Chapter 224: A Simple Life
Once they left Amahle’s home, Ashlynn got a better look at what she had originally taken to be a village. Now that she looked around more, however, perhaps it would be better to call it an estate?
Tala led her and Heila to a simple, small hut with a thatched roof. The entire estate was arranged in a rough circle that linked several of the taller trees to free-standing supports, keeping everything two to four feet above the water’s surface.
Nearby, there were a few areas of dry land where Ashlynn spotted meticulously tended gardens, some with fruit and vegetables, others that grew stranger plants and flowers that she’d never seen before.
"I’m here, I’m here, right next door to you," Talauia said brightly, pointing at the hut a few feet away from Ashlynn’s. "Jacques is on the far side of the ring," she said, pointing across the way. "The two to the left of mine belong to Saini the Rose Witch and Mamao the Blackberry Witch, but both of them are away at the moment."
"Heila, we still have a few others that are available to long-term guests, we’ll have everything cleaned up for you by tomorrow, I promise," she said.
"It’s fine," Heila said quickly. "I can stay with Ashlynn, you don’t need to make anything special for me. Just a place to rest my head at night is good enough."
"No, no, that won’t do, won’t do," the Thistle Witch insisted. "You two both need to study and practice. Why do you think we all have our own space that’s at least a little bit apart from each other?" Talauia asked, pointing to the gap between the small huts.
"It’s too easy to disturb someone else when you’re practicing and I just know that Heila is going to be an amazing witch," she said, her wings humming in excitement as she fluttered over to the horned woman. "You looked so brave when you stood up in there, I just know you’ll make it through, no worries, no worries at all."
"Is the ritual to join a coven really that dangerous?" Ashlynn asked. Nyrielle had told her that it wasn’t a simple thing for a vampire to turn someone into one of their progeny. It required draining a person nearly to death before they were given a bit of blood from the vampire who made them. It was possible that a person could fail to hang on through the process and they would die in the attempt.