A Charmed Life | Coven Corner #3

Chapter Nine

The days melted into each other as the first tinges of autumn began to appear, blushing the leaves in red and gold. Phoebe continued to refuse performing any magic. She fell further and further behind her classmates with every passing week.

One evening, as Hazel and Bryony were cleaning up the school house at the end of the day, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Bryony called as she skidded by the door of Hazel's classroom.

A moment later, Sky's voice echoed down the hallway.

"I had some tea and cake left over," she said. "It's lovely outside and I was wondering if you and Hazel would care for an impromptu picnic."

"Depends on the cake," Bryony replied. "Apple crumble? Or lemon peach?"

"Neither. It's chocolate almond."

"With caramel on the top?"

"Just the way you like it."

"I'll get Hazel and meet you outside at the picnic table."

Bryony appeared in the doorway. Hazel held up her hand and spelled the broom back into the closet.

"I heard," she said. "Chocolate. With caramel. Sounds like a bribe to me."

"Oh, definitely. But I don't even care."

Bryony hurried after Sky, leaving Hazel to follow at her more refined pace. By the time Hazel reached the picnic table, Sky had already set up an entire tea service—delicate blue teacups, tiny squares of cake, a little bowl of fresh apple slices, sprinkled with cinnamon, honey, and cloves for an autumn touch.

Bryony was already digging into her cake but Hazel stood next to the table and fixed Sky with a steady look.

"What's all this about?" she said.

Sky shrugged as she poured herself a cup of tea. Her engagement ring glinted a deep lavender purple in the late evening light. Amethyst was her birthstone and thus her preferred crystal of choice in witchcraft. One of the first things Aiden had noticed about Sky.

"Can't I have a picnic with my friends for no reason?" she said.

"Of course you can," Hazel said. She gestured at the food. "But this is blatant bribery. Bryony's favorite cake. My favorite tea—cinnamon orange from the smell of it. You're up to something, Sky."

Sky sighed and sank down onto the bench seat.

"I was hoping for a Samhain wedding," she said.

Bryony's eyes went big, her mouth too full of cake to respond. Sky held up her hands.

"I know it's short notice," she said. "With Samhain a little over a month away. But there's no need for a special ceremony. We'll just celebrate the wedding the same way we do Samhain. Two birds with one stone."

"And?" Hazel prompted.

Sky blinked. "And what?"

"There's more."

Sky fiddled with her saucer, her breath short and shallow in her chest. It was taking every ounce of her concentration not to burst right out with whatever it is she'd really come here to talk about.

"I want the two of you to be my bridesmaids," she said.

"Yes," Bryony said right away. "Do you even have to ask such a question? Of course we'll do it."

But Sky glanced at Hazel, eyebrows raised, expectant and waiting.

Hazel had been to weddings before but she always felt...out of place. Awkward. She preferred the school house, teaching children, casting spells. There was something about a wedding that felt...unattainable. Like a fairytale. Not quite real. Something she never thought would be hers and yet she couldn't help wanting it anyway.