A Tale of Magic... (26 page)

Madame Weatherberry presented the wand to Brystal like it was a sword. As soon as Brystal wrapped her fingers around the crystal handle, the magical sensation returned to her core. However, unlike the other times, it felt like the magic was completely in her control. She waved the wand toward Madame Weatherberry’s rack of fascinators, and suddenly, all the hats turned into colorful birds. The transformation startled Brystal and she quickly turned them back.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—” Then Brystal had an epiphany and stopped herself mid-apology. “Wait a second—that’s
exactly
what I meant to do! As I waved the wand, your hats reminded me of birds, and
that’s
what they became! I didn’t even have to concentrate that hard!
The wand works!
”

Madame Weatherberry didn’t reciprocate Brystal’s excitement. The fairy’s eyes were glued to the enlarged Map of Magic on the wall above her fireplace. Something on the map had captivated the teacher’s attention and made her mouth drop open.

“What’s wrong?” Brystal asked her. “You look distraught.”

Instead of answering, Madame Weatherberry jumped to her feet and moved closer to the map. After studying it for a few moments, the fairy touched a large star on the map near the location of the academy. The name
Brystal Evergreen
appeared beside it.

“Incredible,” Madame Weatherberry whispered to herself.

“What’s incredible?”

“As soon as that wand touched your hand, your star on the Map of Magic grew nearly twice in size,” she said. “It’s the same size as my star—maybe even a little bigger.”

Brystal gulped. “But what does that mean?”

Madame Weatherberry turned to her and couldn’t hide the astonishment growing in her eyes.

“It means we can expect great things from you, Miss Evergreen.”

“It’s not fair,”
Skylene whispered to Tangerina.
“Why does Brystal get a wand?”

“Apparently she has a
disorder
,”
her friend whispered back.

Skylene grunted. “Lucky,” she said. “I want a disorder.”

Despite their occasional remarks and dirty looks, Brystal was too excited to let the girls’ jealousy dampen her spirits. Now that she was in touch with her magic, she became infatuated with it, and used magic for everything she possibly could. Brystal waved her wand to open doors and drawers, to put on her shoes and clothes, and at night before bed, she would dance about her room and make her books magically twirl around her. At meals, Brystal even used magic to feed herself, levitating food directly into her mouth. However, she quickly stopped this practice as it seemed to annoy
everyone
at the dining table.

“Okay, now you’re just showing off,” Emerelda said.

Without looking, Brystal could feel Tangerina’s and Skylene’s cold stares on the back of her head.

“Actually, why don’t we have Tangerina and Skylene start today?” Brystal suggested. “I’m sure they have much more experience with manifestation than I do.”

The girls were surprised by Brystal’s recognition. They pretended to be annoyed by the opportunity, but deep down, Brystal could tell they were eager for the attention. Tangerina stood in the center of the tower and manifested an orange armchair with honeycomb tufts. Skylene made a bathtub appear beside Tangerina’s chair, and it was overflowing with soap bubbles. After the apprentices were finished, Emerelda summoned a quaint vanity with several jewelry boxes, and Xanthous conjured a brick oven. Brystal didn’t want to outshine the others, so she waved her wand and made a modest but elegant wardrobe appear.

“Well done, everyone,” Madame Weatherberry said. “That just leaves Lucy—wait, where did Lucy go?”

No one had realized Lucy was missing until now and they looked around the room for her.

“She’s hiding behind Tangerina’s chair,” Emerelda said. “I can see her boots peeking out from behind it.”

Lucy groaned after her classmates found her. Clearly, she was hiding to avoid Madame Weatherberry’s lesson, but Lucy pretended she was innocently searching for something on the ground.

“Sorry, I thought I saw my lucky shamrock,” Lucy said.

“When did you lose it?” Xanthous asked.

“About four years ago,” she said. “But you never know when or where things will turn up.”

Lucy begrudgingly got to her feet and moved to the center of the tower. She thought long and hard about the object she wanted to manifest and smiled as her head filled with pleasant images of it. Unfortunately, Lucy was greatly disappointed when a stack of wooden coffins appeared in the corner of the tower.

“In my defense, I was trying to make a bunk bed,” she said.

Madame Weatherberry gave Lucy a comforting pat on the back.

“A for effort, dear,” she said.

Regardless of how much Madame Weatherberry encouraged her, Lucy left every lesson feeling worse than she had after the one before. And now that Brystal was armed with a magic wand, Lucy didn’t have someone to commiserate with. Brystal sympathized with her friend, but she couldn’t imagine the mental torment she was going through. With each passing day, Lucy’s worst fears about
who
and
what
she was became more and more probable.

“Now that you’ve been introduced to
improvement
,
rehabilitation
, and
manifestation
, today’s lesson will focus on the fourth and final category of magic,
imagination
,” Madame Weatherberry announced. “Always remember, a fairy’s limitations are only defined by the limits of their imagination. Over the course of your careers, you’ll encounter problems and obstacles without obvious solutions. It’ll be up to you, and you alone, to create remedies for those particular predicaments. Mrs. Vee has kindly volunteered to help us with today’s exercise.”

“I have absolutely no idea what I’ve signed up for and am genuinely terrified!
HA-HA!
” Mrs. Vee said.

The housekeeper climbed to the top of the first hill and anxiously waited for the activities to begin.

“For this morning’s assignment, each of you will use your
imagination
to magically transport Mrs. Vee from one hill to the other,” Madame Weatherberry instructed. “Try to make your method as original as possible. Use what you learned in our
improvement
,
rehabilitation
, and
manifestation
exercises to bring your imagination to life. Lucy, we’ll start with you.”

“Ah, geez,” Lucy said in despair. “Mrs. Vee, I’m really sorry for however this turns out.”

The musicians’ daughter cracked her knuckles and focused all her energy on the housekeeper. Suddenly, a massive sinkhole appeared underneath Mrs. Vee and swallowed her whole. A few tense moments later, another sinkhole appeared on the second hill and spat the housekeeper out like a piece of rotten fruit.

“Oh, thank God!”
Lucy said with a deep sigh of relief. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure we’d ever see her again!”

Mrs. Vee was anything but relieved. She got to her feet and wiped the dirt off her clothes with shaky hands.

“Madame Weatherberry?” the housekeeper asked. “Could we please add a clause about
safety
to your instructions? So today’s lesson doesn’t kill me?
HA-HA!
”

“Of course we can,” Madame Weatherberry obliged. “Children, I don’t think this will be a problem for the rest of you, but try transporting Mrs. Vee without the use of natural disasters. Brystal, you’re up next.”

To Mrs. Vee’s delight, Brystal’s approach was much gentler than Lucy’s. She waved her wand and a giant bubble appeared around the housekeeper. The bubble floated through the air and calmly carried Mrs. Vee to the opposite hill.

“Well, that was just lovely,” Mrs. Vee said. “Thank you, Brystal.”

One by one, the students and apprentices stepped forward and applied their own solutions to the task. Tangerina sent hundreds of bumblebees buzzing toward Mrs. Vee, and the insects raised her into the air and plopped her down on the other hill. Skylene summoned water from a nearby stream, and it transported Mrs. Vee like a moving waterslide. Emerelda moved her hand through the air, like she was slowly waving good-bye, and a bridge made of golden topaz appeared between the hills.

“Wonderful work, ladies,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Xanthous, that just leaves you.”

Everyone turned to the boy—but he wasn’t paying any attention to the lesson. Xanthous was staring into the distance with a disturbed expression, as if he had seen a ghost.

“Madame Weatherberry, who are
they
?” he asked.

Xanthous pointed, and the others looked in the direction he faced. At the edge of the property, just inside the hedge barrier, were four people in matching black cloaks. The mysterious figures stood perfectly still and watched the fairy and her students in complete silence. The visitors instantly made everyone uncomfortable—no one had noticed them arrive, so no one knew how long they had been standing there. However, none of the children was more unsettled by the unexpected guests than their teacher was.

“Madame Weatherberry, do you know those people?” Emerelda asked.

The fairy nodded, and a complicated mix of anger and fear surfaced on her face.

“Unfortunately, I do,” she said. “I’m sorry, children, but we need to postpone the rest of today’s lesson.”

Once their presence was known, the cloaked figures crept toward Madame Weatherberry and her students. Their bodies were completely covered except for their faces, and although they were shaped like women, the closer they got, the less human they appeared. The first woman had round yellow eyes and a pointed nose like a beak. The second woman’s eyes were red with thin pupils like a reptile’s, and a forked tongue slipped in and out of her mouth. The third woman had oily skin, enormous lips, and bulging black eyes like a fish. The fourth woman had green eyes like a cat, her face was covered in whiskers, and a sharp underbite poked out of her mouth.

“Hello, Celessste,” the woman with the forked tongue hissed.

There was so much tension between Madame Weatherberry and the cloaked women, the students could have sworn the air became thicker.

“Children, this is Crowbeth Clawdale, Newtalia Vipes, Squidelle Inkerson, and Feliena Scratchworth,” the fairy announced. “They’re old acquaintances of mine.”

Lucy crossed her arms and gave the visitors a distrusting glare.

“I’m guessing those are
chosen
names?” she said.

Feliena jerked her head in Lucy’s direction. “You wouldn’t
believe
some of the choices we’ve made,” she growled.

The whiskered woman gave the children a creepy grin, exposing her piercing teeth. The students and apprentices took a fearful step backward and hid behind their teacher.

“All right, that’s enough,” Madame Weatherberry ordered. “Obviously, you’ve made the journey to speak with me, but I will not do it in front of my students. We will continue this conversation in the privacy of my office or not at all.”

The women didn’t object to Madame Weatherberry’s demand. The fairy turned on her heel and escorted her unwelcome guests toward the castle. Brystal and her classmates had so many questions about the visitors, but as they looked to one another for answers, everyone was equally confused. Even Tangerina and Skylene were puzzled about what was happening.

“Mrs. Vee?” Tangerina asked. “Who are those women?”

Mrs. Vee watched the visitors move across the property with disgust. “Those aren’t women,” she said. “Those are
witches
.”

The students and apprentices collectively gasped.

“Witches?”
Skylene asked in shock. “But how do you know?”

“You can always spot a witch by her appearance,” Mrs. Vee told them. “Witchcraft leaves a mark on those who practice it. The more a witch partakes, the more it changes her into a monster. And if my eyes aren’t deceiving me,
those four
have had an awful lot of practice.”

As the witches climbed the front steps, Crowbeth spun her head all the way around like an owl to send the children one final scowl before she entered the castle.

“But why are they at an academy of magic?” Emerelda asked. “What do they want with Madame Weatherberry?”

“I don’t know,” Mrs. Vee said. “But we’d all be wise to keep our distance from them.”

The housekeeper’s advice was reasonable, but keeping a distance was the last thing Brystal wanted. The witches only added to the ongoing mystery of Madame Weatherberry, and Brystal craved answers more desperately than ever before. As soon as she remembered the hole in her bookshelf, Brystal took off running as fast as her feet would carry her. She just hoped she could reach her bedroom before missing a single word of the fairy’s conversation with the witches.

“Brystal, where are you going?” Lucy called after her.

“Bathroom!”
Brystal yelled over her shoulder.

“When nature calls, nature calls,” Mrs. Vee said. “That reminds me, I need to stop adding so many prunes to the oatmeal.
HA-HA!
”

Brystal hurried inside the castle and sprinted up the floating staircase to her bedroom on the third floor. When she peeked into Madame Weatherberry’s office, she saw her teacher furiously pacing in front of the bubbling fireplace. The four witches stood around her, eyeing the fairy like vultures waiting for their prey to die.

“How dare you come here unannounced!” Madame Weatherberry said. “You have no right to barge into my academy like this!”

“You left us no choice,” Crowbeth screeched. “You stopped responding to our letters.”

“I told you I was
finished
,” Madame Weatherberry exclaimed. “We’re not working together anymore!”

“Now is not the time for reluctance,” Squidelle grumbled. “The Northern Conflict is nearing the point of no return. The enemy is gaining ground and growing stronger every day. If we don’t act soon, we’ll be defeated.”

“Then find someone else to help you,” Madame Weatherberry snapped. “I can’t do it anymore.”

“Celessste, we ssstill want the sssame thing,” Newtalia hissed. “We’re all ssseeking a sssafer world and acceptance for our kind. Helping us end the Northern Conflict will move us one ssstep closer to that goal.”

“Don’t imply that you and I are the same!” Madame Weatherberry said. “If it weren’t for people like you, people like me wouldn’t have to fight for acceptance in the first place!”

“Celeste, don’t act superior,” Feliena growled. “Before you got the bright idea to start this academy, we all agreed the Northern Conflict was the best way to change the world’s opinion about the magical community. We put our differences aside and created the plan together. None of us predicted it would last this long, none of us expected it would be this grueling, but like it or not, the conflict continues. Victory is still possible, but if we don’t finish what we started, everything we’ve worked for will be lost.”

Madame Weatherberry had a seat behind her desk and covered her face with her gloved hand. Brystal had never seen the fairy look so overwhelmed.

“You don’t understand,” she said. “I still believe in our plan—I can’t help you because I can’t face
her
again.”

Brystal had no idea who Madame Weatherberry was talking about, but the way the fairy referenced the person gave Brystal chills. She hadn’t thought her teacher was scared of anything or anyone, but obviously Madame Weatherberry was
deathly
afraid of whoever they spoke of.

“Celeste, you’re the only one who
can
face her,” Crowbeth screeched. “No one has the power to stand up to her but you—
no one
.”

“Each time I face her, she grows stronger and I become weaker,” Madame Weatherberry said. “I barely survived our last encounter. If I fight her again I may never return.”

“Yes, but last time we nearly won,” Squidelle grumbled. “And you were more than willing to make sacrifices back then.”

“Things are different now,” Madame Weatherberry said. “I have an entire academy depending on me—I can’t put myself in that kind of jeopardy again. Even if we resolve the Northern Conflict, there’s no guarantee that the hate and hostility toward the magical community will stop. But once my students have finished their training,
they’ll
accomplish what we’ve always wanted.”

“You’re putting an awful lot of faith in this academy,” Feliena growled. “But do you honestly believe a world that burns people at the stake for sport is going to be persuaded by the
good deeds
of fairies? No! If we want to change the world, we must earn the world’s respect. And bringing the Northern Conflict to an end is the best opportunity we’ve had in centuries.”

“But General White has made great progress,” Madame Weatherberry said. “I’m sure he’s found a way to destroy her by now!”

“General White has done a brilliant job keeping the Northern Kingdom from extinction,” Crowbeth screeched. “But we all know his army is no match for
her
. There’s only one way to finish the Northern Conflict once and for all—and that’s
you
, Celeste.”

Newtalia leaned toward Madame Weatherberry and took her hand.

“Join usss,” she hissed. “Together we can make a brighter future, not just for ourselvessss, but for your ssstudents asss well.”

Madame Weatherberry went very silent as she considered the witches’ request. Tears came to her eyes and she slowly shook her head, not because she disagreed with her visitors, but because she knew they were right.

“Fine,” the fairy said with a heavy heart. “I will help you end the Northern Conflict. But afterward, I never want to see the four of you ever again.”

“You’ll find no objection from us,” Feliena growled. “End the Northern Conflict, and we’ll never need you for anything again.”

“Good,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Then God have mercy if I don’t succeed.”

The witches were pleased they had convinced her. Madame Weatherberry put a few of her belongings into a glass suitcase and left her office. Brystal hurried out of her bedroom and caught up to her teacher and the witches in the entrance hall.

“Madame Weatherberry?” she called to her. “Are you going somewhere?”

It was difficult for Brystal to pretend she didn’t know what was happening, but not nearly as difficult as it was for Madame Weatherberry to pretend everything was all right.