Violet's Arc

Chapter 2 of 10

Back at the slope shelter, Violet opened her grandmother's journal. Pressed petals slid between the pages, dry and bright. One line was underlined twice: press with intention, steep with care. She set her silver jar beside the page and read again. She pressed the wild violets the way the journal said. She steeped them with a few market blooms in warm water. The tea rang clear in her cup, sharp and bright. She tasted it. The bitterness inside her did not move, but the cup itself sang. Violet wrote the result down. Then she counted her jar. Half a handful left. The market blooms would run out by week's end. She closed the journal and looked toward the high gray peaks dotted with purple. She would have to climb higher. Tomorrow, she would go up where the wild violets grew thick on the rocky shelves, and gather them herself.