Morgana Hawthorne's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Morgana opened her shop door before sunrise and carried her wooden cart outside. She loaded it with six bottles of honey salve and three jars of dried mint tea. Her hands shook as she tied down the canvas cover. Today she would face real customers in the town square. They might buy from her, or they might walk past without a second glance. The square was already busy when she arrived. Farmers sold vegetables. Bakers called out about fresh bread. Morgana set up her cart between a cheese seller and a woman with cloth. She arranged her bottles and jars in neat rows. Three people walked by without stopping. A fourth glanced at her sign but kept moving. Her stomach twisted. She needed more products, better ones. That meant gathering more herbs and drying them properly. She pictured the twisted willow branches behind her shop—they would make a perfect drying rack to preserve her harvest. By noon, she had sold two bottles of salve and one jar of tea. It wasn't much, but it was a start. On her way home, she took a different path through the forest. The trail led to an old wooden hut covered in vines and moss. She pushed open the crooked door. Inside, dusty shelves held leather books and rolled scrolls. Her heart pounded. These were remedy recipes, healing formulas she'd never seen before. She grabbed three books and tucked them under her arm. With better knowledge and proper preparation, her shop would grow. Customers would come. She just had to keep learning and building, one step at a time.