Wheeling Gull Isle i turned to look, but it was gone

set for December 3, midday -- in the forest beneath the mountain

At her Mitexi—her coming-of-age ceremony—Seelie and Hemlock had gifted her and Reed two gardens. One was here, up the slope, the mountain looming still above. Nestled below trees, their branches now bare—the garden bare, too.

These gardens are your domain, now, Stockholm had said. No matter where you wander, you’ll always have a place here.

Maegi wondered if anyone tended to these gardens in the growing seasons. She bent now, eventually rolling over onto her side upon the earth. It was a little overgrown. . .but nothing that couldn't be made new again with some work. She inhaled and swore she caught the hint of mint, of celandine and poppy. . .

She missed Reed, who had once come to her at the woods. Wait, hadn't she said then that Undersea had dispersed? Miryam forgot that, so apparently Maegi had, too. Otherwise, she might not have come here so readily, looking for her old friends.

But she did miss Reed something fierce. They had gotten off on a little rocky footing but had grown, eventually, thick as thieves. And then Mou had come, and her life, her heart, had grown bigger still.

At least Mou remained. And this garden. In the spring, she would revive it.