A Spell of Thorns: A Spicy Fairytale Romance by Adelia Jezek

Author:Adelia Jezek [Jezek, Adelia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

The next day passed quickly, with Tomas spending a good deal of it outdoors, fixing the garden fence and cutting back the forest undergrowth that crept towards the cottage. I showed him how to set a snare and by midday, he brought me three plump rabbits that he had hung and dressed already. After sending him to fetch more water, I kept myself busy making pierohy with the rabbit and wild garlic and some small wild mushrooms he’d found beneath some old oaks nearby. By the end of day, he was in a cheerful mood, singing while he mended the shutters of the windows that faced down the valley.

“Rose,” he called out, swinging them lightly on their hinges to admire his work. “Have you seen your plant?”

I dusted the flour from my hands onto my apron and tidied the table of my various mixing bowls and canisters of food. “No, has it grown?”

“Come and see,” he said, ducking his head through the window with a grin. “Besides, you could use a break and some fresh air. You’ve been stuck inside working all day.”

I hung my apron on the mantle and went out into the gentle afternoon sunlight. The wind was refreshing on my face after spending the day cooking and cleaning. Tomas came around the side of the cottage, the cloak tied around his waist firmly but still billowing around his legs. I wondered if I had enough pieces of linen left to make him a pair of trousers without them being a giant patchwork of odds and ends that wouldn’t last through the first wearing. Perhaps if I cut the cloak into trousers, I thought, but then remembered he had wanted the cloak to use for a blanket at night.

“If you were wondering if you had magic, I think we have an answer,” he said, gesturing to the woodpile. Tomas came to my side, giving me an encouraging nod, his face creased with pride. I couldn’t help but smile in breathless excitement as I looked up. There, vining over the side of the cottage, and reaching up nearly to the roof, was a giant vine of glossy green leaves and flushed burgundy thorns, twisting and branching and covering almost the entire wall. Dozens of small buds peaked out from the overgrown bush, the petals tightly curled still, promising blooms within days. “I’ve never seen anything like it, especially not from someone who wasn’t even sure they had magic.”

I bent down, examining the root and the flourishing canes, and then touched it. It still throbbed with the fascinating pulse of magic I’d felt the first time, though stronger, warmer, and wilder. The sensation grew and grew until I felt it reaching towards me, drawing me in.

“Grow and root, flower and thorn,” I hummed under my breath, “take my thoughts and let them fall— leaf and cane, vine and bud— flourish, grow, and grant me all.”

The plant seemed to respond to my words, several leaves spreading under my fingertips, and four new shoots coming up from the ground as I spoke.

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