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Adrian was full of questions. He hadn't struck Amarantha as one to be especially talkative when they first met, but apparently he was passionate about folklore or something along those lines - Amarantha had quickly forgotten exactly what he'd said. He kept asking questions Amarantha couldn't answer, didn't know how to answer. Though his mother, whose name was Adah, asked the question she could answer.

"What did you mean, about some skill with plants?"

Amarantha shrugged. "Plants loved her. Our garden was huge... And it didn't take nearly as long for things to grow as my books said it should. It was almost like.... Like she could control them." Amarantha fell silent again, staring at the now-cold half-sandwich in front of her.

The kitchen was silent for a moment, then Adrian spoke up, "So. Like a witch. Does that mean you're one too?"

There was more silence, and Amarantha didn't know how to break it. Should she? Was this a time to break the silence, or should she just let it sit? Not to mention, there was a lot to think about. She would know if she had some sort of power over plants, wouldn't she? She thought she would, but she didn't know. It didn't seem impossible, weirdly enough. But wouldn't Mother have told her?

But Mother didn't seem to have told Amarantha a lot of things, really, so she didn't know why she was surprised.

"I don't know," she finally said. "It's possible." She shut her eyes, leaning her head on her hands. This was too much. Too much, too fast. All Amarantha wanted to do was go home, back to the cabin, where she could sit with Mother and read and forget this had ever happened.

But it was happening, and she had no way to get home. Unless Adrian or his mother drove her, which Amarantha didn't see happening. There was no way she would ask them to, either. As nice as they seemed, she still wasn't entirely sure of their intentions.

Adrian's voice interrupted her thoughts. "I'm not sure about you, but I kind of want to find out." He sounded a little like he didn't want to upset her, but Amarantha wasn't upset. Not with him. She wanted to find out, too. She wanted to find out what Mother had been keeping from her, because if Mother couldn't be trusted, she was going to have to find other ways to get her information.

She was going to have to locate her father. Her father, who she hadn't thought about in a year. Who she'd never met. Who Mother wouldn't talk about.

She was terrified.