Grassina gestured, and more witches' lights began to glow, the light soft and diffuse. Eadric's stomach rumbled, and a crimson fog floated around the room. He blushed, his face turning nearly the same color as the fog.
"Eadric ate the seeds inside the magic beans," I said, certain that that was all the explanation my aunt needed.
Grassina shook her head sadly, although a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You shouldn't have eaten those seeds, Eadric. Those were old magic beans whose magic gets stronger with age. Every month for the rest of your life your problem will return when the moon is full."
My grandfather was known as Aldrid the Wise, my father was Limelyn the Courageous, yet the man I might marry one day could be called Eadric the Flatulent. Eadric groaned when his stomach grumbled, and I couldn't keep from smiling. What a time to realize that I really wanted to marry him!
"I think I'll go down to the kitchen," Eadric said, heading for the door. "It's been a while since we ate last. Emma, are you coming?"
"No, I need to stay and help Aunt Grassina." I settled into my usual chair in front of the fireplace. Grassina joined me in the other chair, and we waited until Eadric had closed the door behind him. When my aunt sighed, I knew that something was wrong.
"Father will be all right, won't he?" I asked.
"Oh, yes. This has nothing to do with your father. It's just that I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing about Haywood."
"What are you saying? Don't you want to get him back the way he was?"
"Yes, of course I do, or at least I think I do. But what if we've changed so much that we don't like each other anymore? Or what if we discover that we've fallen out of love? I'm no longer the young girl who fell in love with the romantic young wizard in training. I've had a lot of time to think about this. It took me much longer than I thought it would to find Haywood. Then when I did, Mother had made him forget that he was ever human, just as she said she would. He was happy as an otter, happier than most men ever are. What right did I have to bring him back here to life as a human?"
"He was happy as an otter because of Grandmother's spell, you know that. But he'll be happier with you. I saw the way he looked at you when you found him the other day. He'd even carved your name in the bark of an old oak, although it must have been terribly difficult for an otter. He loves you, Aunt Grassina, and if he was in his right mind, he'd tell you so."
Grassina held up her hand, showing me the wrapping stained with blood. "He bit me, Emma! When I finally found him, he bit me like a wild animal!"
"It was Grandmother's spell. I know the real Haywood loves you!"
Grassina sighed again. "Perhaps you're right, Emma. I know so little about affairs of the heart. It's been so long." She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples as if in pain, but when she looked at me again, she seemed a little more cheery. "If we're going through with this, we'd better get busy. Dawn will be here before we know it."
While Grassina started toward her room to fetch the items from the silver chest, I reached into my pouch for the bottle of dragon's breath. I was about to take it out when I heard a rustling by the window. I gasped when Grandmother shot through the opening. Hopping off her broom, she pointed a finger at Grassina. "There you are! Did you find him?"
Grassina turned her head and glared. "What are you doing here?"
"I've come to keep you from making a terrible mistake!"
"The only mistake I've made was letting you near Haywood again," said Grassina. "I should have known better than to ask you for help."
"Is that any way to talk to your mother?"
"In your case, yes. Now please leave."
Grandmother muttered something as she squinted, her tiny eyes nearly disappearing in a mass of wrinkles. Grassina must have guessed what her mother was up to, because she put her hand in front of her face and recited something very fast. With a high-pitched whistle, Grandmother's spell bounced off Grassina and attached itself to its creator. Furious, Grandmother clawed at her lips, tearing away strands of something thick and white that seemed to writhe in her hands.
"Why, you little pipsqueak!" shrilled my grandmother once she'd uncovered her mouth. "You restore Henry and your life will change forever!"
"I hope so, Mother, and his name is Haywood!"
"This is for your own good, daughter!" screamed Grandmother as she hurled a ball of the tangled white strands at Grassina.
My aunt ducked, and the ball splattered against the wall behind her. "Mother, I'm warning you, you aren't going to change my mind."
"Let's bring Howard here and we'll see what he thinks." Grandmother muttered something and made clockwise circles with her hand. A puff of orange smoke clouded the corner of the room, and when it cleared, Haywood stood blinking at the light. Grandmother spoke again, and a dozen wasps buzzed through the window, heading straight for the otter. If I hadn't known the strength of my spell, I might have been convinced.
"Haywood!" screamed Grassina as he snapped and batted at the wasps. Without thought for her own safety, my aunt rushed to help him. The moment Grassina turned her back, Grandmother pointed at her and muttered. It must have been a binding spell, for my aunt froze in midstep. Her body trembled as she fought to break the spell.
"Harvey isn't worth the breath it takes to say his name," my grandmother shrilled. "I don't know why you're being so thickheaded!"
"Because she loves him!" I said, surprising even myself. I couldn't bear it any longer. My grandmother had done everything she could to stand in the way of true love, and even that hadn't been enough for her. "You may have fooled Grassina, but I know that's not Haywood. He's still right where I put him, and that's where he'll stay until we're ready. Your tricks aren't going to work with me, so you might as well stop now."
Grandmother grumbled and waved her arm. The false images of the otter and the wasps began to fade.
"What you're doing is wrong, Grandmother!" I continued. "Can't you see that they should be together?"
My grandmother's eyes flashed. "I see. You've learned a little magic, so you think you can interfere. Well, this is none of your business. This is between my daughter and me." With a flick of her fingers, silver sparks shot from their tips, sizzling as if they burned the air.
Keep it simple, I thought, and a spell formed in my mind almost effortlessly.
The wind must blow,
It can't be slow.
Put out each spark
And leave no mark.
A sudden gust of wind shook the tapestries on the walls, whipped my hair about my head, blew the loose parchments off Grassina's desk and turned the sparks into fizzling dust that fell harmlessly to the floor when the wind died down.
"Very nice!" exclaimed Grandmother, and suddenly I had the impression that she was pleased. "Now how about this?" I was surprised to see her vanish, but even more surprised that I could still sense her presence in the room.
"I know you're here, Grandmother. Hasn't this gone on long enough?" When she didn't answer. I said, "Fine. If that's the way you're going to act, let's try this."
Let each life here
Give off a glow,
To help me learn
What I must know.
My skin tingled, and the air around me began to shimmer while a golden aura formed around my aunt and Li'l. I blinked, and when I looked again I saw a glowing light roughly my grandmother's size and shape. The light moved, and I heard my grandmother laugh. "Very good! Maybe we'll make a witch of you yet."
Somehow, what had started as a fight between my aunt and my grandmother had ended up feeling like a test for me. From the tone of my grandmother's voice, it seemed that I had passed.
A blue mist floated through the door, and my grandfather materialized in the middle of the room. "Back so soon, Olivene? You stay away for years, and now you visit twice in one week?"
Grandmother reappeared with a small pop. "Mind your own business, you old fool," she said, her bristling eyebrows drawn together in a V. "This is between me and my granddaughter."
"She's my granddaughter, too. Leave her alone, Olivene. She doesn't need you interfering in her life."
"And I don't need your advice, Aldrid. I was leaving anyway. I've already said what I wanted to say and learned what I wanted to learn." Grandmother smiled at me, then turned to waggle her fingers at Grassina. My aunt's foot hit the floor with a thump, and she staggered a step or two.
"Then why are you still here?" asked Grandfather.
"I'm not," Grandmother said. Hopping onto her waiting broom, she flew around the room, cackling like an old hen and making us duck to avoid her. When she flew out the window, a full moon framed her silhouette.
Grandfather shook his head. "That woman gets crazier every time I see her."
"I heard that!" Grandmother shouted over her shoulder, her voice fading with distance.
"Thanks for stopping by, Father, although I could have handled it myself," said Grassina. "I was running through the standard releases for binding spells. I would have broken it soon, and then I would have taken care of Mother."
"I know, but I wanted to see her, even if it was just for a minute. She has the personality of a crazed she-bear, but I miss her just the same. Nice or nasty, your grandmother has always been the most exciting woman I've ever known. It wasn't her fault that she turned mean. Good night, ladies. Come visit me when you can."
Grassina waited until Grandfather had dematerialized, then raised her eyebrows and turned to me. "So what have you been doing? Your magic has improved more than I would have thought possible in such a short time."
"It was the magic miasma at the Dragon Olympics," I said. "It seems that when you do magic—"
"Never mind," she said, shaking her head and smiling. "It sounds like a long story, and I want you to tell me all about it when we have time. Right now, we'd better see to Haywood. The sun will be up before we know it."
I followed my aunt to her workbench. Taking out a small clay bowl, Grassina dropped in one of Surely's feathers, Nastia Nautica's gossamer hair and the husk of a magic bean. Li'l watched every move, her head swiveling back and forth. I handed Grassina the bottle of dragon's breath. She shook it, then said,
Solids become liquids,
Liquids turn to gas.
Reverse the process
With my next pass.
Make this gas a Liquid
For an hour or two.
Return it to its present form
When its work is through.
When she waved the bottle over the bowl once more, the contents sparkled, becoming so bright that I had to look away.
"I find that liquids are much easier to use in some circumstances, gases in others. In this case," she said, holding up the bottle so I could see the blue-green fluid inside, "a liquid is handier. Now watch."
Slowly tilting the bottle, Grassina poured in three drops, waited a moment, then poured in another three. My heart beat one, two, three times, then the liquid dragon's breath grew hot, bubbling like the lava in the dragon's pool, and the feather, the hair and the bean husk curled into tight little balls before dissolving. The liquid, now a creamy blue, was light and frothy with bubbles rising and falling.
"Good," said Grassina, setting a lid on the bowl. "Now we're all set." Recapping the bottle, she handed it to me before picking up the potion. "Keep that bottle safe. There's no telling when you might need it next, and it was probably very difficult to get."
You have no idea, I thought, but when I saw her secret little smile, I decided that maybe she did after all.