When Magic Flows

MATERNAL ADVICE

Allegra POV

Another week passed as fast as a supersonic airplane but hit me like a cargo train. I was mentally and physically exhausted and I couldn’t see a break coming. 

I would certainly have some lazy days after ascending as a leader, but I would always be alert and would have to intervein if trouble comes to the coven, but for now, I have the impression that my weekends and times off were vanishing from my calendar as if I had cast it a spell of cloaking!

Last weekend I swear I blinked on Saturday morning and suddenly it was Sunday night, bedtime. My agenda created it’s own life and was refusing me any free time at all. 

Seeing me so much tired made my mom worry about my health and one day at breakfast she cornered me and started to share her worries: 

“Baby girl, I’m worried about you. You barely rest these days. You have so much on your plate, and I remember how hard for me the training time was.”

It was so rare she would share her memories about her rise as the coven leader that I had to take some advantage of the opportunity, so I decided to start asking her: 

“Mom, I was dying to ask you: how did you balance everything back in your time?”

“The ugly truth, darling, is that I didn’t”

Now, I definitely wasn’t expecting to hear that. She seems to be so in control! How could it be that she didn’t c***k the code back in her time? I was dying for her advice and now I had nothing. 

“Oh, don’t look at me this way, honey. I did not have control over everything back at that time, and neither I do right now. You will never get everything 100% done, but I promise you, it gets easier.” She told me. “I know that now it seems that you can’t handle everything but trust me in this: tomorrow it will be a little bit easier, and the day after, a little bit more. You will see it. You will be more confident, magic will flow more naturally, and you will be fine. My advice to you is to enjoy the moment you’re living. Trust me, It’s the best way to get through this phase. And it will yield you good stories.” She finished this last sentence smiling dreamily.

“So, why is that that you never share those stories before with me?” I asked her.

“It simply was not the right time yet, kiddo.” She explained to me.

“And now is the right time for them?” I asked her a little more ironically than I should.

She forgave my boldness and continued: “Yes, now is the time to do it, so I can prevent you to not set one of the training rooms on fire as I did.” She started to laugh.

“How did it happen?” Well, how did the so balanced and serene Lilian Scott lost it to the point to set a classroom on fire?

“It happened in a potions class.” She admitted it. “I was trying to clean up the mess after the class, as the instructor wanted us to not leave behind a mess after every class.” She said.

“Oh, boy, I hate this chore,” I told her rolling my eyes.

She laughed at me: “Me too! So, as lazy that I used to be, I learned a spell for cleaning. The promise was that this certain spell would clean anything you needed, and this was the first opportunity I had. It happens that I wasn’t versed in magic the way I am now, and this was my first time trying that spell. I didn’t know that it sparked, and the potion was flammable. It was a catastrophe!”

I think I have never laughed so hard about one of my mom’s memories before.

“Oh my God! This is precious, mom!” I was crying and I bent over trying to hold my belly.

“I know!” she laughed again. “So, my advice for you today is to be careful about new spells and try them in a safe environment, ok?”

“Noted,” I told her.

“So, my girl, I am worried about your exhaustion, but I came here to treat about another subject. In advance, I ask you to not get so mad at me, okay?”

“Okaaaay,” I told her, suspiciously. What was she bringing to me right now? Hasn’t she said that she was worried about my burden? She looks like she was about to add something more to the equation. 

“Well, honey, yesterday I received a communication from the council. They are worried about your life partner, baby.”

“Oh, not that again!” I started to complain.

“Please, don’t kill the messenger, darling. It is not my fault. I’m here just to inform you about their concerns and to inform you…” she started to hesitate.

Oh, joy! Now she was hesitating about telling me what was happening. There is no way that what was coming was good. “Inform me about what, mom? Say it at once.” 

“Well, honey, they are talking about a contest.”

“A what?” I asked her, hyperventilating. 

“Yeah, that is it. Out in the open: a contest over your hand, honey. You see, you are the most important witch in the coven now. Even more than me, honey. You are the future. I’m about to become past.” She started to explain and at the same time, she was trying to calm me. “And everyone here is concerned about your future, and one of the most important matters about it is your future life partner, dear.”

“But this is MY LIFE!” I was getting more desperate at the minute.

“I know, honey, but at least this contest will give you suitable options among skilled warlocks. Some of them will be powerful. Well, not as powerful as you are because you’re a Scott girl, the strongest lineage in the coven. Still, they will be powerful and able to stand by you. One of them could be perfectly suitable for a life partner.” She started to reason.

“But I thought I would have more time! I mean, is not one of the elders who will have to live with a stranger!” I stressed the last word.

“It could be someone that is not a stranger, baby. Just calm down. This is not happening tomorrow. Just be aware that this could happen in the near future if you don’t present a candidate of your own. Just please, don’t be upset with me, ok?”

“But you are the coven’s leader! Aren’t you the maximum authority in the group? I believe that you can stop this nonsense if you really want it.” I started to argue.

“I am, darling, but in the future, you will learn that you will not rule the coven alone. It takes all of us to guide our people, and this gets more challenging as our group grows. Just hear me out, alright?”

“No! This is not alright at all! You all are talking and deciding about MY life. How about my choices? Am I just a puppet for all of you?” Now I was livid. I was sure that reason left the building five minutes ago when all this conversation started. They must all be mad if they thought that I would consider agreeing with such a crazy idea.

“Honey, everyone wants what is best for the coven. One day you’ll see it. We were just…”

“Wait a minute! You said ‘we’ as if you were agreeing with all this insanity…” I was starting to figure all of this out. What a traitor! My own mother! Wasn’t she supposed to be at my side? I was so pissed that I was beyond being reasonable. “Oh, come on!” I said as I started to leave the room. I couldn’t stand being in the same place as she was anymore. I needed to be alone, but if this was what I needed, it seemed as if she wasn’t willing to agree with me.

“Now, you wait here, young lady!” She tried to call my attention. But I wasn’t letting her have the last word about it. I needed alone time. I needed to breathe and to affirm to myself again that this was my life, and nobody would choose anything for me. 

So, grabbed my coat and left the house, and as annoyed as I was, I barely heard when someone told my mom to leave me alone, and honestly, I did not care. I also did not care where I was going. I simply kept walking. When I was finally far away from home, I found myself in the forest, on the outskirts of our territory. I wasn’t willing to do anything special. I just needed to cool it down again. 

I have found a fallen trunk and sat down, trying to breathe freely and think clearer. I thought that I was completely alone beside the wildlife that surrounded me. That was when I heard his voice: “Allegra? What are you doing here?” and it seems that he couldn’t believe I was there. I wanted to be alone, but I changed my mind when I heard him say my name. So, I turned around to face him again.