Grown Enchantress (Book #2, Young Witch Series)

Chapter 7

Over the next few years, Madeline grew into a beautiful young woman, and the school that Jessamine had started grew by leaps and bounds. Madeline learned how to accept all of the new children, and she was even taught how to teach the basics of practicing magic.

She was soon put in charge of the younger members with their cleaning, and for those that slacked off, she soon found inventive and funs ways to get them to practice. She also found inventive ways to punish them, much like Jessamine had when she first arrived.

The noble's children were finally beginning to settle in, and they were now sharing bigger bedroom with more noble's children, and they were all learning side by side with the peasant children, and enjoying it.

Madeline never told them that she was the princess, and they never made the connection. She was given a room by herself, since it was put about that her parents had been first, so she got slightly better treatment, but her room was much smaller than she was used to.

By the time she was 18, she was a competent potion maker, and had her own stall at the local market, and sold her potions, just like Jessamine did. Madeline mainly made physical appearance change potions, unlike the disease prevention and normal household potions Jessamine made a fortune off.

"What about seeling in London?" Jessamine asked one day while they were preparing brews for market, "I have a stall at one of the markets there, and you could sell yours there too."

"Why?" Madeline asked, straining the herbs out of her purple nail potion, "I do well enough here for pocket money from the passing trade."

"You could make more, selling it to the nobility." Jessamine remarked, "I seel it for three and four times my normal prices, and they think it's a bargain." She grinned wickedly at the young woman next to her, "You'll learn. What is it sweetheart?" she asked the small child at her knee.

"Mummy, daddy said he needs you." Gregory said, tugging on her skirt, "He said he needs something for the well."

"Here you go, pumpkin," she lifted him up onto the work bench, "You stay here with Aunty Madeline, and she'll look after you until mummy comes back."

"But I want to go to." He protested, swirling his fingers in Madeline's potion before she could stop him. "Mummy!" He held up his now purple fingers, "What happened? It's just water."

"Aunty Madeline and I are making potions." Jessamine said, taking two potions down from her rack of them, "And what do we do with potions?"

"We don't touch." Said Gregory firmly, "Because they can hurt us."

"Good boy. Open your mouth." She popped a drop of a potion on his tongue, "There, no more purple."

"Thank you mummy!" He cried, flinging his arms around Jessamine's neck, "You are the best mummy in the world."

"Behave for Aunty Madeline you little monkey." Jessamine called, leaving Gregory alone with Madeline, "I'll be back soon."

"How's it all going there, big boy?" Madeline asked, getting him to hold the vials for her to ladle the potion into and label. "You have a good day?"

"Beatrice pulled my hair, and kicked me." Gregory said, handing her the full vial, "And then she lied and said she didn't."

"Oh sweetie," She grinned down at the four-year-old. He was born the year after Elizabeth, but in the December, not January, like his older sister, "That's what brothers and sisters do."

"But I don't like her when she does that." He said, grabbing the vial she handed him and struggling to take the top off it.

"I know you don't." She said, and flicked the top off, and watched as he tried to copy her. She had spent quite a bit of time in the nursery over the winters, and had become accustomed to being constantly interrupted by the children as they escaped their nanny.

Jessamine now had three children, who spent much of their day in the nursery, but were allowed times when they could run around with the other children, and they all took turns looking after them. Madeline in particular helped to look after them. She was called Aunty, and they all thought she was actually their Aunty, without the knowledge that she was actually the princess of the kingdom.

After looking after Gregory for about an hour, Madeline was done with her own things, and took him up to the nursery, and handed his over to his nanny. "Bye Aunty." He called out sleepily as she left.

"Night handsome." She kissed him on the forehead, and left the room, glad to be spared the enthusiasm of Elizabeth. She was growing more and more active, and she was starting to learn how to clean the mansion, so Madeline thought she was safe for a while.

"There you are. Sorry I took so long." Jessamine said, hurrying up the stairs. "Want to come to the ballroom with me?"

"Sure." Madeline fell in step with her as they went down, "What are we doing down there?"

"You'll see."

"We're learning to fly?" Madeline squeaked. "I can't fly!"

"Yes, you can." Thomas said, floating in the air, "And unlike everything Jessamine's been teaching you, very well I might admit, this is pure magical learning, and will make your further studies next year easier to understand."

"We hope." Jessamine said, laying a hand on her shoulder, "It made it easier for me. Much of what Lord Enchanter Rushworth is going to teach you will be pure magical learning. It's what most of us learn. I'm rare in that regard, but I prefer it, since it helps around the house, and I can help my people easier. I may not be the first person the king calls on when he needs someone to do something, but he needs me to look after things in the home. I'm the last line of defence. Like you are going to be. You're needed to protect your homeland, and to do that, you need to learn how to make people like and trust you, and defend you. You need to learn how to turn ordinary things to your advantage, and how to make them work in ways that most people don't expect. I beat my brother in combat because I knew how to move knives, and he didn't. I learn how to do that, by setting tables." Jessamine looked at the girl.

"It's all about how you look at things. You see it as learning how to sew, nothing more. What if an injured man is brought in, and the only doctor is unavailable? You will know how to sew him up, because you have practiced your sewing skills. Making your own dresses, and learning how to make others clothes, means that if your maid is called away, or unable to reach you, you can mend the dress you just stood on. Or, more importantly, you can mend someone else's. If you mean another lady's dress, you will have proven yourself a friend, and as a princess, you need friends and allies to run a country. You can't afford to not know these things.

"Do you understand?"

"I understand." Madeline said, holding her head up high, "Tell me how to fly."