Hidden Magic by Carmen Webster Buxton

Author:Carmen Webster Buxton [Buxton, Carmen Webster]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cracked Mirror Press
Published: 2021-01-24T22:00:00+00:00

Ten

Maura finished the words of the spell. Tightening her grip on the rowan wand, she willed her desire to flow through it and into the cup. When she held the wand against the ceramic surface, the flour in the cup began to shiver and shake. She lifted the wand so that the tip waved directly over the middle of the cup. The flour rose into a small hill. It changed color, darkening to gray and then brown. When Maura lifted the wand another tiny bit, the hill sprouted green, as if spring had come to it.

Maura’s focus wavered. She was so tired. She needed to rest. Her hand drooped, the wand dipped, and the grassy hill dissolved into a cup half full of flour.

Had she really changed it, or had she only fooled her eyes? There was no way to know without a witness, and there was no one Maura cared to admit to such an event.

Unless of course Lord Garrick were at hand. Maura frowned. Really, she had to stop thinking of him in that way. He was, after all, only a man.

She sighed and leaned back against the headboard of her bed. After she had rested, she would try another spell, one that used water. The book had warned that spells on things that had never been alive were hardest, but that water was the easiest of these. She would see if she could make the water rise up out of the cup but keet its shape. Then, if she tired and lost control, the water would wet the bedclothes and she would know if she were merely fooling her eyes or not.

She leaned her head back enough to look up at the dark shadows in the corners where the ceiling met the walls. Richart had sent word that he would be gone at least three weeks. Doing such tricks would be riskier once he was home—once Gertie and Elfreda were home. On the other hand, it was lonely with only the maids and Haesel to keep her company.

She looked at the slender rowan wand in her hand. Where could she hide it? Gertie had almost found it in her drawer once. A thought struck her, and she smiled to herself. The wand was almost exactly the size and shape of her stiletto.

RICHART found the experience of being a student again a good deal less repetitive than he had expected. He had never really gone to school with other students, having always been educated at home by a tutor who taught first Maura and then him. Master Cynbel had departed Esterby when Richart turned fourteen, and Lord Wilfrith, decreeing that his only surviving son no longer needed a tutor, hadn’t bothered to replace him. It was Maura who had taught Elfreda her letters and how to read and figure sums, a process Richart had ignored.

Now, Richart found himself in a room full of strangers; a number of them women, including the teacher who conducted the class. She was only seven or eight years older than Richart, but her manner was so serious that she appeared older.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.