ICE

12. Bluebird Berries

RAVENNA APPROACHED the bookstore and hesitantly opened the front door. Her gaze danced around the room in search of the old bookkeeper. She moved further inside the shop and her brows furrowed in confusion. The shop was empty. As the door shut behind her, the bookkeepers head popped out from behind a massive stack of scrolls.

"Ah! It's the mysterious little witch from yesterday," the old man said with a warm smile. "I had a feeling you would return today."

His smile was infectious. Ravenna ducked her head so he couldn't see hers. She held up her knapsack and said, "I've come to return these. Thank you for letting me borrow them. They were very interesting to study."

"Yet they didn't help you with your task, did they?" he surmised.

She shook her head. The bookkeeper waddled out from behind his shield of scrolls. "I feared as much," he chirped as he approached. "I didn't have very much in means of self-help spells. Most folk who come in here looking for a spell or potion recipe are up to no good."

He took the knapsack and gestured for her to follow him. He led her further into the depths of his shop, where the magical spells had originally hid, and stopped in front of pair of wooden tables. Both tables were covered in reading material, much like the rest of the shop. The bookkeeper dumped the contents of the knapsack out onto one of the tables and then set it aside.

"When you left yesterday, I realized just how inadequate I really was to help those who wish to learn about the magical arts. So I decided to reach out to some of my peers, other bookkeepers from around the country," he announced proudly. His fingertips dusted over the edge of an unraveled scroll. "In turn, those shopkeepers reached out to their own local wizards and witches. I awoke to quite a bit of new reading material this morning."

"You mean all of this was brought to you...overnight?" Ravenna's eyes widened. She couldn't help but stare, shocked, at the vast amount of scrolls and books that covered the tabletop. It was way too much for one courier to carry.

The bookkeeper nodded and said, "There's a spell for everything, dear."

"That makes sense," she muttered. She moved forward toward the table and picked up a scroll. It looked completely different from the scrolls she'd studied previously. This scroll was less complex. The symbolic designs were simplified and well labeled. A small child could perform it with ease.

"I say, you start with this pile and I will work through this one," the bookkeeper said, easing down into a rickety old chair. He pulled a scroll closer and unraveled it with shaky hands. "If we both start now, then I believe we'll be finished by the afternoon."

Ravenna glanced around and found a chair stuffed aside in the corner. "May I?" she asked politely, gesturing towards it with her hand.

"By all means, please take a seat. You might be young, but we've all got the makings of horrible knees!"

With a small smile, she pulled the chair closer to the table and sat down. The seat creaked beneath her added weight. Pages ruffled and silence whispered across the room. She started to sort through the scrolls in front of her, unraveling each slip of aged paper with care. A silence washed through the shop, disrupted only by the crinkle of paper. It brought a sense of calmness, or relaxation with it. The world drifted away. Before she knew it, the daylight had withered into darkness.

The bookkeeper cleared his throat. She looked up and blinked, her eyes readjusting to the candlelight that now illuminated the back room. "I think it's time that we retire for the night," the older man said with a smile. "You're more than welcome to take some scrolls with you for the night or return tomorrow morning."

Ravenna nodded. She gathered a small amount of scrolls and put them inside her knapsack. Bidding the elder man good night, she pushed open the front door and stepped out into the darkness. Clouds rolled across the navy sky, obstructing the twinkling starlight. A gust of wind tickled across her cheeks, bringing with it the chill of winter. She smiled lightly, unaffected by the cold. Patrons on the streets shivered, drawing their shawls closer, their chins tucked down.

As she walked toward the tavern, her thoughts drifted toward the dragon. She wondered whether he'd finished that potion, whether he had started a new one. A small part of her wondered whether he remembered her existence, or even expected her to return. It bothered her to think that he didn't.

Music exploded throughout the air the moment Ravenna opened the door to the tavern. Her eyes shot open wide and she looked around, surprised at the chaos within. She hesitantly stepped inside and weaved through the crowd, toward the bar.

Vyses, the tavern owner, smiled widely as she approached. "Have you decided to join in on the festivities?"

Her brows furrowed. "What are we celebrating?"

"The bluebird berries have finally blossomed," he explained, passing her a mug of frothy beer. "Bluebird berries only bloom when winter has arrived, and the farming season has ended. It's a holiday mostly celebrated in farming towns, such as this one, so I understand if you haven't heard of it."

Ravenna laughed. "We used to hold a festival back in my hometown. You could buy bluebird berries by the bundles."

Bluebird berries were very strange flowers, held precious by most of the small towns scattered around the edge of the capital. The flowers appeared only within the forest, near tended farmlands, and were meant to bring good fortune to those who harvested them. Ravenna had always liked them, simply because they were pretty. Each flower started as a berry-shaped bulb and, as soon as winter hit, blossomed into beautiful blue petals covered in a tan colored filigree pattern.

The corners of his eyes crinkled as Vyses's smile grew even wider. He leaned against the bar and watched her take a sip of her drink. "Bluebird berries always make me happy," he sighed dreamily. "Winter is my favorite time of the year."

Ravenna felt herself start to relax again. She laughed and continued to talk to Vyses, happy that he wasn't pressuring her or trying to flirt. She slightly turned around on her stool and watched men and women alike dancing around the fire pit. Frothy drinks sloshed this way and that, feet trampled across the wooden ground in time to the hearty music that drifted from someone's guitar.

With each sip of her drink, all of her worries vanished. The little ghostly girl didn't exist. Vyses wasn't even remotely creepy, or overwhelmingly flirtatious. She'd never stumbled upon the dragon. And, most importantly, the mortals didn't hate her. She was no longer...whatever she was. She was no longer different.

A hand reached out and gently pulled her from the stool. Ravenna laughed and found her feet moving. She was dancing, twirling, and smiling so hard that her cheeks ached. Vyses joined her as did even more patrons from the bar.

Everyone was happy. Ravenna was happy. For the first time since she'd opened her eyes beneath that lake, she was truly, genuinely happy.

The festivities slowed to an end at some point within the early morning hours. Ravenna retired to her bedroom, laughing and bidding Vyses a cheerful goodnight. With each step that she took toward her bedroom, her smile grew. Her thoughts spun, somewhat guided by the alcohol. She wondered whether she even needed to go back, to return to the dragon. She really quite liked it here.

Her hand hesitated around the handle of her bedroom door. She stared at it for a moment, somewhat shocked, somewhat dazed. There was no ice in or around her hands. Not even the usual frost that ghosted the tips of her fingernails. She'd never seen her hands look so normal, so human before.

Shaking her head, Ravenna pushed open the door and stepped inside. The moment the door shut behind her, she froze. Her smile faded. Her heart stopped inside her chest.

Standing in the middle of the room was the little ghost girl, her lips twisted back into a chilling grin.