Page 35 of Wateredge

“Hi there, Lark. Come to witness me produce feats of magic?” Deryn said it casually, motioning toward the fruits and ingredients on the long oaken dinner table, but Lark suddenly stumbled, almost losing her footing, only catching herself at the last moment. Her eyes were on the long wall between the kitchen and living room, where pictures of Crowhart generations were on display.

“You all right?” Seren touched her elbow gently, feeling the enormous tension, the real effort Lark had put into not flinching. A heartstring pulled painfully in Seren’s chest.

“Yes, ah, yes. I am. Thank you.” Lark shook her head, perhaps at herself, or at the situation, and finally uncoiled her fingers from the little bag. “Your aunt sent leftovers. She said you’d had an all-nighter at the firehouse and were at the coffee shop all day and might use a home-cooked meal.”

Seren beamed. She knew her smile was ridiculously wide, and yet she could not help herself. Victoria had never sent her a meal in her life unless she was dead sick. Her aunt was up to some glorious meddling, and for once, Seren did not mind.

Deryn crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“How about me? No home-cooked meals for Deryn?”

The contrast in their facial expressions made Seren very happy as she opened the Tupperware and sniffed at what looked and smelled like lasagna. Divine.

“I think Victoria expects you to know how to take care of these things for yourself.” Lark’s answer came in the form of quiet but certain teasing. The role reversal was immediate. Deryn crowed while Seren frowned.

“Is she saying I can’t do that?” Seren closed the container with a loud thump and all but threw it in the fridge for later. She was hungry, and she did like her aunt’s lasagna, but nobody needed to know that, especially when she was being called all sorts of names here.

“I think she was just worried about you, if that helps.” Lark’s blue eyes twinkled with mischief, and Seren suddenly felt like a sailor lost at sea. There was nowhere else to look, all the blue surrounding her.

Deryn cleared her throat, unexpectedly tactful. Though the most tactful thing her menace of a baby sister could have done was leave. Now. Quietly.

No such luck as Deryn suddenly took her hoodie off and rolled the sleeves of her shirt.

“So how about very fruity panna cotta, Lark? How do you feel about it? I’m about to teach this sister of mine how to make the best kind.”

Lark’s smile was open, beautiful. Seren kept staring.

“I feel very good about very fruity panna cottas, Deryn. And I read that yours is award-winning.”

Deryn all but grew a foot in stature.

“Wow, you see, Seren, here we have a lady of taste and intelligence, of curiosity and sense of adventure. And of profound culinary knowledge, since she clearly keeps up with the news of my world.”

Lark’s laughter was quiet, and yet Seren felt the intense need to sit and bask in it. Had she ever heard it before?

“I wouldn’t go that far, especially if learning how to make your award-winning—I have to keep acknowledging that—creation requires adventure. I am of the opinion that my dessert shouldn’t come with a sense of risking life and limb.”

Seren uttered a loud “Hear! Hear!” and Lark gave her another bright smile. Seren bit her lip and decided today was a very good day, despite Deryn’s total buffoonery.

“Oh ye of little faith. This panna cotta will transport you, will take you places, will lift you high off the ground⁠—”

“I was not aware your recipe required pot, Der,” Seren quipped, and Deryn’s shoulders deflated.

“Do you want a standing ovation for that joke?”

Lark covered her mouth too late to hide her snicker at Deryn’s joke, and Seren just rolled her eyes as Deryn kept at it. “Complete and utter philistine is what you are, Seren Gwen Crowhart.”

As Deryn spoke her full name, Lark’s smile suddenly froze in place, just for a second, but Seren noticed. It was only a tiny moment before she seemed to shake whatever came over her, but it had happened nonetheless.

Seren wanted to ask what that had been about, but Lark was already following Deryn deeper into the kitchen and washing her hands. An apron was being handed to her, one that seemed to envelop her whole, and Seren decided that inquisitive and probably out-of-place questions would have to wait.

Deryn might be a buffoon, but she was her twin sister, and the way she was treating Lark, all gentle teasing and light jokes, was endearing in its own right. She’d smack her upside the head later.

10

LARK, BUBBLES & COOKIE MOLDS

Lark had had her suspicions about Victoria’s task from the get-go. More so now that she was standing in the middle of the coziest-looking kitchen, under skylights that bathed the space in the golden glow of the evening sun. From the glimpses she caught of the rest of the house, it was lived in, with a lot of character, and held a lot of history.