Alice
Disclaimer: Derek Landy owns all content except most of the plotline and some of the characters!
She walked into the room with an air of boredom. Her single mother with seven children, of whom most were under eight, had failed to teach the eldest anything but how to look after young children. The girl could not read or write and she could not make friends. But she had magic and, from what she had experienced, magic was good.
It was cold in the bleak, grey room. It had no sun to warm it up or anything to keep away the cold. In fact the room seemed to suck the warmth from her. Wishing that she owned a warmer coat, she clicked her fingers and produced a spark. She had only just made the fire produce adequate heat when a man walked into the room.
Wariness crossed her face. She had only once ever met a person other than family before, and she couldn't even remember them. The man smiled at her. He seemed to be enjoying her discomfort. "Hello child." He said, "I see you have trained in your magic."
"Yeah, so?" she answered, "Why do you care? I don't know you and you don't know me, so quite obviously you shouldn't care."
The man smiled again "Well then child, I will introduce myself. My name is Qeoneel. Its meaning comes from an ancient language that not many people understand. I chose it because of what it meant and what I know it means. Now child, did your mother give you a name? I thought as much. In that case you should choose a name soon so we can call you something. You know about names I trust?"
"Yes. My father taught me about them." Despite mentioning the only person who she had ever properly loved, no emotions showed. In fact she went back to looking bored. Not many things could change her facial expression.
Qeoneel observed her for a while. "You know how to control yourself. That is good. To be a Knife in the Shadows you must contain yourself. If you let your emotions overtake you, you could risk everything that you will have trained for. You do not want that I hope?"
"Of course I don't." All she had ever wanted was to be strong, fast and deadly. This was her one chance and she was not going to stuff it up.