Though now, I wonder how many of those happy memories were also a lie?

“Nevermind that,” Isla finally said, as if reading Nattie’s thoughts. “Tell me how, by the gods, you’ve evaded detection for so long.”

Nattie touched her hair. “Well, obviously I’ve made a few adjustments to my appearance.”

Isla laughed. “Obviously.” But then she pinched Nattie’s cheeks. “I still knew my niece's beautiful face, though.”

“Which is why I hid my face as much as I could in public places, and I never slept in the same town twice. I’d heard a few witch hunters were stalking the villages in the north, so I even slept in the woods some nights. I’ve also been learning to suppress my magical aura."

"I'm sure you've realized that you cannot use your magic while you're suppressing it, correct?" Isla asked.

Nattie looked down at her hands in her lap. "Yes. I realized that when I was trying to build a fire in the woods one night. It's been... very strange to stop using my magic at all."

"I'm sure that it is. No witch should be without her connection to the earth. Hopefully, with time, your situation will improve. Maybe the Elders will think you've... well, maybe they'll stop looking for you entirely."

"But my parents—?"

Isla looked conflicted. "I'll decide what we should do about your parents. In the meantime, don't worry. You won't have to use your magic here. Potionmaking is much more like cooking than spellcasting."

Nattie smiled sadly and looked back up at her aunt. "I have to say, it’s been a long journey to get this far south to come find you.”

“Well, I’m so glad that you have.”

“But…” Nattie hesitated.

“What is it?”

“It’s just… Well, why did you have to settle in Hearth of all places? The capital city of the kingdom that hates witches the most? What were you thinking?”

Isla laughed. “You’re not the first witch to ask me that. I’ve met a few that passed through undercover in the last decade, and they never stay in the city long.”

“I don’t blame them,” Nattie said.

“Trust me, I understand your confusion given all that we were taught to believe. It’s been the Solarium’s narrative that humans are dangerous, greedy, and violent for almost a century. But the more I traveled, and the more I thought for myself, I started to see the cracks in those tales.”

Nattie remembered the months-long stints where Aunt Isla had left the clan to collect herbs and money from nearby human villages. It had been a source of scandal in the village, and hard for Nattie’s family. After all, who would want to associate themselves with humans? Yet every time that Aunt Isla had returned, she’d always seemed… so alive. So energized and full of stories of all the people she’d met and the things she’d seen. So ready to go back out and experience more.

“I’ll admit, there are cruel men in power,” Isla continued. “There are humans who would burn our kind at the stake if they could, because they fear what they don’t understand. But the common folk? Most of them just want to live their lives. To survive and care for their families, just like us. Yet many of them are struggling.” Isla reached up, absently brushing Nattie’s new blonde hair out of her eyes. “I left because of them. I realized I could do a lot more good outside of the clan than within it.”

“But your clan and family love you. Most humans hate us.”

“Just because we’re hated does not mean we should hate in return.”

Nattie took a deep breath, trying to process it all. It was strange, hearing this perspective after so many years of believing the opposite. But at the same time, wasn’t that why she had run? Because she was starting to question everything she had been raised to believe?

“But what about the mad king?” Nattie asked.

“Ah, that.” Isla let out a huff. “Brannon has long been thought unstable,” Isla explained, “but not every person in this kingdom believes that magic users are evil and monstrous. I came here because Brannon’s people still get sick and suffer terrible ailments, even with all their medical advancements. Those people still deserve the medicine of the earth and the old ways. They deserve care, and yes, a little secret magic to ease their pain.”

“That’s very kind of you.”

Isla smiled. “If I had stayed behind, I would have been just another witch in hiding, hoarding my power for our people who were already thriving and didn’t need it. Here, I can use what I know to make a real difference, and save lives. Besides, you’d be surprised how many people are willing to look the other way. Even if someone suspects me, they’re more likely to protect their local healer who just happens to have the right cure for almost everything.”

Nattie grinned. “Clever. Do you help humans quite often, then?”

“Oh, I have plenty of regular patients. And the occasional emergency, of course—"

As if on cue, someone banged loudly on the door to the locked shop. Isla’s eyes widened, and she and Nattie both jumped up and rushed from the back room. They poked their heads around the corner to see what was awry. Throug the diamond-paned windows, they could see the large silhouette of someone standing just beyond the door.

Their fist pounded again, its urgency even stronger this time. 

“I know who that is,” Isla gasped. 

She rushed forward and unlocked the door to the shop. The door swung open with a rush of cool evening air, carrying in the scent of late summer and damp earth and the faint metallic tang of blood. Nattie stood back as a man in a royal knight’s uniform strode inside, his dark blue cloak billowing behind him as he half-carried, half-dragged a young boy along with him. The boy, no older than perhaps thirteen, was curly-haired and pale—and he was trembling, keeping his arm held tightly against his chest. Blood seeped through the crude bandages wrapped around his forearm and bicep.

“Isla,” the knight cried, his voice low and urgent. “Please, I need your help.”