Chapter Two

Starting

Kana sat in her room in the palace and went over every thing that had happened in the past week. She started with Numair's lecture, useless as it was.
I'm going to teach you how to control your magic...
Those words had made her snort. She already knew how to control her magic. Tortall still existed didn't it?
I also need to teach you how to control your temper. You need to be able to work with people. I can't have you blowing them to pieces by accident.
Didn't he know that it was impossible for anyone to control her temper? Hadn't knowing her all the years she'd been alive shown him that her temper was a wild animal? Or that this lion was impossible to tame?
Don't give me that look! This is for your own good. You need to figure out what you can do with your magic. You need to do other things than torture your brother. You should use your magic for healing, what your best at. Before you ask, Neal brags about you. I could help you with that among other things.

She still wondered what those other things were.

Her thoughts drifted.

Her mind passed over conversations with Lord Wyldon, talks with Hosta, numerous poundings on Quenu, and landed on the last talk she had with Rikash.
You think something might happen if we turned the fairy colonies into...something?
I don't know Kana. Maybe.
It's just...people might not hurt them if they didn't know what they were!
It would be hard with miniatures. They're too small.
I know. But, what if we could make it so adults wouldn't go there? Children love them.
True. But don't you think parents would get suspicious if they couldn't see were their children went? They might find out about the magic.
Your dad can't even break my spells!
I know. He would know you did it though.
Yea, I guess.
Let's come up with a different idea.
Oh alright! I'll try Rikash, I'll try.
Kana smiled. She remembered his puppy-dog eyes when he tried to persuade her.
She thought about the pounding she had given Quenu. It hadn't helped much, but right now it helped to remember his screams. Kana sighed. She would miss things like that. "Now let's see what you already know."

Kana stared at him. He knew everything else, but he didn't know that?
She doubted it greatly. He probably wanted her to calm down.

That wouldn't work.

Still, she lit a tree on fire; sliced a chunk out of his hair; iron his clothes straight; made his fingernails grow as long as forks before making them fall off; made his ears the size of her thumb on one side and the size of her foot on the other.

She did all this in a second, waited a minute and a half, and then changed everything back.

She loved doing this. She loved showing off. She loved trying to 'impress' Lord Wyldon. She enjoyed terrifying Quenu. She enjoyed arguing with her father.
She hated being here.

She turned her attention back to Numair.

He'd decided to speak again.

"Nice. You didn't have to do all that. I could have lived with a list, or a show of your simpler talents. Is that all you can do? Never mind," he said after seeing her raised eyebrow, "I'll find out later. Do you know how to use larger amounts of your power in concentrated portions?"
She raised her eyebrows again. He shook his head. There was no working with her right now.
"Go eat."
Kana smiled. She would see if she could find Lord Wyldon.
She would not eat.
She never did.
She would talk. She would sleep. She would play. She would visit the city. She would do something to get as far away from him as possible. She was weird that way, she said so herself.
That's what made it so fun to be younger. No one really told you to do much. Especially when it came to her mother.

Kel let Kana do almost everything, knowing that she could do worse if she didn't get rid of extra energy.

That's the problem with having your nurse be a fairy. Extra magic.

Her mother had been adopted by the fairies near Masbole about six months before her wedding. One of the things Largies could do was change into human appearance, and vice versa.

When Kel took on fairy shape, her skin turned gold. Her hair was longer and an orange-like-gold, and braided in a very complex braid that started near the middle of her head. Her wings were large and sparkled brightly when she flew (something that fairies did quite often).

Dom wasn't part fairy. He didn't quite understand fairy magic, nor the effect that it had in excess. He just made sure to be careful around Kana and keep her and her twin as far apart as possible.

The two had fought since birth, Kana usually getting the upper hand, for all she was shorter, less muscled, and bruised easily.

Kana was, admittedly, weird like that.

Kana looked in the mess hall. Rikash was sitting at a table near the back, being weird, as always.

Kana snuck to his table, stopping behind his head. She couldnt wait to scare him silly.

"Rikash Salmalin, I am mad at you. You dont write, you dont visit. Have you forgotten me?"

Rikash jumped, spilling his food. "What the...? Why'd you do that?" Rikash tried to glare at her.

He failed of course, and ended up laughing until he couldnt breath. "When did you get here?" he said when he caught his breath.

"Yesterday. Your dad kicked me out on my but 'cause I scared him silly with my demontration."

Rikash raised an eyebrow. "'Demontrastion' you say? Since when was he crazy enough to ask you for a 'demonstration'?"

"Since he came to the university and was surronded by his idiotic colleagues. If he had been within 4,000 miles of my house, he wouldnt have needed one. These University folk fried his brain."

Rikash laughed. Kana had strange opinions.

"So my dear puppet, how have you been without me to look after you?" Kana sat down beside him. The other kids at the table edged away. That girl didnt look all that safe.

"I have flourished, my dear Stormwing. Without you to prune me I have been forsed to grow. Look at the flowers" he said, spreading his arms.

Kana shook her head. "You've gone mad."