Chapter 14

Faba

Those were the slowest three months of Faba's life. True, she was busy; she stopped the war between the Arjikis and the Scrow by merely living up to her reputation, and she helped Lukas start a produce business. They had decided to begin selling the crops in their garden, and Faba had found spells in the Grimmerie to speed growth. From Lukas' standpoint, life was going well for the couple. Yes, Faba was acting a little strange, but she was Faba after all. Her little trips out were probably just rescue missions that she didn't want him involved in. But still, in the back of his mind, he suspected …

Faba went to see Doctor Kellu once a week, just to make sure that nature hadn't already taken care of things for her. She hoped desperately for a miscarriage, but the little brat was intent on sticking around to invade her body. Doctor Kellu wasn't so sure about magically facilitated abortions, but he knew that Faba was a very powerful witch who rarely changed her mind once it was made up. He just hoped he wouldn't be blamed when (or if) Lukas found out.

The day of the abortion was a stormy day in the Vinkus. The Vinkus was infamous for its all day thunderstorm extravaganzas. "Nasty day out there," Lukas remarked as they ate breakfast. "I should go to the river and make sure the Beavers are okay. Wanna come?"

"I better not," Faba said with a sigh. "As we have recently found out, water can melt me, and I'd prefer to keep that a known fact."

He smiled knowingly. "Good thinking. I should be home by noon."

Noon! That was her deadline. She kissed Lukas goodbye, and then rushed into their bedroom to get the Grimmerie. She checked the time. It was 8:30. Three and a half hours. Sweet Lurline. She went into their bathing room, which only had a bathtub, and sat down on the floor with the Grimmerie. She flipped to the only marked page in the book, and read over the spell one last time to memorize it. Natum praetempistum avi clenx. Natum praetempistum avi clenx. Not too complicated. She drew a bath and undressed as the tub filled up. Hopefully water would make this whole thing less painful.

Faba stopped the water and stepped into the bathtub. She moaned with pleasure, allowing herself to enjoy the warm water for just a little bit. Then, nervously, she started chanting. "N-natum praetempistum avi clenx. Natum praetempistum avi clenx. Natum praetempistum avi – sweet Oz!" A pain shot through her abdomen, worse than the arm she had once broken, worse than any cramps she had ever experienced. She didn't know if it was necessary for the spell, but she kept chanting to keep from screaming. "Natum … praetempistum … avi clenx …"

Her mind raced wildly as she tried to distract herself. She thought of herself and Nessa as children, playing with Nessa's dolls and building snowmen. Every night when there was a storm, Nessa would cry out, and Faba would have to comfort her younger sister. She thought of high school, when it was her and Lukas against the world. She remembered the day when some boys were calling them freaks, and Lukas had said, "Oh yeah? What if Faba here turns you all into Toads?! Then you'd see about being green and about being an Animal! And I'd whup your sorry Toad asses from now until Sunday!" The boys, all cowards at heart, had proceeded to run away in terror.

Faba gave a little scream as she felt her body make way for the baby. Or Cub. Or whatever the hell it was. She thought of Glinda, how much they had hated each other at first, how their unlikely friendship had formed. She thought of the makeover Glinda had given her after Fiyero's party. Glinda had put a pink flower into Faba's hair and exclaimed cheerfully, "Pink goes good with green!" It certainly did. Her mind moved to Fiyero, that strange day in history class with the Lion cub. Her feelings for Fiyero were … baffling, and couldn't happen, because anyway she was with Lu-

One last contraction, and the pain ceased, leaving only aching all over. She lay in the bathtub, panting, for a while, before she forced herself to look down. What she had produced looked like neither Bear nor human, but just an undifferentiated blob of organic flesh. Trembling, she got to her feet, trying to avoid stepping on the thing, and got out of the tub. She dried off and dressed herself again, feeling exhausted.

By the time Lukas returned, the body was disposed of through a simple dissolving spell, and Faba was making lunch. "The Beavers are alright," he reported. "Faba! You look wiped! What happened?"

"I went flying," she lied quickly. "I wanted a little exercise. I'm gonna take a nap after lunch."

Lukas looked at her strangely. "Okay …"

A few days later, Faba was outside in the garden, harvesting peas when Lukas came out, looking suspicious. "Yes, Lukas?"

"Um, Faba?"

"Yes?"

"I was in the bathing room just now, getting ready to take a bath, you know?"

"Sure …" At this point, playing dumb was her only option.

"Why is your big spellbook in there?" Crap! She had gotten rid of everything except the Grimmerie! Why hadn't she come up with an explanation?

Faba laughed nervously. "Well … you know … a little bathtime reading."

"Bathtime reading. Uh-huh." He nodded skeptically. "You left it open to a page. You wrote a date on this page, a date that was only a couple of days ago."

Gulp.