the room. Thanks to Lauren, every mind present had felt Beth's streaming joy.
"And she figured out Kenna's butterfly spell." Aervyn spoke up from a chair bedecked in cookie crumbs. "It was all inside out and stuff. Beth's really smart."
Everyone else was seeing success. Nell had only found more names for her fear.
She knew everything they said was true, but her spellcaster's soul rebelled at calling it a victory. "She was very brave, and she held very steady for the casting." And Kenna was happily playing in the corner because of it - she'd have had one very sore head if she'd triggered her mangled spell before it had been repaired.
Those were very good things - but they weren't enough. Too much risk, too many wrong steps. It was still shaking her soul, and their Chicago visitor was at the center of the earthquake. Nell struggled to find words that didn't sound awful to her own heart. Words that didn't paint Beth as less because she was different.
And simply couldn't find them.
-o0o-
Such pain. And so much confusion from someone usually so clear.
Lauren watched the woman who was Witch Central's rock sink back into her chair, shoulders drooping. And heard the question she'd been too kind, too uncertain, and too guilt-ridden to ask.
Sometimes even warriors ran low on courage. "Nell's right. Some things went very well today, but we need to ask the same questions we ask about any witch in a circle."
"Okay." Jamie was skeptical, but trying to help. "So... what can they handle, magically? And how can we best keep them safe?"
"Right." Now time to thread the trickier needle. "Beth's brain works a little differently from most witches - so the answers to those questions might be different too."
"It's hard - " Nell stopped and took a visible breath. "It will be hard to figure those things out when we can't train with her."
"She's learned lots of stuff." Aervyn scowled at the room in general. "She's a really smart witch."
Lauren wondered if Beth had any idea how much the ten-and-under crowd in Witch Central loved her. Which was a good thing - but Aervyn's words were hammering into his mama.
Time to clear the kids out of the room. Nell wasn't going to be able to be weak and scared while they watched. She needed space. And Daniel. And nobody pushing a sword into her gut. Lauren beamed word to Jamie.
"That's true, superdude." Jamie acknowledged her send and picked up Aervyn, ready to begin the herding. "She did some pretty cool magic tricks today. But I think she learns a lot on her own. She doesn't learn while we're teaching her, and that makes some stuff more complicated. Imagine if Kenna did all her magic by herself under her bed."
He met Lauren's gaze over Aervyn's head. Daniel's on the way.
"Her bed would blow up. Beth's not silly like that." Aervyn protested as they hit the doorway. Mutiny hadn't disappeared any, even with uncle cuddles. "She just likes to practice on her lonesome."
So many witches hurting on this one. Lauren reached comfort out to Aervyn's mind. He deserved words too. "Practice is awesome, cutie. But sometimes we have to practice together so we learn about each other. There are some things we'd like to learn about Beth."
He scowled some more. "Like what?"
She dug into her mental impressions from the past week. "Well, you know that Beth likes to do things in small steps, one at a time, right?"
He nodded. "She likes to know where the beginning of a spell is, too."
Something that had mystified her husband for two days. "Right. We need to know things like that so we know how to take care of her when we work together in a circle." Ideally, the kind without impromptu toddler fireworks.
Something still wasn't sitting right - she could see it in his eyes. And then he wasn't watching her at all.
Lauren turned. Oh, damn.
"She's not fragile." Shay stepped forward from the wall, eyes shooting blue thunder. "He can feel it in your brains, and I can see it on your faces. You all think that, even after what she did today."
The room stared at Nell's quietest