Page 31 of Magic in the Woods
The witch ran back to her seat, her hands covering her face.
Arcana scanned the room. “Let’s get an air magic up here.”
All the air magic witches immediately looked to their laps, giving themselves away. Arcana grabbed hold of a witch and pulled her from the bench to the front of the classroom.
I immediately recognized her, her ringlets—Petunia. She stood next to Arcana, her knees straight and her arms at herside. She gazed above the heads of the other witches, staring at the wall in the back of the room. Her ringlets vibrated—she was shaking.
“What should we have you do…what should you do…” Arcana looked around the room. “Aha!” She walked around the desk, opening and closing drawers once again before she pulled out a single white taper candle in one hand and a book of matches in the other. She put the middle of the candle between her teeth, before she used both hands to strike a match against the box. Once the candle was lit, she shook the match flame out and dropped both the smoking match and box onto the dirt floor. Arcana took the lit candle from her lips and turned it upright, the tip of the flame pointed toward the ceiling. She walked past the two rows of benches to the back of the room, meeting Petunia’s stare. Raising the candle up above her head, high into the air, she directed Petunia to blow out the flame.
Petunia slowly raised her arm, pointing two fingers at the candle. Her arm moved up and down as the nerves she was feeling traveled down her arm, interfering with her aim. The witches on the benches ducked down to avoid getting hit by her air magic. Brooke and I bent down together, holding hands, keeping an eye on Petunia. She closed one of her eyes and used her free hand to steady her arm. I felt the curls on the top of my head move as the wind from Petunia’s fingers traveled toward the flame.
Arcana’s entire hand moved backward as the flame went out. A smile instantly lit up her face. “Very good! Very good! We have something to work with!” She made her way back to the front of the room, patting Petunia on her back in congratulations.
At first, Petunia simply stared up behind us, where the lit candle had been. Then the shock on her face slowly morphedinto something sharper, darker. Her shoulders straightened, and a small smirk appeared on her face.
“What’s your name?” Arcana asked.
“Petunia Fox,” she said loudly, this time looking at the witches on the benches in their eyes instead of staring at the back of the room.
“Good. I look forward to working with you, Petunia,” Arcana said.
Petunia walked back to her seat, still smirking, with her chin tilted up in the air.
“Now we need a water magic…” Arcana clicked her tongue as she looked around the room. If there was any time I’d wished I didn’t have red hair, it was now. It made me stick out. “You, there—with the red hair.”
Of course.
I stood and walked to the front of the room, tucking my hands into the pockets of my sweater so no one could see how my fingers fidgeted.
“Name?” Arcana asked.
“Dafni Sarr—” I paused for a moment.Get it right, Dafni.“Sarrenti.”
“Water magic?” she asked.
I nodded.
“I’m just so good at my job!” Arcana exclaimed as she once again went around the desk and dug through the drawers. Her lack of preparedness showed otherwise, but I kept my mouth sealed shut. Right now, I needed to lie low. Learn.
“Yes!” She pulled a clear glass from one of the drawers and walked over to the wall, her hand running along the brick until she found a spot where a brick had fallen. Pressing her fingers into the dirt, she raised the glass to the wall, smiling as she pulled moisture, in the form of water, into the glass. When theglass was half full, she returned to the desk setting the glass on top.
“Freeze it,” she directed, pointing toward the glass of water.
I looked at the glass. This was easy. I’d been freezing liquids under the tutelage of my grandmother for years. She’d had me freeze water and then milk daily until I’d mastered the skill. I was apprehensive, not because I couldn’t do it, but because I didn’t know how much of my powers I should show, both to the other witches and to Arcana, who would surely report back to the other instructors.
I looked out into the crowd. Brooke locked eyes with me, nodding in encouragement.
Petunia’s ringlets moved, and I turned to find her tilting her head with her beady eyes staring at me and a smirk on her face that I could tell wasn’t meant for encouragement.
What was it with her? She’d been weird since we’d arrived. Weren’t we all suffering together? I knew the Academy wanted us to compete for Gideon, but I didn’t think there’d already be rivalries among us.
Girls—women—witches needed to stick together.
Petunia had been the only one to succeed so far. Part of me wanted to hold back, stay in the shadows. If I didn’t make a splash, no one would consider who I was—my lineage. The other part of me wanted to best her, to show her what power I had, wipe that smug smile off her face.
I focused on the glass sitting atop the desk. My magic tingled down my arm and flowed to the tips of my fingers. I pointed my index and middle fingers at the glass, using my control of my magic to freeze the water just enough before I pulled back.
Immediately after, I tucked my fingers back into my pocket, rubbing my fingertips against the fabric, begging the magic that wanted to exit to retreat.
