The Son of Salazar

Chapter Four

May the gods be ever in your favour!

-James

'Just one more reason why my Little Snake is perfect,' Thought Salazar contentedly as he recalled the events on that morning. What are the odds that Sammael, a fellow parselmouth, appear soon after Salazar achieved the ability himself? He knew it was either gained directly from basilisk, or inherited through blood. But that didn't makes sense, Sammael was a mere five-year old. He couldn't have hatched a basilisk. And he was obviously abused by Mundanes, who Salazar had thought were his relatives. His thinking had been backed up, by the fact that Sammael only spoke of his previous aunt, uncle and cousin, and spoke of them with either great dislike or fear. Then a thought struck Salazar. What of his parents? He'd have to interrogate the child later.

Also, he mentally noted, he'd have to visit Eadlin later. That basilisk of his grew ornery when left alone for too long.

He was watching Sammael and Rowena experiment with wand parts, striving to find the perfect materials to construct one for the boy. "What about this, Sammael?" asked Rowena, placing that boy's hand a span's height in the air above a bundle of twigs. Salazar's Little Snake had his eyes tightly shut, his tongue slightly protruding out of the corner of his mouth.

"Mmm, no," Sammael said decidedly, making Salazar chuckle a little. "It's too cold."

"Too cold?" Rowena asked in interest. "What about this one?"

Sammael obediently placed his hand over the next bundle of twigs, and immediately flinched back, withdrawing his hand, quickly. "It tingles."

"Tingles?" Rowena slowly said the unfamiliar word. Sammael did that often, saying words that the adults had never heard before like "Telly" or "Cars" or "Epicness" or "Geronimo" or—what was it? Oh, yes—"Batman". Salazar shook his head fondly. "Well," said Rowena, "This one is much different than those two." But Sammael was ignoring her. He scampered across the room and grabbed up a bundle from another table.

"I like these," he said happily. "They're warm." Rowena raised an eyebrow, coming over. Seeing that the graceful woman was listening intently, Sammael continued. "It feels like it's singing!"

"I see," said Rowena, carefully taking the bundle from him. "Holly wood." Salazar raised an eyebrow. Holly was rarely used in a wand, but when it was, it was powerful. Salazar felt a burst of pride. "One of the purest woods," Rowena continued. Salazar cocked his head; he hadn't known that detail. "Excellent for protective spells, as the wood itself has a particularly protective nature." As she was talking, Rowena began to get out the various, strange looking tools she would need to make the wand, as well as several potions from cabinets that were scattered around the room. "They will allow anyone to use it, temporarily, provided that they are in danger. However, they are very picky about who can own them. It works most happily for those who may need help overcoming a tendency to anger and impetuosity. At the same time, holly wands often choose owners who are engaged in some dangerous, and often spiritual, quest." Salazar drew his brows together; he didn't much like the sound of that.

Sammael didn't seem to worry much, only saying "I think it's pretty." The choosing of the core proved just as interesting, as Sammael didn't like any of the unicorn hairs, kneazel whispers (much to his Papa's relief—wands with cores like that made for weak owners, regardless of the wood), coral, Veela hair, Kelpie mane, rougarou hair, White River monster spine, or even Thunderbird feathers (to Salazar's slight disappointment). Sammael's fingers lingered a tad longer over the basilisk scale Salazar had given to Rowena, after several had fallen off of Eadlin last time she'd shed. But in the end, he'd only remarked "That feels sad".