Beauty and the Magician (Tales of the Red Witch Book 1)

Chapter 27 - Aunt Gertie

Dreluna's 23-page letter sat next to him on the floor. It had only confirmed his suspicions. She was nosy to a fault and knew what all the other magicians were doing and none of it involved a missing prince. In fact, she didn't even know of any other magicians in Landet Gress other than Eben and Toby. She had heard whisperings of an unknown with red hair, a magician unknown to the council, but whoever they were, they had kept a low profile.

He knew who the unknown was.

He had also asked her about curses to turn a girl into a cat beast, but as expected she did not know of any. Her strengths had always laid in water spells and charms, a skill that made her a tidy sum in Pease Dell'acqua.

He banged his head against his window wishing he could forget the last two weeks and go back to the time before. The time before he had arrogantly promised to find Andri. Things had been much simpler then. He had not faced the prospect of preventing a war, or the return of a locked-away witch who must be evil to have been sentenced to such a fate, or a cursed cat beast that wouldn't get out of his head.

With his forehead still against his smudgy window and another of his charm books in his lap, he watched as Rose and Toby assembled the greenhouse. He should be down there helping them, but she was right, he was a coward. He couldn't face her yet. He had hoped to find the solution to her curse and use it as a peace offering but still he was unable to locate the means by which Demelza had transformed her. And thus he was still unable to unravel the complex curse upon her.

He only knew that it was no text book transformation charm easy undone with a little enchanted lavender.

He watched as Rose flitted around the garden with the plans clutched firmly in her paws as she directed Toby.

Eben usually bristled when people corrected him or told him what to do, but her words in Grune Stadt had wrung too true.

He looked at Rose again from the window. Was she still angry with him? Would she ever forgive him? Why did he care what she thought of him? And yet, her disapproval of him twisted his stomach and threatened to break him apart.

He should not be thinking about her and yet she invaded every thought. It was only because she was everywhere at Other. She was constantly in his line of sight. She had left a mark in every room but his own. And yet the piles of books open the chapters on transfiguring spells, charms, and potions told a different story. A part of her was here too.

Her skirts twitched and the tip of her tail flicked out. He caught himself staring at her tail again. She was just such an odd little creature...

She had been absolutely right about him. He was a coward, and it pained him that she could see it so clearly. He found that he didn't want her thinking of him that way.

His head shot up as Toby and Rose dropped a panel of glass smashing it upon the ground. Toby laughed before restoring the panel. Where had his impertinent apprentice learn that charm? Eben was sure he hadn't taught it to him. He knew because even he hadn't been able to manage that one himself. Fixing things was tricky magic. It could only mean that Toby was trying to learn charms from books again. He should go down there and scold him for that. And yet...

Rose waved her arms about at Toby. Her chiding remarks to be more careful rose above gliding in his slightly cracked open window like a breeze. They fought, teased and laughed like brother and sister. Like family. He smiled. He could not deny that she had brought life into his lonely home and she had brought out something in Toby that he had not seen before. She had made his apprentice, whom had had to grow up far too quick, a boy again. And in a way, she was having the opposite effect on him.