Jasmine found contentment in the decision she made, choosing the appropriate gift for Ecko had been an exhausting experience, and the sorceress hoped it had been the right one; it was never an easy task selecting another being’s wand, it was generally unheard of, and the magix item had to be the right fit, however, with the purchase-receipt, and her standing in the community, making an exchange would be no problem.

The sorceress paid extra for gift-wrapping, and tipped the stuard when he loaded the packages. With the reins in her hand, the magix elder placed a thumb to the side of her nose, and creature and being and carriage disappeared; there were forty-five minutes before she was due at the banquet hall, and there was no time for taking the long way to Crennec Peninsula…

Two seconds later, the sorceress and creature and wagon arrived in front of the hall, and she pulled gently on the reins to stop. Azleal greeted his mother outside, and helped with getting her things inside; several family members were tasked with keeping Ecko distracted from the party-planning, and they took the princess to see the afternoon matineè. Still, there would come a time when Ecko would arrive, and her mother needed to start setting everything up.

When the royal elf and her doting family members left the cinema, their first stop was Devereux Manor in order to do a change of clothes, and then, they were off to the peninsula. Each of the females sang to the radio until they arrived at the end of Devereux Road at the Ground Transportation Unit, and the princess had to speak to the Guardian Bugara. Then, the volume went down, out of respect for the conductor, and the princess told the female spirit where everyone was bound; taking the long way around to the banquet hall without the use of magix was Alivia’s idea, and had been executed in order to give Jasmine more time to finish.

In the spirit of the Gift-Giving Season, and Ecko’s birthday, the sorceress made a grand gesture with her left index finger then, it began to snow as the family carriage arrived. Bundled up tightly in hats and gloves and scarves, the female elves with the princess braved the cold air in order to enter the building, and the royal one placed the horse in an available stall.

Stepping into the banquet hall, she had been expecting there to be elves hidden underneath furniture pieces and behind cabnetry doors waiting to spring out to surprise her, but everyone gathered there stood on their feet cheering, instead. As she looked around at the familiar faces, one in particular stood out, and she rushed to hug the king.

Kouper arrived alone, the gift was singularly his own, and out of respect for the princess, he offered no excuses regarding the queen; as she grew up, Ecko learned her mother was not the kind to participate, and it had been established that he would refrain from talking about Luna whenever an invitation was answered by his presence.

Using the wand for the first time, Ecko noticed how it felt in her hand, and in her opinion, Jasmine chose well. The entire length was no more than that of her own forearm, and its slender design made concealment an easy task; it could be placed out of sight quickly by putting it up a sleeve if necessary, and the princess enjoyed that idea.

Casting the initial spell took some time, but that was to be expected since the wand was new; anyone, no matter how well-versed they were, would need time to get used to a brand-new magix item, and that included the most powerful elders. The second spell was easier to conjure, the princess knew it would be, and she danced a jig when it worked.

“Azleal, I know you hate it when I ask you to be my guinnea-pig, but I’ll never get a real feel for this thing if I don’t have an actual target. You know? Someone that’s made of flesh and blood, and I will be forever grateful if you’d be that for me,” the princess said.

“Now, I know that you have lost your ever-loving mind, and I have no problems telling you, ‘not no, but hell no’. I’ve done all manner of things for you since mamma adopted you, but that is where I draw the line,” the demon replied.

“Please, brother, I need your help, and according to the rules, you are not allowed to tell me, ‘no’. You do remember the rules, don’t you? I know you do, and I’ll get mamma involved if you want,” Ecko threatened.

“Yes, I remember the rules, and nowhere in them do they say that, ‘I have to be your guinea-pig’. Now find someone else,” he argued.

“Our mother wrote those rules herself, I’ve studied them, and according to - -” her words were cut-short.

“I know all of the rules, and the consequences of not following them. Give me a few minutes, it’s cold outside, and I’m not dressed for the weather,” her brother said.

They left their mother a note letting her know of their whereabouts, and left the manor; there was a small elven hut built beside the arena, Jasmine knew they would one day utilize this home-away-from-home, and had it installed for them when the princess was seventeen years old. The hut had room for everything needed for whatever they were working on, and with it beside the arena, their mother always knew where they would be; after the accident that took Jerrardo’s life, there was a law-suit against the wheel manufacturer, which the sorceress won, and the victory ensured none of her family members would ever need money, again. This also allowed the building of “Tranquility Springs”, and aided in the funding of their get-away.

The hut was located deep inside the southern forest on estate grounds, and they left a key under the mat for the door. After she unlocked it, Ecko stepped inside, and she flipped on the light switch; the room in front of the princess lit-up, and the demon followed her in, closing the door.

Azleal left wood beside the fireplace several months before when the weather was still warm, and he stacked some inside; he remembered to always be prepared, and removed the lighter from his jeans pocket. He struck the flint, the wick caught fire, and he lit a small stick that immediately went onto the dry stack. When the fire caught, there was a chimney which disposed of smoke, and they were able to warm themselves.

There were several rooms in the hut, the elf had a couple she claimed as her own, and the demon had the same. She went into the restroom which was hers, and there, she changed clothes. When the princess emerged, she wore an outfit for fighting, and she waited in the main room for her brother. His bathroom was located across the hall from hers, and he went in to change; leaving, he turned off the light, and closed the door. He stood in the hallway for a breath or two, the demon was going to subject himself to an entirely different realm when it came to pain, and needed time to mentally prepare, because what he was about to do was surely going to hurt.

When he stepped into the room with the princess, Azleal removed his shirt, crossed to the other side, and stood against the wall; she had already prepared by placing spells and castings ingredients on the end of her wand, and she spoke words from the ancient language. If she used the correct combination, he would turn into whatever it was she wanted, and there was no physical harm to him, however, if the words were wrong, the impact of the misspoken spell would remove chunks of flesh from his hide, and that was beyond any reasonable aspect of pain, in his opinion.

Still, he had been created to protect her, and the most important rule he had to follow was to do what she said, no matter what; most of the time, the princess made reasonable requests, and he did not mind filling them. Other times, she asked things of the demon that made his skin crawl, but he was not allowed to refuse her; during those experiences, he removed himself from the situation mentally, and prayed to the goddesses above that she would tire soon.

The afternoon they were testing her wand was one of those days in which he would pray, and that was unlike a demon who once existed in the underworld. He loved Ecko as though she were his twin sister, he would die for her on her word, but wanted to send her to an orphanage when his flesh was on the line.

Azleal was grateful to his sister when he looked at his body, and there were no marks made upon his skin; when he would mentally escape, he heard nothing, and could not feel a thing. Bringing himself back from the beachfront he escaped to in his mind took less time than a single heartbeat took to pass, and his senses returned to normal.

Ecko would send a telepathic message to her brother, his senses may have been turned off when he would escape, but there was no running from something that was stored deep inside his brain; it was their only form of contact when he would disconnect from the current reality, and was the only way to bring him back.

Once she made contact, he appeared in no time flat, and they went to separate rooms to change; it was getting to be time for dinner, and household rules were not to be late for the third meal. There was nothing left in the pots sitting upon the stove, if they were not there, and nothing else would be made until morning; neither of them ever missed a meal their mother served, and they were not about to start.

When they arrived at the manor, both were excited about the work they accomplished, and forgot to remove their muddy boots before entering; Jasmine mopped the kitchen earlier, however at that moment the floor was a mess, and the sorceress was livid.

“I’ve told the both of you about wearing your damn shoes in the house since you were kids, I just scrubbed this floor from front to back, and y’all come in here making it all muddy! Just who the hell do you think you are?!” Their mother shouted.

“Oh, mamma, we are so very sorry,” the princess said.

“Yes, ma’am we both are, and I’ll scrub it for you, again. We have been excited to tell you about your decision for choosing Ecko’s wand, and we were not thinking about the floor,” Azleal said.

“What do you mean? Did I make the wrong choice? I’ve been waiting to find out,” Jasmine said.

“Mamma, do you think we would’ve forgotten about our shoes if you made a bad decision?” The princess said.

“Well, I should hope not, I mean, after all, I raised you both better than that, and I’d hope y’all would not do this to my floors without a good reason. And, let me apologize for my language,” she told them.

“Just so that you know, mamma, the choice you made for my wand was excellent. The way it fits in my hand, it’s like slipping on a glove, and I could go on all night about how much I love the fact that I can hide it easily, if necessary, however, with all the peace-lovers not creating war, I’m not sure if I’ll ever need to utilize that aspect of it. You may not realize it, but concealment can be a very awesome thing. It’s not as important as the other features, but it would be nice to have a reason for it. Of course, that’s not to say that I’d like to go to war, but - - Well, you know what I mean,” Ecko said.

“We know what you mean, but eat your dinner. The floors are still waiting,” their mother said.

After finishing their meal, the princess and demon placed their dishes in the sink, and promised to wash them. He stacked the chairs upside down on the table, and she took the handle of the broom; in the time they were eating, the wet mud dried, and the floors needed to be swept. While his sister was taking care of the dirt, Azleal got the mop-bucket, and prepared it with soap and water for mopping; since they were both responsible for the mess, they needed to decide who would mop, and they played, “Rock-paper-scissors” to decide that he was doing the chore. Ecko went to the sink, and filled one side with hot soapy water; others had incorporated dish-washing machines into their homes, but the sorceress chose to wash her dishes by hand, therefore, her children did the same.

As time passed, each of the princess’s eight sisters learned the requirements for their bonding rituals, and they took the place of the magix trainers who had been teaching them; since Ecko and Azleal were the oldest, they set an example, and the royal siblings followed it. Whenever one of them had questions, they knew communicating was a telepathic connection away, and someone was always there to support them no matter the hour.

Helani learned what she could about magix from her husband, but since he did not know the rituals, she was the one who reached out the most; Hoosal taught his wife everything he knew about the craft, however, there were certain things only the future planetary queen was capable of helping her with.

When the fifth royal daughter would contact Ecko, their communications built a bond between these sisters that grew stronger as the days of their lives passed, and this connection was unbreakable; sometimes, the future queen would sacrifice more years from her life, and she would travel, using magix, to Amarol.

The younger sibling was grateful to her sister when she would make the trip, and to show gratitude, the tables were full of the princess’s favorite foods; kitchen staff members had a menu, and they made everything precisely. Everyone wanted to assist in making the future queen feel welcome, it did not matter how often she would come, and they would have cooked for Ecko’s entire adopted family if they had come with her. Of course, she was not supposed to use the craft for personal gain, and everyone took a vow of secrecy.

After having something hot to eat, the princess and her fourth sister and Xulla made their exits, the royal and her demon needed assistance, and it was the princess who would help them. The three females went to Helani’s secret alcove on the fifth continent, and the royal brought treats for the tree-spirit, Alanya; this guardian enjoyed silver-plated trinkets, and the royal one had plenty to spare.

The royals spoke for a moment in order to establish what the issue was, and the princess found the solution; the young one was making a stirring motion with her wand, but the requirement was for a sweeping one. When the correction had been made, her personal demon also participated in their ritual, and the two beings became one before Ecko's eyes. A reversal of the ancient-worded spell, along with the correct counter-clockwise action of her wand, and Xulla stood beside Helani, again.

"Little one, you have caused our entire family to feel nothing, but joy since you've been learnin' magix especially, since you were not gifted with the craft. Mamma Jasmine wants to know if you're available on the weekends, she needs a few tutors to help some students who were born without any gifts, and feels they might be able to identify with you better because of your similar traits, or lack thereof," the princess said.

I can get my schedule changed if she really thinks I could help," she offered.

"If it won't be a problem with your boss, mamma will be forever indebted to you both," the older sister replied.

"There's no reason to be, I've recently been given complete job security, and Deandre has been lookin' for an excuse to test it. No, I'm teasin' about the testin' the security of my employment status, however, one of the requirements for my promotion is that I must gain personal experience with children outside of my family members, and tutoring failing magix students is right up my alley. I mean, seein' as how my job is search and rescue, I cannot climb the ladder, so to speak unless I start incorporatin' rescues involvin' children into my calls," Helani explained.

"I'll let mom know that you'll be in contact with her whenever you've got the first weekend off, however, don't wait until Friday to reach out, Jasmine is a stickler for notice in advance, and she will wring both our necks if you don't give her at least two days notice. As long as everything here is good, I've got to get home, and I love you," the princess said.

The royal sisters bid each other fair well, and Ecko disappeared from sight; there was light still left in the sky, but darkness was beginning to creep in. After the incident with the kitchen floors, the princess had been minding her manners, and running late was not conducive to her mother's being in a good mood; making up for the mistake was not mandatory, abiding by household rules made her mother happy, and that was the future queen's ultimate goal.

© P. L. Watson-Atwell