I really enjoyed the first part about the spell! There was great description and a real image of Ludmilla's face hovering over a bowl with smoke assaulting her nose and face; "the smoke wasn't moving like it should." I loved it. That part was full of awesome imagery and description. I felt like I was in the room with her trying and failing at the spell. I also enjoyed the scornful off comment about English witches. Haha!