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Late afternoon light poured through the broad windows of the atelier’s study, warming the wooden floor and turning the scattered dust in the air to flecks of gold. The room was quieter than it usually was. Tetia and Richeh had gone outside with Olruggio to gather a particular kind of bark used for making ink, while Qifrey worked in the adjoining room, sorting through several old books he had borrowed from the Great Hall.
Coco and Agott had been left to practise together.
They sat opposite one another at a wide table, their drawing boards tilted beneath their hands. Between them rested several pots of ink, a collection of quills, and a stack of practice sheets already covered in imperfect circles and crossed-out sigils.
Brushbuddy occupied the small space beneath Coco’s chair. The little white creature had curled itself around one of the chair legs, its pointed ears occasionally twitching whenever a quill scratched particularly sharply against the paper.
Agott had been working on the same transportation sigil for nearly half an hour. Every one of her lines was precise, each curve measured carefully before the nib ever touched the page. Coco, meanwhile, had gone through six sheets.
The first sigil had been too wide.
The second had been uneven.
The third had worked, but only enough to make the feather in the centre of the circle tremble.
The fourth had sent the feather drifting sideways and into Agott’s inkpot.
The memory of Agott’s expression still made Coco’s cheeks burn.
“I said I was sorry,” Coco murmured as she drew another guide mark.
“You said it four times,” Agott replied without looking up. “Saying it again will not remove the feather stains from my paper.”
Coco’s shoulders sank. “Right. Sorry.” Agott finally glanced at her.
Coco noticed and pressed her lips together before the fifth apology could escape.
Brushbuddy raised its head and rested its chin against Coco’s ankle.
Agott sighed quietly. “Your last circle was better.”
Coco blinked. “It was?”
“The inner ring was almost even. Your problem is that you keep trying to finish before the ink settles.”
Coco looked down at the newest sigil. “I thought drawing quickly might make the line smoother.”
“It makes your hand shake.”
“My hand does not shake.”
Agott pointed towards the outermost curve.
Coco studied the faint wobble.
“Oh.”
Agott returned to her own work. “Slow down.”
Coco nodded, straightened in her seat, and began again.
This sigil was intended to create a controlled current of air, gentle enough to lift a small object without throwing it across the room. It was not supposed to be dangerous. Qifrey had selected it specifically because the girls could practise it without using large amounts of magical ink.
Coco dipped her quill and drew the first circle. Slowly.
She moved her whole arm instead of twisting her wrist, just as Qifrey had taught her. The line was smooth, curving neatly until it met its starting point. She held her breath as she lifted the quill.
Agott glanced over.
“That one is acceptable.” Coco’s face brightened. “Really?”
“I said acceptable.” “That is a compliment from you," Coco said smiling cheekily.
Agott frowned, though there was no real sharpness behind it. “Do not become distracted.”
Coco grinned and turned back to the page.
The next layer was made of four narrow loops positioned around the central ring. Each had to be identical. If one was too large, the spell’s current would pull in the wrong direction. Coco took her time, counting silently beneath her breath.
One.
Two.
Three.
Her fourth loop was almost complete when Brushbuddy suddenly scrambled out from beneath her chair.
The creature had noticed a tiny beetle crawling across the floor. It bounded after it, brushing against Coco’s boot.
Coco startled.
Her quill slipped.
The dark line shot beyond the loop and sliced directly through the outer ring connecting the sigil.
Coco froze.
Agott’s head snapped up.
The ink shimmered.
For one terrible second, neither girl moved.
Then Agott surged to her feet. “Coco, get away from the table!”
Coco dropped the quill and pushed her chair back, but the damaged sigil had already begun to activate. The crossed lines glowed a harsh blue-white, light racing around the uneven circles. Wind burst from the page with enough force to scatter every loose sheet across the study.
The inkpots toppled.
Brushbuddy squeaked and darted beneath a cabinet.
Coco threw an arm over her face as the current twisted around her. Instead of rising evenly from the paper, the spell folded in on itself. Air compressed above the sigil with a sound like fabric being torn in half.
“Coco!” Agott shouted.
The spell ruptured.
A violent gust struck Coco across the chest and hurled her backwards.
Her hip hit the edge of a stool. The impact spun her sideways before the back of her head struck the wooden corner of a low shelf.
For a moment there was no pain.
Only brightness.
Then the room disappeared.
------------------------------------------------‐-----------------------------
Agott heard the dull impact and watched Coco collapse.
The wind vanished as suddenly as it had begun. Papers drifted down around them, landing across the floor like pale leaves.
“Coco?”
Agott remained frozen beside the table.
Coco lay crumpled near the shelf, one arm trapped beneath her and her face turned towards the floor. Her hat had rolled several feet away.
“Coco.”
There was no answer.
Agott stumbled around the table and dropped to her knees beside her. “Coco, wake up.”
She reached towards her shoulder, then hesitated. Qifrey had taught them not to move someone who might have injured their neck or back. Agott withdrew her hand, her fingers trembling.
A small patch of blood was beginning to darken Coco’s hair near the back of her head.
Agott’s breath caught.
“No. No, no, no.”
Brushbuddy crept from beneath the cabinet. It looked towards Coco, gave a distressed chirp, and raced through the open doorway.
Agott forced herself to think. She leaned close enough to see Coco’s chest.
It rose.
Slowly, but it rose.
“She is breathing,” Agott whispered, saying it aloud because the silence had become unbearable. “She is breathing. I need master Qifrey.”
Her voice cracked over his name.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brushbuddy was already racing through the corridor.
Qifrey was already stood in the adjoining room about to leave quickly after hearing Agott scream Cocos name when the little creature burst inside. Brushbuddy launched itself against his ankle, then turned and ran back towards the doorway.
Qifrey blinked. “Is everything okay, I heard Agott yell?”
Brushbuddy chirped in response and bolted away again hoping Qifrey is following quickly. Qifrey immediately did follow suit.
Brushbuddy led him into the study.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qifrey took in the ruined sigil, the overturned ink, the scattered papers and Agott kneeling beside Coco.
His expression changed instantly.
“Master Qifrey,” Agott said, her voice small and horrified. “The air sigil broke. She hit the shelf. I did not move her. She is breathing, but she will not wake up.”
“You did the right thing.”
Qifrey was beside Coco in seconds.
He knelt carefully and placed two fingers near the side of her neck, checking her pulse before leaning close to her mouth. He watched her breathing, then gently placed one hand beside her head to stop it from shifting.
“Dear Coco?” His voice was calm, although his face had gone pale. “Coco, can you hear me?”
Her eyelids did not move.
Qifrey brushed the hair away from her cheek. “Agott, go and fetch Olruggio. He should be near the northern path.”
Agott didnt move she just stared at the blood.
“Agott," Qifrey says calmly but not without slight authority.
She flinched and looked at him.
“I need Olruggio,” Qifrey repeated softly. “Take the calling stone from the front cabinet. You do not have to run all the way outside.”
Agott nodded rapidly and rose, nearly tripping over her own feet.
“And Agott...”
She stopped at the doorway.
“This was clearly an accident,” Qifrey said. “We will talk about what happened later. Right now, I need your help.”
Her mouth trembled. “Yes, Master Qifrey.”
She hurried away.
Qifrey returned his attention to Coco.
Her breathing sounded wrong, not severely laboured, but uneven, with a small pause between each breath. He touched her cheek.
“Coco, I am going to turn you onto your back,” he told her, even though she could not answer. “I will keep your head still.”
Supporting her neck and shoulder, he carefully moved her enough to assess her. Coco remained limp in his arms. A faint bruise was already forming along her temple, though the main wound appeared to be behind her head.
As Qifrey settled her, Coco made a weak sound.
“There you are,” he murmured. “Can you open your eyes for me Coco?”
Her brow pinched.
“Master…?”
Relief struck him so strongly that he nearly bowed over her.
“I am here dear.”
Coco’s eyelids fluttered, revealing unfocused eyes. She tried to lift her head.
Qifrey stopped her at once. “No. Stay still.”
“What happened?”
“It appears you had an accident with your sigil.”
Coco stared at him as if the words made no sense. Her gaze wandered around the room before settling somewhere beyond his shoulder.
“My head hurts.”
“Im not surprised, but please don't move it.”
“Agott?", She asks breathlessly.
“She is safe. She has gone to call Olruggio.”
Coco swallowed. Her face tightened, and she tried to roll onto her side.
Qifrey supported her carefully. “Are you feeling sick?”
She nodded, but even that movement made her nausea worse.
He moved a folded cloth beneath her cheek and kept one hand steady at the base of her neck. Coco gagged, though there was little in her stomach. The movement made her whimper.
“I am sorry,” she whispered. Qifrey’s eyes closed briefly. “For what?”
“The sigil.”
“My dear girl, do not worry about the sigil.”
“I ruined the study.”
“The study can be cleaned," Qifrey says with a softness to his voice.
“But I also frightened Agott.”
“Agott is frightened because she cares about you," he also says with a sigh.
Coco blinked slowly.
Qifrey wiped a trace of moisture from the corner of her mouth. “You are not in trouble. You are hurt, and we are going to look after you.”
Brushbuddy crept closer, its body low to the floor. It sniffed Coco’s outstretched hand before pressing its head beneath her fingers.
Coco’s thumb moved faintly across its soft fur.
Brushbuddy curled itself against her arm.
Footsteps thundered through the corridor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Olruggio entered first, his cloak crooked and leaves caught in his hair. Agott followed close behind him, clutching the calling stone. Tetia and Richeh appeared in the doorway several seconds later, their faces stricken.
Olruggio stopped when he saw Coco.
“What happened?”
“Unstable air sigil,” Qifrey answered. “It threw her into the shelf. She lost consciousness for perhaps a minute or two. She has woken, but she is confused and nauseated.”
Olruggio knelt beside them and examined the blood in Coco’s hair. “We need a healer.”
“The journey to the Great Hall would be too rough and I dont want to risk injuring her more” Qifrey said.
“We can request one here.”
Olruggio looked at Agott. “Ay write a letter to them please Agott.”
Agott nodded and hurried towards the far wall.
Built into a tall writing cabinet stood a narrow brass mechanism shaped somewhat like a printing press. A glass chamber occupied its centre, surrounded by several small turning wheels. Beside it rested a tray of specially treated paper and a sealed bottle of ink.
It was one of the atelier’s few direct methods of contacting the Great Hall quickly. Messages placed inside the machine could be transferred through paired magical seals, appearing within a matching device in the Hall’s communication chamber.
Agott’s hands shook as she pulled a sheet from the tray.
“What do I write, Master Olly?”
Olruggio did not look away from Coco. “Urgent healer request. Apprentice with head injury after magical accident. Loss of consciousness, confusion, nausea and bleeding. Ask them to send someone through the nearest authorised passage.”
Agott dipped the machine’s metal stylus into the ink.
The nib clicked against the page.
She wrote too quickly, misspelled the word consciousness, crossed it out, and tried again.
Tetia moved beside her and placed a hand over hers.
“It will be okay just breathe Agott” Tetia whispered.
Agott inhaled sharply.
Together, they completed the letter.
Agott placed it inside the glass chamber and shut the brass door. She turned the upper wheel three times, then pressed her palm to the seal engraved into the machine’s side.
The mechanism came alive.
Golden light filled the glass. The paper folded itself once, then twice, becoming smaller each time until it resembled a tiny glowing square. With a sharp flash, it vanished.
A bell rang inside the cabinet.
“Sent,” Agott said.
Olruggio nodded. “Now we wait for a reply.”
Coco shifted against Qifrey’s arm.
“Mmm cold,” she murmured.
Olruggio looked over his shoulder. “Richeh, bring blankets. Tetia, clear the floor and make sure nobody touches the broken sigil.”
Both girls hurried to obey.
Qifrey adjusted his position, sitting fully on the floor so Coco’s shoulders could rest against his chest without moving her head. She seemed increasingly drowsy, her eyes slipping shut despite his attempts to keep her focused.
“Coco,” he said gently. “Look at me.” She opened her eyes again.
“Thats it. Do you know where you are?”
“The atelier.”
“Good. Do you know who I am?” Coco looked vaguely offended. “Master Qifrey.” Qifrey continues asking questions trying to keep her alert and conscious. He knows how unpredictable head injuries can be.
Olruggio released a quiet breath. “That is encouraging.”
Qifrey almost smiled. “And who is this?”
He nodded towards Brushbuddy.
Coco looked down.
Brushbuddy had climbed partly onto her sleeve and was licking the side of her hand.
“Brushbuddy.” The little creature chirped as if confirming her answer.
Richeh returned with two blankets. Olruggio laid one across Coco’s legs and folded the second beneath her uninjured arm to keep her body somewhat balanced.
Agott remained beside the machine.
She stared at Coco, her face colourless.
“It was my fault,” she said.
Qifrey looked up. “Agott.”
“I saw the line connect. I told her to move, but I was too slow.”
“You warned her.”
“I should have stopped the spell.”
“There was no time.”
“I am supposed to be better at this than she is.”
Olruggio’s brows drew together. “Aye, being more experienced does not make you responsible for every accident that happens near you child.”
Agott’s fists clenched. “She would not have been practising that sigil if I had not said her earlier attempts were poor.”
Coco’s eyes moved towards her. “Agott…”
Agott immediately approached, but stopped a few feet away.
Coco lifted her hand weakly. “Come closer.”
Agott hesitated before kneeling.
“It was not your fault,” Coco whispered.
“You do not even remember what happened.”
“I remember you telling me to move.”
Agott lowered her gaze.
“You tried to help,” Coco continued. “You always try to help. Even when you sound angry.”
“I do not always sound angry.”
Coco’s mouth twitched faintly. “You do."
Tetia gave a watery laugh from the other side of the room. The sound eased some of the crushing tension, though Agott’s eyes still shone.
“I am sorry,” Agott said.
Coco’s fingers moved across the floor until Agott carefully took them.
“It was an accident,” Coco murmured, echoing Qifrey’s earlier words.
The bell inside the letter machine rang again. Everyone turned.
A fresh square of light appeared within the glass chamber, unfolding itself into a sheet of paper.
Olruggio crossed the room and opened the door. He scanned the message.
“A healer is coming,” he said. “They have permission to use the window-way from the Great Hall passage room. They should arrive shortly.”
Qifrey nodded, but his attention remained fixed on Coco.
Her eyes had closed again.
“Coco?” She did not respond.
Qifrey touched her cheek. “Coco, open your eyes.”
Her breathing became shallower.
Olruggio was beside him immediately. “Oi Coco.” She gave no answer.
Qifrey’s calm expression finally cracked. “Coco, please.”
Olruggio placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “She is still breathing.”
“She was answering a moment ago.”
“Head injuries cause drowsiness. The healer is coming.”
“That does not mean this is safe.”
“I know but it means shes getting the help she needs Qifrey.”
Qifrey looked down at the child in his arms. His grip tightened around the blanket.
Brushbuddy began pawing anxiously at Coco’s sleeve. When she did not react, it climbed onto her chest and nudged its face beneath her chin.
Coco’s eyelids fluttered. A faint groan escaped her.
Qifrey bowed his head, almost pressing his forehead to hers before remembering the injury.
“There you are,” he breathed.
Coco’s eyes opened only a fraction. “Tired.”
“You may rest soon,” he said. “Just stay with me until the healer arrives.”
“Promise I can rest?", the question saddened Qifrey as he thinks is that all Coco ever wanted?
“I promise.”
The study window suddenly filled with silver light.
Lines appeared across the glass—not drawn by any hand in the room, but forming from the centre outward. A circular sigil spread across the window, its marks gleaming before the glass transformed into a rippling, luminous surface.
The window-way opened.
A woman in pale healer’s robes stepped through, carrying a large leather case. A younger assistant followed with a folded stretcher and several blankets.
“I am Healer Meris,” the woman said. “Who is injured?”
Qifrey shifted enough to show Coco without moving her. “My apprentice.”
The healer knelt and immediately began her examination.
She asked Qifrey questions while checking Coco’s eyes, breathing, pulse, and the injury at the back of her head. She pressed her fingers gently along Coco’s neck and shoulders, then examined her arms and ribs.
Coco winced when the healer touched her left side.
“There may be bruising around the ribs,” Meris said. “Possibly a fracture, though her breathing is currently stable.”
“Her head?” Qifrey asked.
“The wound itself is not deep, but her loss of consciousness and confusion concern me. She has a significant concussion at the very least.”
Coco opened her eyes weakly as Meris cleaned the blood from her hair.
“Ow, that stings.”
“I know,” Meris said. “You are doing very well.”
Brushbuddy sat close to Coco’s ear and made a low, worried sound.
The healer glanced at it. “That little creature is welcome to remain as long as it does not interfere.”
Brushbuddy immediately placed both front paws on Coco’s shoulder as if declaring that it had no intention of going anywhere.
Olruggio folded his arms. “Will dear Coco here need to go to the Great Hall?”
Meris considered Coco for a moment. “Transporting her through the window-way is possible, but I would prefer not to move her farther than necessary until I have stabilised her neck and assessed the ribs. We can treat and observe her here tonight, provided someone is able to wake her regularly and watch for changes.”
“We will,” Qifrey and Olruggio answered together. Meris raised one eyebrow.
Olruggio gestured towards Qifrey. “He will attempt to remain awake for three days.”
Qifrey gave him a wounded look. “I would not.”
“You absolutely would.”
“Healer Meris has not even finished speaking.”
“And you have already decided you are never leaving Coco’s side.”
Coco made a faint sound that might have been a laugh, though it quickly turned into a pained breath.
Both men immediately stopped arguing.
Meris secured a padded brace around Coco’s neck and bandaged the wound on her head. She wrapped Coco’s ribs with a supportive cloth—not tightly enough to restrict her breathing, but enough to reduce some of the pain when she moved.
The assistant unfolded the stretcher.
“We will take her to her room,” Meris said. “Slowly and level. No stairs if they can be avoided.”
“There is a bedroom on this floor,” Olruggio replied. “It is used for guests.”
“That will be suitable instead of moving her too much.”, the healer says as a matter of fact.
Moving Coco required nearly everyone.
Meris and her assistant guided the stretcher beneath her without bending her neck. Qifrey supported Coco’s head while Olruggio steadied her legs. Coco whimpered when they lifted her, and her hand reached blindly for something to hold.
Qifrey caught it.
“I am here.” Her fingers closed weakly around his.
The girls stood by the doorway, watching.
As they began to carry Coco from the room, Brushbuddy trotted beside the stretcher. Its short legs struggled to keep pace, so Olruggio leaned down, scooped it up with one arm, and placed it carefully beside Coco’s hip.
Brushbuddy settled immediately.
The guest room was small but warm, containing a broad bed, a washstand, and a lamp shaped like a cluster of leaves. Meris instructed them to keep the light dim. Once Coco had been transferred to the mattress, the healer arranged pillows around her to prevent her from turning suddenly.
Coco looked impossibly small beneath the blankets.
Qifrey sat beside the bed and stroked the hair away from her forehead, avoiding the bandage.
Olruggio stood behind him with one hand resting on the back of his chair.
“She is stable,” Meris said. “That is important. However, she must be watched closely. If her breathing changes, if she becomes impossible to wake, if she vomits repeatedly or begins behaving strangely, use the letter machine again. The Great Hall will keep a window-way prepared.”
Qifrey nodded.
Meris gave Coco a small amount of medicine to ease her pain and nausea. After making sure she could swallow safely, the healer checked her eyes once more.
“You may sleep now,” she told her. “But we will wake you in a little while.”
Coco’s gaze drifted towards Qifrey.
“You promised.”
“I remember,” he said. “You may rest but still have to look after you," Qifreys hand slowly stroking her head still careful oh bandages as her eyes slip closed.
Brushbuddy crawled carefully onto the blanket beside her hand. Coco’s fingers curled into its fur.
Within minutes, she was asleep. Agott stood at the foot of the bed.
“I should go,” she whispered doubt still in her mind.
Qifrey looked at her. “Why?”
“She might not want me here when she wakes.”
Coco’s sleeping fingers tightened faintly around Brushbuddy.
Olruggio pulled a second chair towards the bed and placed it beside Qifrey’s.
“Please sit down, Agott.” Agott stared at him.
“That was not a suggestion," he says with no real malice in his voice. She obeyed.
For a while, nobody spoke. Once the healer knew Coco was stable she excused herself to find herself a place of privacy to write in what could only be a healers journal for her reports later.
Tetia and Richeh brought warm drinks and slices of bread hoping food could lift some spirits, though Qifrey seemed to forget his cup existed until Olruggio pressed it into his hands.
“Drink.”
“Thank you Olly but I am not thirsty nor hungry.”
“That was also not a suggestion," he said with a slight wink echoing the words he said to Agott earlier.
Qifrey sighed and accepted the cup.
Agott stared at the floor. “I thought she was dead.”
The words emerged so quietly that for a moment it seemed no one had heard.
Qifrey lowered his drink.
“When she hit the shelf,” Agott continued, “she did not move. I called her name, but she just lay there. There was blood in her hair.” Her voice broke.
Olruggio crouched in front of her.
“You kept her still,” he said. “You checked that she was breathing. You sent for help. You followed every lesson we have given you. You were amazing kid don't be harsh on yourself."
“I was scared,"
“You were supposed to be scared,” Olruggio replied. “Courage is not the absence of fear. Sometimes it is being terrified and still remembering what needs to be done.”
Agott wiped angrily at her eyes. “That sounds like something Qifrey would say.”
“It does,” Qifrey admitted.
Olruggio glanced at him. “Oi I am capable of wisdom occasionally.”
“Occasionally," Qifrey said with a smirk.
Agott gave a small, shaky laugh. From the bed came a quiet groan.
Qifrey set aside his cup at once. “Coco?” Her eyes opened. She looked around in confusion before focusing on him.
“Where am I?”
“The guest room,” Qifrey said. “The healer has treated you.”
Coco tried to move and immediately winced.
“Do not sit up,” Olruggio warned, though his voice softened when she frightenedly froze. “You bruised your ribs. Stay where you are.”
Brushbuddy lifted its head and pushed its nose into Coco’s palm.
“Oh.” Coco looked down at it. “You stayed.” The little creature chirped.
“Of course it stayed,” Qifrey said. “It has been supervising all of us.”
Brushbuddy puffed out its chest in pride.
Coco’s gaze moved past him and found Agott.
“You stayed too.”
Agott’s shoulders stiffened. “Somebody had to ensure Qifrey followed the healer’s instructions.”
Olruggio nodded solemnly. “A demanding task.”
Coco smiled faintly. Agott leaned forward. “How do you feel?”
“Like the shelf won," Coco said breathlessly with a small smile.
Although Agott was not fond of said joke, “You should not joke.”
“You would joke if it were you," Coco argued.
Agott says as a matter fact, “I would not have hit the shelf.” Coco’s smile grew slightly.
Agott’s face crumpled.
Before she could turn away, Coco extended her hand. Agott took it.
“You saved me,” Coco said.
“I did not.”
“You called Master Qifrey.”
“Brushbuddy did that.”
The little creature squeaked proudly.
“You called Master Olruggio,” Coco continued. “And you sent the letter.”
“Anyone would have.”
“But you did.”
Agott lowered her head until her forehead nearly touched Coco’s knuckles.
“I am sorry.”
Coco squeezed her hand with what little strength she had.
Qifrey watched the two girls, his eyes gentle but tired. Olruggio squeezed his shoulder.
Later, after Meris had checked Coco once more satisfied with the start of her recovery and reminding Qifrey and Olly what to watch out for and immediately contact the great hall if she gets worse. Meris then returned to the great hall through the window-way and the atelier settled into an uneasy quiet.
Tetia and Richeh went to bed only after Coco had assured them three times that she was not going to disappear overnight. Agott refused to leave until Olruggio brought a spare mattress into the guest room and placed it beside the bed.
Qifrey remained in the chair.
Olruggio sat against the wall with his arms folded, clearly intending to remain awake despite everything he had said about Qifrey doing the same.
Brushbuddy lay on Coco’s pillow beside her cheek.
Sometime after midnight, Coco stirred. “Master Qifrey?”
He woke instantly. “I am here.”
“It hurts.”
Qifrey reached for the medicine Meris had left, but Olruggio was already pouring water.
Together, they helped Coco take another measured dose. Qifrey supported her shoulders while Olruggio steadied the cup against her lips.
When she settled again, tears glimmered in her eyes.
“I ruined everything.”
Qifrey’s expression tightened. “No.”
“I nearly hurt Agott," she says sadly. “But you did not," Olruggio quickly counter argued.
“You and Master Qifrey had to call a healer.”
“That is what healers are for,” Olruggio said.
Coco swallowed. “Maybe I should not practise difficult sigils anymore.” Qifrey leaned closer. “One accident does not decide what kind of witch you will become.”
“But I made a mistake.”
“So have I dear child, plenty of times and I still make mistakes today."
Coco stared at him.
“So does dear Olly here,” Qifrey added.
Olruggio raised an eyebrow. “There was no need to involve me.”
“Everyone makes mistakes,” Qifrey continued. “Even careful witches. Even experienced witches. What matters is that we learn from them without allowing fear to take our pens away.”
Coco’s eyes filled.
Qifrey cupped her cheek carefully.
“You are allowed to be frightened,” he whispered. “You are allowed to rest. You are even allowed to be angry that this happened. But you are not allowed to believe that an accident makes you less worthy of being here.”
A tear slipped sideways into her hair.
“I was scared you would be disappointed.”
“Oh, Coco I would never be. If anything you and the girls have made me so unbelievably proud. I'm so proud with the person you are and how far you have come," he says with a smile that didn't falter once.
Qifrey bent and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I was scared I had lost you.”Coco closed her eyes.
Olruggio rested his hand against the back of her head, his touch carefully avoiding the bandage.
“You frightened all of us,” he said. “So your punishment is to recover properly and endure an unreasonable amount of supervision.”
“How unreasonable?”
“You will not be permitted to cross the room without at least two people watching.”
“That sounds very unreasonable.”
“It will get worse if you argue.”
Brushbuddy climbed onto Coco’s chest and curled beneath her chin. Coco smiled through her tears.
Agott stirred on the mattress below.
Without opening her eyes, she reached up and placed one hand against the edge of Coco’s blanket.
Coco looked down at her, then towards Qifrey and Olruggio.
“You are all staying?”
“Yes,” Qifrey said.
“Unfortunately,” Olruggio added, though his hand remained protectively on her shoulder.
Brushbuddy chirped.
Coco allowed her eyes to close again.
The pain still throbbed through her head and ribs, but it no longer felt as frightening as it had before. Qifrey’s hand rested warmly around hers. Olruggio remained close enough that she could hear the quiet rustle of his robes whenever he moved. Agott slept beside the bed with her fingers curled into the blanket, and Brushbuddy’s soft breathing tickled Coco’s chin.
The atelier had not become quiet because she was alone.
It had become quiet because everyone she loved was watching over her.
For the first time since the spell had broken, Coco relaxed fully into the pillows.
Surrounded by the warmth of her teachers, her friend, and one very determined little white creature, she drifted back to sleep.