Elena nodded, pushing off that feeling of being cheated with all her determination. "All right, I do see, but — "
"So all of that magic is building up around the person — you, in fact — like a snowball rolling down a hill. It just gets attracted, the same way that white cat hair is attracted to a black velvet bodice, you know." Now the old woman was watching her, closely. For what?
"I see, but — "
"It never goes away. Sometimes, it just builds up to the point where a magician notices it, and it gets — " she waved her hand vaguely " — siphoned off. Sometimes neatly, with the person's consent, and to the benefit of the person, though the effect of that is that it leaves them quite ordinary. Nothing magical will ever happen again to her — or him — but at least their life will go on rather as everyone else's life goes on. And if the person's circumstances are truly dire, usually the magician who benefits by the magic gives them a helping hand to a set of better circumstances, which, of course, breaks The Tradition so that the magic stops building up around them. And sometimes — it is siphoned not so nicely." Her expression darkened. "If that happens, Elena, they are generally left dead, and if they aren't — well, believe me when I tell you that they are worse off than if they were dead."
Elena went cold all over. Was that why the old woman had offered her a position? Did she only want the magic?
Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to be ordinary —
But at that moment, even though, not so long ago, she would have welcomed the prospect, she knew that this was not the right answer anymore. Not now.
"And sometimes," the old lady went on, "if the person has attracted someone who is not only a magician, but a magical guardian, something else happens."
She smiled, a warm smile that felt like a comforting arm around Elena's shoulders, and Elena smiled back without knowing quite why. "I am that something else, at least in your case."
"What sort of — something else?" Elena asked, cautiously. Her mouth felt very dry and automatically took a sip of tea. It was stone-cold, but before she could do more than make a face, the old lady wiggled her finger at it, and the cup was suddenly steaming again. Elena felt dizzy.
"Someone has to become the Fairy Godmothers. And the White Wizards, and the Good Witches. It has to be someone who already has enough magic gathered around her — or him — so that she can properly learn how to use that magic and how to get more before what she has accumulated is used up. As I said, I am the Fairy Godmother for all of Otraria, and I am getting old and tired. I need an Apprentice. That would be you."
Elena had expected to hear any number of things. This was not one of them. "Me?" Elena squeaked.
"That is where all of those Good Magicians come from, dear," the old lady said. "All of those people like you, whose happily-ever-afters just aren't going to come, but who still have too much that is special about them to ever be content with being ordinary. You're ready. You are more than ready. You're brave, sensible, clever, and extremely magical. You have a kind heart, and a good mind. You are certainly proper Godmother material."
Elena thought about that for a moment, and thought about how she had felt, just before the old woman turned up. Angry, and full of fear and desperation. "Excuse me, but — what happens if one of those same people goes bad? Turns ugly and nasty over what they're having to go through?"
"Where do you think evil sorcerers and wicked Witches come from?" the old lady asked darkly, and paused. "Not Bad Fairies though, nor Good Fairies. Those are Fair Folk, and something else entirely; they're born that way. But the Wicked Witches — the Bad Wizards — the Dread Sorceresses? Oh my, yes."
Elena took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment. She didn't precisely think, she simply let all that she had been told sink in. Fairy Godmothers, Bad Witches — The Tradition — the magic. It all fell into a pattern in a way that life never had before. She opened her eyes.
"Oh. I think I see. And the position you offered me — "
"As my Apprentice, yes, is for life. And one day, you will choose someone like you, and make her the same offer." The old lady nodded. "Now, you can refuse it if you like, and if you like, I can take all that magic from you and make you like everyone else. You'll still have a position; I'll see to that. I know several kind folk who could use a plain cook or a housekeeper. And actually, that is something else that a Godmother does. There are far more people who want to be rid of the magic than want to become our Apprentices. It can be hard work — and it can be dangerous. After all, we stand in the way of what they want." She cocked her head to the side, and waited for Elena's response. She did not have to say who they were.
Where do you think the evil Sorcerers and bad Witches come from ?
And some of those were very, very evil indeed.
But Elena really did not have to think about her answer for very long. Given a choice between an ordinary life, and a magical one — well, it was no choice at all.
"I would love to be your Apprentice, Madame," she said, solemnly, as if she was making a pledge. "And I do accept."
"Grand!" the old lady crowed. "Now, you may call me Madame Bella, my dear, and I believe we shall get along capitally. Oh, look!"
She pointed, just in time for Elena to see a shooting star streak across the heavens in front of them.
"A good omen! Quickly, make a wish!"
"I — don't have to," she said, slowly, feeling the deep truth of her words even as she spoke them. "I already have it."
Madame Bella smiled. "Then I believe that we shall make all speed for home. Your home now, and for as long as you care have it so."
Home. What a wonderful word that was. And words were powerful for Witches. For a Fairy Godmother, it should be very powerful indeed. More than powerful enough to make it all real.
Chapter 4
Quite as matter-of-factly as if they were sitting on a bench in a starlit pleasure-garden instead of on a flying cart, Madame Bella packed up the hamper with Elena's help, and stowed it once more under the seat. Madame made the little ball of light vanish when she was through, leaving them sitting side by side in the darkness.
Now, in spite of the fact that they were flying through the air, rather high above the ground, the only real indication of this was that there was nothing but darkness below them. Madame Bella was as calm and composed as if she did this every day, and the motion of the cart — well, there just wasn't any perceptible motion, only a bit of breeze from their passing. It was surreal, to tell the truth, giving Elena a sense of peculiar dizziness and disorientation.
She blinked, and for the first time, wondered if she really was flying through the night sky above the countryside. The whole situation was very dreamlike, after all.