Mother and the other village women proved to be almost as faithful as Naline's magical timer. They brought hot tea every hour, and food every four. Really, this was slightly over zealous, but the tea kept both Naline and I from being tired, and I think that it helped Mother to have something to do so she wouldn't worry.
The Wake-Up potion was soon finished, or so I thought. It had actually only finished brewing, and it still needed to sit for a while. Naline instructed me to take the taffy-like substance, and to let it cool on a sheet of scrap parchment. It turned out I was more right than I knew when I said it was like candy, because after it cooled it hardened into true candy. Naline let me take the first piece. It was better than any of the sweets that came from the city; it tasted like winter does, when the sun is shining, and it's not too cold. I swished the candy around on my tongue, feeling like I had just woken up on a festival day, and could hardly wait for the sun. It was midsummer, and the sun had finally set on the longest day of the year, but the bonfires were only starting, and I begged my Father to let me stay up, with Aunt Evelyn and Mother egging him to take my side.
Naline was smiling at me. "How was it?" she asked.
"Is it always like that?"
"No, magic is always very different and different for different people. Everything matters with magic, from the season that mint leaves grew, to the person working the magic, to the thoughts you think while working a spell." Naline stared hard at me, willing me to understand. "That is your first and most important lesson. Give me a piece of the Wake-Up. Let's see what it says about you." I silently handed over a generous sized square.
"Can you learn to tell what person worked a spell by the feel of it?" Naline laughed and clapped her hands. Well, really, she clapped one hand against the other, whose arm was cradling the baby.
"Good girl! Yes, you can, but it takes a bit of practice, and you need to know a person very well. You and I will be able to know each other's magic very well, most likely." The timer whistled, and I ran from my place at Naline's feet to tend to the antidote. Coming back, I changed the conversation again, this time asking about the infant in her arms.
"What's her name?" I asked.
"I believe that it's Audrea. But since we're on the subject of names, I do believe that you need one." There was a twinkle in her eye when she spoke, and even then, I guessed that she knew of my lie. "What shall I call you?"
"You pick something," I told her, certain that anything that she came up with would be prettier than my imagination.
"Maeve, then, and may you live up to the name."
"Maeve." I savored the flavors of the name as I had savored the Wake-Up, and then said it again; as a six year old's war cry to the world. "I am Maeve!" I had a name even more beautiful than Naline's, and I was going to be a sorceress. I could take on anyone.
Just then, Aunt Evelyn came with tea and a wonderful smelling carrot soup. The smells were intoxicating, and I found that, despite what I had said about the excess of food, the last thing I had eaten seemed ages before.
"Certainly you'll join us?" Naline asked her.
"I really shouldn't, but of course I will anyway." She declared, setting the tray on a stool, and settling her plump body on floor next to me. She dished up the soup into three different bowls, and I started in on mine right away. It tasted magnificent, but burned my tongue, and I slowed down to take careful sips like Naline and Aunt Evelyn.
"Your second lesson," Naline announced, "Will be to find magic in the ordinary. Pretend that this soup is a magical brew. Taste it like you did the Wake-Up. What can you tell me?"
"Mother always makes carrot soup when she's happy, so it makes me happy…" I started, and Naline beamed at me.
"See? Already we found something important. For you, magic is about memories."
"What is it for other people?"
"Like I said before, everyone is different, so it really could be anything."
"What is it for you?" I pressed.
"Colors. I associate everything with a different color."
"So, when you tasted the Wake-Up you felt..?"
"I remembered a conversation that I had with Sorceress Pudfut that lasted all night. I told you; the person who makes the charm has the main effect, though the user has some too."
"Oh." I was confused, and it clearly showed through to my face.
"Don't worry about really understanding it yet," Naline told me, "It's really something that you learn more from experience."
I had just one more question; "Am I the only one with memories?"
"No, but you're the only one who will ever be exactly like you." Aunt Evelyn, who had been watching us interact with a mildly amused expression, then asked a question of her own.
"Is it possible for someone without magical abilities to tell the difference between spells?"
"Probably," Naline replied, thinking hard. "I know that some spells can only be seen or felt by another magic user, but it's really the same thing as noticing the difference in someone's voice, or cooking, or stitching, so there shouldn't be a reason why not." Aunt Evelyn nodded, apparently satisfied, but I wondered why she had asked.
As you have probably noticed, Reader, I have always been full of questions. Naline sometimes said it was the reason I was a good sorceress, and other times it was the reason I was a bad one.