Emille

Chapter 11

Natalia was getting the distinct impression that Isa was irritated by her. Which was ridiculous, of course. She'd been nothing but charming and helpful, had she not?

"Dried mulberries, please."

Isa's words were short and gruff, the request coming out as a demand. Natalia bit back a smile. It was fun to ruffle her perfect feathers. She pretended she didn't notice Isa's piercing gaze as she shuffled through one of her herb drawers.

"Is this your system?"

Natalia looked down at the drawer crammed with bags and jars of herbs. It was more of a trash pile than a system. But she knew exactly where everything was. Purposeful chaos. Her hand grasped upon the silken drawstring bag filled with dried mulberries next to the dehydrated orange peels and behind the orchid petals. She brandished it victoriously.

"There you are!" she said fondly, tossing it to Isa and choosing to ignore her previous comment. She dove back into the drawer to find the summersweet flower petals.

Her sudden selective silence seemed to frustrate Isa. Natalia hid her satisfied smile as the beautifully composed girl spoke to her again.

"So how did you and Peter meet?"

It was a politely curious question. Natalia shuffled through various envelopes labelled with the names of various indingenous flowers. She thought about their first meeting; Peter had found her during an ascension spell. He'd scared her half to death, which was closer to death than one wanted to be when detached from their body.

"I found the journal when I was sixteen. Peter was eighteen, and he'd been tracking the journal ever since he lost it the year before." Natalia saw Isa's eyes narrow at the phrase lost it. She wasn't wrong to be suspicious; Peter hadn't lost the journal. He'd failed its mission, and it had moved on.

"How did he find you?" Isa asked, finally settling onto the pile of pillows and stuffed animals amassed on Natalia's bed.

"He's a smart ass and he definitely overestimates himself, but he's pretty good at modifying spells," Natalia admitted. "The journal moves with the lake, so he used some of the water he'd collected from the lake to pin down its location. It wasn't long before he found me too."

"The lake moves?" Isa asked, dark brows pulling together delicately.

"Yeah, The Willow keeps it moving to make it harder for the previous practitioners to shut it down."

At last, Natalia's hands landed on the envelope containing the summersweet flower petals. She tucked it into a pocket, and turned to Isa.

"The lake is our mission. The journal is like an instruction manual. A very confusing construction manual. It'll keep passing from practitioner to practitioner until someone succeeds."

"Why'd you fail?"

The question settled in Natalia's stomach like a stone. How often had she asked herself that same question? Sometimes she convinced herself it was because she hadn't been fast enough, smart enough. But on most days, she knew the truth. She hadn't been determined enough.

Natalia didn't like the twisting in her gut. The room suddenly felt too stuffy. "What's with the interrogation, witchling?"

Isa's partially relaxed posture stiffened again. "We wouldn't have had so many questions if you'd given us directions sooner," she accused.

Natalia smiled. She was getting bored of this conversation. "What's the fun in that?"

"I'm sorry, were we not entertaining enough for you?" Isa's dark eyes flashed, and Natalia felt a small tingle of danger, but brushed it off. She wasn't scared of a newbie witch.