Page 34 of Heir of Autumn
What Evander kept hinting at really wouldn’t have helped with her insecurities. Jerk. “Not a waste of time,” I insisted. “Promise. We were coming to the oriel, anyway.”
“There’s nothing to prove, Swimberly,” Vanessica said kindly. “You’re our sister, in spirit if not in blood, and our sister you shall always be.”
All three unicorns neighed together. Swimberly’s horn bobbed as she burbled along with them, neighing as best as she could.
“We thank you for your aid and your kindness,” Vanessica told us, smiling as she scanned each of our faces. And then she got to Evander. I thought I heard him whimper. The unicorns definitely weren’t smiling at him.
Gwennifer stamped her hoof and snorted. She flipped her mane and rolled her eyes away from Evander, saying everything by saying absolutely nothing at all. The other unicorns followed suit.
Smugness filled every last crevice in my body. I didn’t think I believed in karma before, but seeing Evander get totally snubbed by the very creatures he purported to love? Very satisfying. My heart was full.
Triffany turned to me with huge, sparkling eyes, with kindness. All four of the sisters were looking at me, in fact. It should have been unsettling, but in truth I felt warmed and welcomed.
“Lochlann Wilde,” Triffany said, her rainbow hair rippling in the salt breeze. “Will you form a pact with us?”
Evander gasped and covered his mouth. “With — with Lochlann? Oh. Oh, gods.”
I thought he was going to hurl. I should have known he had something sinister planned. This wasn’t about only meeting a unicorn. He was going to try and recruit one of them as his eidolon, too. This had all been a competition — a beauty pageant — and I’d just snatched away his crown.
I gawked at the unicorn sisters and blinked hard. “A pact? With all four of you?”
Vanessica shrugged. “It was the plan all along, really. Only one or more of us might answer at a time, but we do owe you our gratitude.”
“And,” Satchel said, “and he offers his eidolons snacks.”
I patted at my pockets, grateful for the reminder that I still needed to reward Old Man, Scruffles, and all the doves for working so hard. They were being so good and patient about it, too.
“Well, Lochlann?” Vanessica asked. Four unicorn horns glimmered with magic, preparing to seal the pact. “Do you accept?”
I picked up the Wilde grimoire, nearly bursting at the seams with happiness. “Ladies, nothing would please me more.”
Evander Skink threw his head back and wailed in despair. Music to my ears.
14
Motesof eerie light rose from the Wispwell, floating up to the upper levels of the academy. Students and faculty alike milled all around the floors, but especially in the courtyard, busying themselves with the project at hand. I’d never seen the academy’s plaza so busy. I’d never seen the Wispwood so alive.
The air was filled with the electricity of activity, as well as the murmured incantations of those who had come to lend the Wispwell their power. I sifted through the Tears of the Ocean we’d collected at one of the many worktables set up in the plaza. Dr. Euclidea Fang worked beside me, examining the gemstones for signs of corruption, cleansing them with blasts of arcane essence just to be sure. Fishing them out of the bloodied waters of the cove had been a task and a half, but we managed.
We’d brought home an impressive haul of the jewels. The glassy stones encased rich blue ripples of ever-moving essence, as dark and mysterious as the depths of the sea. Other teams of students had gone to retrieve their own Tears of the Ocean from the Oriel of Water, significantly growing our stock. Students and professors of enchantment alike leaned over worktables, chanting as they engraved strange sigils and patterns into the gemstones.
“Intaglio,” Dr. Fang explained, nudging me with her elbow. “It’s what they call the process of engraving gemstones. Very efficient for amplifying their power.”
Sylvain hung back toward the fringes on the ground level, standing legs astride under a willow tree, nibbling at his nails as he watched us work. Satchel kept him company. Namirah snoozed with her back against the bark, taking a well-deserved nap. Evander was up in his villa in the Canopy, most likely bawling his eyes out over his encounter with the unicorns.
A vast network of glass tubes and phials had grown around the well, the combined efforts of the academy’s alchemists, led by Professor Bruna Hernandez herself. I could never remember the difference between a retort and an alembic, but that was why Bruna was the alchemist, and I wasn’t allowed near explode-y glass bottles and bubbling liquids.
I was sure I’d spotted the headmasters in the crowd, too, offering advice when it was wanted, lending their expertise where it was needed. Even some of the castle imps had set aside their regular duties to help with the Wispwell. I’d never seen such a concerted effort from the entire student body.
But wasn’t that the whole point of the Wispwood? It was the ethos that the institution was built upon. The importance of community, of cooperation. A tree was only a tree without its forest. A bird was only a bird without its flock.
And speaking of flocks, Mr. Brittle from the library shuffled into the plaza. The flock of books following him made quite the sight, flapping their covers and pages like winged creatures. He posted himself at another worktable, consulting his pets for something that would help with the Wispwell.
In between perusing his books, Mr. Brittle coughed into a handkerchief, his eyes narrowed at me as we nodded at each other in acknowledgment. So not exactly an admonishment for all the ruckus we’d made in the library, arguing with Evander over the stolen book. But it wasn’t exactly a greeting, either.
Still, the guilt settled like a rock in my belly. How could I ever think that he had anything to do with the Withering? All because I’d always thought of him as papery and dry.
Not really his fault, considering how he spent his days in the academy’s library, maybe even physically taking on the qualities of old books and parchment simply by proximity. Maybe exposure to so much written and recorded magic had that effect on humans.
