The Eldest Marked

2. Strength, Reversed

When Demeter came into her room to wake her for their busy day, Winona had to pretend she hadn't been awake all night. The rest of her birthday was a very bleak affair, even after her mother's insistence on enjoying it. She rearranged her bedroom furniture, dusted the cabinets in the kitchen, and weeded the entire garden before she settled into the thrilling night of pacing in the dark.

They had their breakfast together in silence, much unlike a usual morning. Winona continued to sit long after her plate was emptied. This would not be a usual day, she knew that already.

Demeter pulled a large dyed purple leather sack from the high shelf above the door. "We will be needing very valuable items, so we need to carry plenty to trade," she said.

"I have some things to barter," she replied.

Winona went back into her room to retrieve the spellwoven bracelets she held in a chest under her bed. She hadn't intended to barter them when she made them. Whenever she did not have any lessons or plans with friends, or when the weather was uncooperative, she sat in bed and weaved. Some of the fibers she grew herself in the garden, or foraged in the surrounding woods, while some were summoned to her bedroom with a lot of effort. She spent time spinning it all into yarn, dieing them into whatever colors she could manage, and whispering magic into them as she braided it all into the finished bracelet.

There was a thin white braid that made the wearers mood slightly happier. There was a set of identical burgundy braids that all made food feel more filling. A particularly thick green twisted band was meant to warn you whenever a venomous snake was near, but instead tugs at your wrist in panic whenever a honey bee is near. The rest were all much the same, mood changers, dream bringers, or animal charmers, or even a few that summoned ghostly visions of butterflies to follow the wearer. They were all minor charms, but she hoped at least the bulk of them would offer some assistance in the purchase of her supplies.

Demeter had an affinity for summoning, for creation. Winona didn't know her affinity yet, but she would like to think she was good at her crafts. She gathered the lot of them to barter. Her favorites were neatly tucked away in a small wooden box by her pillow. Today she felt it appropriate to wear her light blue and white braid that smoothed out her emotions more towards the middle. She didn't want to feel happy when she shouldn't be, just less dramatically full of despair. The charm was doing its job, so far.

"Will these do?" she asked while she hauled the chest up onto the table. Demeter frowned when she saw what was inside.

"They will certainly help. If you are sure you won't miss them," Demeter said. "I know you worked really hard on those."

"I'm leaving, I'll miss everything. At least this is just stuff," she said.

Demeter dropped the angry bee alert bracelet when it shook in terror of the hive that lived somewhere in their attic. "Everything will be fine, Win. I promise you that, at least. It may not be what you expect, but you will help people, or even have fun. I lived there for years between pacts, when I could have come back," she said.

"But I like it here," she complained.

Demeter embraced her despite her protests. "If you hate it there, you only have to be there long enough to form your pact. Then you can come home. There will always be a place for you here. Just keep an open mind. They have devices that keep the night as bright as day without fire, and boxes that tell stories with the images of people. There are wonders they have even without the abilities we share," she said.

"Why would they want night to be a second day? How does anyone sleep?" she asked.

"That really is the least complicated thing they do, so why don't you just not worry about it right now? We have some shopping to do," Demeter said with a sigh. "Would it make you feel better if we visited one of your older brothers after? Cyrille lives further still than the market, so we can just keep going."