Chapter 11: Romie

At dawn, Romie visits the herbarium, where Mr. Ametrine warns her about poisonous monkshood and explains the Wychwood’s unique role: it is the heart from which all magic flows. He hints that healing such rot may require sacrifice, unsettling Romie. She wrestles with envy and distrust around Emory’s newfound Tidecaller powers.

Emory arrives, confessing she also heard the sleepscape voice and may have seen Kai again, suggesting her magic bridges worlds. They argue: Emory wants to flee for safety, while Romie insists they were called for a purpose. Romie persuades Emory to search the waterfall site before deciding.

Aspen intercepts them but agrees to guide them. In the rotting woods, the waterfall is dried and choked with sludge and a dead deer. Emory senses charged energy; Aspen identifies a ley line, which heightens perception but cannot be harnessed. Aspen reveals she has secretly scryed through others’ senses; Romie recounts the Song of the Drowned Gods, and Aspen briefly betrays resonance with its “call” but refuses to leave the Wychwood.

Back at Amberyl House, the rot has crept to the gate. They find Bryony scrying amid black nightshade, using taste as a tether. In a sudden slip, Bryony possesses Aspen long enough to speak through her. Aspen, alarmed, orders secrecy, but two boy witches witness it and brand Bryony a “hellwraith.”

As the boys rush to inform their mother, Emory Glamours them into forgetting what they saw. The immediate threat is averted, but the incident exposes Bryony’s dangerous new ability, Aspen’s vulnerability, and the accelerating decay of the Wychwood, while underscoring Emory’s expanding and ethically fraught power.