"The forest spirit!" Anna said. "He said planting trees might bring her back."
The woman pressed her lips together for a moment as she scanned my new trees that had taken root in the backyard. Her eyes fell on me and moved on, unable to pick me out from the trunk behind me. I had coaxed them to a size where their shade would fall on the roof of the small house, protecting its peeling paint from the harsh summer heat, and they would be unmissable by a mundane willing to see them. Those that werenot willing would just assume the trees had always been there and they never noticed.
"Let me get my hat," the older woman said. "I'll help you."
"Thanks, momma," Anna called out.
"Come in and get your hat too," the woman said.
The child ran back across the uneven grass that filled the backyard, small bursts of yellow flowers crunching under her feet as she trampled the small plants that popped up every so often in the square mat of dried-out grass. My new trees created a soft shade that would shelter the ragged lawn, allowing it protection from the hot sun so it could grow lush again.
The metal screen back door slammed shut behind the child, and I turned to the tree, ready to return so I could rest.
I had been away too long.
Chapter
Seven
LILLIAN
Ihadn't seen the Lord of the Forest in days.
At first, the absence was a relief. I spent my time exploring the treehouse, finding the bathing chamber, and luxuriating in the hot wooden tub which never seemed to run out of hot water. There were herbs growing in that room as well, but in front of each one were bars of soap and clay containers of lotion and cleansers. There was one pair of containers with a lavender scented shampoo and conditioner. At least I guessed that was what they were for, as nothing had labels, and my hair smelled great and was silky afterwards.
There was fresh fruit and vegetables growing all over the place, and one of the buildings had a table with chairs and some counters against a wall with a sink and a stove. The stove surprised me, as it was an induction cooktop that looked like it was taken straight out of the store and plopped onto the stone counter underneath it. I couldn't figure out where the power was coming from, as there weren't any electrical outlets, but it heated up the metal pans that were hung on the wall next to it just fine. There was a small flock of chickens that slept on some of thelower branches of the tree. I discovered them when I stepped in chicken poop on one of the mushroom steps on my way down to explore the meadow around the tree. I was able to find one of their nests.
Thankfully, I had a flashlight I'd brought with me from the mundane years ago that still worked fine, so I was able to candle the eggs and nab the ones that didn't look like they had any embryo development. I marked the ones that did, so I wouldn't grab them and crack them open later.
The fruit and plants that grew in the treehouse never seemed to go bad.
At first, that confused me, but on my second day wandering about by myself, I spotted a primate sitting on the kitchen counter eating a fruit. It gave a little shriek when I walked into the room and scampered out the window, its arms full of plant matter. When I went over to its exit, I found a few dead leaves. It had been picking fruit and pruning the dead bits off the plants. After that, I made sure to wash the counters with one of the soaps I found before I began cooking as well as after.
One of the buildings was a library, and though I couldn't read all of the books, there were enough I could read, and I'd learned enough from my Basics of Spellcrafting class my first year to start working my way through a magical instruction book I could read. Several chapters in, I had to put it down. I was so angry. I took a long walk through the meadow at the base of the tree to calm down, staring into the water to see the fish. There was more in those few chapters than in all my classes back at the Order Academy. Apparently, there was an entirely different way of casting magical spells, called Chaos Magic, that didn't require me to stick to the strict form and function that the school insisted I was incapable of ever mastering.
All I had to do was master focusing my attention and my intention on a goal.
So I kept to the treehouse and the meadow, reading books and trying to figure out if there was any way I could learn how to cast a portal spell. I didn't wander.
I was tired.
I had spent so much time focusing on my escape, planning for it, stressing about it, that when it came to actually doing it, I was worn down by anxiety and hyped up on adrenaline all at the same time. Climbing the wall and getting down the other side was a substantial physical effort, and the psychological toll of finding the barren wasteland on the other side was substantial. Now that I was safe as far as I could tell, well fed, and able to rest without overwhelming fear that I had been living with every day since Orientation made it clear to me
But that didn't mean the fear wasn't still there, lurking in the background of my mind.
Veveron hadn't emerged from the nesting chamber, and the few times I checked on her, she told me to go away. I had time to myself, books to read, food to eat, and a place to rest where I woke up in the morning hearing birds singing outside my window. At the school, we always kept our dorm room windows shut at the advice of one of the few upperclass mundanes. She said we were safe inside the dorms, but that didn't mean we couldn't be dragged out of them if we left an opening.
Before Orientation, I might have thought the upper class mundane was just trying to scare me.
Afterwards, the fear grew roots deep into my heart and even as I rested in the comfort of the treehouse, it never quite retracted its claws. In the background of my mind, there was a running worry. What if this was a trap of a different sort? I couldn't completely trust Veveron. She had saved my life by bringing me to this forest, but at the same time, I never would have been accepted into the school without her.
After three days on my own, I began to get worried.
Lorthian had seemed to be really into me in a way that was overwhelming when I was exhausted and emotionally fragile from risking my life fleeing from the Order Academy. The fact that he had left me alone for so long was a surprising difference from the wild man who had pounced on me the moment he saw me. Left to my own devices, my mind began to wonder if I had offended him in some way. My ex had made sure that if I offended him, we would have to go over every detail of my transgression until I apologized to his full satisfaction. Being ignored was a new one for me. Then again, maybe I didn't offend him and maybe he was just put off by my sobbing. He was some sort of magical forest god after all. Perhaps my mundane tears made me suddenly unappealing. If that was the case, then good riddance. I had been tempted, so tempted, to the point where if Veveron hadn't stopped me, I would have dribbled that fruit juice all the way up my thigh just to see what he would do. I didn't need to be doing stuff like that if he was the kind to get bored because I was exhausted and homesick.
After the fifth day, I bothered Veveron again.
"I'm worried about Lorthian," I called through the door. "He's been gone this whole time. What if he is in trouble?"
