Chapter 2

I woke up with the sun. I felt refreshed from a bath the night before - a rare luxury in this place.

I changed into a simple white dress I had bought that wasn't too foreign-looking to me. I saw my traveling robe thrown over a chair and remembered that it had accumulated a few tears on our last trip. Sighing, I fumbled around in my pack and found my needle and thread. I didn't really like sewing, but my robe needed mending. I grabbed my robe and glanced in the mirror on my way out. I had gone to bed with my hair wet, and it had dried into a hilarious mess. Short pieces stuck out in odd directions. I giggled to myself and walked out the door.

I grabbed a chunk of bread from a basket on the counter and veered around to a table so I could get to sewing. After a quick check to make sure it was somewhat clean, I sat down, swung my legs up and started fumbling around with my robe to find the worst rip.

No one was around, so I started quietly singing a song to myself as I sewed - it had been on the radio before… you know.

I heard someone walk up behind me. I awkwardly craned my neck around to see who it was.

"Oh, hey Elanee. Good morning."

She glided by me and stopped at the chair across from mine. "May I speak with you?"

"Oh, sure." I swung my feet down from the table and threw my robe on the chair beside me. I was slightly surprised - Elanee and I didn't speak all that much. Maybe she got the vibe that she creeped me out a little.

She sat down, more gracefully than I would ever be able to, and placed her hands on the table. I tried not to be mesmerized by her - how would I describe it - 'ethereal beauty'? I suddenly felt self-conscious about my messy hair and not-so-ethereal appearance. She regarded me with her inhumanly golden eyes.

"That song you were singing has a strange tune. Where did you learn it?"

"Oh that…" I tried to think of some believable answer. "Some bard came through West Harbor one year, from down south somewhere."

"Ah."

"Yep."

I kind of nodded my head and sat there awkwardly while she looked at me. I tried to think up a graceful excuse for getting the hell out of there. Before I could, she broke the silence.

"Andrea, I apologize if this sounds rude, but you have been acting… strangely lately," she said cautiously.

I was a bit taken aback. I mean, I knew I acted strangely in general, but I hadn't really acted much different since I met Elanee, as far as I could tell.

"I have?" I asked, as cautiously as her.

She looked like she was debating whether to tell me something.

"Andrea, I have not been completely honest with you."

My heart started beating a little faster. I had no clue whatsoever what she was talking about, but I figured it wasn't a confession about her picking my pocket or something. Neeshka was the one that did that - I mean, picking my pocket and then telling me about it. With glee.

I frowned at her and asked, "About what?"

"I told you that I started following you after you left West Harbor. That is not completely true. I have been…watching you for some time."

'Creepy' was the first thing that ran through my mind.

Then I realized that's why she thought I was acting strangely - the person she had 'watched' before those things attacked West Harbor was not me. Or…another me. Or something.

"Why were you watching me?" I asked, not wanting to explain my sudden 'change' in behaviour.

"It was a…test. Given to me by the elders of the Circle." She changed her tone abruptly. "I do not wish to speak of it now, however. I am merely concerned about you."

I already didn't trust her. Even though she had been very helpful so far, she had also been enigmatic and distant. Now I trusted her even less.

"I'm fine," I said nonchalantly. "I don't know why you think I'm acting strangely. Maybe adventuring has just changed me."

She looked at me skeptically. "Very well. I shall leave you to your mending."

With that, she rose, and glided off.

I wondered what would happen if I just told everyone I wasn't who they thought I was. Would they think I was possessed and do an exorcism? Or call me a witch and burn me? Or banish me to some plane or whatever? Or was I just being super paranoid? I didn't have a deep enough understanding of this world to know. It seemed like a lot of strange things were accepted, but others weren't. No one looked twice at Khelgar, even though I didn't see many dwarves around the city, but Neeshka was definitely treated like a freak whenever people noticed her horns, tail or red eyes.

I sighed and felt too agitated to continue sewing. I decided to go wake Shandra up and drag her out to do some shopping. She needed some proper traveling gear, and I needed some fresh air. Also, I couldn't go shopping alone as I didn't know what the hell anything was. I couldn't tell a ring of…retribution from a cloak of…clandestineness.

I grabbed my robe from the chair and strolled off to the hallway.

As soon as I turned the corner I almost ran into someone.

"Sorry!" I yelped, backing up quickly.

I got my bearings and noticed Bishop standing there, leisurely leaning against the wall.

Jeez, did he hear my whole freaking conversation with Elanee?

He looked at my hair and smirked. "My, aren't we looking lovely this morning." I was amazed at just how sarcastic he was able to sound.

"I dressed up just for you, darling," I replied, trying to sound just as sarcastic. I…wasn't so good at it.

I tried to saunter past him, but he stepped sideways and blocked my way.

"Seems the druidess thinks you're acting a little strangely."

"So? Who's she to talk?" I frowned slightly after I said that, hoping it wasn't too 'modern' sounding. I really needed to work on that.

"Don't think you can hide things from me forever." He leaned in close to my ear. "I'll figure you out, sorceress." His voice was seductively threatening. I shivered.

Then he walked past me and out the door.

"Oh god, he's going to kick my ass," I moaned to myself.

The afternoon passed a lot better than the morning. Shandra and I had gone out to the market district and we had a load of fun getting supplies. And by getting supplies, I mean gossiping and getting supplies. I sure hoped she wasn't lying about her promise not to repeat the lewd things I said about Casavir and Bishop.

"Aye! Come sit over here! Have a drink!" Khelgar roared as he saw us enter the inn. Everyone was sitting around the same table looking like they were having a great time. We dropped our bags off and then gladly obliged.

I had gotten somewhat used to the ale - it was way sweeter than beer. I gulped it down and laughed as we reminisced about things that had happened in past battles. It was good to be back after our journey to the githyanki lair, and I felt optimistic about the future. There weren't any immediate concerns - we could relax for a while and do some research about the Haven. The gith were off our backs. Maybe things would be easy from now on!

I wondered idly if jinxes came true on this world…

The door opened and a man walked in. Over his armour he had a sleeveless blue garment with what looked like a crying eye symbol. Everyone went silent. I took that as a bad sign.

He walked towards the table we were sitting at, which was an even worse sign. What the heck was going on now?

"There you are," he said directly to me as he approached.

"Am I supposed to know who this is?" I quickly whispered to Casavir, who was sitting across the corner from me. I figured he would know.

"He is Sir Nevalle of the Nine. One of Lord Nasher's bodyguards," he replied in a low voice.

I grimaced inwardly. I hated authority figures. I always got all nervous around them, which made me look guilty. Captain Brelaina still looked at me suspiciously.

Sir Nevalle reached our table and stopped. Oh great…he was absolutely gorgeous. This was really going to help the nervousness. I glanced over at Shandra to see if she knew what I was thinking. She pursed her lips to stop herself from smiling.

"Um…can I help you?" I asked tentatively.

"I am here because Luskan has accused you of murder - an entire village, no less. Have you heard of Ember?"

My eyes widened and I yelled without thinking. "What?!"

I didn't feel much like 'reflecting' on anything as I sat in front of my dinky campfire in Solace Glade. I was cold, my butt hurt and I was extremely bored.

I didn't want to think about Ember. Thinking about it wouldn't fix anything. I just had to go along with everyone's crazy ideas. Sometimes I felt like I didn't have much of a choice in anything anyway. Like becoming a squire. I hoped I wouldn't have to drag Sir Grayson's sword around for him.

At least Sand seemed like he knew what he was doing. Qara sure didn't like him, but…no one liked Qara, so, whatever.

I was unnecessarily poking at the campfire when I heard Shandra's voice through the trees. "Andrea?"

"Shandra! Oh god, I am so bored. Come sit!"

"I know you're supposed to do this alone, but there's no way I'm letting you stay all alone out here with all the danger that seems to follow you around."

I hadn't really thought about the danger of being out there alone, which made me feel kind of stupid. I wondered how I had even stayed alive so far. It was comforting, though, that she cared about me enough to come and make sure I was safe.

"You can be my bodyguard!" I joked.

"Honestly, you need one," she replied seriously. "You're a sorcerer. And…you know…I've seen you in battle a couple of times…" she trailed off and winced in anticipation of my reaction.

She was right. I was a hot mess. If I managed to get a shielding spell up, I was lucky. None of my offensive spells seemed to have much oomph. Most importantly, I generally had no clue what I was doing.

"I know. I'm useless." I sighed.

"No…you just…"

She stopped abruptly and sharply turned her head as if to listen to something in the trees.

"Someone's coming," she said very quietly, and unsheathed her sword.

"Please be Sir Grayson," I whimpered.

I took a deep breath and focused on the little knot of power I could feel in my solar plexus. I envisioned the knot shooting out protective threads of energy, the threads weaving together and stretching. Strange words appeared in my mind; they were the words I had to speak to activate the spell. At the same time, my hands guided the threads carefully - it had to be done exactly right or the spell would backfire. It was insanely difficult to focus on all of these things at once, especially when there was potential danger nearby.

Finally, after what seemed like minutes, I felt everything come together and the magic burst into physical reality. I sighed with relief; at least I had had time to get my force field up before people started trying to stab me.

Seconds later, to my dismay, three mean-looking dudes with sharp-looking weapons sauntered out of the trees and attacked us.

"Andrea, why didn't you use any spells?" Amie asked me cautiously while we sat catching our breath.

Spells? Like…magic spells? What was she talking about?

"I…I'm really confused. I think I have some memory loss," I lied.

Amie looked stricken. "What? Oh gods, what is going on? You need to remember how to use your magic or you'll surely die!"

"I can protect her," Bevil stated flatly.

I believed him, but if there was any way I could be useful, I had to do it.

But magic? Magic wasn't real. Was Amie speaking metaphorically or something?

"How do I…cast spells?" I asked her.

She was overcome with frustration. "I don't know!"

"But I saw you use magic, I think," I pleaded.

"Yes, but I'm a wizard and you're a sorcerer! It's so different. We've talked about it a million times. The way you use magic is different from the way I use it. I have to prepare my spells…but you can just cast them out of nowhere."

Bevil put a hand on my shoulder. "Andrea, you told me once that it's like you have this magical energy in you that you can pull from."

I looked at him, bewildered.

He continued, "You said that you just have to visualize it and everything comes to you. I don't know, that's just what you told me."

I frowned and looked to Amie. "Just close your eyes and focus," she said. "Try to summon a little flame."

I was extremely skeptical, but I sighed and closed my eyes. I thought really hard about a little flame appearing in my palm.

I opened my eyes, and looked at my palm, kind of hoping something had happened. But…nothing.

I sighed with exasperation. This was stupid; magic wasn't real.

"Maybe I can just use this walking stick and hit people with it," I said to them.

"That's what it's for," Bevil said impatiently. "But you are horrible with it. Come on, try the spell again. Just focus on the magic in you."

"What is this, Star Wars?" I grumbled to myself. Bevil and Amie looked at me like I was crazy. I wasn't sure if they were wrong.

"Use the force, Andrea," I chanted, closing my eyes. I started scanning myself internally, trying to find any hint of this alleged power. When I reached my middle, I suddenly felt something. I was taken aback, but I focused my concentration on that spot. It was this strange, tight ball of…energy. I could feel it. It felt like I could control it.

I took a deep breath and tried to visualize a stream of the energy coming out of the ball, like a solar flare pulling away from the sun. I imagined the energy was made of fire. I could feel the strand burning gently, but not hurting me. I pushed the energy up my torso, through my shoulder, down my arm. The whole path tingled. I pushed the energy up and out of my hand, visualizing a floating candle flame.

"You did it!" I heard Amie exclaim.

I opened my eyes and looked at my upturned palm. There was a small flame floating above my hand, just like I had visualized. I was so startled, my hold on the thread of energy broke and the flame disappeared with a poof.

It worked.

"Holy shit."