Free Seeing Magic (The Queen of the Night Series Book 1) by Laura Emmons Page A

the room. It fell and took down a shelf of candles which in turn crashed onto a display of crystal balls. The glass balls thankfully didn’t break, but they did roll all across the floor and into the examining area.
    Since sneaking away soundlessly was no longer an option, and my injured state didn’t allow for me to sprint from the scene of the crime, I braced myself for Fiona’s wrath.
    Instead, she looked up at me and stated briskly, in her no-nonsense voice, “Well Maggie, you might as well come in here and help me.”
    I approached cautiously, a little wary of entering this room of witchcraft and greatly wary of approaching the stern look on Fiona’s face. Plus, I had to skirt around all the cauldrons, candles and gazing orbs with my limp and cane. When I reached the examining table, she introduced me. The little girl’s name was Zoe and her mother was Caroline. I schooled myself to not show panic after my horrendous entrance, and expressed condolences on Zoe’s illness.
    Fiona queried, “Tell me Maggie, what do you think is wrong with little Zoe?”
    I said the first thing that came to mind. “She’s sick.”
    Fiona snapped. “Could you be a little more specific?”
    Since I felt obligated to make up for interrupting this family’s private appointment, and because obviously Fiona was challenging me, I took a stab at a diagnosis. Channeling every medical drama I’d ever seen on TV, I started musing out loud. “Well, she looks like she’s been vomiting.” 
    Her mother acknowledged this fact with a nod to the bucket.
    “You’re checking her breathing, so she must have some congestion.” I had a stab of insight, so I decided to ask a couple of questions of my own. “Does she have a fever?” 
    Her mother nodded in the affirmative.
    “Zoe, do you feel tired or have achy muscles?” 
    “Yes,” Zoe shivered as she answered in a meek voice.
    I looked at Aunt Fiona. “It sounds like she has the flu.”
    Fiona said, “You’re thinking. That’s good. What if I told you she has been having trouble breathing but she has had no nasal congestion, no cough, no runny nose and her ears are fine?  Would you still say she has the flu?”
    I stared aghast at my great-aunt, glancing sideways at Caroline. I wanted to see if she was preparing to pack her little girl up and drag her out of the place. What parent would trust the diagnosis of a fifteen-year old with no medical training ?  I didn’t understand what Fiona wanted from me, so I responded with the only answer I had. “I don’t know. I’m just a teenager. I’m not a doctor.”
    Fiona replied, “I know that, but give it a try anyway.”
    I still couldn’t understand why Caroline was tolerating this game, but Fiona looked insistent and Caroline looked at me expectantly.
    “I don’t know what might cause an upset stomach and trouble breathing at the same time. Could it be two different things?”
    “Yes,” nodded Fiona, “but if there was only one cause for her symptoms, what would you say it might be?”
    Suddenly, the answer came to me. I remembered back to the herbs Fiona had made me study. I’d had to memorize a great number of herbs, their uses, the descriptions, how to grow them and so many other facts. I remembered these kinds of symptoms from my Herbalism studies, so I asked, “Could it be poison?” 
    There were poisons derived from plants that would make a person vomit uncontrollably and some that affected breathing.
    Fiona smiled, almost as if in relief.
    “Yes, it could be poison.” 
    I turned to Caroline. “Has Zoe eaten anything unusual lately?”
    “Like I said before, I don’t think so.”
    “How long has she been sick like this?”
    Both Caroline and Fiona answered, “Two weeks.”
    Obviously, Fiona had already asked these kinds of questions before I stumbled in on them. Normal food poisoning wouldn’t still be affecting Zoe after two weeks, even I knew that. The look on Fiona’s face told me she wasn’t playing a