Page 1 of Hollowed

One

Myeyes tracked the spinning lump of clay atop the wheel, round and round and round.Mystomach churning,Iclenched my eyes shut and sucked in deep breaths until the nausea faded andIno longer felt like the floor would come up to meet me.

Ihad to stop watching the wheel asIdaydreamed.

“Yourclay is going to dry out,Katrina,” a gruff voice called from nearby.

Iglanced at the occupied stool next to me and sighed.Itwas the only responseIcould muster for my grizzled mentor.Henry, the earth mage who owned the pottery shopI’dcome to think of as my home, leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he held his chin in his palm. “Whatis it, dear girl?”

“I’mtired,Henry,”Isaid, dipping my fingers in the bowl of water beside my foot before bringing the shapeless lump of clay in front of me back to life.Iturned to sculpting as a form of escape, a way to channel my emotions into something productive.Itwas a far better method than my previous attempts to manage my feelings, which had only served to decorate my body in small scars, now silver with age.Here, my fire magic was welcomed, not something to be smothered and hidden.

Theold man sighed, pushing back the sparse gray hairs that refused to stay in the tie at his nape. “Youneed out of that house.It’sdraining the life from your eyes day by day.”

“Ihave nowhere else to go.”Myfrustrations began and ended with my parents; their disappointment in me was a heavy cloak that shrouded my entire life. “Theywould never let me leave.”

“Pah,” he snorted, waving a hand dismissively as he leaned forward to watch me form the clay. “Theycannot stop you.Youpassed your initiations; you are a full citizen ofSleepyHollownow and can do as you please.”

Hiswords, however inspiring, were dangerous.Dangerousfor him to speak aloud and for me to listen to.Ifmy mother ever heard the sentiment…Ishuddered at the thought of what she’d do.

“Youknow it’s not that simple.”Mygaze fell to the floor.

Hishand, a rich brown and worn from the sun, landed on my forearm, pausing my movements. “Whatdoyouwant,Katrina?”

Myfoot stuttered, and the wheel slowly came to a halt as tears choked me, burning my throat and stinging my eyes.Icould not want.Couldnot dream.Myfuture was at the whims of my mother, and if she had her way,Iwould be locked away in that cursed manor and left to rot for the duration of my immortality. “Itdoesn’t matter whatIwant,Henry.Itnever has.”

“Italways matters,” he told me.Standing, he squeezed my shoulder before leaving me to my creations.Fromthe corner of my eye,Iwatched him move to his patch of dirt, where we’d pulled up the floorboards to reveal the earth beneath.Hiseyes closed and his hands and lips moved as he manipulated the mound.Onebenefit of working for an earth mage,Isupposed, was that we never ran out of clay.

WhenIspun the wheel back to life,Iadded more water to the clay, trying to resurrect the vase asIponderedHenry’swords.WhatdidIwant?Mychildhood had never been joyous, and from the momentIcould remember,I’donly ever had two aspirations: gain my citizenship inSleepyHollowand earn my own living working at the pottery shop.

Withthe recent initiations complete,I’dachieved both.Mymother had wondered howI’dtricked the evaluators into believing my magic was stable, but we both knewI’dspent days in bed after, recovering from the mental and physical toll the tests had taken on me.Ihad barely passed.

SincemeetingHenrywhenIwas merely ten summers old,I’dachieved the latter goal.Theold mage took me under his wing the secondI’dwalked into his shop in search of a way to fix the plateI’dbroken before my mother discovered it.Shortlyafter, he’d brought me on as his apprentice and spent every spare minute tutoring me in both magic and the mundane world outsideSleepyHollow.Heworked to ensureImissed nothing, refusing to leave me ignorant about how the world worked.

Hisefforts were far more than that of my mother.Onesession with a magical tutor whenIwas seven had her quickly deeming me a magical failure.Afterthat assessment, she saw no reason to further pursue my education.

DespiteHenry’stutelage,Iknew there were gaps in my knowledge, especially around the inner workings ofSleepyHollow.ButIknew the town was a haven for the magical.Iknew the magical barrier that kept humans away was a natural occurrence and no feat of spell work.Ialso knew that the ominousDullahanroamed the forests beyond the barrier.

Mymother claimedSleepyHollowas her pride and joy.Hercreation.Herlegacy.AndIwanted out.Mymother demanded perfection, and those she found lacking often found themselves the recipient of her ire.Unfortunately,Iwas her most favored target to extoll her disappointment upon.

NowthatHenryhad put the words into my ear—the one that worked, at least—a life away from my mother was allIcould think about, and moving out of that godsforsaken manor would be the first thingIneeded to do.Thesprawling house was far too big for our pitiful family of three and served as nothing more than a monument to my mother’s ego.Ihad no happy memories from that house, and the soonerIcould leave, the soonerIcould move on.

ButIcould not begin to fathom a life beyond my mother’s rule untilIwas out of the manor and in my own space.

Ineeded somewhere that was mine.SomewhereIcould control.

“Iwant to move out,”Imuttered, more to myself than toHenry, though my eyes drifted to my mentor.Hewas like a father to me, more than my own had ever been, andIwanted—

No,Ineeded his approval.

Ashe lowered his arms, the swirls of earth moving from the pit into pitchers at his feet collapsed, and he raised his brow. “Fromthe manor?”

Inodded.

Thepride that shone in his eyes as he made to stand in front of me caused my heart to squeeze.Noone had ever looked at me like that.Hetook my hands in his, neither of us minding the dirt and wet clay covering our palms. “Katrina,Ithink that is probably the best idea you’ve ever had.”

Tearsstung my eyes again, but for the first time in a very long time, they weren’t tears of sadness or frustration. “Iwant my own life,Henry.Oneof my own making and under my own power.”

“Thenyou shall have it.”Hishands squeezed mine. “AndIwill do anything in my power to ensure that, my dear girl.”

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