When Bryony -- herbalist extraordinaire -- goes missing, Bella knows one suspect stands above the rest. The village's aspiring second witch, Daphne, comes from a family that's tried to take Bryony down before, and Daphne seems determined to carry on...
Bella startled awake at the tinkle of glass. She crouched on her perch, wings fluffed to muffle the sound of rustling feathers. Night still slumbered heavy over the little house, but a violet glow peeked around the doorway from Bryony's kitchen. It burned steadily, as if whoever skulked about there had not wanted to light a candle and risk awakening Titus with the smoke's scent. The useless cat still slumbered on across the room, his black tail mingling with the tendrils of the potted ivy he was sleeping in. Bryony would scold him soundly if he damaged it.
Bella spread her wings and hopped off her perch, gliding silently to the living room's thick rug. She crept across it on foot until she could peek into the kitchen.
Bryony was awake. Not just awake; she was dressed like she meant to go somewhere, and the bag on the table behind her already bulged with supplies. As Bella watched, a box of biscuits and two potion-bottles joined its contents, their chiming glass muffled by the softness of clothing. A Witch-light in a travelling lantern hung from a cupboard handle nearby. Bryony moved this to the table as she added a final notebook to her travel pack. She startled violently as Bella fluttered up beside her.
"Sorry," said Bella. "I wondered if I'd find you here."
"Sorry for waking you." Bryony's eyes were warm in the Witch-light. She tickled Bella under the beak, smiling like she always did as her crow familiar's beak chittered of its own accord at the pleasant sensation. "I was going to leave a note."
"Where are you off to?"
"Someone called. There's been a medical incident in Solanum, and the local Witch is out for the week. They were hoping I could come."
"Will you be long?"
"A few days. Their Witch will be home for Wightnight, though, so I should be back the day after. I've left food and water for both of you, and you can see Mrs. Abrus next door if you run out. Do you need anything else?"
"No." Bella nuzzled up against her, and got another head-scritch. "Just come home safe."
"I will."
They both lingered. Bryony worked her fingers through Bella's feathers, tickling all the best spots as her familiar basked in the feeling. The Witch-light cast the kitchen in a cozy violet glow, a haven for just the two of them, hidden away beneath night's inky blanket. Bella checked the windows. No lights sparkled in the forest outside. The Wights she'd seen passing by this evening had carried on their way towards Baneberry Bog, or wherever else they would congregate during their equinox gathering four nights from now. Bryony would be able to leave without an issue.
Bella leaned her head into her keeper's hand again. Four days was nothing compared to some of Bryony's trips, but her absence made each day feel so much longer: an empty eternity as the house cooled and Bryony's office quieted, its rightful occupant somewhere else. There was never an absence of life; Bryony kept as many plants as one would expect from an Herbalist of her caliber, and Titus rarely deigned to set foot outside. But it never felt the same.
"I should go," said Bryony, breaking away at last. "Keep Titus out of trouble for me, will you?"
"I'll try."
If that wasn't permission to peck the cat's tail out of the ivy-pot, nothing was. Bella let herself anticipate the confrontation, a small consolation against the ache of Bryony's imminent departure. The Witch gathered her bag and lantern, then crumpled up the note she'd written and tossed it into the still-warm ashes of the kitchen fire. She sent Bella to fetch a quill she'd forgotten while she donned her cloak against the midnight autumn chill outside. Wight weather.
For a long moment, Bella debated asking to come along. She could fly ahead and inform the residents of Solanum that help was on its way... but that wouldn't work. With the town's Witch absent, there would be nobody in Solanum capable of speaking with familiars. Bella could always peck out messages if someone wrote the alphabet for her, but by the time she found someone awake and able to do that writing, Bryony would be almost there already. Solanum was only an hour's walk away.
Bryony seemed eager to leave now. As she should, if someone in need of medical assistance awaited her at the journey's other end. Bella saw her out the door, then fluttered to the window and watched the Witch's retreating lantern until it winked out of sight.
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