A Question of Magic Read Free

a few days. Mother thinks Great-Aunt Sylanna will invite us to stay overnight; then we’ll be back the next day.”
    â€œI don’t like it,” Alek said, scowling. “You’re going to spend an entire day with Viktor so you can see a relative you don’t know. And this inheritance … What if it is a business and your great-aunt expects you to live in Mala Kapusta?”
    â€œIf she does, I suppose I’ll have to consider it,” Serafina said with a shrug. “But I won’t make any decisions right away.”
    â€œBut it is possible that you could move there.”
    â€œI suppose it’s
possible
,” Serafina replied.
    Alek sighed and stopped walking. “Then there’s something else for you to consider before you make any big decisions,” he said, turning her so that she faced him. “I’ve wanted to ask you something for a while, but the time never seemed right. Now I guess I have to just come out and say it. I mean, if you’re going to make life-changing decisions, I want you to take something important into account. I love you, Serafina Divis, and I have for a very long time. I know our parents think we’re too young to get engaged, but I would like to give you this.” Reaching into his pocket, Alek took out anornate gold heart twice as big as his thumbnail. “It was my mother’s, and her mother’s before that. My mother used to wear it on a gold chain, but when she was dying she took it off and gave it to me, saying that it would remind me how much she loved me. I’ve been carrying it in my pocket ever since, but now I want you to have it to remind you how much I love you. Think of it as a preengagement token.”
    Serafina felt tears come to her eyes. She remembered his mother wearing the necklace, though Serafina didn’t know that his mother had given the heart to him. Serafina also knew how much Alek missed his mother, who had died three years ago, and how precious this keep-sake must be to him. Although she had long thought that she would marry Alek someday, they had never really talked about it. “Are you proposing to me, Alek?”
    He gave her a nervous grin. “I’m telling you that I want to propose someday. It’s early yet, but I want you to know just how serious I am.”
    â€œI would love to wear the heart, Alek,” she said, gazing into his eyes. “I have a gold chain that would be perfect for it. And when we’re old enough, I would love to marry you.”
    Serafina didn’t know how nervous Alek was until hebreathed a sigh of relief and gathered her into his arms. “Thank goodness,” he murmured into her hair. “I don’t know what I would have done if you had turned me down!”
    â€œWatch out!” shouted a man driving a wagon full of barrels. Two of the apprentices had gotten into a shoving match, and one had fallen into the street right in front of the wagon. The horse pulling the wagon shied to the side. One of the wheels popped off and rolled toward an elderly couple, just missing them. The wagon tipped and the barrels shifted their weight. Leaning precariously, the wagon pulled at the traces, making the horse rear and scream.
    â€œStay here!” Alek said, pushing Serafina to safety.
    â€œWhoa, boy!” he said in a calming voice. When the horse’s front hooves touched the ground again, Alek jumped to grab the reins. The horse’s eyes were wide, his ears pinned back to his skull as he tried to jerk his head away, but Alek held tight, talking in a soothing way until the animal stopped trying to get free and stood, sides heaving and nostrils flaring.
    Serafina held her breath as Alek stroked the horse’s neck, but the animal was calmer now and did nothing more than paw the ground. Alek stood with the horse while the driver and the two apprentices put the wheelback on the wagon and returned the barrels to their places.
    Serafina