Beautiful Curse

Chapter Eleven

"Ah, there you are." The voice that had led me from my bedroom that morning rang out from the direction of the castle, and I turned toward it impulsively. There was nothing between me and the castle but empty air, but that didn't make me feel as uncomfortable as it had before. Maybe my acceptance of magic was really the key to thriving in this strange world.

I stood up and smiled. "Ross sent me out of the kitchen." I paused for a moment, considering. "What do you know about his mother?"

"Very powerful lady. Come along, let's get your lessons started," the voice said brusquely.

I wanted to ask more, but something about the tone of the voice told me that might not be the best idea. I filed the questions away for later, planning to ask Ross when we ate dinner together that night.

"So what's my first lesson?" I asked, striding back toward the castle.

"Literature." The voice was a few paces ahead of me, and I hurried to catch up.

I made a face, thinking of my English class back home. "Will I get to do any art?"

"You'll have a busy schedule, but I'll be sure to report your interest. But hurry along now. Mustn't keep your tutor waiting."

We went back through the kitchen, and I looked around eagerly, expecting to see more magical preparations, but the knives were still and the room was silent.

Back in the hallway, I followed the voice up the stairs, but when I turned off on the second floor, it called, "Not there! Come along."

At each landing, I moved to leave the stairs, but the voice kept prodding me along. When we had climbed five tall flights of stairs, my lungs felt like they were going to burst. The voice finally said, "Turn right, if you please."

I leaned against the wall for a minute, catching my breath. I hadn't really thought I was out of shape or anything, but those stairs had been steep, and we'd moved fast. "Next time, can we not run up the stairs?"

"Terribly sorry. I forget how inconvenient it is to have a physical body."

I looked around, surprised. "You don't have a body?"

The voice laughed. "Heavens no! Not anymore, at any rate."

"Then what are you?" Was I talking to a ghost?

"I am everything you are, only I don't have to worry about eating or muscle spasms. But hurry up, you're late."

It wasn't really an answer, but the candles danced down the hall, and I rushed to keep up. The hallway ended at a wide doorway, and I stepped through, catching my breath at the view. Windows stretched across the wall in front of me, climbing at least thirty feet into the air.

The room was huge, but it was unlike any library I had ever seen. Other than a single wooden table sitting in the center of the vast room, it was empty. There were no books or bookcases anywhere. How was I supposed to study literature in an empty room?

"Is this the library?" I asked, trying to conceal my disappointment.

"It most certainly is."

I looked up in surprise at the familiar voice. I was positive that no one had been in the room before, and I blinked in confusion, staring at the woman seated at the table.

"Ms. Amboulia?"

The older woman cringed. "I keep forgetting that you don't know my real name."

I frowned, confused. "Aren't you Ms. Amboulia?"

"That's the name I took to walk among mortals, but now that we're away from your world, I'd prefer if you called me by something else."