Phoenix's Legacy

By Mistress Dawnstar

Summary: A kingdom where magic is outlawed, a young sorceress struggling to step into her mother's shoes, a young girl forced to walk the thin line between life and death, expediency and love. Cinderella with a whole new twist. Please R and R.

Author's Note: Oh my gosh, it's been forever since I've updated. I've been so lately with school, but now that summer is here, I should be able to churn out chapter at a fairly rapid pace. Don't worry. I WILL finish this story. I've still got a few plot twists up my sleeve.

This chapter is dedicated to Black Butterfly90 for reviewing all of the previous chapters in one go. Thanks very much.


Chapter 5 - Into Ashes

At last it was time for us to end this abominable trip and return to our dear manor in Siriana. Again, I was wearing one of those torture devices they call flocks. My arm was still in a sling...for appearance's sake only. Thanks to my mother's art (magic) it had healed a long time ago. However, my miraculous return to health would have been difficult to explain.

Unfortunately so…the dratted thing itched dreadfully.

Anyway, I watched the servants load up the carriage and I was feeling quite subdued...


What did you say?! You find that hard to believe? What's so hard to believe? And before you answer that consider whether or not you want to spend the next fifty years as a black-foot ferret.

Why a ferret?

Well, toads are too puerile and I've never quite got the spell for swans correct. I think it's because I can never find any dried snake feet...

Anyway, back to the story. I do not like to remember what happened next, so I want to get through this as fast as possible. No interruptions. That means you.


We were just preparing to leave when a hard tapping noise caught our attention. A few moments later, a squad of the king's elite guards – twenty men in all – came around a corner and into sight. Apparently the tapping noise was the sound of their boots on the stone courtyard. They were in full battle regalia with silver breastplates, violently violet tunics, and shiny helms with huge plumes – ostrich, I think – dyed a vivid purple and silver.

They were a magnificent sight...

I was unimpressed. It's a miracle that they could even see with all the glare from their armor. And those plumes, ostrich or whatever they were, are just plain silly. I mean, if they ever have to go into battle, those plumes would immediate shout to the enemy'I'm important. Shoot me!'


Hmm...I'll have to take the issue up with my husband tomorrow.


Now where was I...Oh yes, so the men came to a stop in front of our carriage. The man in the center front – I assume the leader since he had TWO eye-smattering plumes on his helmet – stepped from the ranks and called imperiously "Countess Gwendylen of Siriana."

My mother stepped forward. "Yes?" Her voice was calm, but her hands, hidden from the soldiers''gazes behind her back were trembling.

"You are hereby accused using witchcraft and vile sorcery. You are to come with us." The man said flatly.

My mother's hands convulsed, once, but her voice remained steady. "There must be some mistake."

"No mistake. Come with us. Resist and we will kill your entire company."

All color drained from my mother's face, but she held her head high. "I demand to know the name of my accuser. I...I demand to know who would spread such malicious rumors. I have never cast an evil spell in my entire life."

"Your demands are denied. Come with us now. The magistrates are not patient men." As he spoke, two of his fellows stepped forwards and flanked my mother, one on each side. The one on the right produced a thick iron chain, which he proceeded to wrap around her wrists. My mother cried out in pain as the crude chain dug into her tender flesh. The other soldier immediately slapped her across her face. "Shut up, you filthy witch."

At this, I snapped out of my state of shocked stupefaction. I felt outrage bubble up within me. How dare they treat my mother so! I was prepared to leap forward and have a go at them, tooth and nail, but a pair of strong arm grabbed me and restrained me.

I glanced up into the face of my captor. It was Khedsa. "Let me go." I hissed vehemently. She said nothing, but tightened her hold on me. No matter how I struggled, I couldn't break free.

Desperate, I tried to will a hole to open under the feet of the soldiers, but I felt another's magic wrapping around mine, suppressing it. I did not need to see the concentration on Khedsa's face to know who was responsible.

"Mother! Mother! Come back!" I screamed as I struggled, both mentally and physically, but in the end, I could only watch helplessly as they took my mother away.

That was the last time I saw her alive.


We ended up prolonging the stay. I still held hope that this was just some terrible mistake and that I'd see my mother walking in with a smile on her face and laughter in her eyes. By the king's laws, no witch can be found guilty and burned until he or she pleads guilty. My mother would never do so, if not out of self-preservation then at least out of professional pride. She was telling the truth when she claimed never to have cast an evil spell. She was not that type of magic user.

But, what I didn't know was that the king's men have ways of wringing confessions from even the most stubborn of souls.


Late that night, I was roused from my fitful slumber by...well I'm not sure by what. Perhaps it was a breath of wind, or the rustling a of squirrel darting into the bushes outside my window, but one moment I was tossing and turning and the next, I was wide-awake.

I sniffed. There was something in the air that was tantalizingly familiar. What was it?

Then, I had it...my mother's perfume.

I leapt out of bed. "Mother!" I cried, full of hope. "Mother, where are you?"

There was no answer. I rushed to the door, but no one was there.

"Marianne...darling..." The softest of whispers came from behind me, so soft as to be almost indistinguishable from the whine of the wind, but I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

I whirled around to see my mother, surrounded by a glowing nimbus, standing beside my bed. "Mother." I cried happily, taking a step forward and raising my arms to embrace her.

She forestalled me with a hand. "No darling, I can't stay long. I just wanted to see you again, and to say goodbye." She said in that same ethereal whisper.

"Goodbye! But why? Where are you going?" I cried, a sudden feeling of dread descending over me.

"A good place. You need not worry about me." She smiled. "Don't grieve overmuch. You have so much life ahead of you and I want to you to live it. I will not be here to guide you but I have ensured that there are those who would. The strongest of spells is that cast on a witch's last breath, you know."

"What do you mean? I don't understand." Though in my heart I fear that I did.

My mother only smiled gently. "You will, in time." She stepped forward. As her arms wrapped around me, she whispered. "Now, for my last gift to you."

It felts as if my entire body exploded in pain. Fire flooded my very soul, consuming me. I screamed, but I heard no sound. The world whirled around me. As my consciousness slipped away, I heard my mother's soft whisper. "Remember, my last gift to you."


Author's Note: And no, her mother is not being delibrately cruel.What sort of mother do you think she is? In fact, she did not mean to cause any pain at all. She is NOT doing what she did two chapters ago. Trust me, but you'll have to wait until the next chapter (or maybe the one after that) to find out what she did do.

A little excerpt from the next chapter:

"Go away." I said flatly. "I hate you."

"Marianne." She said warningly. "Look, I can explain."

I exploded. "Explain nothing. You let them take her. You let them kill her. She's dead. My mother's dead. Don't you understand that!"

End Excerpt

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