The Spellshop

Kiela prepares to offer some jam to Bryn in exchange for supplies. In town, she greets some of the locals who knew her family. Once in the bakery, however, Kiela becomes flustered and shy. She summons her courage and asks Bryn to be her business partner. Bryn agrees and enlists her nephew Tobin to help Kiela carry sugar back to her home. On the way, he regales her with stories of the town’s more prosperous days. Tobin encounters Caz, who is initially frightened of him. However, the two quickly become friends.

Inside, Kiela considers how to turn her cottage into a serviceable shop. They will need shelving, and Kiela considers going to Larran for help. They gather garden tomatoes to bring him and walk to his cottage, and Kiela considers how she might help the merhorses. At the edge of the water, Sian leaps at Kiela and pulls her in. Caz is horrified, but Kiela and Larran find humor in the small mishap. Larran offers to supply her with dry clothes, and they go into his cottage. While Kiela changes, she eavesdrops on Larran and Caz. She re-emerges and dries off, and then she asks for Larran’s help building shelving. He agrees unconditionally.

Kiela makes jam while Larran makes shelves. He recounts how, when they were children, he overheard her singing to a newborn merhorse. His parents owned the town grocery, but he wanted to be a merhorse herder. They were unkind, and Kiela’s parents showed him compassion. Later, Larran brings Kiela a fish from Sian as an apology. He offers to cook it for them and begins searching her cupboards. Kiela becomes overwhelmed and bristles at the intrusion on her space. Caz leads Kiela outside and encourages her to be more open. Kiela remarks that they should be cautious about making new friends.

Kiela and Larran dine together, and he tells her about his guardian, who died in a storm several years prior. Kiela begins brainstorming ways to help the merhorses reproduce. Larran announces that he plans to travel to the city to appeal to the emperor for better magical aid; Kiela and Caz are horrified because Larran doesn’t realize that the emperor has been overthrown by revolutionaries.

Kiela and Caz begin cataloging their books. They search for practical, subtle spells that they can sell in their shop. They find one used to heal trees with pinecones as a central ingredient, and the next day, they prepare to try it out. After some preparation, they attempt the spell and inadvertently create a sentient cactus. Their second attempt helps a sick willow tree burst into bloom.

The two friends go to an abandoned apple orchard, describing its dereliction as a “boneyard” (138). Their first attempt helps an apple tree bloom rapidly, but they decide that it’s too conspicuous. Their second attempt turns the blossoms into butterflies, and the next turns a tree into a vibrant exotic bird. The next tree begins to sing. After some experimentation, they finally manage to get the apple tree blooming at a more subtle rate. The next day, Kiela goes to visit Bryn and tell her that the shop is ready. Soon, the shop is flooded with customers, including Bryn and a centaur named Eadie. Kiela introduces Caz, and Caz tells them about their secret family remedy for sick trees. Eadie agrees to try it out. They tell stories companionably.

Later in the day, a local man named Fenerer comes to visit the shop. He is miserly and disapproving of everything, and he says that her shop won’t last. After he leaves, Caz calls Kiela into the garden and reveals that the cactus is now walking. Soon, another customer arrives: a cautious woman named Halio, who tells Kiela that her local freshwater spring has dried up. Kiela begins researching ways to help. Larran comes by, and Kiela asks him for help modifying the shop to fit larger customers like Eadie. In return, she offers her tree growth remedy. Before he goes, Larran attempts to ask Kiela on a date, but Kiela doesn’t notice.