Disclaimer: All characters in this story (and the Dominion Jewel) belong to Tamora Pierce. Not me. Something will belong to me someday, though. Just wait.
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A small gray mouse ran down an empty stone corridor. It stopped, listening. The sound of padded feet echoed down the hall. Hurriedly, the mouse scurried over to the wall, trying to blend in with the dark gray stone as it looked to see who was coming. A young boy with messy brown hair appeared around the corner, watching the ground carefully. He appeared to be about eleven, and wore breeches and a plain shirt.
"Sarra?" the boy called, eyes scanning the ground. "Sarralyn! Where are you?" He slowly walked past the mouse as it watched him with eyes wide. As soon as the boy turned around the next corner, the mouse ran down the hallway the way the boy came from. Reaching a door, it cautiously crawled under. It noticed the glittering glow too late. A siren sounded in the small room. Cursing itself for not noticing the alarm spell, the mouse tried to turn around and run back under the door. It didn't move; the mouse was stuck.
Cringing, the mouse watched as a tall man with long, dark hair stood up from a desk in the corner. Slowly, almost as if to tease the mouse, the man walked over to the door. The most powerful mage in Tortall, Numair Salmalin, reached down and scooped up the mouse in one quick movement.
"Hello," Numair greeted. "Your mother has been looking for you, although I daresay that you already know." Smiling, he brought the mouse over to a large blanket, which he placed over the mouse. An instant later, his scowling daughter was standing where the mouse once was. Sarralyn Salmalίn was 13 years old, with black curls that tumbled past her shoulders. Her blue-gray eyes glared at her father as she stomped across the room. She grabbed some breeches and a shirt and went behind a screen to put them on. When she emerged, fully dressed, she defiantly stuck out her chin and glowered. Finally, she spoke.
" Where is Ma?" she questioned.
"Out looking for you," he replied. "I think she flew over to the palace as an eagle to see if you escaped there, like you did last time."
Just then, the brown haired boy burst through the door. "Sarra!" the boy, Rikash, exclaimed. "When Ma comes back, you're gonna be in really big trouble!"
"Be quiet, Rikash." Sarra ordered. Rikash, the perfect child, Sarra thought rudely. He never gets in trouble for anything. I'm always in trouble for pulling pranks, then running away. I'd like to see him get in trouble for once.
Just now, Rikash and Numair were referring to Sarra's latest prank, enlisting the dragon Kitten's help to break into Numair's private study, and mixing up his spell books by ripping out pages and magically attaching them back into the books. Because of her, a sick man who just wanted his cough fixed was temporarily turned into a goat. (Trying to teach Rikash to use his magic, Numair had let the young boy heal the man, thus the need for the book.)
Suddenly a hawk flew into the room through the window. Diving under Sarra's discarded blanket, a woman with brown curls appeared where the hawk once was. Worry flashed in her blue-gray eyes.
"Daine, what's wrong?" asked Numair.
"We're needed at the palace, straight-away." The woman, Daine, took a deep breath. "The Dominion Jewel is missing."
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Hey guys! This is my first fanfic so be nice :D If I don't update for a while it's because I'm going on vacation soon, but I'll update a lot when I get back, there's a lot of driving time to get there so I'll write in the car!
Love Zeetah