A New Arrival

Biara sat at a desk in her study, reading and re-reading the letters she had received, a look of pure horror and disbelief on her face. The social invitations, the congratulations, and the legal documents all could not be denied. Someone had tricked her, someone had forged her name and legally coerced her into claiming ownership over a ratty orphan from the slums of Silvermoon! The girl was in HER spire right now, enjoying the privileges that came with being a member of House Dayfire.

Someone, somewhere was going to die for what they had done.

The temperature in the room plummeted as Biara's temper grew. Ice coated the walls and glass shattered all over the room as expensive knickknacks and other precious objects burst from the extreme cold. The door cracked and the wood of Biara's desk creaked with freezing ice as she sat before it, shaking in anger.

She rose, whirling away from the desk as the letters there froze to the wood, shattering to pieces. It mattered little, she had no intention of answering any of the correspondence. She would have to correct matters on her own somehow, as soon as she figured out a way to save face. She stormed from the room, marching through the spire towards the chambers that had been assigned to the orphan girl. She didn't have far to go, as an adopted daughter of the Mistress of the spire had quarters quite close to her mother's. When she arrived, she found the rooms empty, and paused in confusion. Her attention was attracted to the sounds of breaking glass and a small crump of an explosion one floor below. The Magistrix rushed towards the nearest staircase, running full speed to head off the disaster she heard below.

She arrived at the entrance to one of her laboratories, the door partially ajar. As she laid a hand on the door, she heard a furious voice from behind the door, another crump of magical detonation, and a small giggle.

"No! No! Don't touch that! That's not for children!" an alarmed laboratory assistant shouted as another crump signaled the magical destruction of an alchemy table.

"Noooooooo! My experiment!!!" The voice wailed before trailing off. More childish giggling could be heard for a moment and Biara pressed her eye to the door, peering in without being seen. A small red-haired Sin'dorei girl stood in the center of the room, an immensely powerful magical wand in her hand. No one but a highly trained magister should be able to even handle the object, let alone summon it's power. The little girl giggled again and pointed the wand, destroying a valuable magical experiment that had been set up on a far table. Glass shattered and small flames licked at the shattered equipment. Another giggle errupted from the girl as the lab assistant ran over to that side of the room, practically tearing his own hair out in frustration.

One of Biara's hands went to her mouth as she tried to hold in a giggle of her own. Her senses reached out and she could feel the magic in the air as the little child played. It was wild and uncontrolled, but she was clearly gifted, for a three year old. Small fel green eyes looked over at the door, spotting Biara's own through the crack. The little girl tilted her head and said, "Mommy?"

Biara's breath caught in her throat for a minute as the little girl looked at her. The moment seemed to stretch forever before a servant came up behind Biara and gently cleared her throat.

"What should we do with the girl, mistress?"

Never taking her eyes from the girl, Biara responded, "She is to be given toys to play with. Magical in nature. And proper clothing. I want her moved to the rooms adjoining mine so that I can learn more about her."

Biara turned and walked away from the door, her face turned so that the servant could not see the tears that unexpectedly had appeared in her eyes.

"Mistress, what's the girl to be called?"

Without turning, Biara responded over her shoulder, receding deeper into the spire. "Astariel. She is Astariel Dayfire... my daughter."

A new heir had arrived.