I finished my talk on harmony spells just as it got time for lunch. So I dismissed the class. I walked down the hall to the dinning room. Lunch for me was a small sandwich and a bowl of soup. I didn't mind. I was quiet during lunch thinking. There really was no one to take my place right now. I hope that the three that Grandmother looked better. I decided to study after lunch so I could be ready for the GED test as soon as I could take it.

After Lunch I headed to my study to read a bit. Grandmother followed me in. As I sat down I said "Something up? I was just going to study."

She said "There is a problem with the three I am bringing in. They are great mages but they are a bit power hungry. They would see you as weak and try to take over. They might be able to call you out. But they were the only ones at your level not already in a job."

I said "Well I will just have to let the Queen decide. If she goes with one of them that's fine with me. It would be out of my hands then. I would prefer to have the time for baby. That reminds me I need to add on a nursery. How big do you think it should be?"

Grandmother looked at me "You are really fine with her picking someone else? You are the most powerful person in Sanctuary. You want that to go away?"

I smiled "Power is relative. I don't need to seek power, it finds me. Maybe it is someone else's turn in the spotlight. I will let Angel decide. I think I'll make it as big as my bedroom. Yes that should be plenty big."

She shook her head "When did you get so wise? Well if that is what you want. I will stand with you." She got up and left, and I got down to some heavy studying.

Dinner was called before I knew it. I smiled Fire Dance tonight. I went in to dinner to find my place taken by a large cat. I hissed at the dang thing. It mewed. "Ok you can stay but get off my dang chair!" She dropped to the floor with an heavy thud. That cat was pregnant, just what I need more mouths to feed. I shook my head and tried to get the hair off my chair. I finally sat down to a regular meal. Besides the occasional yawl from the living room the dinner went fine.

After dinner I found four new kittens in the living room behind the couch. Mother cat giving them their dinner. I said "Great just great, I am not dealing with this someone else deal with it." I walked out on the porch and slipped into the deep couch. Ben came out. He smiled at me and I knew it was taken care of. I said "Keep an eye on the time so we can go to the fire dance. Ok love?" He nodded. I started to play up my cat side. I even shifted into my favorite cat girl. purring and playing.

Grandmother came out and said "Alright you two enough. No giving the dorms a show." I could not help it I hissed at her then shifted back. I pushed up and looked at the dorm there was no lights. Everyone must be getting ready for the fire dance. I looked at the time we should go.

I smiled "Time to go!" I tapped my bracelet for the gypsy outfit I planned to wear.

Grandmother came out "Oh no you don't this is a official function so you will wear your gown and crown. The others will be here soon then we will go. Ben you will wear your formal armor so go get ready. Cryss came out in her pure white gown. Alexis came out in a nice dress smiling.

I said "Oh no little sister your not getting off that easy." I had her stand still and I created a gown half way between mine and Cryss's. I took out the crown and handed it to Grandmother. She placed it on Alexis's head. Grandmother was all Archmage looking. Sam came out in formal armor looking sharp. Ben came out and took my arm. Angel and Mother arrived and we headed out. We were quite the sight. People parted to let us pass. Following behind us was the class looking nice.

We soon made it to the spot and we had seats right up front with the class right behind us. I spotted Jessel and moved over to say hello. She looked at me and curtsied. I smiled at her. "I just wanted to give my greetings to the woman of the hour. I wish you the best show possible."

She said "Thank you Your Highness. I see you brought the whole family to the show I am touched. We will Wow you I promise you." I nodded and headed back to the family. Soon the show started. The first act was a pair using air magic to show off what they could do. It was fun with a lot of comedy. Then came The Ice Dancer Lentha. She was pretty good and her ice work was top grade. Her dance was a cross between ice skating and current dance trends. All in all not bad. But not what I came to see. Next the main event. The bonfire was lit and Jessel took her place ready to start.

The band started a gypsy song. The dance began on the edge of the fire with movements that imitated the fire. Slowly as the fire grew she moved into the fire twining its movements till she was one with the fire. As she moved deeper into the fire the fire took on her movements so they were one. Finally she was at the top and a flame took on a shape of a person. the two danced as the music reached its peak! Slowly they parted as the music wound down. She circled her way out and the flames bowed to her as she went. As she turned to her flame partner at the edge of the fire and blew a kiss The flame partner bowed to her then dispersed. She stepped out of the fire as the music ended and her dance was done.

This was as good or better than I have ever seen her dance. I could see the flush to her cheeks and the smile on her lips. She loved this the rush of the dance and the danger. She would dance till she was old and gray. Till the day her fire partner takes her for the last time and consumes her. I started the clapping and soon it was a roar.

Jessel held up her hands and the clapping stopped. She said "A long time ago a young girl came to me asking me to teach her fire magic. After awhile and a lot of practice this girl danced within the flames an walked away unscathed. This girl grew to be know as the Princess of the Pits. She is here tonight. Would you join me in asking her to join me in the next dance?" There was a roar of clapping. Jessel came up in front of me then curtsied and held out her hand to me. I stood and took her hand.

I whispered "I'll get you for this." As we walked to the bonfire I tapped my bracelet and was wearing the gypsy outfit again. The music started and we danced a older version of the fire dance. It was not hard to concentrate on the spells and let her lead me around the fire. It all came back to me the rush, the power and the feeling of joy as I danced. She led well and soon the dance was over and we were standing before the crowd. I let the roar wash over me and I just enjoyed myself.

Grandmother was not happy about that dance but knew I was put on the spot. Mother looked at me and I knew she was not happy either. I just continued to smile I was not going to let any thing get me down. Jessel said "Thank you all for tonight. It was my last performance as leader of this troop. I am retiring and will be going into teaching full time. So you will be seeing me around the school from now on. And thanks to Princess Ember my last act has been a memorable one. Not only did she dance with me but she made the dress I am wearing. So thank you Your Highness for all you have done for me. So we come to the end of the show I hope you liked it. Good night and be safe.

We all got up and the crowd parted for us as we left. We walked to the house with ease. I put Cryss to bed as soon as we got back. Alexis went up to read before bed. So did the class. Everyone knew I was going to get yelled at and did not want to see it. It was the so called Adults left to talk things over. I sat on the couch with Ben waiting for the chewing out I was sure was coming. Surprisingly it did not come. We talked about the show but my dance was not brought up. My nickname was though. They teased me about it and brought up how ironic it was. Finally I brought up my dance. They all complemented me on my dancing but did not yell at me for over doing things. I was surprised and just let it go. I will never figure out these people. After a bit I was getting tired and went up to get ready for bed. Ben soon followed and we laid in Bed and talked about baby names. I Liked Belle Rose and Ben liked John and Lance. I did not have the heart to tell him I was having a Girl. So we decided on those names and went to sleep.

Saturday I slept in so it was almost 10 when I got up. When I was getting dressed I noticed that the baby bump was a bit bigger. I had to adjust my clothing again. I went down to get some breakfast. Alexis was sitting in the kitchen talking to the maids. Sasha had already gone to the farm for more herbs. Tasha was with Trixie. So Sue was in charge. Saturday was pretty relaxed. I was still recovering and did not want to push it so I just hung out with Ben. Zoe showed up about 3 and had a report about what they learned from the kidnappers. The aid was arrested and confessed to putting the freak out into the punch. The troops were mercenaries so had no useful information. the three leaders were not talking so far. The aid got the drug from the leader of the three. That's how they got her to do it she was hooked on another drug. Once they finally talked we would decide what to do with them. They all were showing signs of drug withdrawal though. Even though I knew the spells I was not going to try to look in a junkies mind too dangerous to do. Zoe took off after that. Ben shook his head he was sure their was some one behind all this that we had not found yet. I had to agree with him too many things did not add up. If the person was as smart as I think they should be then the three would not have anything useful. We will have to catch them some other way. Well the restful feeling of the day was gone. I might as well do some work. I went inside to make some clothes. I had my work bag for the crystal. When I checked the bag it was nearly empty. Dang it I forgot to keep it full. I decided it was time to mine some crystal.

I asked Ronda and Josie, my two crystal specialist, if they wanted to learn the right way to extract crystal. They jumped at the chance. So we headed along the back wall for a bit then entered a cave. I checked the cave was safe so we went to the back wall and started. I showed them how to take the crystal out and leave the rock in columns. It was a long process even longer since I was teaching them. I filled my work bag and two others in about 2 hours. The others only filled one each. It was a good experience and my good mood was back. We walked back to the entrance and I made a gate with a lock. I made a key for each of us. We now had our private mine. We got back to the house and Zoe was back with bad news. The aid and the three leaders were dead. Nobody knew how but all four overdosed. Dang it what are we going to do? Someone made sure they said nothing. We had a enemy out there and we had no idea who it was. Dang it we were in trouble again.

It was almost dinner time so Zoe stayed and we talked but we did not even know where to start. The kidnapping was a trap but for who? Only a mage could follow the trail the way we did. But when facing a top class mage troops like they had were useless as was proven. So was it a test? I just don't know.

Dinner was called before I could give myself a headache. We ate then Zoe headed out. The girls were wondering something. Charlotte asked "How did you get the nick name of Princess of the Pits?"

I smiled "I was younger than most if not all of the girls working the pits at the time. Yet I was working more than girls 3 to 4 years older than me. I am not sure when that name was first used but it became my calling card so to speak. You see the ones who had nick names were remembered. Few remembered my real name but almost everyone remembered that nick name. It got people talking and that's how I got jobs. They talked about my age, my skill level and my looks. I was always keeping myself clean and tidy. I guess Princess came out of that. I had totally forgotten about that nick name till Jessel brought it up. It is just another part of my past."

Lynette asked "You said you were younger than other girls working the pits. How old were you?"

I sighed "I started the summer of my 11th year. Most did not start till they were 14 to 16. Some called me a brat others a prodigy depending if we were up for the same job or not. I made my mark and learned my trade in those pits. At times I loved it, at times I hated it but all the time I respected it. I think it is time to brew some potions who's up for it." Nobody raised there hands. "All right something different. How about making and enchanting a pair of earrings." Every girl in the room raised their hands. Of course what girl doesn't love jewelry! "All right meet me in the class room." I went to get my work bag.

I walked in as Alexis and Cryss were pulling Sasha and Tasha in to seats. I smiled they should be able to do this. I took out some silver wire and crystal pieces and gave to every person in the room. The making of the earrings was fairly easy using basic shaping skill. They all made theirs different. Now for the hard part. I taught them a simple enchantment that made them glitter and sine in different colors. The trouble if they do it wrong it would shatter the earrings. Surprisingly no one messed up. I love this group. Of course I did not tell them I could trace them by the enchantment. Well That was it for the night. Cryss came up to me "Mommy I can't wear these they are for pierced ears."

I smiled "Tell your grandmother about you problem honey. I an sure she will solve it. Then it is time for you to go to bed. I will be up to tuck you in, in a little while." She went off to find her Grandmother. I walked over to Sasha and Tasha. For some reason they looked scared. I shook my head and smiled "It is fine that you are here as long as there is someone on duty you two are free to take any class I give in the evenings. Sasha you might want to really work on your shaping. If you get good enough you could make your own bottles for your potions. Tasha I am not sure where this class will help you except with controlling your magic. I will work in a lot of shaping the should help you both. Tasha how was your training today?"

She smiled "It is teaching me things I never knew to think about. I am very happy and can't thank you enough for talking to Trixie."

I smiled "Like Trixie said we can never have too many midwives. Sasha how is your studying coming?"

She said "I think I am getting the basics down I have a small stock of potions ready for sale I am going to sell them through another merchant right now till I know more. I have talked to several looking for the best one. I have not found them yet."

I said "Good plan, keep it up both of you." I headed to see what answer Grandmother had for Cryss. I felt a pinch in my right ear then my left ear. I knew what her answer was. I walked in and up to Cryss who was trying not to cry. "Shush baby I will make it better." I healed around the earrings so the holes would stay open. "Better honey?" She nodded "Then it is time for bed." I took her hand and led her up stairs.

I got back down stairs after two stories and one lullaby. I am such a push over for that little girl. I was looking for Ben it was cuddle time. Grandmother waved me over.

She said "Ben told me what you think about the kidnapping. I agree with you it was too simplistic for trapping a mage. I think this was set for Ben. But even then it is a poor way of doing it. He would have a mage to get through the portal and that means you."

I sopped her "I just thought of something. What if it was not about trapping either of us but to get us out of the way while something else is going on. Something we would stop."

She frowned "It is your luck to get sucked into these things. You might just have it there. I think if you let your luck run wild you will find out." That's what I am afraid of. I nodded and went back to looking for Ben. I found him sitting in the deep couch. I smiled and sat on his lap. He did not respond I got worried and tried to feel his pulse. That is when I found the dart in his neck. I called for Grandmother while I checked his heart. It was beating very slowly. Grandmother came out and frowned "What is the matter?"

I said "Look at his neck he has been drugged. Call Janis right away I can barely feel his heart." She rushed back in. I slipped off his lap to look into his half closed eyes. There was no light in his eyes. He was dieing. I placed both hands on his chest and began the twinning. Once I had it I slowly brought his pulse rate up and his breathing back to normal. This took a long time. Janis arrived and checked him over found the dart and pulled it out. There was a jolt to his system that if I had not been sustaining him would have killed him. I was able to keep him alive but just. She made several tests on the dart till she found the drug and forced a potion down him. Slowly it became easer to twin him then his eye opened all the way and I released the twinning. I sat back on my heels and looked at Janis. I said "Damn that was close I almost lost the twinning when you pulled that dart out. What in the worlds was on that dart."

Janis said "Clinsnon it is a deadly poison. Someone from Sillar does not like him. Their the only ones that use it because it is unpredictable. Sometimes it kills right away, and sometimes it takes days. Where did you learn that technique? It held him till I could find the antidote."

I said "It is the starting of a bonding spell. I have found it can be used to stabilize a weak hurt person. I don't use it unless I have to because it has side effects. The longer I hold it the more of their life I see and the more of mine they see. It is not something I want to do every day. It makes me uneasy to know someone else knows that much about me without the context."

She said "I can see how that can be. But can you teach me the technique?" I nodded "Well lets get him inside. He will be fine ounce the poison works out of his system." I took one side and Janis took the other so we could get him inside up the stairs and in bed. He was asleep as soon as he laid down. "Let him sleep he should be fine in the morning. I'll be by tomorrow to check on him." Grandmother was at the door.

Grandmother said "I will see you out. But then you have been to this house so much you should have a room here." I got Ben undressed and covered up then started to get ready for bed myself. Grandmother came back and asked "How bad was it?"

I said "If I had not been Twinning him when she took the dart out we would have lost him! The Twinning was the only thing keeping him alive. I could feel him start to slip away when she gave him the potion. It was a very close thing! Now they have attacked my family. Now I Am Mad! In the morning when I am sure he is safe the one who done this will not be safe from me!"

Grandmother looked at me and sighed "You are set on this I see. I will not stand in your way. I will pick up the pieces when it is over."

I sighed "I will not kill them as much as I want to, I will give them to The Queen to do with what she sees best."

Grandmother said "Yes I know you will but who will protect this house when your gone and Bens out of action?"

I walked over to the wall and placed my hand on it. I said "Safe House" I smiled "The house is now sealed. Only the front door will work and only for me or you. There is a shield over the rest of the house." I picked up and opened my link compact. "Everyone who is living here is accounted for plus 1. It looks like we have a shifter in the house." I placed my hand on the wall and cast a spell "I guess it is not you or me. Lets check the others." A quick sweep through the upstairs and everyone was who and where they should be. Downstairs We checked the maids quarters everyone good there. that left the dot in the living room. I walked in to find a man looking around. he was dressed like Grandmother so I pointed my staff at him. He said something in a language I did not know and cast 4 darts at us then went to jump out the window. He bounced off knocking himself out in the process. I looked at Grandmother "Are you alright? Watch those darts they are deadly." She pointed at the floor where the 2 darts had bounced off of her shield had landed. The 2 he had thrown at me were on the floor too. I moved over to him checking for signs of life he was truly out cold. So I checked him for weapons and potions found many of both. Stripped him down to his underwear and tied him to a chair. Well we had him now what. I looked behind the couch and there was the cat and kittens in a box with a blanket. a bowl of water and food nearby. That accounts for everyone. I decided to call Angel. I walked to the hall mirror and called Angel.

She answered right away "Something happened what our link is fuzzy." I filled her in and asked what we should do with this guy. "I am not to sure I understand the part where he tries to jump out the window and knocks himself out?"

I sighed "My house is made of crystal weave even the windows so instead of breaking they bounced him back with all the force going to his head. on top of that he got shocked by the shield around the house. It is night, night time for him. I am sure he is the one who darted Ben and almost killed him. He tried to get us but they bounced off our shields."

Angel said "I'll be right there with guards. This guy would attack at night. Try not to kill him before I get there. " She broke the link. I called Byron, Bens second.

He answered "Yes oh Ember is something wrong."

I said "Yes I need you to get over here right now. Someone tried to kill Ben tonight. He almost did it. We caught the guy. Angel is on the way over with guards but I want you here too. I will explain when you get here."

He said "On my way." He broke the link. I tapped my bracelet and was in my work clothes. I woke Sasha and had her get some tea going. Byron made it to the house first. I let him in and filled him in fully about tonight. He said "How do you know I am not a shifter?"

I pointed at the door he just came through "If you were shifted you would change back the second passing through that door. I activated that too late and he was in the house already. So we had to do it the hard way. We did and he lost." At that point Angel got there with the guards. I let her in watching the guards for shifters. Sure enough there was one when he passed through the doorway he reverted. He was reaching for a blade and I dropped him with a lightning bolt. I handed Angel a broche and Byron a ring.

I said "Those items will revert a shifter if you come within 10 feet. Looks like we got a shifter war on our hands." The other guards took the fakes weapons an tied him up. After patting the guy down they found darts, potions and Drugs. "If we check I bet those match the drugs that killed the three and the aid. Now we know how they did it. Damn this is going to be hard. Well we know their tactics now. Byron your in charge for a few days while Ben recovers. He was almost dead tonight. Probly 3 days so Wednesday before I'll let him go back to work." Sue brought tea for everyone. I let that sink in.

Byron asked looking at the darts "How did he get close enough to dart Ben? These don't look like they would fly far."

Grandmother said "He was disguised as me, I did not see it but he was in clothes like mine. Guess he drew the short straw.

The cat came up to me and mewed a few times then growled. I said "Ok but be back by morning." I went over and opened the door for her. She strutted out.

Byron asked "You speak cat? What am I saying of course you do you are the Grand Mage after all. Don't all mages have cats for familiars?"

Skya flew in and landed on my shoulder and said "Not all. I am Embers Familiar."

I said "I learned to speak several languages when I was working the Pits of Crystalis. Cat was one of them. But that is beside the point. We need to figure out how to find who is behind this war!" Everyone was stumped on that one. Byron gave some orders and the two fakes were carted off. "I think you should give this ring to the jailer and be sure no one gets near these two till they have been checked." I handed him 3 rings. "Give the other two to people you trust." I went over to Angel "Here's two more broaches for the ones you trust. I am depleting my shifter detectors but oh well. I'll just make more."

Sue came in with Dori after Byron and the guards left. They came up to me "Miss we have a problem Frenica keeps changing from girl to boy and back again."

Angel said "Another one! Get the guards!"

I said "Stop sis this one I knew about. I found out about her in Whitewater. It is a curse so the reveal spell would not work the same way. I had not had time to reverse the curse on her yet. Frankly I had forgotten about it. Lets see to this now." We walked into the maids quarters and there was Frenica flashing between genders. I put my hand out and she stopped on girl. I asked "Do you wish to go back to being a man or continue your life as a woman? I can make it so just tell me what you want."

She thought about it and drew a breath "I want to be a woman! I have found a good life since I came here. Please make it so I am a woman forever!"

I smiled "I will banish the curse and make this your true form." I cast two spells. "It is done from now on you don't ever have to worry about those dreams ever again. Go back to sleep." She laid down and was fast asleep in a moment. I motioned the others out. "She will never again remember her time as a man. She will just remember hitting her head and forgetting things. Please don't bring it up any more. This is who she is now and forever just as she asked. Hopefully she can grow now." I walked out dang it I missed another night of sleep.

Angel asked "So the spell wont detect her now?"

I shook my head "That is her true form now. She is no longer shifted. In fact she can't shift. The magic just wont work on her. We will see where her life goes from here. I am hoping she will be happy."

Angel said "You are such a Mom! I am too tired to fly home mind if I crash in your spare room for a few hours?"

I smiled "You know you are always welcome. I'll have Sue get the room ready. Be about quarter hour lets have some more tea." So I gave the order then we sat down to some light tea. I wanted to go check on Ben but I was being a good hostess. Soon the room was ready and I lent Angel one of my nightgowns so off to sleep she went. I walked into our room and Ben was sleeping soundly. I checked his heart strong and regular. I switched to my nightgown and slipped into bed. I sighed and slept.

Sunday morning came late and I got up put on my working clothes. I had to adjust my clothes for the baby bump. I checked Ben and he was just waking. I said "Morning love"
He tried to sit up I stopped him. "You stay in bed today. You had a hard evening last night. I want to make sue you are 100% before I let you out of bed."

He said "Then it was not a dream? I really almost died? I thought it was some strange dream. You saved me?"

I smiled "Janis and I worked on you for almost a hour before you decided to live. Don't you ever do that to me again!"

He smiled "I'll try love I'll try." There came a tapping at the door and Sue brought in breakfast for Ben.

Sue said "Janis is downstairs waiting to see you Miss." She started to arrange pillows to help Ben sit up. She was very efficient. I chuckled and went down stairs. Angel was still there and talking to Janis.

Grandmother came up to me "How is Ben? I did not think it best for me to look in on him. Seeing what happened."

I smiled "He is fine, we will soon have a professional opinion on that. I will tell him the whole story I am sure he will not hold you responsible." We went over to Angel and Janis. "Hi Bens still in bed if you want to see him? I am not letting him out till you clear him. Having been near death myself I know how draining it can be."

Janis said "I will go up in a moment. I think both of you could use a down day but by the look on your face that is not going to happen. So I will just say take it easy as you can. I will go up now."

I said "Dori there will take you up and get you anything you need." Off Janis went.

Angel said "That was a great nightgown last night. Was that satin?"

I chuckled "Like everything I own it is made from the weave. It is made to imitate satin though. I love the feel don't you." We gabbed on about clothes and what the weave can do. We both knew we were just talking to stall till Janis came back down. Soon she came down. She came over. I asked "Well how is he?"

She smiled "Right to the point. He should stay in bed today and off work for two more days but the prognosis is very good. There seems to be no side effects so far. Have him see me at my place on Wednesday. Other than that Don't baby him too much. As long as I am here and both of you are lets have a looks see at that baby bumps." A half hour later I was done and having breakfast when she got done with Angel. She said "Other than Angel needing better clothes you both are in good shape. Due date middle of the fall quarter. Now on another matter That maid Tasha I would like her to spend 1 day a week with me working on her healing ability."

I said "Tuesday or Thursday are her open days. She works with Trixie on Saturday." I stopped Sue "Ask Tasha to step out here a moment please." Just a moment later Tasha was there.

Janis said "Tasha I would like you to work with me on Thursdays to work on your healing ability. How dose that sound to you?"

Tasha smiled "I would be honored to do that Miss."

Janis said "Good be at my place at 10 am On Thursdays from now on." she turned to the rest of us "Well I'm off. Good day all."

I looked at Tasha "Another step towards your dream of being a midwife, Congratulation. Work hard and it will happen."

Tasha could not stop smiling. "Yes Miss, Thank you Miss." she went back into the kitchen. I smiled at her happiness. I spotted Josie and walked over to her.

I said "Josie are you ready to get caught up with the class? I have time to help you now."

Josie said "I'll get my book." And that's what we did for the rest of the day. I taught her how to make a outfit bracelet, bag of holing and a staff of dark flame. I also taught her the wing spell. It was a full day. We finished just as dinner was being called.