Chapter 1 - Alchemy

 

Amelia carefully stirred the contents of her enameled spell pot. Love potions were always so tricky to mix, and she had just spent the entire morning adding just the right amount of ingredients to the one she was currently working on. She really ought to have been done an hour ago, but since this was one of her most coveted of potions, Amelia was always careful to double check every ingredient and never rush any of the steps, as each and every one was integral to the final outcome. This particular love potion is so potent in fact, that one need not even drink it to reap its benefits. The mere absorption of this potent potion through one's skin would be enough to infuse its intended magic.

 

Amelia only had three items left to add to her potent love brew. "Red rose petals, gold shavings from a worn wedding band, and dried pansies." Amelia muttered repeatedly the three remaining ingredients to herself as she rummaged through the back room shelves lined with botanicals, oils, feathers, sticks, stones and shavings and chips of various metals, barks and other materials. She grabbed the bottles containing the first two items, and was about to grab the third, when a voice from the adjoining room of the potion shop interrupted her concentration.

 

"Mel, I'm gonna go on break! Can you watch the front of the store for a bit? You're done making that love potion by now, aren't you?" Amelia's younger sister Stacy popped her head in the door to the incanting room, and it was clear from Stacy's facial expression, that she was a bit perturbed over the delay of her being able to take her midday lunch.

 

Guiltily Amelia blushed. "Go on ahead Stacy. All the delicate cooking steps are finished. I just have a few final ingredients to stir in and then the potion will be complete"

 

Amelia quickly grabbed the last bottle of ingredients that she needed, which contained the dried pansies, and strode back over to counter where her mixing pot rested, awaiting Amelia's final touches. The jingle of the front door bell told her that Stacy had already headed out of the shop for her lunch break. Amelia quickly went to work carefully stirring in the last three ingredients to her brew pot, and in just the right order. Amelia frowned a bit at the light color of the dried pansies, and hoped to herself that it would not diminish the strength of the love potion. The dried pansies should be a deep violet purple, but instead they were more of a mauve color. "I need to check our supplier." Amelia muttered out loud to herself. "These pansies are off color."