Disclaimer: all characters and places belong to the goddess, Tamora Pierce. I only own the plot and Ana.
Chapter One
A Troublesome Beginning
"Ana! Anatolia, where are you?" Daine Salmalin called anxiously across the courtyard of the Tower, where she and her husband and daughter lived. At twenty-five, she was still quite young, and the mother of an overly active six-year-old, who made the strands of Daine's smoky dark hair go gray.
"Come find me, Mommy!" She heard a giggle to her left and snapped her head to see where it came from. A rustle in a berry bush about twenty yards away revealed her child's hiding place. Playing along with the game, she Daine scratched her chin as if pondering a perplexing question.
"Where could she be? I hope she's not lost. Her daddy will be awfully upset when he learns that his little sunrise has gone missing… ah, well. I'll look again tomorrow." Daine turned and began to walk away, but was abruptly halted as a pair of arms locked like steel around her knees.
"Don't make daddy sad. I'm right here." The tiny voice of the child that clenched her legs was so upset and full of guilt that it was all Daine could do to keep from laughing.
"My Angel! Where have you been hiding?" The young woman picked up her child and rubbed her nose against the girl's in an affectionate eskimo kiss. Daine looked deeply into Ana's blue-gray eyes and saw all the Wildmagic power that was yet to be unleashed. She'll be a great Wild Mage some day, she thought.
"I was in the bushes, talking to that rat that digs a lot. He was kinda' angry with me. Said I shouldn't be wakin' People up at all hours of the day." Ana's long, curly black hair bobbed as she was carried back to the Tower. "You're not going to tell daddy I was hiding again are you? I don't want him to be angry with me like the digging-rat."
Daine laughed lightly. "You know your father never gets angry with you. Why would you think such a thing?"
The little girl shrugged and let herself drop onto the ground. She took her mother's hand and said, "Dunno. All my friends' daddies get mad at them. Uncle George and Uncle Jon get mad at Thom and Kally and them all the time. They have to do chores and stuff."
Again, Daine laughed. "Your father spoils you too much. You could never do anything wrong in his eyes. You're his little girl. His sunrise. Come on now. Let's go see what he's doing."
***
As Daine and Ana slipped back inside the Tower, a figure lurked not more than one hundred yards away. Stashing a small scrying glass into the satchel at his waist, the figure took off into the forest. As he drew farther away, he shape-shifted into a vulture and took to flight. He circled ominously overhead a few times before heading towards Pirate's Swoop…
A/N: I know, I know. This was very short and had very little plot, but I promise it will get better. I just left it open to a little reader interpretation. If you have any ideas of how you'd like it to go, please feel free to write them in a REVIEW ::ahem, ahem. Subtle hints all around:: Don't be offended if I choose not to use any of them. I just want to get a reaction from the public about the first chapter the long awaited sequel to Secrets. Also, in case you didn't figure it out in Secrets, "Anatolia" means "Break of day" or "Sunrise" in Italian. Thanks, and please R/R ;-)
*Kyla*