No Place For Magic Book 4 (Completed)

Chapter 14

When I couldn't find Eadric, I decided to take a nap before I had to face everyone again at supper. The chamber I'd used before was just as I'd left it, which meant that the person who usually slept there had not come back. Because I didn't want to be disturbed, I said a spell to lock the door, and another to keep any outside noise from getting in, then lay on the bed and closed my eyes. I was almost asleep when I remembered what the troll queen had said. Although I'd asked her whom she meant when she told me, "He said you would come," we'd been interrupted before she answered, and I'd forgotten to ask her again. Whom did she mean? I wondered as I drifted off. Why were they talking about me?

I was exhausted and slept through supper and on ' into the night. It was midmorning when I woke again, feeling more refreshed than I had since leaving Greater Greensward. My grandmother was sitting at a table across from the stairwell waiting for me when I went downstairs. "Come sit down," she said, waving me over. "I'll fill you in before your mother gets her hands on you and you don't get a chance to breathe."

"Is she upset that I slept so long?" I asked, taking a seat across from Grandmother.

"I wouldn't say she's upset. Livid, yes, upset, no. I understand she almost beat your door down trying to wake you. That must have been some spell you used to keep her out. Be prepared for a royal scolding," she said, smiling at her own joke. "She wanted you for more fittings for your gown, but I'm sure she's made do just fine."

A page ran past carrying a basket of flowers. Three others stood on ladders while hanging garlands over doorways. Grassina and Haywood presided over them all from the center of the Hall.

"I thought I should tell you before you heard it from someone else," said Grandmother. "We already had our first fairy-related near-disaster. But don't worry, I took care of it."

"What happened?" I asked with a sick feeling in my stomach.

We waited while a serving maid approached the table and set a mug of cider in front of Grandmother. She smiled at both of us and left to get one for me.

Grandmother looked around as if to make sure that we weren't about to be interrupted again, then said, "Sir Geoffrey, a very sweet and well-intentioned knight, was returning from patrol when he dismounted to pick a wildflower for Lady Eleanor, one of Frazzela's ladies-in-waiting. Unfortunately, a flower fairy on her way to the wedding had stopped for a sip of nectar and was inside the partially closed flower when he snapped the stem. Sir Geoffrey had almost reached the gate when the furious fairy turned him into a chipmunk. A guard who saw the knight disappear into his clothes came looking for me. I was the logical choice since I'd already let everyone know that I'm a witch."

"You didn't!" I said.

"Of course I did. I'm not ashamed of who I am. All this tiptoeing around the subject gives me a headache. If these people have a problem with magic, it's their problem, not mine. As I was saying," she said, giving me a pointed look, "I calmed the fairy and got her to reverse her magic. She was very understanding once I explained it all to her. Fairies believe in true love just like you and me. There was one condition, however."

"And what was that?" I asked, fearing the worst.

Grandmother smiled. "They have to get married and invite her to their wedding, that's all. Neither of them minded in the least."

"Was that the fairy's condition or yours?"

Grandmother's smile got bigger. "Does it matter? Either way, they're getting married next month and I'm invited, too."

I smiled at the serving maid who gave me my cider, then said to Grandmother as the girl walked away, "What happened when you told everyone that you're a witch? How did they take the news?"