"I am obnoxious to each carping tongue,
Who sayes my hand a needle better fits,
A Poet's Pen, all scorne, I should thus wrong;
For such despight they cast on female wits:
If what I doe prove well, it won't advance,
They'll say it's stolne, or else, it was by chance."

-Anne Bradstreet, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung up in America


"Peer of the gods, the happiest man I seem

Sitting before thee, rapt at thy sight, hearing

Thy soft laughter and they voice most gentle,

Speaking so sweetly.

Then in my bosom my heart wildly flutters,

And, when on thee I gaze never so little,

Bereft am I of all power of utterance,

My tongue is useless.

There rushes at once through my flesh tingling fire,

My eyes are deprived of all power of vision,

My ears hear nothing by sounds of winds roaring,

And all is blackness.

Down courses in streams the sweat of emotion,

A dread trembling o'erwhelms me, paler than I

Than dried grass in autumn, and in my madness

Dead I seem almost."

-Sappho, Hymn to Aphrodite (translation by Edwin Marion Cox)


I am Gemma Doyle; student of Spence Academy, sorceress and clairvoyant and the keeper of the magic of the realms. Any questions? I know I have heaps of them, and nobody to ask. It seems I am all on my own.

At least I have my friends. Different magic societies have reached out to me, offering their alliance in exchange for a share of the power, but I can not trust them as I can trust my friends. Dear old Ann Bradshaw and Felicity Worthington, the mysterious Asha and the Untouchables, the Gorgon and Philon. Then of course Kartik has agreed to help us, not that he had much choice after his brotherhood renounced him. Although I cannot say what good their friendship will do against the anger of the Order.

Over the Christmas holidays I did something big, and I am only beginning to understand exactly how big it was. Upon finding the Temple in the realms, I realized I had nothing to bind the magic to, because I had no one who I could trust, except possibly myself. And, so I had no choice but to bind the magic to me Excellent decision Gemma, does it not always pay to act first and think later?

I do not know, least of all, what lies ahead. I thought myself foolish for thinking that perhaps it would all disappear but it appears to have done exactly that. I have not had any visions of late; I rather miss them I admit. I have not seen Kartik nor has any members of the Rakshana attempted to abduct me or anything of the sort. Plus, neither Ann or Felicity has asked to go back to the realms, which is just as well I suppose. I do not know what to expect when we return.

I am at my window staring out into the soggy grounds of Spence, gray with slush and muck. The world's winter is always harder to bear once Christmastime cheer has faded from the landscape. A lone morning dove flutters onto the window sill, and begins cooing softly.

I am shocked to see the dove remains still as I put my palm up against the cold glass of the window pane. It bows its neck quickly and then flies off. I feel very peaceful and calm after this, some feeling I can't really place.

Perhaps the realms have not chosen me to continue with the magic. I will lead a normal life and marry some dashing fellow without any worry of any disgracing secrets that will land me in an asylum. These past months will be a distant memory, all but forgotten completely.

I spot the glint of metal against the rough grey stone ledge. I put my hand on my lap and it burns with the sudden warmth. It is a silver pendant with a tarnished charm on the end. My eyes dart to the door and then, I ease the window open and slide my hand through the space, slipping the chain around my fingers before pulling it back in and quietly easing the window shut again. I recognize the charm as a cinquefoil, there's one carved onto Mama's gravestone. As it sits, heavy in my palm it occurs to me that the dove had brought it, and I dismiss the thought as utter madness. But then with a sinking feeling, my life of normalcy evaporates.

I hear footsteps in the corridor and hastily put it in Ann's top drawer. If I close my mind to it, then it won't seek me. 'I'm half sick of shadows'... and visions and danger. I've hurt enough people with my powers. I choose not to see...

The dove swoops across the window once more and I pull down the shutter and close the curtains. Then I leave the room.