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crooked and surely quite ugly.
    “A witch,” thought Babette. “He has made me a witch! He is not kind at all!”
    Asterux interrupted her thoughts.
    “The goblins will search every inch of the forest for Princess Babette. But they will never look for Sesha, the young gypsy girl.”
    The wisdom of Asterux’s plot began to dawn on her.
    “Sesha. A gypsy girl.” Babette grew delighted at the thought. A sly smile crossed her face. Before she could say a thing, Asterux was walking through the door to the next room.
    “Come, Sesha, we have work to do.”
    Babette paused for a moment, then she hopped to her feet and paused again.
    “Asterux.”
    “Yes, my dear?”
    “There is something you must know. Perhaps I can never learn magic at all. I cannot read.” She searched Asterux’s face, wondering if he would change his mind about teaching her.
    Asterux smiled at the princess. He already knew.
    “My dear, you don’t have to worry at all. You will not find this magic with your eyes. You will find it in your heart.”
    The princess followed him to the next room, leaving the name Babette behind.

• 11 •
Sesha’s Magic

    O
n Sesha’s windowsill lay a moonflower seed—the same moonflower seed that had been there for four years. Sesha sat in a chair, staring at the seed, just as she had done every day for four years, as she tried—and failed—to find the power to open the seed.
    The power, as Asterux explained, came not from strange potions or mysterious powders. It had little to do with words, although more difficult magic would require a language she did not yet know. This magic was different. It was a power Sesha would have to discover inside the deepest recesses of her soul.
    To begin her search, Asterux offered a simple instruction.
    “Remember all those who treated you with kindness and love. Remember their deeds, each of them. Consider them. Cherish them. And from those deeds, you will find a power within.”
    Indeed, this task was easy, for in the life of a princess there are many such deeds to remember. Through Sesha’s mind passed a grand parade of people who lived in the palace and who, eager to please, had helped her, praised her, and encouraged her. For many weeks, she thought of these deeds and they made her feel good. She thought of Thor, who had saved her life, cared for her, and sent her to live with Asterux in the forest. She thought of her mother, who always understood that she was not like the others and protected her from the king. She thought of Hugga Hugga, the great but kindly Minotaur who gave her rides as a child. She thought of Asterux himself. And when she thought of these things, she felt a glow inside and that glow made her strong.
    The next step was harder.
    “Sesha,” Asterux told her, “now you must think of all those who have hurt you, who have given you small offenses, and who have caused you annoyance, and worse, pain. You must consider them all. You must understand them. You must understand the weaknesses and hardships that gave rise to their deeds. Then you must care for them. You must love them. And when you are able to love them, you must forgive them.”
    Sesha had lived the life of a princess. Who at the palace would risk bringing harm or insult to a young royal? So the annoying deeds were few, and Sesha wracked her brain to remember them. There was an episode with her brother, Prince Keanu. She had stolen his crown and hidden it behind a dung heap in the stables. When he found out, he painted her name on the wall of the cathedral. The king knew exactly who did this or so he thought. He raged at Babette and punished her severely.
    But forgiving Keanu was easy. The whole matter was her fault from the start. So she thought of the goblins who tried to catch her in the meadow and she forgave them, but that was easy because they did not know her and were merely doing their jobs. Catching her would make them heroes, and Sesha could easily imagine herself in their place.
    After