It’s #BookQW and Fern understands what’s ‘important’ to Cor.
More from chapter 5:
Fern hurried after Lady Pina, who had promised to introduce her to the manager of a wet meadow on the mainland. But that wasn’t as important as leaving that guy hanging. Cor had hidden it well, but she’d seen the excitement in his honey-brown eyes, then the flash of disappointment. Trees were important to him, the same way wildflowers were to her. Like her, he wanted this.
“Ma’am?” Fern matched Lady Pina’s pace. “His project sounded amazing. Is that kind of magic for tree protection usual?”
“Been experimented with, so not unusual. It’s in the spell work that the truth would come out if it actually could be self-energizing. That’s what would save a wizard effort, to set it up and leave, doing a monitoring every week or month or couple of months. That would be a gem.”
“Then why didn’t you get his number?”
“A number?”
Oh yeah, this elderly—and simplistic-living—wizard didn’t do phones. “Find a way to contact him, or at least set up a time to meet him later this weekend. Lunch or something?”
Lady Pina shrugged. “My hands are tied.”
“No,” Fern said boldly. “You found a way to help me when you liked my project.”
Lady Pina shook her head again. “You had Lark looking after you, training you. You were on the isle…any number of beneficial reasons.”
“He seemed very hyped, er, interested in trees. I bet he’d work hard, and you said yourself the work has become harder for you. I’m sure it’s been difficult with Beri on the Meadows now.”
Lady Pina didn’t answer.
The corridor had mostly emptied. Fern swallowed. This wasn’t something she’d bluntly asked someone before, but Lady Pina wasn’t a person who was afraid to speak her mind. I hope she doesn’t mind if I do, too. If Cor was as hard a worker as he was enthusiastic, then he could replace Beri, which would make Fern feel a whole lot better about stealing him from the Pines. Fern grasped Lady Pina’s arm so she had to stop, very aware of how her olive fingers appeared brown against Lady Pina’s pale skin. “Is this because he’s black?” she asked quietly. She’d been subjected to discrimination herself in the past.
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