Queen of Midnight

Chapter Eleven.

Once everyone was reassured, and I felt better about my new position in the pack, James and I left the throne room and walked out to the castle's courtyard. As we emerged into the daylight, a thought occurred to me, and I frowned.

"Whatever happened to Ethan?" I asked suddenly. "I mean, I left him where I knocked him out when I left yesterday."

James laughed out loud. "That's my girl," he teased. "Well, I didn't really wait for him to wake up. I sent him back to his pack with a note stuck to his shirt."

"What did the note say?"

He grinned at me, but didn't respond as we made our way into the woods. We found our usual clearing soon enough, and I dropped the scarf from around my shoulders to allow myself more movement room.

"So, how am I meant to do this?" I asked, holding my hands out in front of me. "She said it was meant to be easy; I wouldn't have to get super emotional to let my magic rip."

"I don't know... just wave your hands around until something happens," James suggested. My frown deepened, and I held my arms in the air as if I were a cat being held up under the arms. I hesitated, then started shaking them around a little. And the snow around us began to move. My mouth dropped open in shock as I looked up at James; his expression was the same as mine. I looked quickly back down at the ground and shook my arms even more; the snow started bobbing up and down, as if bouncing on the ground. I started laughing in disbelief. This was crazy. And incredible.

I turned to a fallen log that was sitting on the edge of the clearing and held my hands out towards it, concentrating hard. I clenched my hands slightly, and lifted them up slightly. And the log began to float. I laughed gleefully again, and moved the log around more confidently; it was like holding a feather. I swished it through the air, this way and that, before launching it off over the treetops and hearing it crash on the forest floor some distance away from us.

"James!" I cried, jumping up and down on the spot. "Are you seeing this?"

"How can I not?" he demanded. He still seemed in shock.

I walked over to the place where the log laid before I moved it, finding a small pile of sticks sitting in the dirt in its place. I knelt down in the snow before them, frowning as I tried to focus, and felt something shift in the air between my hands as I held them out over the sticks. And, alas, there was fire. I swirled my fingers around the flames, watching them follow my movements as if they were an extension of myself. I then clenched my fist, and the fire sizzled out immediately. I glanced up behind me, seeing James had come over to investigate.

"This is the most incredible feeling," I said with a vacant smile on my face. "I can't believe how easy it is."

"Neither can I," he muttered, scratching his head in thought. "I still think we need to keep you practicing though; now that it's a lot easier to summon and play with, it also might be a little easier for you to use accidentally."

"You might be right," I agreed, wincing as I imagined myself throwing James in the air while we were in the middle of sex or something. "Well, you're my tutor. What should we do?"

We spent the next couple of hours practicing using my abilities while trying to make sure the correct target was being hit, and that I wouldn't hurt innocents. We also spent some time trying to get me to sense the shift within me that actually summoned my magic, so I would be able to stop it if it came up at an unwanted time. By the time we were done, I had figured out how to make a shield out of the air to protect, as well as use the air and fire to hurl physical attacks at specific targets. I felt a whole lot better about my magic after our time together; I felt as if I would actually be able to protect my people in case something was to happen. I wouldn't be able to protect everyone on my own, but I felt I could do a whole lot more good than damage now, and that made me feel safer.