Cassandra sat staring at her reflection. She was lost in the beauty of the woman she saw before her; the ageless youthful appearance, her blond wavy hair, and her wrinkleless face. She pondered the ability of the woman to keep this beauty…but then she remembered that the woman had special abilities.

She stood up and moved towards her cauldron, careful not to allow the steam rising from the potion to move across her face, for that would spoil all her hard work.

She had started with Catnip, brewed slowly into the purest water collected from a sacred spring three days before the new moon. This had simmered for three days before she added Violet petals to add to the protective quality of the potion. After stirring clockwise three times she tapped the spoon upon the outer rim of the cauldron seven times. Then she added some Pennyroyal so that peace would radiate out from the person who later drank the potion. Five unicorn hairs and shavings from a dragon scale were added to add agelessness to the person who took the potion. Now she simmered the potion for an entire moon cycle to increase the potency. The next step was to add just a pinch of Aconite to hide one’s flaws and it 2 more moon cycles, adding a teaspoon of Catnip every seven days.

The last step was the hardest to complete. She needed the life of a child or infant to add the essence of youth to the potion. Three lives increased the potency 10 fold. Cassandra had worked diligently to bring these children secretly into her home. None would miss these forgotten children. At the end of the third moon cycle she pierced the heart of each of the three children and added their life’s blood to the potion. Once complete the potion turned a brilliant pink and she knew she had enough potion to sustain her beauty for another hundred years.