Page 38 of The Tanglewood Witches (The Three Sisters 1)
Chapter Five
“Medea!”
Medea jerked as the water she was pouring into Isis’s jug overflowed the spout and ran onto her sister’s fingers. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
Isis shook the excess water off and gave her a quizzical look. “What has gotten into you today?”
“What? Nothing. I’m fine.” No way could Medea explain to Isis that her brain kept dwelling on a set of gold eyes and black wings. Tavyss was a delicious secret, a dark dream that brought a few moments of heart-pounding excitement into her day.
“Isis is right,” Circe declared. “You’ve been distracted all morning. Father asked you what you wanted for breakfast and you said yes.”
Isis giggled. “It wasn’t a yes or no question, Medea.”
With a shrug, Medea said, “Tired, I guess.”
“You’d better get your head on straight before we practice our magic. You’ll end up setting something on fire.” Isis flashed a dark smile.
Her sister was right, she did need to clear her head. Medea always read the spells, Isis performed any work with symbols or stones, and Circe worked with plants, roots, and potions. They each had their role, and if one of them was distracted, their spell fell apart.
The only problem was that Medea seemed to have no control over her fleeting thoughts. She hadn’t stopped thinking about Tavyss since the last time they’d met beside the waterfall. He’d thoroughly captivated and charmed her.
She longed to tell her sisters about him but hesitated. Circe and Isis were her only friends, and they’d always shared everything, but if she told them about Tavyss, would they worry about the repercussions? She’d been the one to convince them to do the spell in the marigold field. If they found out that the Guardian at the Gate had been watching them, a dragon who’d suddenly taken interest in who they were and had the power to reveal their existence to Hera, would they ever trust her again? Could they possibly fathom what he’d come to mean to her these past weeks?
“Are you coming? The faster we get this water back to the house, the sooner we can practice!” Circe strode down the path toward the cottage, looking utterly frustrated.
Medea stood slowly from the pool and sidled up to Isis, who was waiting for her, a dark glint in her eye.
“Now you must tell me the truth. What is so distracting, sister?”
“I didn’t sleep well last night,” Medea murmured.
“This is more than lack of sleep.” Isis raised an eyebrow.
After a moment’s hesitation, Medea asked, “Have you ever wondered about men?”
“Men?” Isis frowned. “Like the human men from our books?”
“Men like father but our age,” Medea said. “Men who might want to be with us like Father is with Mother.”
“There are no men in the garden,” Isis said flatly. “Unless you have taken a liking to one of the male nymphs, but their bodies are strange, Medea. I don’t think they’d be physically compatible—”
“I’m not attracted to a male nymph, Isis!” Medea exclaimed. “I’m simply asking, hypothetically, have you ever thought about men?”
They ducked into the cottage and left their jugs near the hearth for their mother before all three of them ventured out toward the hills on the far side of the garden.
“I’ve thought about men,” Circe whispered when they were far enough away from home to feel alone. Medea hadn’t realized she’d even heard their conversation. “After we conjured the grimoire, I wondered if we could conjure mates in the same way. I think I would like to know a man.”
Isis’s dark brows rose. “You want to conjure a man? What if you try and accidentally summon a beast or an ugly slob who paws at you incessantly?”
Circe laughed. “What if he’s a prince? I’d like to kiss a prince.”
They arrived at the hillside where the golden sheep roamed. The round balls of gold fluff wandered away from them as they neared, their lips never leaving the emerald grasses on which they grazed.
“Anyway,” Medea said. “I can’t stop obsessing over the idea that Mother and Father didn’t think it through. Yes, we are safe here in the garden, but we are alone. We are forever children, never to know love or the feel of a man.”
A shadow passed through Isis’s expression. “Only if we stay forever.”
They all stared at each other, all levity draining from their features. Leaving the garden was something they never spoke of. But wasn’t that why they’d conjured the book to begin with? They’d been frightfully interested in learning what was out there. They wanted to exceed their parents’ abilities and needed a teacher from the outside.
