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clickerflight · 16 days

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Clove: Part 23 - Up a Creek

Benny comfort! Well, as much as I can feasibly give at the moment.

Masterlist - Part 22

Content: Vampire whumpee, fae whumper, abusive marriage, bruising and scratches, brainwashed whumpee, whumpee defending abuser, fae politics

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“Jokel is dead!”

The breakfast suddenly came to a halt, the fae falling silent as they looked to the messenger at the doorway.

Hyrum used the distraction to press himself under Ephraim’s arm, hiding from the fae that had been trying to touch his hair and fur since breakfast began. He’d tried to do the exact thing earlier but the comments of being a rude Guest for hiding had forced him back out, flinching at every move from the strange people around him.

Ephraim held Hyrum close as all of the fae turned their gaze on the Monarch, who seemed rather surprised by the news.

“Dead? How?”

“There was dark magic in the wounds, you’re Majesty, and he was near to the ritual places. I suspect that the sorcerer may have done it.”

The Queen’s sharp gaze turned to Ephraim and Hyrum. “Do you know of this?”

Ephraim shook his head. He looked down at Hyrum who shook his head as well. “We were not there for it, your Highness,” Ephraim said, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice as Hyrum buried his face deeper into Ephraim’s shirt.

The Queen pursed her lips before she broke out into a cruel grin, sharp teeth all on display. There were too many of them. No creature should have that many teeth. At least, no creature living on land.

“Well, it seems we’ll be holding a funeral!” She announced to the table, eyes flitting over through the fae who all suddenly had expressions of jubilee and excitement. “I will have the list for our marching order this evening!” She announced, clapping her hands in glee.

She shot a look at Benny, who hadn’t stopped looking at her through the entirety of breakfast, eyes cloudy and distant.

“You will help me, my dear. And our dear father here will have to join the procession since he was the brave warrior who killed the sorcerer for us! Oh yes, this will be fun, won’t it?”

“Of course,” Benny said almost breathlessly, seemingly overcome by her excitement.

Ephraim bit the inside of his mouth carefully. He had suspected that Benny was charmed, and it was becoming clearer by the moment that this was the truth. His fledgling was completely gone now, a blank doll in the face of the fae queen’s magic.

“Oh, please, your Highness!” a fae with petals for hair and wings called, hands over her heart in what looked like outright ecstasy. “Please can I be put next to our guests? I have been so helpful with the gardens, haven’t I?”

The Monarch’s gaze became disgusted and cruel as she looked at the flowery fae.

“Halia, you are not to ask for such things,” she hissed out with so much venom that the petals on Halia’s head actually withered to black.

She whimpered, sitting back down and covering her head with a napkin, looking down as silent sparkling tears brimmed in her eyes.

The Monarch took a deep breath. “Finish breakfast, everyone. I will start ordering the list with my dear husband here. We will retrieve Jokel’s body an hour before sundown!”

Benny stood up quickly, pulling out his wife’s seat and helping her up before walking away without so much as a backwards glance at Ephraim and Hyrum.

Ephraim watched, listening to the buzz of the fae around the room, no longer paying attention to the two of them.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Ephraim murmured to Hyrum. “I think it’s okay for us to go back to our room.”

“I want to go home,” Hyrum whimpered as they stood up, thankfully drawing no attention their way as they did so.

It broke Ephraim’s heart to see Hyrum’s tail tucked between his legs, shivering and trembling in Ephraim’s hold.

“I know, Goldenrod. I do as well. And we will. We just have to be patient and smart.”

Hyrum sniffled, nodding a little as the two of them snuck off to their rooms. Ephraim just hoped they weren’t breaking any rules by leaving, but if they were the Queen’s guests and she left the breakfast, then surely they were safe to leave after she did. Ephraim hoped he would be able to speak to Benny soon about the rest of the Hospitality pact. And to see if there was anything left of his fledgling under the charm the Queen held over him.

………………………………….

Benny was…. Tired. He limped down the hall, hours later, stomach grumbling unhappily at him. His wife had gone over the fae in her court, picking out the ones she wanted to have in the procession to retrieve Jokel’s body. She then made sure to line them up so everyone would be standing next to someone they hated, laughing gleefully over the drama that was sure to ensue over the next three days.

And Benny was tired. He couldn’t even remember helping her with decisions. All he knew was that he stepped out of the room and exhaustion, hunger, and pain hit him like three carts lined up one after the other. His arm hurt now, too. He couldn’t even remember what had happened, only remembering his wife’s glee getting out of hand. Eyes shining and burning and promising pain that she would enjoy and-

He stumbled, a headache shooting through his head.

He gasped for a moment, touching his forehead before pushing forward. He should see a healer. These headaches were coming all of the time now.

He held his arm gently, watching his feet take their mistimed steps under him.

He stopped at a door and as he looked at it blearily he realized it wasn’t his bedroom. Why was he here? Where- oh. He could smell his sire. His instincts had brought him here, looking for kindness and love and safety when he was so tired and hurt and emotional.

He closed his eyes, shaking his head and turned to go to his room when the door opened.

“Benny?”

Tears sprang to Benny’s eyes before he could stop them as he turned back. Ephraim looked tired too, but that didn’t stop him from coming out into the hall and cupping his cool hands on either side of Benny’s jaw, tilting his head down so Ephraim could see him better.

“Benny, what’s wrong?” Ephraim asked gently. “Here, come in.”

Benny allowed himself to be led in and pushed into a couch. “I’ll make some tea,” Ephraim said. Tea. Ephraim always made tea when emotions needed to be soothed. Something about the place where Ephraim came from, Benny was pretty sure. Most of the people in the village would just tell you to rub dirt in it and it would be fine. He couldn’t remember… who exactly would say that though.

Ephraim came back from putting the tea on and pulled Benny’s heavy jewelry off, gentle hands brushing over his skin as Ephraim checked for injuries. He always did that.

“Eef,” Benny whispered, vision cloudy from tears suddenly welling up.

“What is it, Begonia?” Ephraim asked.

Benny opened his mouth, but nothing would come out. He was so muddled. Something must be wrong. He was so upset but he couldn’t place why. Maybe because his arm hurt?

Ephraim caught on to the way Benny was holding his arm and gently pulled down the sleeve. The open design of the shirt made it easy to do so.

Ephraim saw the deep bruising and scratching around Benny’s elbow and nearly lost it. He only let his fangs flash for half a second before he bit it all back.

“Begonia, what happened? Who did this?”

Benny blinked at Ephraim, uncomprehending and blank with exhaustion. Ephraim felt desperation rising in his stomach, threatening to swallow him whole as he sat on the couch, pulling Benny into his chest. The fledgling didn’t put up any fight, letting Ephraim move him where he pleased.

Ephraim ran gentle hands over Benny's hair and neck, pressing kiss after kiss to his forehead.

“Come on, my boy. Come on, dear. Come back to me. It’s alright, I’m here now. Come back to me baby boy.”

Benny tensed, raising a hand to twine it in Ephraim’s shirt in a way he hadn’t since he had just barely been turned.

Ephraim sat there and rocked Benny gently back and forth, stroking his fledgling’s head and kissing his forehead and hair, murmuring comforts to him.

It took a while for Benny to come back to his senses, confused to find himself held in Ephraim’s arms.

He took in his situation for a moment before he smiled a little. “You’re not mad at me anymore, then, old man?”

Ephraim did not find this amusing. The swift switch in moods was very much not a good sign.

“Welcome back,” Ephraim said, letting Benny sit up, though keeping a hold on his injured arm. “Tea should be ready. Tell me what happened.”

Ephraim stood up, releasing Benny reluctantly to go deal with the upset kettle as Benny tilted his head, confused. “Happened? Oh, yes, Jokel is dead. There will be a three day funeral where every fae will be trying to win favor with my wife and there will be all sorts of drama.” Benny waved his hand dismissively. “I was just helping my wife with deciding who will be in the procession. It’s important to let the fae know their ranks in the procession so they can see who they will need to pass in favor. The final rankings will be made at the last feast when things settle down again, but-”

“No, what happened to your arm.”

Benny looked down at said arm and clicked his tongue. “Oh, I must have scraped it.”

“You’re a vampire, Benny,” Ephraim said, unimpressed.

“Well,” Benny said haltingly, “My wife is fae, you know? She can get a little excited sometimes. It happens, and she always apologizes and makes it up to me. It’s fine.”

“Was she what happened to your leg too?”

Oh yeah. His leg hurt too. “Um, well, maybe, but we were just having some fun and it got a little out of hand,” Benny said dismissively. “I’ll be fine after I eat, I’m sure.”

Ephraim brought him a cup of tea, which Benny accepted with a thank you. “So, how did I come to be here?”

Ephraim simply stared at Benny for a long moment. “We’re up a creek with no paddle, Begonia,” was his only comment before he downed his tea like he wished it were alcohol.

Part 24

Clove Taglist: @wolfeyedwitch @the-blind-one-speaks @whumpsday @extrabitterbrain @inkkswhumpandstuff

@honeycollectswhump @whump-blog-reblogs @pigeonwhumps @mj-or-say10 @percy-frayer

@currentlyinthesprial @scoundrelwithboba @whumps-and-bumps

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pallanophblargh · 1 year

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I have so many things I need to catch up on and respond to (I have severely neglected my email which is NOT good) so I apologize. I will get around to it this week I hope!

Old followers will know that this is the norm for me this time of year as I once again rally the strength to try and make the most of my severely neglected little urban hellscape of a yard. I mean, how do you recover from the knowledge that ALL of the native milkweed species you planted over the last 4 years has died, never to return? (I can’t stop being sad about this you have no clue, I had 5+ species native to the state!) All that remains is the common milkweed volunteers that have come up wherever they feel like it, and I’m obligated to let them do as they wish. Feels bad, man. I would have killed to see that purple milkweed flower.

Have spent the last 2+ weeks getting my veggie garden and containers up and running (still need to sow beans and more kale) and I’ve got more natives/ornamentals to go into my nearly cleared side yard. I’m really really REALLY hoping my new virginia bluebells don’t die with this heat/likely drought, but I’m pretty confident everyone else will come through okay. I mean, if the cardinal flower can come back for the 3rd year like a champ, what’s their excuse? (Dear self: be thankful, the cardinal flower likes you and you know it shouldn’t and that’s rad. Also the prairie smoke plant is starting to spread and that’s really cool. So is the hepatica. And your ferns are getting big and beautiful! So remember what’s working out, ok?)

I just want my little plot to be the hopping hot spot for all the local wildlife. It’s nice to see so many critters anywhere I look but I know I can do better and that requires A LOT of work. I’ll never be anything akin to a master gardener, but I like to think I’m learning a lot every day and working WITH nature instead of against it. Battling invasives is one hell of task. (Rot in hell, creeping bellflower!)

Now if only it would rain, and I can find a way to get a rain barrel setup! (No gutters in my back yard to access for rain is a major L...)

#April rambles #gardening season!!!!#urban gardening #native gardening #attempting a kinda sorta woodland planting on the shaded half of the side yard #got my lady ferns and my maidenhair ferns ready #doing my best to keep my native plants as the majority for the yard but I do splurge on some ornamentals #who can resist peonies am i right?#can't wait for the lupines to take off I need to start expanding the native ones!#when in doubt there are always asters #my columbine got defoliated by sawflies and I'm SAD #it's still alive though but I'm babying it #having a WEED fail to return for you is a major blow to the would-be ego #i hope to fuck my new liatris comes in strong because YES!!!!!#so many tall plants that fall over it's pure chaos #looking at you 5+ feet tall joe pye weed and 6+ foot tall goldenrod #absolute beasts!

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sherwood-cabin · 1 month

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do you ever see a plant n realize that that was someone’s favorite hundreds n hundreds of years ago

#sherwood talks #saw some pretty trees n imagined people seeing them a long time ago n had to take a break #do you think they smiled so wide when the goldenrod finally bloomed.

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evoblue · 1 year

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Interest Check!

Mini Event: Goldenrod Grand Gala

Where: Goldenrod City Art Gallery

When: May 12 (extending through May 20)

Who: Mutuals Only + 1 Guest (Guest Does Not Need to Be Mutuals with Blue)

Why: Celia de la Rue-Aozaki and the Goldenrod Department Store will be hosting a charity gala event in the Goldenrod Art Gallery, coinciding with the launch of a new art exhibit featuring the works of one locally-known Pallet Town artist, Aozaki Azami. All proceeds will be divided equally between the Cerulean City Pokémon Shelter and Unova's 'Bring Us Together' Foundation.

The Details: A low-key, dash-only event. Entry fee is a monetary donation of 1 pokédollar minimum. Participants are encouraged to share outfit ideas and banter through dash. I will provide some sentence starters to break the ice and encourage conversation. Just a little event that I meant to do for New Year's Eve but now I will finally have the time.

Feel free to drop a 💙 if interested! This is something I plan on doing for a thread with a friend but I don't mind opening it up to other friends and mutuals if anyone else wants to jump in.

#here's a lil interest check #for something I've been planning for months now #NYE didn't happen #but I'll have some free time on the dates listed above #so YOLO #ooc.#event: goldenrod grand gala.

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moomeecore · 2 years

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rn im feeling like. if a genie appeared in front of me and asked me to make a wish i would wish that all weedwackers and lawn mowers explode (without hurting anyone) (and also ridealong mowers explode twice)

#currently mourning (unfortunatly not a complete exaduration) some plants #hghghhh #neighbors absolutley destroyed the plantlife in what was basically a shared property #including some gorgeous native goldenrod #and ARGGH biting scratching #they cant even see this area bc its cut off frm their house. its TECHNICALLY their property #but they dont see it #its not fenced off from US but it is from them #and they have to walk through OUR driveway to get to it #and by god did i love those plants. i have gently tended to them. manually identified their species #watched the grow only to see them hacked down carelessly with power tools #seething. i hate the stupid way people treat plants #ik i have an unnatural level of hyperempathy towards plants but damn i think everyone else is weird tbh.#like maybe ur weird if you dont get physically suck to ur stomach and nasuated when u see someone mow down tall happy biodiverse areas #× sick #oh oh so im weird bc i cried when my neighbors cut down a tree . or maybe im normal. maybe i understand #text

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jils-things · 5 months

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pkmn soulsilver babbles c:

i have reached the tag limit writing my thoughts help. im not even done but ig ill just leave it at that AHAHSHSHSH

#since i collected all johto/kanto badges my next goal is to start grinding extra harder for red +#my decision to try to catch as much legendaries #so the first thing i did was make sure that poliwhirl and misdreavus actually evolved - so i went around to find the stones #along the way i happen to find a dawn stone - i frowned thinking like. man if only i could use this on kirlia > gallade #i went to goldenrod to buy some tms and as i left the city i accidentally walked on grass (speeding up the emulator lmao) and FOUND RALTS #i was so shocked because AYO RALTS? IN JOHTO MF #it was male even so i was so excited to grab it - i did and then later i was like “would be cool if i could get a gardevoir too”#“maybe i can breed the ralts with a ditto'#“but I don't have a ditto :[”#AND THEN I WALKED ON THE GRASS AGAIN TO FIND A DITTO RIGHT AFTER THAT AKSKSJSJSJSJDJSSK #i caught it IMMEDIATELY #i was like. wow this is too good to be true. i kept walking on grass again and then i found a female ralts.#now the ditto wont be necessary anymore but i was happy to get one #my next concern was like - 'aw man they're hella underleveled tho - oh yeah! daycare. where's that dayca-#LITERALLY JUST 3 STEPS AWAY FROM ME. THE DAYCARE. BECAUSE DUH. IM IN GOLDENROD CITY THEY'RE NEXT TO EACH OTHER FLDJFKFLFKDKDK #I WAS JUST MADLY GIGGLIGN TO MYSELF LIKE GIRL DAMN EVERYTHING CAME RIGHT TO ME RGRGDHDH #so yeah my other side quest is to get both gallade and gardevoir. probably super obvious but yes they're my fav lines aksjsjsj #there's also another bit i discovered where once i collected all 16 badges - i have to visit the sound designer in celadon's apartments #he gave me a Gameboy device that plays the entire game out but in the Gameboy ver aka the og games and #idk i just... really appreciate that bit? you can tell so much love was poured into this #i enabled the device for a bit too simulate how it would sound like if i played the gb versions. it's so cool #immediately jumped to pallet town and new bark town's ver - it's so sweet sounding #i really appreciate that small bit! as someone who didn't play the og games this one is just a nice way of giving me a tasteof it #anyway - right now im trying to level the team the best i can + evolved with stones and im also trying to look for the other gym leaders #to get their phone number to rebattle (and level up again)#.... i was flustered to get morty's number first...#at the bellchime tower of all places???!?!?!! damn. damn. in the pretty autumn trees smh morty are you setting me up.. slash ro-#EITHER WAY I GOT A LIIITLE EXCITED OVER THAT SMDNDBDBBDLFLF anduhhhmayhapsfunneideasgrgfgf #hi sarahdontlook at meee HEVDVSVEBSBSBD #i forgot morty pops up there and. WHEW. kinda thankful i forgot my first gameplay its like I'm playing it again weheeh

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friendly-local-trash · 1 year

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OH SHIT I FORGOT I HAVE A MATH ASSIGNMENT DUE TOMORROW I GOTTA GO GO GO!!!!

today was really fun! thanks for having me! prank lessons went really well!

i also accidentally taught the Duskulls how to play "It's Gonna Be Me" by hitting the creaky spots on the stairs, so sorry if that keeps you up all night! byeeeeeeeee

-(@feraligatrfangs)

Oh dang that explains the door slam I heard, I kinda thought it was the Duskulls.

Glad you could stop by! I know it's more of a hike than it used to be. I'm definitely gonna set up some kinda summer camp or some shit though. It might drive membership, but moreso I kinda just wanna fill the house. It's a big place for like two dudes! Even if it's just me I can always do like, I dunno, a poison handling summer camp or somethin. But I bet I can get some other people on board. Who doesn't love summer camp?

Don't worry about the 'Skulls; I been sleepin with earplugs in ever since they were in their "wailing spirits of the damned" phase! Damn song's gonna be stuck in my head for a while now though... I gotta teach them Montero or somethin.

#join team skull come see our musical duskulls #lmaoooo #i'm still workin on engineerin some cool hideout spots (Fang saw what I'm PLANNIN on turnin into a secret bookshelf door)#but right now at least we got SOME energy to let us compete with the og team skull in cool hangout vibes #goldenrod fam

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pinejay · 1 year

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christ my fucking yard has a shit ton of invasive ornamentals. winter creeper/fortune's spindle (vine of euonymus, same genus as burning bush), alder buckthorn, and worst of all, horrible horrible english ivy. there's also an uncontrollable amount of vinca. some lily of the valley. poison ivy as well even tho that's native i don't fucking want it in my yard. i'm gonna be battling these plants for decades

#maybe i can try spreading some mayflower to combat the lily of the valley #and wood aster and goldenrod from prospect hill to combat the vinca #or just replace it after i pull it all out. if i ever manage to do that

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lupismaris · 9 months

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#not for nothin but i highly recommend listening to colter wall over ambient nature sounds. definitely adds to it. oof.#im more emotional than usual rn.#spent my lunch break in a rare/stray patch of goldenrod so i could bring some home and to my desk. and saved a cat from the street.#the cowboy spirit is heavy and restless and loving today

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ronanceisintheair · 9 months

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My package arrived today🥹🥹

#why is 99% of what i buy lately goldenrod or some form of yellow

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plasticsandwich · 11 months

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@threshergirltail FLOWERING YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! uwahh i think if you were planted in a garden you’d find a home together with Goldenrod flowers:

Goldenrod (Solidago) is a pretty interesting flower. Other than just looking vibrant and pretty, it symbolizes a variety of things like wealth, prosperity, resilience and encouragement. Goldenrods can withstand some pretty harsh environments, and can thrive despite tough seasons and weather. With its capacity to survive in such conditions, they come to symbolise growth and adaptability as well. In some cultures goldenrods represent protection and are believed to bring good fortune.

Goldenrods tend to bloom near late summer/early fall, and most species (though not all) are native to North America, but some are only found in Europe or Asia. they smell nice!! and if dried can be used in tea and medicine.

i think goldenrods are a fit for you since ur really kind and uplifting to be around & its fun seeing you in my notes from time to time. just pleasant company like all these rods

#ivy's garden #ty for asking!! i hope you like your flower #i wanted to do it earlier but i just kept sleeping a ton smkdfsdfs #oh well. ur planted now #idk too much about you but 'encouraging' is a word id use to describe you #and though there are more 'enduring' plants and flowers out there #they're more pessimistic #and thats not necessarily a bad thing #all feelings are necessary to live n stuff #but you're definitely a brighter part of my life so. goldenrods you #plus goldenrods are wicked pretty. not native where i live but common elsewhere in the world #theres a good chance you've seen them hehe #im gonna read abt some more flowers sndjnfsns

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ehlnofay · 2 years

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22 for Efri 🌻🌷♥️

wildflowers

“What’s this one say?”

The little light in Sissel’s hands gutters and goes out.

“Efri,” Jouane says, with the sort of tired, kind patience he uses a lot when talking to her, “Sissel needs to concentrate. We’re doing lessons, remember?”

“Sorry.” Efri taps the open pages of the book she found on the table. “But what’s it say?”

Sissel opens her eyes and peers, blinking hard, at the page. “It’s called lapprose.”

Efri looks back at the book.

They’re in the living room of Rorik and Jouane’s house (their house is huge, it has five rooms), Sissel and Jouane doing very serious magic practice over the little table and Efri on the floor with a book she found. She always finds herself at a bit of a loose end when she tags along with Sissel here. Sissel’s got business being in this house – Jouane visibly adores her, and Rorik is nice to her instead of just polite, so it’s fine for her to come here and eat dinner and do spells – but Efri doesn’t, really, except for having no-where else she wants to be. And Sissel likes it when she comes here – there’s that.

Normally she brings mending to do, because she never has enough time for it, and if she gets bored she’ll interrupt Sissel’s lessons, and that’s not fair. But today she only brought one blanket that she ripped when trying to use it as a cape, and it’s all fixed now, and she still doesn’t want to go home, so she found a botanical book on the end of the table and is now leafing through looking at all the pictures of flowers. They’re not coloured – just ink printed on the page – but she’s pretty sure she recognises some of them.

It kind of defeats the purpose, actually, because she meant to not be disruptive, but now she’s getting intrigued by all the drawings and the words she can’t read and she wants to know what they say.

“It says it grows around Whiterun and parts of Falkreath and Eastmarch,” Sissel tells her helpfully, before Efri even has to ask.

“I think I’ve seen it,” she says, bringing the picture close to her face for closer inspection. “Out on the plains. Is it purple?”

“I can’t see,” Sissel says, which is fair. Efri is holding the book up to her face, after all. She’s pretty sure it’s the same one as she saw.

She puts the book back on her lap. “Thanks. Sorry for interrupting. Sorry, Jouane.”

“It’s all right,” Jouane says graciously. Efri likes Jouane. He talks to the both of them like they’re people and always tells Sissel she’s great at magic – which she is. She doesn’t get enough people telling her she’s doing a good job. “Sissel, I think your concentration is fine. It’s your willpower you need to work on.”

Sissel shakes out her hands; Efri goes back to flipping through the book. Sometimes she looks up to watch what they’re doing – now Jouane is the one conjuring a little magic light, and Sissel seems to be trying really hard to get rid of it.

She doesn’t quite manage it the first time, though she tries ‘til she’s white-knuckled and red-faced, but Jouane just puts his hands palms-down on his legs and says, “Don’t worry, we can try again. Remember, don’t try too hard, be natural. The magic wants to happen; our job is giving it a direction.”

Sissel breathes a few minutes. Efri shuffles over, leans her scruffy head on Sissel’s knee and asks, “What’s this one say?”

“Bearberry.” Sissel taps her fingers on the top of Efri’s head. She reads for a bit. “They grow as low-lying bushes. They get mixed up with snowberries a lot, ‘cause they look the same, but it’s okay because they’re edible, just don’t taste very nice.”

“Thanks,” Efri says, and shuffles back into place.

Sissel gets it on the second try, quenching Jouane’s bobbing light almost right away. He says she did an incredible job, and she glows. (Literally, a bit. Doing magic makes her look so alive, in a bright glittery way.)

Efri flicks through the book, half watching her friend, half looking at the pictures. Whenever she gets to a page she wants to know about, she creases the paper so it will be easy to find later.

Eventually Jouane decides they’ve been practicing long enough. Apparently doing too much magic can be really dangerous. Jouane starts packing up the things they were using – a candle, some ink and paper – while Sissel slides off the chair to join Efri on the floorboards.

Efri goes back to all the pages she marked and Sissel reads out the names in her quiet whispery voice. Revebjelle, tettegras, wolfsbane, saddlemilk. Some Efri recognises the look of. More she doesn’t.

“Do you want me to walk home with you, girls?” Jouane asks, same as always; same as always, they say no, thanks.

Jouane stops Efri at the door.

“Efri,” he starts, and Sissel pauses by the gate in the dark, waiting. “You seemed to really like that book.”

Efri did like that book, she said so. She’s not sure why he’s bringing it up. “Yeah, I did.”

“Would you like to borrow it to look at at home?”

He looks so earnest. Efri squints at him.

“I mean, there’s not much point,” she points out. “Not like I can read it.”

“Mm.” Jouane looks at her funny, pulling his nice wool shawl tighter round his shoulders. “If you don’t mind my asking, why did you never go to school and learn these things?”

“Didn’t want to,” Efri says blithely. It’s not the whole truth, but just because Efri likes Jouane, doesn’t mean she trusts him.

He might be able to tell it’s not all of the truth, because he nods in a thinking sort of way and then says, “Well, you’re welcome to borrow the book regardless. You can look at the pictures as much as you like. It might give you something to do when you’re out alone – Sissel tells me you go quite far on your own, herding the goats.”

“Yeah.”

“Would you like to take it for a little while? I can go get it for you now.”

Efri inspects his face.

She grins. “Yeah, sure. Thank you.”

He gets the book. She tucks it under her arm and goes out into the road, Sissel peeling away from the gate to walk with her.

Three days later she and Sissel come in as the sun is setting. Sissel, like normal, is empty-handed; Efri, not like normal, is garlanded in flowers.

She talks about them for ages over dinner, pointing to each, even the ones starting to wilt. They’re knotted into her hair, tied in chains round her wrists, stuffed in her pockets. She calls most of them by name, flipping to their pages in the book, which she has dutifully dog-eared – this one’s gullris, these ones are roseroot, I think this is tarflower but I’m not sure, this is all just lavender which isn’t very interesting but I think it smells nice – and they all listen, Rorik slightly bemused, Sissel with careful attention, Jouane smiling. At one point she drops a sprig of gullris in her potatoes and eats it by accident. It doesn’t taste very good.

“And I’m pretty sure this is this one – don’t tell me, I could see it starts with an M but I can’t really read past it – M-A-K –”

“That’s an R,” Sissel tells her.

Efri huffs. “Ugh. I always mix up the letters. It doesn’t matter, I don’t know how to put them together in my head anyway.

“M-A-R-I-K-A-P-E,” Jouane says, leaning over to point out each letter in turn. “Marikåpe. It grows in Whiterun and Falkreath, a little in the eastern parts of the Reach. I think it’s a weed.”

“Well, I still think it’s pretty,” Efri says, cradling the pocketful of little green blooms.

“Would you like me to put it in a vase?” asks Jouane. His eyes are crinkling at the corners.

Efri shakes her head. “No, thanks,” she says, but she’s smiling.

After she and Sissel have wandered down the dark village road that night, Jouane finds a little bundle of half-wilted flowers left behind on the table, tied together with a thread that ends in a lopsided bow. He touches each of their petals – marikåpe, gullris, tarflower – and then carefully unties them and places them in a cup of water.

He sets it on his windowsill, in view of the road and of any goat-herding children who happen to pass by tomorrow in the early morning.

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