Chapter 36: Foraging

Lavinia had hoped that preparations for Marco and Arabella's ceremony would feel like a point of normalcy. She thought that surely the process could not be that different from events she had been to in the past. Mr. Brogan seemed to be treating the whole affair like a wedding. But nothing could have been farther from the truth.

Sonia's event planning was unlike anything Lavinia had ever seen. Instead of choosing decorations and matching centerpieces, she bound herbs and lit candles, guiding Arabella and Lavinia through the motions.

That afternoon she led them into the surrounding forest. Lavinia had never seen woods like these. In the confines of the city, there was almost no plant life. It was only near Astor manor that she had ever seen any density of plant life. This area was something entirely new. Trees grew wide and tall, their roots overlapping in a matted tangle on the forest floor, overrun with ferns and thick patches of leafy shrubs that Lavinia could not identify.