We’re in Professor Talbot’s homeroom together. Although I’m not surprised you didn’t recognize me. I usually sit in the back so I don’t have to be near that Alora girl. She’s so rude.”

  Riley sat, saying, “I’m Riley. And definitely agree about Alora.”

  “Oh hey, Mar,” Elliot said, arriving with Bruno, tea tray in hand.

  “Hello, boys,” Mar said cheerily. “And what kind of tea did you get? It smells delicious!”

  “It’s some sort of lemongrass-eleuthero blend,” Elliot said. “You want a cup?”

  “Well, since you’re offering,” Mar responded brightly. Bruno and Elliot sat at the table, Bruno passing out their food while Elliot poured tea for everyone.

  Bruno tried to reject the tea but Elliot gave him a scolding look, saying, “It won’t kill you to at least try a sip.”

  Elliot passed Riley a cup of tea, which she gratefully accepted, breathing in the citrusy scent. She quickly dipped the tip of her pinky into the hot beverage and then brought it up to her shoulder, coaxing Herbert out to taste it. Herbert was reluctant at first, sending Riley questioning energy along with an image of Mar. A new friend, Riley told him.

  “Oh, is that your familiar? Are you a witch? That is so cool!” Mar exclaimed when Herbert emerged from the shadows of Riley’s hair. Riley smiled, caught up in Mar’s eager tone, and was about to respond when she realized she didn’t know. Was she a witch anymore? Was that the path, the title, she would be claiming? Riley tensed, feeling her heart sinking.

  Elliot was giving her an odd look, his eyes sympathetic. She hadn’t talked to him about the dilemma she was facing, but she got the sense that maybe he knew more than he’d been letting on.

  Riley was grateful when Elliot turned the conversation, asking, “Riles, any progress on figuring out Cappy’s prank?”