The winter passed in relative peace. Kaitlyn focused on her studies on those tasks which were consuming for time if not always her mind. Weaving baskets was an excellent way to allow her mind to wander, practicing feeling the threads of her flame spell or the tool spell. When Master Garthis taught her the identification spell and she cast it the first time she felt blinded by all the various spells all over the house. She had to leave to concentrate on her own curse, but she found the script almost illegible.

She had a few days late in the winter where she ran a low fever. She was doubly grateful for the new bed which was warmer and more comfortable than the mat on the floor had been. Her stew got pretty lean that last day, but just as she was feeling better Master Garthis came for his normal visit.

He put his hand on her forehead and asked her, “How long have you been sick?”

“Just a few days,” Kaitlyn said, “Mostly I’m tired and feverish. My chest hurts a little but I don’t have a cough.”

“Good, I know of a potion which should help you,” he said. “Fapallo, I need a fresh deer with at least three points on their left horn.”

Fapallo disappeared. Master Garthis waved his hand and some potatoes began dicing in mid air. He went outside once it was added to the stewpot and when he returned he brought more wood. He sat on the edge of the bed beside her and said, “You could have sent Fapallo to get help, or used the mirror.”

“I’m not that sick,” Kaitlyn said, “Like I said, mostly I’ve just been so tired.”

“But you could have gotten more sick,” Master Garthis said, “and I would want to know so I could send you help.”

“Thank you,” Kaitlyn said sincerely.

“You are my apprentice,” Master Garthis reminded her, “that means I am responsible for your health and well being. Just because you are separated from my normal household, I am still here to help you.”

“Thank you master,” Kaitlyn said.

“Now rest, I will see to it that you are taken care of for a few days,” he said.

When Kaitlyn woke up the master wizard was brewing a potion, scraping the bone of the antler carefully. She watched, and for a moment her mind drifted and she could sense the waves of magical power in the room as he deftly combined the ingredients.

He brought her a cup of a liquid the color and consistency of blood. She wrinkled her nose but took a big gulp as quickly as she could. It was thick and oily, but didn’t taste as terrible as she expected. She finished it off and Master Garthis immediately gave her a cup of water. She drank this as well and then lay back in her bed.

“Have you had many in the way of visitors?” the mage asked her.

“Only three, a silver elf and two of the dark elves,” Kaitlyn said. “But they all seemed quite relieved in the warmth.”

“I am sure,” Master Garthis smiled, “You have made this place a nice little haven in the forest.”

“Yes, I needed it to be a haven for me,” Kaitlyn said, “I miss my family.”

“I am sorry,” Master Garthis said, “I hope you will be able to break this curse as you grow into your powers and then you can go and visit them. You will be a great wizard you know. Wizardess? Magician? Magic Lady? We will have to come up with a good title for you.”

“I’m not a witch,” Kaitlyn smiled.

“No, you are definitely not a witch,” he replied. “I wonder why no other young women come into their magical powers. Arguably, even old witches when they come into their power are more powerful then men who begin learning later in life. I wonder if anyone has ever researched this.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Kaitlyn had to smile. Her master wasn’t so much absent minded as he was easily distracted by new ideas. He wanted to know and understand everything he came across and everything new was a mystery he wanted to solve. She hoped as she progressed in her studies she could join in his delight in the pursuit of the knowledge.

While she was sick, Kaitlyn had a steady stream of visitors she had not previously met. Three brownies rotated daily coming to tend until she told them she was perfect healthy again. Even then, every third day the young Cilvic came and helped her with the cleaning and cooking. She vastly appreciated this, and only knowing that brownies were insulted when they were thanked kept her from effusing thanks on him.

The visitors from the elves were still infrequent, but they came fairly regularly with the desired small tokens. The flour, sugar, thread, or cloth was very appreciated. As the winter began to wane from the forest outside her hut, Kaitlyn worried the loss of this income, for lack of a better term, would be difficult on her.

It was early spring the day of the event. Kaitlyn was working in the garden in the back when she heard the small bell one of the silver elves had brought her. She had hung it near the well so they could let her know when they arrived. She brushed off her hands and came around front.

Hyacinth had arrived, and carried with her a buck twice the size of a normal deer and with bright gold-looking horns. She dropped the animal on the ground and said, “Forgive me, I needed a place to rest. This hind has been terrorizing our scouts so I had to come and hunt it.”

“No, I am glad to see you,” Kaitlyn said, “How on earth were you able to carry that by yourself?”

“Silver elves each have about twice the strength of a normal human,” the elven woman said, clearly not even boasting. Kaitlyn wouldn’t have argued even if the elf had said three times, the hind was a massive creature.

“I do not have the requisite gift, can I offer you some of this hind instead?” Hyacinth said.

“Certainly,” Kaitlyn said. “Fapallo doesn’t usually bring me much in the way of deer, they are too lean this time of year.”

“Thank you, I must go use your outhouse now,” Hyacinth stood and walked around the house.

Kaitlyn got the tea things and began making tea when she saw a shadow moving just at the edge of her clearing. A dark elf came into the yard cautiously until he saw the hind was already dead. He relaxed a little and said, “I come bearing the gift…”

“AIYEEE!” Hyacinth almost roared from behind Kaitlyn and launched from the side of the house towards the dark elf.

Kaitlyn reacted almost without thinking, wrapping vines of magic around the silver elf. Plants burst up and entangled her at Kaitlyn’s command. The dark elf was drawing his bow. Kaitlyn glared and more vines entrapped him as well. She marched to stand between them and commanded the vines to turn their heads to her.

Almost encased in vines, both stared at her. She didn’t realize it, but her arms were glowing brightly and her silver hair was drawing in the light until it glowed as well. When she spoke, the magic escaped her lips like wisps of smoke.

“This is my land and it is safe,” Kaitlyn said. “None will bring their fight here. My home is a safe place for all.”

There was a deep grumbling noise and all three noticed the land had darkened until it was roiling in black smoke. Kaitlyn cast the identification spell she had learned and looked at her house.

Instead of glowing with many spells, only one dominated and it looked like a giant mouth. The house opened its mouth and the vines began to slowly move towards that mouth. Kaitlyn glared, furious that the house would still think she would kill to feed it greater magic.

She gathered her magic and commanded the vines back. It was like tugging a horse up the side of a cliff, but she fought. She felt her own magic blazing as she kept her house from eating the elves. She walked carefully until she could put her hands on the doorframe.

Master Garthis had mentioned taking “apart” a spell or a curse, but had told Kaitlyn she wasn’t ready for the details. She could tell however, she didn’t have a lot of time to learn. She commanded the vines to release the elves as she leaned her head inside the house.

The inside of the house was dark, the corners no longer right angles but twists in reality. She didn’t know the right way to stop this.

“This is mine,” she growled. For the first time since she had been cursed she felt… this was her home. She wanted to see her bed in the corner and the awful basket she had made which she knew today had spring leeks and potatoes in it. This was HER house. Not that old witch that had eaten children.

She stepped into the room, feeling the malice and anger around her. She had been feeding this house magic for almost a year. She had been giving it love and attention it had never experienced. How dare it defy her.

She felt for a magical strand and yelped slightly as it felt like thorns and slime. She took a deep breath and reached again for that thread. She would need to find the spell which wanted to eat people and take it apart.

“Like unweaving a basket,” she muttered. “I want this house, just not this filth.”