WORK IN PROGRESS: Three Witches #1: Magnus and Magnolia

Chapter 25 (Magnolia): I Felt My Powers

It was the morning of my store's opening and I was up early. During my training, Rosemary had told me there was peace in the sunrise, power in the sunset and magic in the moon.

"All of them are equally important to a witch," she'd said, "so make sure you don't skimp on any of them."

Since this was undoubtedly going to be a crazy day, or at least one I hoped would be extremely busy, I'd decided I needed some peace. Walking out of my place when it was still dark, just before the sun unfurled its first tendrils of soft light, I stood watching the east.

As the sky lightened, I breathed the peace into me, drawing it deep inside, letting it permeate every cell of my body, filling me completely until I couldn't hold anymore by the time the sun was fully up, announcing the beautiful day that lay ahead.

"Every day is a gift, Magnolia," Rosemary had told me. "Never forget to treat it as such, no matter what it holds. There is learning in both the good and the bad that happens, and you must accept them both."

Since I'd already showered and done my hair, I was ready to head to the store where my team was meeting me in an hour at eight, two hours ahead of opening our doors. We'd staged and re-staged, rearranged and rearranged again and again until I was satisfied with the areas, the displays and the positioning of every last item in the store.

Last night, we'd swept, dusted and adjusted until everything was perfect. We just had last minute tweaks to make this morning, and then the doors would open and my days as a working witch would begin, and I could dispense healing and help to those who walked in. My customers wouldn't know exactly why they wanted to walk into my store; they just knew they were being drawn inside. They might think it was the enchanting window displays, but it was the magic calling to their wounded spirits and their hurting hearts.

I smiled at the rows and rows of orchids on the tables outside, imagining someone tying all those ribbons that matched the colors of my store onto the bags. I wondered how much Magnus had spent on all the orchids, the bags and the person who'd painstakingly tied all of those ribbons.

He'd dropped them off yesterday without saying too much, keeping to the rules I'd set. I know he'd had the second trial because the three fae had appeared in my store the day after.

The yellow one had told me that Magnus had survived the second trial, just barely.

"Unfortunately," the purple one said mournfully.

The orange fairy had asked if I wanted to see the replay of the second trial, to which I'd replied no.

Finally, the purple fairy, for some odd reason, had advised me to ask Magnus a lot of questions.

That had set them off like it was the funniest thing ever, and all three had been giggling right before they disappeared.

The fae were odd at times and hard to understand, and I just shook my head after they'd disappeared.

At ten minutes to eight, someone knocked on the back alley door, and I hurried over to look out the peephole.

Magnus.

I opened the door to him and he smiled at me. "I came to help with the opening."

"I don't need your help."

"Noli, I think you're going to need extra help because you're going to have a bigger crowd than you expected. I asked my crew to come in and help, too."

"Why would you do that? There'll be eight of us and my mom here today, not to mention the coffee bar staff."

"I don't think that's going to be enough. There were a lot of flyers handed out."