A Hidden Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,73

robe.

She set her cup of tea down on a convenient flat stone and unbelted her robe. Elorie felt her eyes fall out of her head. Gran was naked!

Moira laughed. “In deference to the climate here, I don’t work skyclad like I did as a girl, but trust me, it’s the very best way to experience a hot spring. Nell’s playing gatekeeper in the kitchen. We won’t be disturbed.”

Sophie shrugged and peeled off her bikini. Elorie paused, trying to wrap her mind around the idea that Gran had ever done magic wearing only moonlight. However, the blissful sighs of the other two as they settled into the warm waters got her moving again.

If Gran could skinny dip, she surely could too.

As she settled into the water, a tray with fragrant scones and strawberries materialized at the side of the pool. Bless Aervyn. She could get used to having a teleporting witchling around.

“Aaron’s such a good man,” Moira said, handing out scones. “Here, Sophie—you first, dear. As I remember, pregnant bellies aren’t very patient.”

Sophie blushed. “I had three before I left the inn. For someone the size of a pinhead, this is one very hungry baby.”

“There’s more than just the baby to grow. You’ve been monitoring yourself, I hope?”

Sophie grinned. “Of course. I’m a well-trained witch.” Then she held out a hand. “Would you like to look?”

Moira smiled in delight and moved to place her hand on Sophie’s belly. Elorie watched in fascination as a few moments later, Gran’s other hand touched Sophie’s temples, and then the back of her neck. She’d seen the same done for a headache or two, but not for a pregnant woman.

Gran caught the question in Elorie’s eyes and smiled. “It’s a wee bit of a hangover is all.”

Elorie stared. Sophie wasn’t a big drinker.

Moira laughed. “Not that kind of hangover. A touch of wine is fine for a babe, but nothing more. This is just some aftereffects of yesterday’s magic. We all worked very hard.”

Pride blossomed again as Elorie looked around at the pool. They had done some very good work.

Moira touched Sophie’s cheek. “All fixed up, although I think these marvelous waters were taking care of most of it for you.”

She glided over to Elorie. “Are you feeling any aftereffects of yesterday, sweetling?”

Elorie shook her head, wanting to dodge a healing scan. She wasn’t at all sure what Gran might find, and not quite ready to know the answer. However, she had a question that had been niggling, and this might be a good time to ask. “Will magic affect Sophie’s baby at all?”

“Affect? Of course,” Moira said, her eyes twinkling. “Babies are very elemental creatures, and I think they feel the power flows more readily than we do. But harm? No. It would have to harm Sophie first, and she’s well-trained enough to prevent that in anything other than the worst of circumstances.”

She touched Elorie’s hand gently, her eyes more serious now. “A witch with less training would want to be sure her channels were being cleared regularly. Otherwise, power remnants could cause a babe some distress.”

Elorie nodded. Messaged received, Gran, loud and clear.

~ ~ ~

Marcus looked around the parlor of the inn. Such a motley crew of students. He had insisted on another spellcoding lesson. His reinforcements in that area were heading back to California in two days, and he wanted as much of their help as he could get.

That, and the longer he kept Ginia training, the less trouble she could heap on him in Realm. It amused him that she was currently helping to train his secret weapon. It wasn’t an easy task. Elorie wasn’t a dumb witch, but when it came to spellcoding, she was a brick-headed one.

“Stop scowling, nephew,” Moira said. “You’ll scare your students.”

“I wish. Have you gotten that login spell working yet?”

“Not at all,” she said, shrugging. “It wiggled a bit, but I’m just too old for this, I think.”

Ginia giggled from the other side of the table. Marcus shot her a suspicious look, but refrained from a less-than-ethical mindread. She was up to something, but darned if he knew what it was.

Moira put down her mouse. “She’s an excellent trainer, our Ginia. The young ones are coming along very nicely.”

There was truth to that. Kevin was developing into a solid coder, and even Lizzie, who had only the small-sparks kind of Net power, appeared to have some spellcoding talent.

Aunt Moira, however, was a dead loss, and Elorie was far too resistant to use her magic effectively.

“It’s