Fate's Magical Mishap

Reverse to Part Two

Reverse to Part One

THREE

When I was a child, I loved Gatherings. Unlike the rituals and holiday celebrations, Gatherings meant the entire clan. No one was worried about following the correct steps that had been handed down for more generations than anyone could count. No one stood on ceremony (except with the elders because the last thing anyone wanted to do was piss off an elder) and the relaxed atmosphere allowed different groups to interact. Everything was relaxed, including the dress code, so I wasn’t out of place in my peasant blouse and jeans.

Witchlights ringed the clearing when we arrived, the balls dancing in time to the music. My mother and Circe immediately conjured their own witchlights, sending them aloft to join the others. I had a moment of doubt before I held out my hand. The witchlight that appeared was pale compared to the others, and it wavered slightly as I held it. Still, it didn’t disappear immediately and I flung it skyward to join the others.

By this time, my mother and Circe had vanished into the crowd. I was used to being left alone since the other two members of my family had friends they wanted to visit with. Even before my magic had gone wonky, I had been a loner. Still, I looked around for Litavis. Sometimes she made an appearance at a Gathering, but she often preferred to stay home. Most of her socializing took place at the tea shop and everyone knew to seek her out there.

When I didn’t spot her immediately, I made my way over to the food table. Browsing the offerings, made by our best cooks and bakers, I filled a plate with sausage rolls, crisp vegetables, and a selection of the smallest cupcakes I had ever seen, each one no bigger than my thumb. Hades paced along beside me as I made my choices. When he meowed at me as I made my final selections, I told him, “I’ll share the sausage with you. You don’t need your own plate.”

Hades’s tail lashed at my comment, but I refused to give into him. As I was studying the beverage choices, one of the witches my age joined me. She eyed Hades for a minute before reaching across me to select a glass of wine. I shouldn’t have been surprised that she didn’t say a word to me as she did it. I knew that news of my failure would have spread through the coven and some of the members would shun me now. Reaching out a finger, I touched the rim of the glass, watching as the wine cleared. She didn’t look before she took a drink and promptly spit it back out as she tasted it. “What?” she demanded.

Covering my mouth with my free hand so my smile didn’t give me away, I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe it was someone’s idea of a joke,” I suggested.

“To turn my wine into vinegar?” She dumped the liquid out before setting the glass down. Eying the rest of the glasses, she turned away.

Our interaction hadn’t gone unnoticed by members of the coven and there was whispering as I made my way across the grass to a seating area.

I balanced my plate on my lap, breaking small pieces of sausage off, and giving them to Hades. For a little while, I was watched, and most likely whispered about, as I picked through my food. When I finished, I set my plate on one of the tables that had been set up for just such things. Standing up, I brushed off my backside and looked down at Hades. “Should we see what the kids are doing?” I asked him.

A group of children were tossing witchlights and balls around, the witchlights blinking out as their owners lost control. I could still feel the connection to my own witchlight and I called it to me, tossing it to one of the children. They squealed as it bounced into their midst, spinning wildly.

I laughed with them, calling up another witchlight that blinked in different colors as children touched it.

A minute later, a hand landed on my shoulder. “Where did you acquire a familiar?” a voice demanded. Within minutes, the elders were gathered around me and I was being pulled to the center of the clearing.

I stood before the elders with my head held high. “If it’s true that the cat is my familiar,” I declared in the strongest voice I could manage, “I demand the right to retake my test.”

One of the elders stepped forward. “This is not done.” Turning to my mother, she demanded, “Has she not been taught the proper respect?”

“I know the forms. I know that I can take my test a second time,” I insisted, getting my words out before my mother had a chance to speak. “If the elders have identified Ha… my cat as my familiar, I have the right to retake my test.”

For a moment, I could feel the eyes of the entire coven on me. Finally, the elder who had declared my failure stepped forward. “You will be permitted to retake your test,” she said. “But there will be two new elements.” She stared at me as she said, “You must repair the dish you cracked. And the test must take place in front of the coven.”

I froze. I felt confident in my burgeoning abilities, but I didn’t know if I would be able to do all they were requiring in front of the entire coven. I swallowed down my unease and nodded. “I understand.”

“The test will occur tomorrow night,” the elder declared. “All must attend.”

I bowed my head, accepting the decree as the rest of the coven voiced their agreement.

Circe grabbed my arm after the elders had turned and begun to disperse. “What are you doing?” she demanded in a whisper. “If you fail this time, they’ll expel you from the coven. And maybe Mother and me, too.”

I jerked my arm away. “If I don’t do it, I’ll forever be on the outskirts. I’ll still have my name, but I won’t be anything but an interloper. I’m going to do it.”

She glared at me, but didn’t grab me again. In the end, it wasn’t her decision anyway. My mother was too strong and Circe was her heir, the only one who would suffer the consequences of passing or failing was me.

***

The next night found me back in the clearing, the entire coven from the very youngest to the grannies with their canes ranged behind me. I stood in the center of a ring of people, the elders before me, the coven at my back. This time there would be no second chance, no redemption. If I failed to complete the tasks set before me, I would be expelled from the coven.

I took a deep breath as one of the younger elders stepped forward, the two halves of the bowl in her hands. As I met her eyes, she winked. “Good luck, little one,” she whispered.

My hands trembled as I accepted the pieces from her, then an elder said, “Stop.”

I gripped the bowl, trying to keep from dropping it. “I agreed to the terms,” I said.

The elder pointed at Hades, who had draped himself across my shoulders. “The cat must be removed,” she demanded. “Familiars are not permitted at the test.”

Hades’s head perked up at the attention, but hissed when someone tried to remove him from his perch. “There’s no proof he’s a familiar,” my mother’s voice rang out. “Allow her to have him close.”

There was grumbling for a few minutes before finally the elder who protested nodded. “He must not help.”

I bowed my head. “I understand.”

I had no idea why my powers had suddenly sparked, why I was able to do spells that had never worked for me. I was going to take the chance though, the chance to be more than just an herbalist.

I knew what I needed to do, but I wasn’t entirely sure what spells to cast to succeed. Still, I closed my eyes and reached.

In my hands, the bowl warmed. The stone shifted slightly and I settled the two pieces against each other, watching as the seam sealed. A moment later, it was as if it had never been broken.

Litavis stepped forward, a pitcher of water in her hands. Carefully, she poured until the bowl was half-full. “You can do this,” she whispered to me before stepping back.

Lifting the dish to my lips, I blew across it. I had no question in my mind other than would I pass or fail, but I still cast my question into the water.

The water swirled, clouding over, and then clearing as a picture formed. I stared at it, recognizing Litavis’s teashop. As the picture solidified, a figure moved into the image. I assumed it was Litavis, but the picture sharpened and I could recognize it as an older version of myself. I held my breath as an elder stepped forward to view my vision. “She has succeeded!” she declared. “Persephone is a full member of the coven!”

My grin stretched from ear to ear as the members came forward to congratulate me. There were still stumbling blocks in my future, but for now I basked in the acceptance of my family.