Twenty Three: Mila

We made a commotion running down the valley. When my eyes were finally dry and a certain fat bird came to sit on my lap, I looked up from the tiny bubble of me and Mila. We were very much not alone, and I was the spectacle to gawk at. I blushed and stood up straight, watching nervously at all the witches who had gathered around us. Schula and Nassir were not too far to the side of us, the witches were definitely giving them some cautious space.

"We should take this indoors, child," Mila said as she stood by me. "Come, all of you."

Mila gestured a bony hand at Schula and Nassir, indicating them to follow as she turned another direction and took a wobbly dirt path up a slope. The eyes followed us up, sending a chill down my back. I had never had an uncomfortable moment among witches before, and I can't say I liked the sensation.

"Mila." A witch from behind us stopped Mila's steps. The older woman turned from her place in front of me to face the courtyard that was now slightly below us. My eyes landed on a witch with black and silver fur trimming her dress. She wasn't as old as Mila, but she looked close behind her.

"Gelwyn," Mila said curtly. Puko made a show of fluttering to Mila's shoulder and landing. Staring at the new witch with his milky blind eye.

"When you're done, send for me. I would see for myself what she is." The other woman, Gelwyn, looked formidable as she stood in the courtyard. Her dress billowed around her in the light breeze and her sharp gray gaze fired up at us with assuredness that I'd never had in my life.

"So be it," Mila said. "Come, child. We have much to discuss."

I nodded and followed after Mila. I looked over my shoulder to share a look of confusion with Schula. I shrugged. I didn't know what that was about either.

Climbing behind Mila was slow, but peaceful. Once Gelwyn spoke her piece, the other witches were content enough to disperse. Mostly to gossip among themselves, but still they did disperse and stop their boring of their gaze into our backs.

The top of the winding path took us to a cabin just like the many others around it. This one, as was always Mila's preference, was a bit farther away from other cabins than the others were from each other. It sat on a mound with a garden and a yard of laying hens and a duck. Her favorite blue dusty fern grew in pots by the door.

"Have you been here this whole time?" I asked softly.

"I have." Her answer was short but gentle. She swung open the door and let us inside without further explanation.

Mila settled on a chair at her little table. It had three chairs, and a stone jar of the salve she used on her bad wrist. She sat with a sigh and began removing her boots, rubbing her feet. Puko made himself right at home, perching on the foot of her bed.

"Sit, sit. The bed, the chairs, wherever you can find." Mila dropped her last boot on the dirt floor and began lighting candles to illuminate the dim space. Reaching out a hand, I focused a string of my powers on a few candles on the windowsill and lit them as well.

Mila looked at me for a long moment before giving me a ghost of a smile. It might as well have been a full bellied laugh, coming from her. "You really are Lark's daughter."

Nassir, who was sitting on the bed by Schula stiffened.

"Mila," I said. "How long have you known? You never told me. And all those nights you spent trying to read it in the stars."

Mila pursed her lips together and tapped her fingers on the table.

"You had better tell me how you found out first, and then I will tell you what has happened here."

I folded my hands together in my lap, looking down. Where to begin? So much had happened...

"Start at the beginning, child." Mila urged. "When I last saw you, I suspected you would end up meeting that fae again. These things don't happen on the same day without coincidence, child. So tell Mila, what happened?"

I breathed out a laugh. Of course Mila would know that much at least.

"Alright. I suppose it all started with that fae." I clutched my tunic where the pendant sat under the fabric. "Thain."

And then my story spilled out over Mila's table. It poured out of my mouth, and my eyes, and my heart as I finally unloaded the burden of it all. Everything I had carried with me until I finally found her again.

It started with learning of the Wyldes. The taste of my magic, the pull of the courts, the tug of my heart to so many new directions.

I opened my heart and told her about Thain, and about Schula and Nassir and Eberon. All the ones who have become so close to me since I ran from my home. And I told her about the mad king, and the cruel monster that livd under the ice and snow of the crater. I told her about my truth, about finding out that I was never half fae. That I was half witch. And half elf too.

In the end, I showed her my mother's witch stone, but Mila pushed it away gently.

"I won't be able to see it, child." Mila said softly. "It's not meant for me. You have been through so much to find the truth, and I wish I had been there with you to find it."

I clutched the stone in my hand, my throat tight from the emotion of the story I had just told. "But... why? If you knew, then why didn't you tell me?"

Mila patted the back of my hand on the table with a grim smile. "If I could have told you, I would have. But my memories of Lark had been gone since you were born."

"You forgot?" Schul asked, schocked. It was the first she had spoken this entire time.

"No, I could never forget Lark," Mila said, turning her head to Schula. "Lark was a brilliant witch, and a dear friend. The last thing she asked of me was to watch over Wren, and to never say a word until the time was right. But I couldn't carry that with me for all those years."

"So what did you do?" I asked softly.

Mila gave me a tired stare. "I was told to watch you, and to watch Puko for her. For you. He was never my familiar, he was Lark's. But with a powerful witch comes a powerful raven. I sealed my memories away with him."

Mila looked over to the bed where Puko preened his feathers. He looked up when her eyes landed on him, and he bobbed his head in agreement.

"Puko can do that?" I asked. "Hold your... your memories?"

"He can, and he did. I knew I was an old crotchety thing, not fit to mother a baby. Bryn though, he had always loved children and with his cabin so near my own I knew he would love you like a daughter and I could watch you from close by."

"So Puko took your memories and you watched until Bryn found me in the woods?" I asked.

"Yes," Mila answered, now looking out her window. "Puko knew when to give them back, and he did. A day after I left you, and knew not where you had gone yourself, he returned them. But I had to answer the call of the witches, and you had a journey to make. The Mother wills it."

"The Mother wills it," I murmured in an automatic response I hadn't used in a long time. "You got your memories back, and then... you sent Puko after me?"

Mila shook her head. "I didn't have to, child. He parted ways with me after returning my memories. It was time, he had to return to you."

I didn't know what to say. I knew I had seen him in Lark's stone. The memories of her giving me to a strange man, and Puko, and the mention of Mila knowing what to do. And Mila, she had always done as Lark had asked. She was always watching over me, teaching me.

"I missed you so much," I said quietly.

"I missed you too, Wren." Mila took my hand in hers. "You have grown to be much like Lark. The same... and yet different."

I grimaced. "My father."

Mila nodded. "You yet have the Wyldes in you, child."

"I am no fae though," I said.

Mila scoffed and waved a hand at Schula and Nassir. "The fae, they think they are the only ones of importance from the Wyldes. The other fae creatures, the sprites and the dryads and the elves. They are just as much a part of it as the high fae are, and you are half elf. It makes your witch magic erratic in nature. I'm not sure what of our craft you could learn with such a magic, but I'm sure you could master some of it."

That was a shock to my being that I wasn't ready for. "I can do more magic than just fire?"

Mila let out a gruff laugh. "Child, you are the daughter of a powerful and brilliant witch. Did you think you gained none of her power?"

"But... I mean..." I did read the spell at the Stone of Souls.

"The magic you were given is shaped heavily by the nature of the fae creature, the elf, that sired you. It does not mean you can't perform any of our spells, it just means you will perform them differently than we have ever seen before." Mila stood from her chair, rubbing her bad wrist and taking small steps to the mantle of her fireplace.

She pulled down a bowl of crushed herbs and took out a handful, tossing it in the fire. The logs, which had been cold and dead until now, flickered to life. I took in a sharp breath as the flames danced, green and bright as anything I had seen in the Wyldes. Mila sat back down in her chair before facing me again.

"So your element is fire, I can see that much. Take some of that fire and move it to this candle." She licked her thumb and pinched out a small flame on one of the candles on the table. Then, she looked up at me and waited.

So far I had only controlled my fire, the fire I could conjure and this unnatural green flame reminded me of the couple times my own fire had manifested as purple. But Mila wouldn't be satisfied with my protests, so I tried to do as she wanted.

I raised a hand, reaching toward the fireplace. The fire leaned toward me as I willed it to come, but I was unable to peel a flame away from the rest of it to come land on the candle.

"Focus, child," Mila said. "Tear off a piece of it as you would remove the middle of a pepper."

I nodded and formed my hand into the scoop I would make when I cleaned peppers from the garden. I reached into the air, and with the scooping motion, I gestured to the fire that still leaned out of it's stone hearth to reach for me. A flame jumped off, just a lick of green fire, and it landed in my palm to my surprise.

"Good, set it on the candle." Mila pointed to the unlit wick.

I laid it on the candle, and it took to burning straight away. Mila just watched the candle for a long time before finally nodding and raising her gaze to me once more.

"Wren, you need to learn what you can do with your powers before you leave the sanctity of this valley. You have a dangerous path before you, and you need to master all of your tools to survive it. Tell me, child, for what purpose did you seek out the witches?"

I glanced at Nassir and Schula who were still patiently waiting and listening. I faced Mila again and lifted my chin up. "I came for answers, and to find out about the barrier to the Wyldes."

That gave Mila pause. "What about the barrier, child?"

"The wards are fading," I said. "Fae are dying. And things, unseelie things, are getting out."

Mila nodded darkly. "I see. That must be addressed by the coven. I will see to it we discuss it tonight. But do not be in a rush, child. There are things you need to learn and things you need to master. Stay here for a moon, and we will get you your answers."

I looked over to Puko, who was watching me with his blind eye. A shiver crawled down my back and I looked to Schula and Nassir again.

"Can we afford to stay so long?" I asked.

Nassir crossed his arms over his chest. "The fae are old and unchanging. Whatever trouble brews up there will brew slowly. If we are to go back and be of any real help, you should learn about your witchery and we should all learn what we can of how to stabilize these wards."

"You found a wise one, child," Mila said.

I smiled softly. "No, Lark did."

Nassir laughed. "I think Lark was the wise one, but I appreciate your words, Mila the witch."

I yawned, and Mila gave me a soft look as she stood. "You three rest. There are blankets on the shelves, I don't care who wants the bed. We can talk once you've woken up, but you are in no state to face her now."

"Face who?" Schula asked.

Mila made a face as she opened her front door. "Gelwyn the first daughter. Don't concern yourself over her for now. I need to speak with a few friends. Sleep, Puko will watch you."

And so we settled in for a well deserved rest.

The last thing I smelled before drifting off was the peculiar combination of Mila's favorite spices. It smelled like her cabin, and I smiled as sleep took me.