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I tried to lighten the mood as I picked up the pepper shaker. “We’re really putting black pepper in the tea?”
“It’s a requirement. It doesn’t taste the best, but it’s effective.”
I finished adding the ingredients, and Mandy sealed up the bag and shook it. She handed it over to me, and I funneled Alchemy magic into it from the crystals I’d brought.
“That’s it!” Mandy said brightly. “What’d I tell you? Easy peasy!”
I smiled, because it was really nice to be getting along with her again. I’d never asked her about what the priestesses had done to her, and I thought she’d never forgive me for the torture they put her through. But that didn’t seem to be the case. Mandy could’ve gone to Hok’evale with Tate, and she’d chosen to stay. I really appreciated her friendship, because it seemed no matter what had happened between us, we’d eventually find our way back home.
I clutched the baggie in my hands. “Thanks again, Mandy.”
“You’re welcome. Now go,” she teased, pushing me toward the door. “You’re not allowed to see me wrap your present!”
“Hey, you aren’t supposed to tell me you have my name!” I protested playfully.
“Whoops!” Mandy placed her hand over her mouth. “I guess you’re still going to have to wait for the surprise.”
I left her room, then returned to mine so I could wrap Talia’s gift. When I finished, I went downstairs to place the present under the tree.
All the others were gathered downstairs. Lucas and Professor Warren were in the hall, and I followed the sound of their voices to see what they were doing. Lucas held a box full of bells, flowers, and twigs, and Professor Warren was hanging them from above the front door.
“What are you doing?” I wondered. “Can I help?”
Lucas’s eyes lit up when he saw me. “Sure! We’re hanging bells, yarrow, and mistletoe in the doorway to keep the fae away.”
“I think we have enough wards for that,” I teased as he handed me a set of bells and tacks to hold them up.
“It’s tradition,” Warren explained. He was taller than Lucas, but he still stood on his toes to hang a sprig of mistletoe as high as he could reach. “Centuries ago, when the witches lived in Europe, we did all we could to stave off the fae. The Winter Solstice is their day for a celebration they call the Winter Hunt. Each year, the fae put on a grand festival, and their most accomplished hunters go into the forest in hunt of their dark god Droga. According to fae lore, the dark god Droga chased away the sun at the Fall Equinox. Today marks the day Tomir, king of the fae gods and lord of the Winter Hunt, brings it back. Witches don’t want to be caught in the middle of a fae hunt, and therefore, it is tradition to stay inside. That is why we sing, drink, and feast in our homes until morning, once the sun returns and it is safe to venture outside once more.”
“So what’s with the bells?” I asked as I hung one up.
“The fae don’t like bells,” Lucas said. “If they were to come through the door into our home, the noise would annoy them, and make them go away. As extra protection, we hang yarrow, which the fae are allergic to, and mistletoe, which helps ward off evil of all kinds.”
“The fae aren’t getting past this,” I said proudly. I lay yarrow in front of the doorway. It seemed silly that such a simple thing was so powerful, but that’s how it was in the supernatural world. Some magic required effort and exceptional power, and others were as simple as a tiny flower that you didn’t realize could kill you until it’d already done its damage.
We finished hanging all the bells, yarrow, and mistletoe and returned to the great room. Onyx and Verla were brewing something that smelled of cinnamon and nutmeg in the kitchen. Mandy was downstairs now, and she’d joined them to bake cookies. In the living room, Chloe and Miles were curled up under a blanket, sipping steaming cups of hot cocoa. Grant and Talia sat in front of the fireplace, dangling pine branches above the cats’ heads.
The cats batted at the needles with their paws. Talia laughed as she tossed her pine branch across the room, and seven of the eight cats chased it all at once. Isa caught it first, but Oliver tackled her to the ground, and they went tumbling under the Christmas tree together. Talia’s cat Gus snatched the end of the branch in his mouth and started running across the room. Grant’s cat Bella and Miles’s cat Kiki both chased after him. Onyx’s cat gave up and started licking his paws. Marley, Chloe’s cat, sprinted from out of nowhere and snatched the branch out of Gus’s mouth. It was really funny to watch.
Odin didn’t look amused. The black cat lazed on the back of the couch and merely blinked at the others, like he didn’t understand what was so interesting about a pine branch.
“Lighten up, Scrooge,” I teased Odin, scratching him behind the ears as I passed. He started purring but got a disgruntled look on his face when I stopped.
Chloe got up and went over to the fire, where she shifted around the coals with an iron poker. “The fire’s ready to burn our Yule logs.”
“What exactly is a Yule log?” I asked. I’d heard of it, but I hadn’t burned one before. My parents and I had always celebrated Christmas, but the Yule log wasn’t a tradition my mother brought with her when she left the coven.
“As you know, Yule is a time in which we reflect on the previous year and make oaths, promises, or goals for the year to come,” Chloe explained. “Traditionally, the Yule log was a whole tree brought into the home and burned over twelve days, to beckon in the return of the sun. The traditions have evolved over time, and now we each take our own log and write or carve our wishes on it for the new year. You don’t have to make it complicated; it can be a single word that holds your intention for the year. Then you’ll burn the log to surrender those intentions to Mother Miriam.”
“Are there any incantations or spells to cast?” I wondered.
Chloe shook her head. “The act of burning the log itself is a spell. You will start here at the Yule altar, to pray to Mother Miriam and leave your burdens of this year behind.”
Chloe gestured to a small table set up near the tree. Beside it was a box of pinecones, acorns, and spruce branches left over from our wreaths and ornaments. “You will choose your offering from the box and place it upon the altar. Traditionally, our ancestors offered plants and food, because that’s all they had to give centuries ago. This offering symbolizes what you are willing to let go of. Light a candle as you say a prayer to express your gratitude to Mother Miriam, and hand over what is no longer serving you. In return, she will shoulder your burdens and bless you with prosperity for the new year once the sun returns. Shall your intentions be pure, she will guide you to accomplishing the goals you carve into the Yule log.”
She turned to a pile of small logs stacked beside the fireplace. “Once you have done that, you can choose a log and carve your intention into it, then place it in the fireplace to be burned. Who wants to go first?”
“I’ll go!” Talia offered chipperly. She practically danced across the room and knelt in front of the altar. Nobody bothered her as she silently said a prayer to Mother Miriam and lit a tealight candle. She used her wand to carve the word Abundance into her Yule log, then placed it into the fire.
