Chapter 1

Desdemona Rose reclined atop a sun-bleached thighbone of some large creature wearing nothing but an eel skin sheath dress. Her horn ridges poked gracefully through her voluminous pink hair as she preened, looking into the bone mirror in her hand. It had been some time since she had the chance to bathe in the glare of the red sun above, and she was relishing it. Her pale complexion was waxy from so much time spent below grounds, but after a few hours in the sun, she would have a soft, ruddy glow to her.

Nearby her attendants poured magically chilled wine while her father dallied with some minor princess from a neighboring Provincia. Desi would have felt the connection between them even if the two had been miles apart. Her father genuinely liked this one.

She rolled over to sun her other side, putting down the mirror in a sudden fit of boredom. "Bring me a peach," she ordered of the nearest servant, flicking her hair out of the way and holding out a hand for the fruit to be deposited. Kicking her heels back and forth lazily, she took the peach when it was given and bit into it with a loud slurp, letting the juices run down her hand and sizzle onto the sands below.

"My dear," called her father from his pavilion, "Do keep it down, lovely, we’re trying to relax."

With a roll of her too-green eyes, Desi replied sweetly, "Yes, father dear." She had the satisfaction of hearing him reply that she was so accommodating. Never in all her life had Desi been obedient, but it often paid great dividends for her father to think so. Especially when her father was the commander of the High Prince’s demon armies, it rewarded her with both wealth and privilege.

Having finished her peach, only a little less noisily, she sat up and stretched. Perhaps a walk would take her mind off the recent turn of events that had left her without a companion for today. With a snap of her fingers, two servants peeled away from the pavilion and strapped sandals onto her feet, careful to avoid the spine-like protrusions that were her toenails. They were razor sharp and the servants tended to be...delicate.

"I’ll be just a ways away, daddy," she intoned in a mild sing-song, receiving a curt grunt from her father.

Her feet wandered a random path as she thought to herself, trailed by the two servants enveloped in white wrappings. Antimony Blue had been her friend for as long as the demoness could remember. The two girls had grown up in the same courts, attended the same fetes and flirted with the same dangers. Yet recently Timony had been growing more aloof. Something in the way she spoke, how she acted, it all pointed to a growing apart that Desi didn’t want. They should be here together, now, taunting the servants and wandering the sand dunes. But Timony’s father had declined to come on the desert jaunt, saying he and his family needed time away from the courts.

Desi huffed, kicking a large rock beetle out of the way so hard that it went end over end twice. Sometimes she didn’t know her own strength. "It is not fair," she pouted aloud, talking to no one. The servants were far enough back to be respectful but close enough for her to run and allow them to get eaten should, say, a desert fiend appear to hone in on her magical essence. She was perfectly safe and that was the problem.

Desdemona Rose was the daughter of Cadmium and Illustria Rose. Her father was the highest ranked member of the Prince’s military and her mother was a renowned artiste, sculpting delightful works of art for the court. This season she was featuring death scenes and some of her work with blood was quite exquisite, Desi thought. Apparently so the Court thought as well for her mother’s artistry graced some of the most important Provincias in the Netherworld.

And none of that would bring Antimony along on this trip or change the mind of her father, the Prince. "You would think I was some sort of pariah," said Desi, turning to face one of the servants. "That I was some sort of outcast from the old days. Who desired to dance in the Overworld and take all their power for myself!" The servants stared at her blankly; they could barely understand her language anyway.

She twirled around, her hair billowing out to both sides and laughed, dancing on the sands. And came face to face with a sand snake.

The large creature’s body was coiled in a heap a few feet away from where Desi had been dancing. Its head, roughly the size of a large gourd, was swaying back and forth to some rhythm only it could hear. Black and orange squares alternated with yellow stripes, marking this as a poisonous snake as well as a magic eater. Perfect, just what I needed, she thought to herself. "Ok, so, I’m going to go..." said Desi, backing away from the snake one slow step at a time.

A hiss erupted from the snake’s mouth; its tongue darted into the air twice, tasting her scent. The orb-like eyes on the serpent fixated on Desi as it began to uncoil. Worried, she yelled to the servants, "Yih-hai!" letting them know danger was near, as she took steps back toward them.

Both servants came alive in an instant. Where they had been passive watchers before, each produced a short spear from their backstrap and advanced toward her and the snake. One took the lead and Desi thought that one was male, though it was hard to tell through the wrappings. The other followed the first, both of them passing the demoness and heading toward the snake.

The snake, for its part, looked not at all worried as the two bodies were coming toward it. It continued to uncoil, head swaying to that unheard beat.

Suddenly, one of the servants threw his short spear, landing it right next to the head of the snake. The snake hissed again and struck, biting deep into the wood of the spear and cracking it almost in half. "Mistress," spoke one of the servants, "Magic help would be appreciated." The voice was deep and definitively male. And he definitely spoke her language.

Startled that a servant would address her so casually, she wanted to rebuke him but focused on the snake instead, calling up a firebolt to her hand which she molded into a form like the short spear and threw, landing it next to the snake like the spear had landed but a half foot away. She blamed her terrible aim on the servant. How dare he address her so!

The snake, finding a new target, bit into the firebolt instead and was rewarded with a sizzling crackle that exploded its head into a gooey mess, spattering the servant who had spoken with a poisonous spew. Desi laughed as the man danced back and forth, tearing at his white wrappings, desperate to be free of the poison before it ate through to his skin.

"Serves you right for daring to order me around, servant," she spat out, crossing her arms over her chest. "You," she pointed to the other servant, "Pick up the body of the snake. I want a new dress made from its skin. Use the wrappings of this stupid servant to carry it, if you must."

The other servant, still silent, moved to obey and scooped up the snake using the cast-off wrappings from the other servant who was now bare to the waste. The bare servant dared to glare at Desdemona but received nothing but a sharp-toothed smile in return. "Let us return to the pavilions now. I would show my father that his daughter has been victorious in combat," she said, feeling a rush of pleasure from her kill.

Soon all three were marching back toward the small camp in the distance, Desi in the lead with the two servants trailing behind, managing the snake between them. It was too bad Antimony hadn’t been able to come along. She would’ve loved the bit with the exploding snakehead.

__________________________________________

Anabeth Caerhart stood at the door to her third floor bedroom and yawned. Months had passed since she had started learning magic and defeated the previous Director of Hunt Manor, Arianna, and her husband, Damon, in magical combat. Somehow, though, it only felt like a few days.

In the time since, she had been learning all manner of nuances that she didn’t know existed to magic. Even so, she’d been surprising her instructors, the Manor’s new directors, by being far less moody. It must have something to do with the fact that she had turned fourteen a few weeks back, she thought.

Opening the door to her room, Ana found the light on in her room and Heather, her best friend, sitting on her bed, waiting for her. "Hey Ana." Heather waved a hand in greeting.

Stifling another yawn, Ana smiled. "Hey Heather. Didn’t expect to see you here. Is everything ok?"

Heather’s customary smile dimmed. She quirked her lips. "Yea, I guess so."

Ana closed the door behind her and sat down next to Heather. Her friend looked like there was something wrong but Ana couldn’t put her finger on what. "Nothing you wanna talk about?"

Heather tipped her head from side to side and peered up at the ceiling. "Maybe? I dunno. I guess," she looked over at Ana, "You once said I could do magic. Mr. Jant’s been trying to get me to try some exercises he said could bring out my magic."

"Well that’s great!" Ana beamed at her friend. "Are you going to do it?"

Heather looked away again, staring absently toward the bookshelves across from the bed. She kicked her feet back and forth and sighed. "I’m not sure if I want to. I guess you probably think that’s funny. You learned magic so quickly and then had that huge...battle with the Hunts." Heather sighed again, "I don’t think I could do that."

"Nonsense," said Ana, "I think you would have done a better job than I did. You’re smart and you think about things rather than jumping in. You should learn. I would love to have a practice partner that isn’t a Master magi."

Heather stared at Ana with her mouth open. "I’d have done a better job than you? Hah! Not likely. Anyway, you think I should learn magic?"

"Of course. It isn’t that hard, but you need to be patient. And I know you can be patient. It’s all about seeing the world differently. You’ll see. Hey, why don’t we go find Jant now and we can practice?"

"But it’s past curfew, Ana," spoke Heather, plaintively.

"Curfew doesn’t exist for us. The Directors told us that we could come and go as needed so long as it meant we were studying. And you know Jant and Ney meant studying magic."

Heather worried her bottom lip with her teeth. "Alright, I’ll go with you, but I only want to watch first, ok?"

Ana rolled her eyes. Her friend was usually so daring but tonight she was acting like a scared kid. "Fine, you can watch me and I’ll describe everything that’s happening. But I’m serious, you’ll find it fun and then we can both be learning."

The girls got up from the bed and Ana threw on a robe from her cabinet, hastily tying it at the waist. "Alright, let’s go." Ana motioned to the door.

Heather smirked and went out first, looking back over her shoulder. "If you turn me into a frog, I’ll never forgive you."

Ana laughed. "That’s silly. I’d never turn you into a frog...maybe a bird though." This earned her a dirty look as the girls went down the stairs, ready to hunt down Master Jant and Master Ney, the new Manor Directors.

They found the brothers in Classroom 001, surrounded by boxes and files and a mess of papers.

With a polite knock on the doorframe, since the door was open, Ana cleared her throat. This earned her twin smiles from the Sandsons, Jant and Ney, as they looked up and saw who had knocked. "Hello Mr. Jant, Mr. Ney," said Ana, "We were wondering if we could...practice...right now."

Jant nodded his head, causing his sandy blond hair to flop forward and backward as he did so. "But of course, Lady Ana. We’ll need to be testing Miss Heather first, though." He stopped, considering something. "Would you like to be helping us in that?"

"Me?" Ana squeaked excitedly, "Help with testing? I’d love to but I don’t know how."

Ney jumped into the conversation with a wave of his hand. "Nonsense. You’ve been tested and you know all the components necessary to test someone; you have just never done it. You’ll be fine to be helping us out."

"As he says, you’re ready to take on the responsibility of testing. Besides, we two," he indicated his brother, "Cannot be everywhere at once. There are likely more girls here who are sensitive, if not potential magi. We’ll need your help sorting them, I think."

"Ok," Ana said, looking at Heather who was looking back at her. They shared a glance that spoke volumes about being uncomfortable, but both shrugged. "So what do I need to do?" continued Ana, "And what does Heather need to do?"

Jant began moving papers into stacks and files on top of boxes while Ney made sure the space being created was clear of other debris. Ney answered, "First we need to make a circle," he looked around, "Ana, grab me that chalk over there, would you please?"

Ana fetched the chalk for Ney. "I don’t remember Celine ever drawing a circle when she tested me."

"No, she wouldn’t. That isn’t how fire magi test. But Earth magi are somewhat different. We have strict rules that we follow every time. Fire is," Jant smiled, "More mutable. They tend to make things up as they go. Surely," now he grinned, "You’ve noticed this about yourself?"

"Yes, my lord," Ana responded with a roll of her eyes, causing Heather to giggle.

"Now," Ney pointed downward, "Make a circle on the floor large enough for all four of us to stand in comfortably. Preferably room for two chairs as well."

Ana did as she was told, sketching out a rough circle on the floor with the chalk. Then she assisted Ney in grabbing two chairs from the stacks on the far side of the room and placed them in the circle, opposite each other. Secretly she was worried that she was doing something wrong, but Jant and Ney said nothing. "Ok, I’m finished." Ana grimaced, looking at her slightly lopsided circle.

"There now, not perfect but serviceable," said Jant. "Heather, please sit in that chair on the left, Ana take the right hand chair. Jant and I will be in the circle to guide and instruct."

Ana and Heather took their seats and looked at each other, suddenly apprehensive. "Are you ready?" asked Ana.

Heather shook her head but said nothing, looking between Jant, Ney and Ana with wide eyes.

"It will be ok. You’ll probably be asleep for the whole thing." Ana responded to the unspoken question in Heather’s eyes.

Heather nodded but said nothing.

Jant took his place opposite Heather and called an elemental to his hand. It looked like a pile of sand but had eyes. "This is a sandworm, the smallest of all earth elementals. Unlike most elementals, they are content to be held by those not of their affinity. Heather, hold out your hand and don’t worry, they don’t bite," said Jant with a soft smile.

Heather held out her hand and took the little sandworm into her hand. "It feels soft and...warm?" She tipped her head sideways to look at the little worm.

Jant and Ney shared a look and nodded. Ney stepped forward and put a hand on Ana’s shoulder, speaking softly. "You’ll need to hypnotize her and then we’ll show you how to look at her potential and assess her skill."

"Ok, how do I do that, though? Hypnotize her?"

"Speak slowly and rhythmically, telling her she’s getting sleepy or that she’s drifting down into sleep," instructed Ney.

"You’re making me sleepy!" said Ana with a yawn and a grin.

"Now, give it a try," Jant prodded.

Ana looked at Heather as she was staring down at the sandworm in her hand, poking at the little pile of sand and smiling fondly. "He’s so cute," said Heather.

"Heather," Ana said to her friend, turning her chair to face Heather. "I’m going to hypnotize you."

"Um, what?" Heather pulled her attention away from the sand pile long enough to look over at Ana suspiciously. "I don’t think I like that idea."

"It’ll be fine. It was done to me and I’m still ok, see?" she waved her hands over her body to indicate herself. "You’ll be ok too."

"Uh, ok, I guess," said Heather, returning her attentions to the sand pile on her hand.

With a gesture of helplessness, Ana looked at Jant and Ney. "She won’t even pay attention to me. How can I hypnotize her?"

"Use her inattention against her, my lady. She is preoccupied with the sandworm, so let it help you with the hypnosis." Jant suggested.

Ana turned back to Heather with a look of consternation. She scrunched up her face and then relaxed, taking a deep breath. "Ok, Heather. I’m going to hypnotize you," she began, "You’ll start feeling very, very sleepy." She glanced up at Jant for advice and he made a shooing motion, letting her know she was on the right track. Ana continued, "Stare at the cute little sand pile. See how tiny its eyes are. Focus on those eyes and, um," she paused, "Feel your own eyes drooping..."

Heather did start to show a little eye droop but the sandworm flipped over and the girl giggled, dropping herself right out of the trance she was headed toward.

"Ok, I can’t do this. Mr. Jant, could you, please?" Ana pleaded.

"You’ll need to learn to do it eventually," Jant said with a sigh, "But I will demonstrate to you just this once. You were on the right path with her, you only needed to continue."

Ana stood and Jant took her seat, reaching a hand out to Heather. "Miss Heather, it is time," he said calmly.

Heather turned toward Jant with a nod, asking, "Do I need to give back the sandworm? It’s so cute."

"No," Jant said with a smile. "In fact, I want you to stare into the eyes of the sandworm and take a finger and trace over its ridges."

Heather stared down at the little sand pile and ran her finger over the ridges and grains as she was told, a soft smile on her face as the little worm emitted a purr of sorts.

"Now, you are getting sleepy watching this sandworm. Your eyelids are getting quite heavy. You are feeling sleepy and comfortable. You are going to let your eyes close and your hands relax into your lap. The sandworm is warm; let its warmth seep into you as you laze," said Jant in a sing song, gentle voice.

Heather’s eyes began to droop as Ana watched her petting the elemental. Finally, she relaxed and her hands dropped to her lap slowly. The elemental disappeared and Heather was asleep.

"You see?" Jant said to Ana, "All it takes is a firm will. You shall learn this in time, I think. You’ve been an apt pupil. But now, I need to show you how to seek her strength and her affinity. Are you ready for this?

"I think so. Thank you for helping me, my lord," replied Ana.

"Exactly so. As your teachers, it is our job," he indicated Ney, "To help you. Now, come place your hand on her hand. All that is required is skin to skin contact and her permission. You cannot seek this information from an unwilling person."

Ana nodded and put her hand on Heather’s hand. The other girl stirred, but did not waken. "Now what?" Ana asked quietly.

"Now you must See into her, the way you view power in the world, but look specifically for the taste of the power. Fire has a heat to it, Earth is salty, Air is sweet, and Water is cool. It should be fairly easy to recognize the differences since you’ve tasted your own power as well as transmuted other affinital powers into yours."

Ana relaxed her eyes so she could See into Heather as Jant instructed and found the same strong power lines she had seen in the girl before. "This is what I was talking about," said Ana, "When I was practicing sharing power and Sapping with Heather, I saw she had a strong set of veins running through her."

"Those are conduits," said Jant, "They carry magic through your body the same way that vessels carry fluids or blood. The larger they are, the stronger you will be."

Ney added, "She is strong, Ana, both of us have seen it. But it will be a matter of willingness to use her power. Until then, she is a nascent talent. That means her ability is sleeping and must be wakened."

Jant said, "Now that you have confirmed her power, tell us what her affinity is? Both of us have been guessing, but she did not trust either of us to let us test her."

Looking back to Heather again, Ana reached out a tendril of her own power and Tasted Heather’s power. It was definitely salty, but there were sweet undertones. Almost like eating honey-roasted peanuts. "I can’t decide. It’s like salty... and sweet."

Jant’s eyes widened and he looked at Ney while addressing Ana. "This is unexpected, Ana. Is there a chance you could be wrong?" He switched his gaze back to Ana again, as did Ney.

"Wrong? No, I don’t think so. It’s a pretty obvious ’flavor’."

Ney frowned, the mien looking strange on his face since he was almost always smiling. "Ana, this is quite serious," he said. "It is impossible for people to possess more than one affinity. That is what got Arianna, your previous Director, in trouble with the Magi Council. She was trying to suggest that people could learn two affinities and also trying to make it happen by Sapping powers from lesser magi."

"But I swear I’m not lying." She glanced at her sleeping friend and pulled her hand back from Heather’s hand.

"Jant, can you confirm what she’s saying?" Ney asked, uncharacteristically quiet.

"Of course, she’s given her permission, I will check." Jant placed his hand atop Heather’s and closed his eyes.

A few moments went by and no one said anything. The only sound in the room was the gentle whuff of Heather’s breathing.

Jant came out of his trance and looked at both Ana and Ney. "Brother, my lady, it would appear we have a unique situation on our hands. Heather does in fact have two affinities - air and earth."

Ney sucked in a swift breath while Ana’s lips blossomed into a smile.

"So Heather’s special?" Ana hazarded a guess, happy that she had discovered something new.

Ney answered, "Oh very special indeed. To date, she will be the only known magi with two affinities. This will cause the Council no end of trepidation. We must tell them at once."

Jant shook his head, "Not us, brother. We must stay to tend the Manor."

"Who are we going to..." began Ney, then he glanced at Ana. "Are you serious? You want to send her physically there?"

"Not only her, but Heather as well. The Council must learn of this and Heather and Ana must both be present as tester and tested."

Ana glanced back and forth between the brothers as they spoke. "Wait, I get to go to the Underworld in person?!" A huge grin broke out on her face.

"Oh what a nest we’ve kicked, brother," said Ney, shaking his head.

Jant chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Yes, well. Just be glad we’re not on the Council anymore."