Riverwitch by Rem Wigmore

Author:Rem Wigmore [Wigmore, Rem]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780473556631
Publisher: Rem Wigmore

* * *

Ash had stood outside Bryony’s house before, but never actually entered the property. Courtesy.

She looked around as the low gate closed behind them. The walls could do with a new coat of paint, and the garden was homier than she expected. Well-kept beds of herbs kept company with tangled wilderness, thorny bushes backed up against one fence, but there were so many flowers. Hydrangeas, with big bunches of flowers like clustered butterflies nestling wing-to-wing. Purple blooms she didn’t recognise, the pink delicacy of peonies.

“It’s lovely,” Ash said in surprise, meaning it.

Bryony glanced away, fiddling with the key. “Thank you.”

Inside was beautiful too, though dusty in places, which made a small part of Ash feel smug for a moment: ha, Bryony isn’t completely perfect. She dismissed the thought, but still felt vaguely guilty as she trailed after them. The lounge had a cloth-covered pedestal as the centrepiece rather than anything as mundane as a TV, with cream-coloured couches, dark wood bookshelves and thick, luxurious carpet.

Ash stopped. Bryony cast her an inquiring look over their shoulder. “I should’ve taken my shoes off,” she mumbled.

Bryony laughed, a flash of teeth. “I’m lax with that, because if I had to take my boots off every time I came into the house it would add about two hours to my day,” they said. Their tone was so serious it took Ash a second before she laughed too.

She walked carefully in. A set of lushly carpeted stairs lead to whatever was on the second storey of the house. Thick, heavy-looking tomes couldn’t be confined to the large bookshelves and were scattered here and there on the couches as well. One wall of the lounge was windows, and the room shone warmly with light. It made her flat seem exactly what it was, cheap student housing.

Ash looked at Bryony, who seemed almost nervous. “Sometimes it gets so hot in here I have to keep an eye out to make sure the tables don’t ignite,” they said, quickly, “it’s less luxurious than it seems.”

Bizarre for Bryony to be nervous, and she found she didn’t want them to be. She wanted Bryony to be happy, confident, at ease. “It’s great,” Ash said. She stuck her hands in her pockets. “So uh, you’re – teaching me magic?”

Bryony shook their head. “Good heavens, no. You’re a perfectly accomplished witch.” The praise shouldn’t have made her feel as warm as it did. “That being said,” Bryony continued, striding to the centre of the room, “there are some gaps in your knowledge, and I thought we would start there.”

They extended one arm, and the owl on their shoulder fluffed its wings for a moment, then swooped to land on their outstretched wrist. Now she realised why they were wearing such thick gloves.

Bryony smiled at her, looking deeply eldritch in their dark clothes and a bird perched on one hand. “With familiars.”

Ash held out her hand too, and Soot the bat snuggled closer into her neck. She sighed.

Bryony stroked the owl’s feathered head, making it coo.

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