Page 56 of Wateredge

“Thank you, my friend. Hence, I am here to say, for what it’s worth, that I like Lark very much. Very, very much. Everyone does. She really is quite beloved here, and not just at the Refuge. The town has really taken to her, which is such a rare thing in this place. Dragons and Crow’s Nest do not trust easily.”

Seren exhaled. “It’s worth a lot that you’re saying it and mean it, but I think you and everyone are getting ahead of yourselves. She and I… We haven’t… Well, we have, but we haven’t…”

Seren felt herself blush and took a long gulp of her champagne.

“Whether you have or haven’t is not the question. You like her; it’s all over your face. I’m happy for you, Crowhart.”

“She wishes something else was all over her face.” Deryn hugged Seren from the other side, her expression utterly ridiculous.

“Oh god, you did not just go there, you utter wretch.” Seren struggled to push her twin away before giving up and remaining in the hug sandwich.

“That’s a complicated word, twin of mine. But can you just let me be excited for you? Sam here approves. Paloma does too, by the way. Victoria is all but nuts about Lark. She’s got the whole island ensorcelled.”

Deryn winked at her, and Sam just shook her head.

“You know, if it were me, I’d have probably been arrested for sibling maiming by now. Still, Deryn here is right, and that is exactly what I was telling Seren before we were so rudely interrupted. I am really happy for you.”

Sam slapped Seren on the shoulder before departing in the direction of her wife. Seren watched as the Headmistress turned just before Sam reached her, as if she had sensed her, as if she had been waiting for her, the welcoming smile brightening the room.

Deryn might’ve been teasing her earlier about appreciating the beauty of Magdalene Nox, but there was a lot of it to appreciate. Seren was only human. Though even more so than the beauty, Seren loved watching the relationship between her friend and her wife. They fit so seamlessly, so perfectly. The commanding, take-charge-and-rule-the-world Magdalene and the steady Sam—the true foundation of their relationship.

“They’re a very cute couple.” Deryn leaned more heavily on Seren and nodded toward the Headmistress and Sam, who now had a hand on her wife’s lower back. A proprietary, steady hand. Seren wanted to smile at the gesture.

“They are. You weren’t here for their fireworks. It was quite something, even from the town’s perspective.”

Deryn wiggled her eyebrows. “Fireworks, all right, I hear they set the school on fire.”

Seren shook her head. “Well, not them, but they have certainly gone through their share of hardships.”

Deryn said nothing for a long moment, just watching the floor and the people milling around, then her eyes seemed to focus on one particular person. Lark had stopped by a large group of older women and was immediately enveloped in shoulder pats, handshakes, hugs, and smiles. Deryn avidly watched her work the floor and then stop, as if sensing something. Someone. Suddenly, Lark turned and found that someone across the room looking Seren right in the eye.

“Speaking of cute couples.” Deryn’s tone was serious, and a comparative rarity when it came to her sister. Seren’s senses sharpened instantly. Deryn bit her lip and went on, eyes narrowed and unblinking. “Cute couple and hardships, Rennie. Are you ready for those?”

“Hardships? What do you mean?” She wanted to brush her sister off. She really did not want to have this conversation. She could tell it was more of the same swamp that Victoria threw her into days ago.

“That woman over there, charming the town and settling in quite nicely among the local populace, is running from something. And while she might not be trouble or even in trouble, as was established months ago, even you—and your completely-swept-off-your-Captain-of-the-Fire-Brigade boots—can see that she is troubled. And you’ve never been so much as inconvenienced in this little puddle of yours here on Crow’s Nest. Are you ready for everything she brings?”

Seren felt anger rise in her like the tides.

“Are you done?”

Deryn shrugged and waved her fingertips at her, little sparkles sizzling from them. Seren sobered instantly. For her sister to leak magic like this, she must really be invested, and Deryn so rarely was.

“What are you saying, Der?”

“Victoria is not alone in her premonitions. My Fire has been… restless… for months now. I have a feeling that you will need to be so much more than you have ever been to withstand the upcoming storm. And while you have always handled those swimmingly, what will you do when the water rises all the way up to the edge, Rennie?”

Seren bit the inside of her cheek, the taste of copper grounding her. Whatever everyone around her seemed to be talking about, they sure as hell were not making it easy on Seren to grasp.

“Then I’ll hold it back from the edge. You and Rhy were gone for years, Der. Who do you think kept that edge from collapsing all this time? Ceri wasn’t standing alone in the middle of it all, you know.”

Deryn’s pupils widened as the slap hit its intended target. She held Seren’s eyes for a few moments before bowing her head, laying a pacifying hand on her forearm, and leaving her alone in the crowd.

Seren exhaled, the air whooshing out of her lungs in a painful rush. She had not meant that. She had not meant to hit out at Deryn. Deryn, who had been here more than away in all forms but physical presence. And Rhy had been the one to ensure they all could afford what they had, what they owned⁠—

“I see you’re smacking Deryn around again. Easy target, don’t you think, Rennie?”

Ceridwen, resplendent in a deep, dark, high-waisted gown, did not offer her a hug or a pacifying touch. Only the ever-present scent of apples and freshly mowed grass preceded her, enveloping Seren in the familiar tranquility. Judging by the flames in the forest eyes, the tranquility was deceptive.