IX, May

Dear Gwen,

Lightning arrived with your duck quill earlier today. I was overcome with delight, seeing as it was proof that you had, indeed, received my letter. I had to borrow Alin's Carrier Pigeon to send it to you, and I was dreadfully afraid that the poor animal wouldn't make it. Alin was hesitant enough about letting me borrow Coco. I finally convinced him by threatening to spill about a certain meeting of his and Lisabeth Perde's at last year's Festival—but I'm sure he would have promptly refused should he have known I was sending Coco on so long a flight.

I used my strongest speed and strength potions on Coco's wings, in hopes that the scrawny bird wouldn't faint with exhaustion before reaching the safety of your carriage. Coco still hasn't come back; I'm sure he is, even now, recuperating in your care. And you mustn't worry about Lightning; he is far stronger and would probably reach you in ample time even without my potions. Anyway, it's about time that I ask Mrs. Ogden to sell me a Carrier so that I won't always have to depend on your Lightning or Alin's Coco to do my bidding.

Thank you for your advice; as long as I avoid her when she decides to sharpen her tongue, I will survive the summer with Her Excellency—as will you with Great Aunt Beatrice, who seems to be having you do the wind dance again. Though, I really shouldn't complain too heavily about the two; after all, if they hadn't insisted on taken us along as they plotted to conquer London society together, we may never have become friends.

As for Sanders, you are quite right—he is the village fool. After the chicken-scandal, he was determined to gloat over the product of his hoax. He came to deliver Grandmama a message from town, since Her Excellency has still not become very accepting of "those malodorous, disease-carrying" Pigeons that have become the fruit of modern-day communication. After leaving the house, he must have sneaked around the garden, because the next I saw him he was resting on Mama's pear tree, tracing the etchings you, Cassie and I made of our names last summer and smiling sardonically.

"What are you doing up there, Sanders?" I asked, calmly. "Lost something? Mayhap a chicken?"

He smirked. "Has my gift offended Princess Adamine? Accept my humble apologies." He attempted a mock bow that lost him his balance, and landed him on his rump in front of my feet.

I laughed heartily, watching him attempt to regain his composure. He quickly jumped to his full height—which surpasses mine by more than a foot these days—and came around to stare at the contents of my bucket.

"What have you got there, Princess Addie? It looks awfully smooth to be pig feed," he said, grabbing at the bucket and making a face.

"It is none of your concern," I responded curtly. "And let's drop the title, Sanders. I'm in no mood to deal with your odd humor today."

"Be that as it may, I have come to voice my concern, Ms. Ross," he said, spitting out my surname like one does a dirty word. " It's upsetting, really, seeing you arrive here each summer wearing those frilly dresses of yours, and leaving in worn-out garments and stained apron, having trouble removing the dirt from under your nails. What will everyone in London think?!" He said that last bit in a high-pitch voice, sounding very much like that irritating Silvia Seu, who could easily have said—and probably is saying—the same thing.

Now Gwen, you know I am not one to place too great an importance on my looks. But I did regret having to face Sanders in such attire. And I suppose I felt lonely—being the only one with a 'stained apron.' Enough of that! What I am trying to say is—I let him have it—the whole bucket-full of fertilizer—over his head.

"Do not confuse me with the likes of Silvia and Marioara Seu who actually care for such frivolous things as the state of their frilly dresses, " I told him, haughtily. Of course, I wasn't entirely truthful about not caring for clean garments, but one does say rash things when at her ploys.

"How…how dare you?" he managed to ask through mouthfuls of the muck.

"Well, I wanted you to see for yourself that you are quite right. It is too smooth to be pig feed." And I walked away laughing—but not without thinking that I may have to be wary of Sanders in the coming days. If I know him well enough, he will not let this go without retribution.

Gwen, I am sure your Aunt Beatrice would have found my behavior "simply shocking", but someone had to put Sanders in his place—stealing Mrs. Ogden's chickens, and trying to put the blame on me. The nerve of him! And I must admit, I did enjoy wiping that smirk off his face.

I am very pleased to hear that the change of scenery has agreed with Cassie. London was never the best place for the ill to improve. Sacala might have been, but there are no accomplished Healers here to complement the fresh air, and Cassie needs both.

At the moment, I am working on a new batch of sunburn lotion. I'm experimenting with a charm that should allow you to apply smaller quantities and achieve similar results—and which should conveniently allow me to place the lotion in the same duck quill as my next letter. Once I am done, I am certain that it will last both you and Cassie a greater part of the summer. However, I will include the recipe with the letter so that you may prepare the lotion yourself, should you run out.

Before I close, Gwen, I must tell you that I am quite envious of your opportunity to continue language lessons. I wish I could have the chance to brush upon my Romanian. I get so darn tongue-winded when Sanders comes about. Maybe Mr. Chalmers will teach you some witty insults if you ask nicely?

Take care,

Addie

P.S. I'd think we would have to combine Powers to find a strong enough charm to put a stop to the Hardbottles.

P.P.S. I don't know how you did it Gwen, but your charm will probably go the entire summer without expiring. I have, through extensive prodding, been able to get the pen to sound after two to three days following a response, and not simply every couple of days I go without picking it up. That will have to do for now.

XI, May

Dear Addie,

You need not have any fear about Coco. When the poor bird arrived, she seemed limp with exhaustion. I planned to keep her with me for the carriage for a few days until she recovered her strength. However, to be quite honest, I wasn't sure that the bird could make the long trip home safely. Fortunately, the day after Coco arrived Mama and Margaret were separating from the main party for their own journey to Paris. So, I sadly missed the chance to spook Margaret. I persuaded them to take Coco with, so when she is released, she'll be closer to you and won't have too fly so far. I must admit that I was very fortunate to be in the mews when Lightning hatched - I mean who has ever heard of a falcon as a Carrier? Perhaps it had to do with the fact that I was the first thing he saw when he hatched.

Moving on to a different topic, I say that Sanders got exactly what he deserved. In fact, I doubt our two heads could have planned anything better. Also, you are not vain in any sense. Being made fun of while having to spread fertilizer (especially your grandmother's variety), would discomfit any girl. Also, I will do my best to ask Mr. Chalmers about teaching me cutting and witty things to say in Romanian, but, I am afraid that under Aunt Beatrice's glaring eye, he wouldn't. Of course, since he is such polite man, he probably wouldn't even if she wasn't there to glare at him. I must express my frustration with her, as Aunt Beatrice makes it hard to learn magic. She looks down her nose at it, not because she thinks it's bad (think of how it helped her in her life), but because she doesn't deem it appropriate for a young lady.

Fortunately, when we stop and rest, Mr. Chalmers is sure to quiz me or give me tasks to do with my Power. At least he understands that magic is important and useful and if I have the Power, I should be taught to use it. In fact, he reminded me that the Latin I am learning can be used for spell casting. I must admit, the thought makes me feel very excited - imagine, using your Power without having to channel and infuse it into some herbal potion. This is far more powerful than what the local witches and wizards use - not that there is anything wrong with them, but one must admit, the ability to cast a spell without having to create some brew is much more practical and useful. So far, all I have learned is a levitation spell and a location spell. I am going to tell you how to perform the spells, as they might prove useful. To levitate an object, focus on the object (pointing on it seems to help me) and say novere (no-ver-áy). Obviously, the further away the object is and the heavier it is, the harder it is to lift. To keep it up, you have to keep concentrating on it (I assume true magicians only need to devote a small part of their attention to keep something up, but I tend to be most exhausted after keeping just a pebble up for a minute). As for the locating spell, you need to put something, like a needle, in a cup of water. Then, wave your hand over the cup and say ostrend discess (dee-ciss) invenio, (in-ven-yo). As long as you concentrate, the needle will point in the direction of the object or person you are looking for. Mr. Chalmers says that by levitating something like the needle and applying the locating spell, you don't need the cup of water, but I was too exhausted to try and see if it would work. There are also supposed to be other words to say to make the pointer more specific, but these spells are more than enough to keep me busy. One last thing, the spells can be written, but they require knowledge of the Latin symbols and unique diagrams. I'm afraid that my knowledge in both areas is rather lacking, so you'll have to do the spells verbally for now until you come back and learn the written way in the fall.

Your best friend,

Gwen

P.S. The lotion recipe is working splendidly.