A Question of Magic (23 page)

“He doesn't like being touched,” said Serafina. “The first time I polished him, he—”

She realized with a start that the boy had asked her a question and she had answered it as herself, through
her own personal experience, not in her Baba Yaga voice or with Baba Yaga's knowledge. And that could mean only one thing.

“I'm not Baba Yaga anymore!” she shouted as she ran to the cottage, her feet scarcely touching the ground. “Alek, did you hear me? I'm an ordinary girl again!”

“You were never ordinary!” Alek said, coming through the gate to pick her up and twirl her around.

“Wait,” she said. “I'm sure it's true, but let's just make absolutely certain. You, squire!” she called to a passing young man dressed in the prince's livery. “Come over here and ask me a question! Make it something that no one could possibly answer.”

“Okay,” the squire said with a grin. “How many meat pies did my friend Josep steal from under the cook's nose last week?”

“I have no idea!” Serafina shouted, so happy that she took hold of Alek's hand and pulled him into a wild dance that made everyone laugh and start clapping out a rhythm. The soldiers who weren't watching the prisoners gathered close to see what was going on. Her father, the prince, and Dielle all came out of the cottage when they heard the uproar. Serafina and Alek danced until they were gasping for breath, but they didn't stop
until it occurred to Serafina that there was something else that she needed to do.

“Dielle!” Serafina shouted, running to the girl and pulling her away from the others. “As far as I'm concerned, you
are
the next Baba Yaga. You may have become Baba Yaga when I gave up the job, but I want to make it official, just in case. I give my job to you! There, I said it,” she announced, giving her friend a quick hug. “Let's see if it worked. We need a volunteer to ask Baba Yaga a question.”

“Make it something that she won't know the answer to!” shouted the squire who had just asked Serafina a question.

“And make it a question that you really need answered,” said Serafina. “Baba Yaga can answer only one question with the absolute truth for each person.”

A soldier in the back of the crowd raised his hand. “I'll ask a question!” he shouted. “What are—”

“No, no, don't ask me!” Serafina cried. “Ask her,” she told him, pointing at Dielle.

Everyone stepped aside as the soldier made his way to where Dielle and Serafina stood waiting. “I was adopted,” he said when he stood before the girls. “No one knows the names of my real parents or why I was
abandoned in a churchyard. My question is—why did my parents abandon me?”

“Your parents wanted to marry, but your mother's father refused to give them permission,” Dielle said in the Baba Yaga voice. “They were fleeing their town when your mother gave birth to you. When her father came after them, he forced her to give you up. He was the one who left you in the churchyard. Your mother died soon after, but your birth father still lives. His name is Teodor Dlugosz.”

The soldier was beaming by the time she finished. “I was sure my parents hadn't left me there because they didn't want me! Thank you so much! I've wanted to know the answer to that question my entire life.”

“And Dielle was able to answer your question because she is the new Baba Yaga!” Serafina announced.

Dielle had looked surprised when she'd started talking in her Baba Yaga voice, but was even more startled when she looked down at her hem. “I've grown!” she cried. “Everything is shorter now. And tighter,” she added, tugging at her collar.

“That will keep happening for a while,” said Serafina. “There are clothes of different sizes in one of the trunks.”

“If she really is the new Baba Yaga, you're finally
free, Serafina!” Alek said, an enormous grin spreading across his face. Drawing her into his arms, he spun her around, laughing, until they were both too dizzy to stand. They collapsed on the ground as everyone cheered.

“If we leave now,” Alek told her, “I know of an inn we can reach before nightfall. We'll get to Prince Cynrik's castle tomorrow, then home three days later.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Serafina told him, “but I can't leave just yet. There are so many things I have to do first! I want to put things away and make sure everything is clean for the new Baba Yaga. Oh, I have to say good-bye to Maks and the skulls and the cottage. I'm going to miss them all so much! Promise me we can come visit them. I'll want to see Dielle and everyone as often as I can.”

“Of course,” said Alek. “Whenever you want. Did you say you're going to miss the skulls?”

Serafina nodded. “They're my friends, too. Maks and the skulls helped me when I was Baba Yaga, and the cottage rescued me I don't know how many times. I know that all I wanted was to be normal again, but I can't just walk away from my friends forever! And it's very important that I tell Dielle what her duties and responsibilities are, what she can and can't do, what to
feed the cat, how to polish the skulls, and everything else I can think of that she needs to know. I have to tell her all the things that I wish someone had told me when I became Baba Yaga.”

“Including how to pass the job on to someone else?” Alek asked, brushing his lips across hers.

“Especially that,” she said.

Reaching up with one hand, Alek tilted her head back and kissed her with so much love that she felt her muscles go limp. It was the kiss she had been wanting for a very long time.

My thanks to Grace Piskorski for helping me with Polish names and words, and to Serafina Rayner for lending me her first name.

In addition, I found my information about teas, including rose hip tea, in
Magic and Medicine of Plants
, by the editors of
Reader's Digest
, 1986.

THE TALES OF THE FROG PRINCESS

The Frog Princess

Dragon's Breath

Once Upon a Curse

No Place for Magic

The Salamander Spell

The Dragon Princess

Dragon Kiss

A Prince among Frogs

Fairy Wings

Fairy Lies

TALES OF THE WIDE-AWAKE PRINCESS

The Wide-Awake Princess

Unlocking the Spell

Copyright © 2013 by E. D. Baker

All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

First published in the United States of America in October 2013
by Bloomsbury Children's Books
www.bloomsbury.com

This electronic edition published in October 2013

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury Children's Books, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

The author wishes to acknowledge useful information gained from Reader's Digest's
Magic and Medicine of Plants
.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baker, E. D.
A question of magic / by E.D. Baker.
pages     cm
Summary: Serafina is summoned from her village to the magical cottage of a great-aunt she has never heard of and learns that she is meant to become the new Baba Yaga, whose magical role is answering the first question any stranger might ask her with the truth.
[1. Fairy tales. 2. Baba Yaga (Legendary character)—Fiction. 3. Witches—Fiction.
4. Magic—Fiction. 5. Questions and answers—Fiction. 6. Aging—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ8.B173Que 2013     [Fic]—dc23     2013009598

eISBN: 978-1-6196-3056-7

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