Malachite is Precious

Evelyn closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She held the large malachite in her left hand and slowly moved her right hand in the air. She summoned a small blade of wind and carefully cut into the precious stone. She sliced through the malachite into four pieces. Evelyn carefully examined the stone pieces and laid them out on the blanket. She picked up one of the small pieces and sliced it in half before she summoned her water magic to sand down the pieces into small square cut pieces. 

"What are you doing?" Peggy asked.

"I'm creating some charms for us from this malachite. They will warn of dark magic and I thought I would use this time to create charms for the three of us."

"How did you do that?"

"Watch closely; I'm going to use the water to sand down these two pieces for us," she motioned with her hands a small ball of water that encapsulated the small malachite pieces and Peggy watched as the stones slowly started to form a teardrop shape.

"I can't believe you're able to do something like this," Peggy exclaimed.

"I'm not done yet," Evelyn reached into the small bag that she had brought with her and pulled out a small leatherbound journal. She undid the binding and laid it out in front of her. Then she reached back into the bag and removed some small silver pieces. "I'm going to use one of mom's spells to enchant them to help detect dark magic and protect against any spell that might be used." 

"I can't wait to see!"

"Protego. Obscurus."  Evelyn began muttering with her palms above the stones. They slowly started to glow a faint green light. Evelyn opened her eyes and took in the scene with a pride in her eyes.

"Are you done?" Peggy asked.

"Yes," she beamed. "Wear this on your bracelet," Evelyn held up the small teardrop charm. "Like I said, it will warn you of dark magic and can protect against one spell."

"I still can't believe that you can do things like this. I feel so left behind," Peggy lamented.

"What do you mean?" Evelyn asked with concern in her eyes.

"I just feel that you're learning all of these spells and about herbs for healing and you have no one guiding you, but you know so much more than I even thought about," Peggy got up from the blanket. 

"There's nothing wrong with what you're doing. You're just learning different things."

Peggy exhaled deeply, "thanks, but I still feel left behind."

"Well, now is the perfect time for you to learn! Come with me to view the medicinal hall in the next few days. We can see what was left behind and maybe we can find some journals and such that would be helpful!"

"I'd like that," Peggy smiled softly.

"Are you girls finished," Geoffrey asked as he emerged from the gaps in the trees.

"Yes," Evelyn answered as she started to put her crystals away. 

"Wait a minute!" Geoffrey exclaimed as he took in the crystals before her. "Is that malachite?!"

"Yes," Evelyn answered. She wasn't sure why Geoffrey was so out of sorts. "Is there a problem?"

"I'm just so surprised to see it. There hasn't been a piece of malachite available for many years!"

"Oh, well I got this from my mother's collection of stones. I wasn't aware that this was so precious."

"Well, it is. Let's get going. You girls probably want to freshen up and rest a bit before tonight's dinner."

Evelyn gathered her bags and the blankets that they had used and secured them to her saddle. She mounted her large white mare and they began to make their way out of the forest. 

"So, do you have any plans to visit the coven?" Geoffrey broke the silence.

"No," Evelyn replied curtly.

"Well," Peggy started. "I was thinking about it, but if Evelyn doesn't want to go, I don't need to go."

"No, don't let me hold you back," Evelyn replied.

"But, what will you do if I go?"

"I will spend some more time in the medicinal wing. Don't worry about me, go if you'd like."

"I can speak with Roxanne to set something up with her for you," Geoffrey offered.

"Would you mind doing that?" Peggy asked.

"Not at all," Geoffrey offered. "I will speak with her and get back to you."

"Thank you."

"And Miss Evelyn, I will show you to the medicinal hall tomorrow. I won't be able to stay with you as I have things to do tomorrow, but you should be fine on your own, right?"

"Yes, that would be quite alright."

"That's settled then, I will see you, ladies, tonight," Geoffrey dismounted from his horse and made his way into the stables.

"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself tomorrow?" Peggy asked.

Evelyn stroked the long hair of her mare. "Yes, I have a feeling that it will be good for me to spend some time reading. 

"Well, I don't want to upset you by going to see the coven without you."

"Don't worry about me. Honestly, I think it will be good for you to spend some time with the other witches to see how they do things. You might even learn some new things while you're there."

"Well, if you're okay with it, I would like to go."

"Good, let's head inside. I'd like to get these to father before dinner," Evelyn undid her bags and saddle from her horse. 

"Don't you worry about what Geoffrey mentioned about the stone being so precious?"

"No," Evelyn smiled. "I don't see why it would be a problem."