Princess Netis couldn't sleep. She had danced late into the afternoon with Prince Arriway, and had sat next to him, talking to him, throughout the banquet that had followed. It was clear to everyone, by the time the party had finished, that Princess Netis had chosen Prince Arriway out of all the suitors.
She sat up in her grand four-poster bed, and stretched her hands out. She rubbed her fingers together, as if she were scattering dust, and golden sparks flew. Her palms both flattened out and facing up, she concentrated on summoning the elements. She felt a burst of heat in her right hand, and a splash of fluid from her left hand. Upon opening her eyes, she saw a ball of orange flame flickering in her right palm, and a globe of pure azure water in her left. Somehow the water stayed together in its sphere shape, instead of releasing itself, and splashing all over her bedsheets. She pushed her palms together slowly, and a loud hissing sound issued from between. The ball of water quenched the ball of fire, and a few droplets splashed onto Netis' rug. She crouched down and passed her hand over the wet spot, and it immediately dried.
A banging on one of the window panes almost caused her whole body to combust. She pointed at the window, concentrated, and the latch clicked, and Arriway tumbled into the room. His hair was dishevelled slightly, and the wing-shaped shadow was still there. He caught her staring, and smiled. As he picked himself up off the floor, he shook his shoulders, shaking off the glamour as if it were a thin silken shawl. Arriway's wings weren't exactly...wings. They were certainly no angel's wings, magnificent golden-feathered beauties, but more like two pairs of tentacles with flaps of leathery skin hanging from them, like great black sails.
"I saw you practicing." he ventured. "You're a natural."
Netis grinned. "Try me?"
She flicked her wrist and a staff appeared in her hand. It was hewn from oak wood, and branches wrapped tight around a sparkling sapphire at the top of the staff. When Arriway saw it, he stopped short, losing his breath.
"Where did you get that staff from, Princess?" his voice was shaking.
YOU ARE READING
Heart of Netis
FantasyNetis is a Princess, of the great kingdom of Idia. On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, lights begin to dance around her, and her head is wreathed in a crown of flames; signs of possessing maegia start to show. Arriway, a maegiling, is a servan...
