Otherworldly Discipline: A Witch's Lesson (24 page)

“You didn’t think she could make that honey
shock elixir either,” snapped Moriarty. “She might not be as stupid as I thought before. Maybe we’ll be surprised.”

“My answer on that is no. It’s too dangerous for Charlotte, and really—it’s too dangerous for Alice. After a month of suffering, do you really want to offer this girl to Charlotte as a guinea pig? Let her die simply to avoid another month or so of suffering? It’s so short of time, really, in the grand scheme of things.”

Alice looked up at Moriarty with her glassy eyes, and her heart fell when he pursed his lips and nodded, as if he agreed. “You’re right,” Moriarty said. “I don’t want to use Alice as a lab rat. I was just… so desperate.”

And suddenly, Alice began to feel like Moriarty didn’t understand at all. She let out another sob and turned away from them, staring at the door, wondering how she was going to bear the way she felt for a moment longer.

That’s when she saw another face she’d never seen before, this time it was a girl—a girl who looked even younger than her, who was glancing into the room through a small opened crack.

For a moment, the two girls made eye contact, looking curiously at each other, and Alice felt somehow slightly comforted at the sight of her. Alice thought she was small, smaller than average, but this girl was the same size. Only her complexion was paler, her hair darker, ruddier-colored, and tied in an intricate braid that fell down the side of her neck towards an elaborate day
dress. The girl blinked at her, cocked her head to the side, and put her finger to her lips, and then whirled her fingers around and stepped back into the hallway and out of sight. 

Strange enough, Alice had the feeling they had made some sort of communication. That some sort of understanding between them had been made. The girl had just somehow promised to return to help with a confidence that Alice didn’t possess. Truly, Alice agreed with the scarred
faced man; that there was nothing to be done; she was sure that she was doomed to suffer through more of the same.

“Poor thing,” the man finally huffed from behind her. “She doesn’t seem to have a high pain threshold. I suppose I could cast a sleeping spell on her. A light one would only take her out of commission for a year or two.”

Moriarty sighed, “I don’t want to do that to her. A year or two?”

“Only because you want that year,” the man chided. “I tell you now that she does not.”

Moriarty pursed his lips. “I will… consider it.” He was saying this softly, like he didn’t want Alice to hear it. She balled back up in her covers as the man walked out, giving Moriarty’s shoulder a friendly squeeze on the way out.

“Let me know when you decide,” the man said. When he left, Moriarty sighed and laid on the bed next to Alice. She felt his body weight shift in the bed behind her until he pulled her up against his chest. “Who was that?” she asked weakly, her voice broken.

“My employer and best friend,” Moriarty sighed. “A very powerful wizard
—Ashcroft Medwin
.”

She was too tired to be excited about having met an actual wizard. The pain was so retching around her that the announcement fluttered through her brain and seemed to die before she properly reacted to it. “And he wants to put me to sleep for years?”

“Sleeping spells are normally set strong. It might be even longer than that,” Moriarty grumbled. “And he’s right—I’m being selfish. I just… I just like the sound of your voice, I suppose. And I like your eyes
to be
open.”

“You couldn’t have possibly liked me at all since you’ve brought me here,” Alice replied grumpily, not believing him. It was impossible. She was weak, tired, wretched, and ill. Surely, she was far from being considered ‘a catch’. And even when she was on top of her game, she didn’t think she’d quite qualify.

There was oddness to her looks that she didn’t quite care for. She didn’t have the same sort of looks the other honey
nymphs had; they were all darker
colored, dark brunettes
or
black hair, ruby red lips, and dark brooding eyes. Their skin was far tanner, their nails far longer and harder, and their curves were much more… well, perfect. Honey nymphs were normally so pretty they have a look like something that didn’t grow through nature.

Alice knew that she had tons of imperfections, and she didn’t like anything about her features, anything about the way she was shaped, or the color of her hair and skin. She was so plain
-
Jane compared to the others…

“It’s impossible not to like you,” Moriarty assured. “Believe me; I’ve tried not to the last month, to no avail. Even your tears are likable.”

She smiled weakly. “I’m glad you think I’m charming, but skipping out on a few years seems like the least of my worries right now,” she admitted frankly.

“I think you can get through this, Darling,” Moriarty told her. “I know you don’t think so now, but I think you can. Let’s not be
so
rash
as
to put a sleeping spell on you. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” He kissed her earlobe and then she felt an ice
cold washcloth cover her neck. It felt lovely on the skin that felt so inflamed. She actually felt herself nod off.

*
*
*

Everything was in place. Charlotte hated being so blatantly mischievous. She felt like what she was about to do was something someone would read in a Babysitter’s Club book, or something of the sort. But it couldn’t be helped. Her heart had already gone out to the girl, and doubly so when she caught eye contact.

Alice had silently begged her for help. She was in absolute agony.

“Back, back, back,” she ordered the trees around the animal barn. She had gotten all the animals out, releasing them all into the fields earlier that morning, and her potion was sitting on a trey in her bedroom, ready to be tested out.

The trees heaved an audible groan as they moved their roots out of the ground at her command and moved themselves a few feet back, which Charlotte thought was lazy. She picked up a lighter. “I’m going to use this,” she threatened, and lit a flame for illustration.

The trees moved away with a much higher degree of enthusiasm, moving slowly towards the gardens. Charlotte watched them, thinking about how much trees looked like strange octopuses when they were moving around. But she was a
Byndian
—a witch of the earth and air; the trees simply had to listen to her.

After she was sure they left, she lit her lighter and threw it into the hay, and then threw an oil lamp on it
all
. Now, the old, drafty building would burn down. That should keep
everyone
busy for awhile, if nothing else would, and then they would probably try to find where the horses ran off too…

She rushed back to the tower and slammed the door. “Ashcroft! Moriarty!” she said, brushing the snow from her shoulders.

Ashcroft appeared at the landing, looking bewildered. “What?”

“The whole barn’s on fire! It’s blazing! I just saw it!”

Ashcroft dropped the book he was holding on the landing as her words were echoed with the sound of the outside emergency bell. “Moriarty!” he boomed, rushing down the stairs.

Moriarty was also quick to appear. “What?”

“Fire! Outside!” Charlotte announced as Ashcroft quickly tugged on his jacket.

Moriarty rolled his eyes and cursed before disappearing back into his room. She turned towards Ashcroft. “Can I help?” she asked, trying to look frightened.

“No,” Ashcroft told her firmly. “Stay in here.”

“But—” she said, pretending to argue.

Ashcroft whirled around and pointed a finger at her and said, “No, Charlotte. And I mean it. I won’t have you getting hurt.” He watched Moriarty finally rush down the stairs to follow, clumsily
s
h
r
ugging on his jacket. “We
wi
ll be fine. We
ha
ve done this many a time.”

With that, they both disappeared through the front door. Charlotte opened the door and stood out on the porch. She snapped her fingers and suddenly a howl of wind made the fire admit a big BOOM! From inside the center, spraying sparks everywhere like an inferno.

Yep. That should definitely keep them busy.

She whistled, whirled around, and then walked inside and walked to her private room to grab her tools. Within five minutes, she was using a small spell to unlock Moriarty’s door and step in with a tray. “Good afternoon!” she announced to the girl writhing in the fetal position on the bed. “How are we feeling? In the mood for being my guinea pig? Because I am totally sure this will make you fill a million times better. Very low risk of death.” 

*
*
*

Alice eyed the girl who she had seen, who stepped confidentially into the room with a tray. “Wh—who are you?”

“Charlotte,” the girl replied with a cartoonish yet proud smile. “I thought I’d make the most of it while the men are outside working on some sort of emergency.”

“M-Moriarty said there was a fire,” Alice announced shyly, and then sniffled. Her body flinched when Charlotte pulled the covers off of her completely with a fluid motion.

“Yeah, but I set it. It was the only way to get Moriarty out of this room for more than five minutes. This won’t take long, but certainly not THAT fast,” Charlotte said with a slight giggle and waved towards the door, which shut itself and locked promptly.

And then Alice realized that that’s what happened. “You’re a witch?” she asked scratchily, blinking hard.

“For sure!” Charlotte replied in a very American accent. “But I’m totally a good witch,” she assured. Charlotte seemed to pause thoughtfully but then added, “Except for the fire. That wasn’t the nicest thing I’ve ever done. But I’m going to make you feel so good that I’m not going to let myself even feel bad about it.” She walked up to Charlotte and said, “I’m gonna undress you, ‘
k
ay? Don’t worry—no funny business,” she informed with a wink, and then quickly started to unbutton the front of Alice’s pajama shirt.

“What are you…” Alice asked, but Charlotte quickly undressed her, clicking her tongue.

“Don’t worry! I’m a witch, but I’m totally gonna make you feel awesome.”

“What are you going to do?”  Alice asked, worried especially as she heard Charlotte skip into the bathroom and start the bathtub. Alice could see steam come out from the room by the time Charlotte reemerged.

“You’re gonna love this, I promise,” Charlotte said, and then seemed to size up Alice. “Help me help you make it there, okay? I think we’re the same size, but I’m not an ant by any means, so… Carrying you all the way ain’t happening.” Charlotte pulled Alice into standing and them slung her arm around her shoulder.

“What do you plan to…” Alice strained, startled by how much energy walking across the room was taking. Just setting her feet on the ground seemed to shoot razor blades of pain up her muscles. She gave a whimper.

“Jeesh! And Ashcroft worried you were dangerous to me?” Charlotte mocked. “Come on! Go, go, go!” Charlotte said, undeterred, but also straining her own voice. Charlotte was probably even an inch or two shorter than Alice, so Alice imagined that it was a workout for her. “You’ll be so happy you did this!” She helped her get into the tub and let Alice practically fall in, splashing water everywhere before her head surfaced above her water. The hot water made her scream. Not because it was too hot—because it made all her pain a million times worse.

Charlotte pretended that she didn’t hear it. She walked out of the bathroom, and returned with her tray filled with liquids and salts, and started to dump them all into the water one by one.

Alice was mid-way through a scream when she realized the pain was
subsiding
. She swallowed.

“Feels better, doesn’t it?” Charlotte said knowingly, putting down the tray and kneeling next to the tub.

With strange horror, Alice watched as what looked like honey ooze from her body. She gasped and tried to stand up.

“Relax,” Charlotte assured, putting her hand on Alice’s shoulder. “It’s the toxin that nectar leaves behind. This is what causes nectar sickness
…” S
he waved her hand to illustrate the color. “It looks totally groady, though. I agree. I wouldn’t want to sit in it, either. But, too bad,” Charlotte giggled. “Still feels good, though, right? You don’t hear the angel of death’s wings flapping or anything?”

Good? Alice was sure that she had died and gone to heaven. Her eyelids were even growing heavy. Had she ever felt this relaxed? This happy? This free?

She woke up to Charlotte’s finger poking her sharply on her shoulder. “No falling asleep in the bath. SO dangerous. If you drowned in the tub, Moriarty would never let me hear the end of it!”

Even the look of Charlotte began to be clearer, as if she’d been seeing everything in a haze. “Sorry,” she sighed. “I’ve barely slept! You’re amazing! I never want to get out of here!”

Charlotte smiled and had Alice lay her head back, just to get her hair wet. Alice felt better every moment. She even felt somehow energetic, like her muscles were more flexible, her sight was better—everything was better! Had she been living in a nightmare before?