The Blessing of Equinox by Kathryn Reynolds

Author:Kathryn Reynolds [Reynolds, Kathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kathryn Reynolds
Published: 2020-04-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

“Hemin,” Lady Ylva called, sheathing the Unseelie blade and turning to a door at the rear of the room. “Ask Tusenfryd to prepare to deliver a message to Lady Isabel and fetch my writing station.”

“Yes, your grace,” the lilac elf answered, curtsying and departing the room.

“Follow me,” the Lady said over her shoulder to Fjell and Marsilia.

The Lady led them out the back of the hall and into a private garden. High walls covered in white roses and green vines rose around the space. A tree in the center of the small courtyard shaded the area with new leaves even as it was choked by a constricting, enormous vine. From that vine layered thousands of pale purple blooms that grew in clumps like grapes. The petals of the two types of flowers littered the ground so deeply the green grass could barely be seen beneath the mix of lilac and white.

Moving around the tree, the Lady came to the back wall of the garden. With a simple gesture of her hand, the vines parted to reveal a long, thin shelf built into the wall. Drawing the Unseelie blade from its sheath, she rested the scabbard against the wall below and laid the blade upon the shelf.

“What do you offer for imbuing this blade?” the Lady of Spring asked, turning back to face them.

Marsilia hesitated, glancing up at Fjell. His brow was furrowed in surprise as well as he glanced down at her and twitched his shoulder to indicate he didn’t know about this either. Biting her lip, Marsilia looked back to the Lady.

“I didn’t know there was a price,” she confessed. “What would be appropriate? We have a large rose carved ruby.”

Sighing, Lady Ylva shook her head. “That damn kerling didn’t explain any of this to you, did she,” she said, a statement of irritation and certainly not a question. “I can imbue this blade with the grace of my season, but it will only ever be half as potent if you do not make a sacrifice to go alongside the blessing.”

“What sort of sacrifice?” the witch asked quietly, feeling her stomach tighten.

“Anything dear to you,” the Lady answered. “A beloved memory, a cherished gift received, a physical part of yourself, to name a few options.”

“Must it be from her?” Fjell asked, stepping up beside her.

“For Spring’s blessing, yes,” the Lady said. “For Autumn’s, it could be either of yours, but Spring is the beginning. It must be the one who began the quest, who was driven to it by love and necessity.”

Marsilia remained quiet for a long moment, staring vacantly at the flower petals on the ground before her as her mind grasped at flitting thoughts. When she spoke again, her voice was subdued. “What I give will be lost to me? If I cut my hair, it will not grow again; if I give a memory, it will leave me forever?”

“Yes, child,” Lady Ylva said gently, quietly. “The greater the sacrifice, the more potent the magic will be.

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