Young Witch (Book #1, Young Witch Series)

Chapter 1

"But papa!" She cried as she was dragged back from the split in the curtain she had been looking through, "I wasn't going into the ball!"

"Jessamine, how many times had I told you that you cannot attend the balls?" Her father asked, bending down to look into her eyes, "Not until you're older."

"But Papa, I'm six now!" She said, standing up to her full height and looking him in the eye, "You let Conrad attend! He's younger than me!"

"And he's the heir to the family business, and his bed time is in a few more minutes. You can attend when you're older. Girls don't attend balls at your age."

"But papa!" Jessamine tried again, only to be cut off.

"Jessamine, that's enough." Her father stood up and towered over her, forcing her to tip her head back to look at him, "It's time for you to leave now."

She let her head hang, "Yes papa."

"I'll see you before I leave in the morning. Goodnight Jessamine."

"Night papa." But her had already strode back into the ballroom, smiling the smile he reserved for guests, never for her.

"You're slipping." A soft voice said from the shadows, "You should not have let so much time come between sneaking into the balls."

Jessamine spun around, "Hello Creature. My nurse wouldn't fall asleep any quicker." She pouted.

The Creature, as he was known to Jessamine and her family, hissed in laughter, "You need to work on slipping away before that youngling." He advised, gliding slowly into the patch of light left from the gap in the curtains to the ballroom Lord Devall had pushed through moments before. "You never know when you may need to."

"Do you See a time when I need to?" She asked, curious, "I thought you couldn't do Seer magic?"

"I can't." he replied, "But I know you and your love of adventure and trouble."

The young girl grinned, "I'll learn." She said stubbornly.

They stayed in silence for a minute, neither making a movement to go back to what they were supposed to be doing, Lady Jessamine Green, to bed, and The Creature to help with the magical demonstrations happening in the ballroom.

"Creature," Said Jessamine at last, "Do you have a real name?"

He looked at her, shocked, "Of course I do mistress."

"Why don't I know it?"

"Nobody ever asked before." He said simply.

"I'm asking."

"Tanza."

"No last name?" She asked, looking him over.

"No."

"Well, goodnight Tanza." She said, turning to skip out the back of the room and off to her bed.

"Goodnight Lady Jessamine." He whispered.

The next day, Jessamine snuck into the ballroom after the servants had finished cleaning up.

"Tanza?" She called softly, "Are you here?"

"I am." He said, gliding down from the rafters of the great hall.

Tanza was huge, thought Jessamine, and scary. Well, she amended, to everyone but her. Even her beloved papa was scared of Tanza. Jessamine had no idea why, Tanza was funny. He had lots of long black arms, and a strong body, and a round head, with two white eyes, and stringy black hair and he seemed to always be floating underwater, making his arms and hair wave about him all the time. Jessamine knew he couldn't really have the many arms, but he could move them all in different directions, and he didn't have any legs, so she called them his arms. He barely moved his mouth while talking, but she had seen the sharp pointed teeth that he had, and still wasn't scared.

Tanza had been the one to make her laugh through many ceremonies in this ballroom, by waving her arms around him, and making different guests do strange things, like have their hair fall down, and simply return to normal, and set people's chairs rocking, and put the missing piece of chair leg back when they looked. Tanza was magic.

All of the men in Jessamine's family were magic too, and Jessamine thought that because she and her twin Conrad were born at the same time, she could be too, which was why she wanted to talk to Tanza.

"What can I do for you Lady Jessamine?" Tanza asked, stopping close to the floor for the girl, he was intrigued by someone so young that held no fear for him. She had inherited the rich brown hair from her mother, and grey eyes from her father, but the stubborn set to the chin was all her own.

"Can I do magic?" She asked, "Papa can, and he says Conrad can, but Conrad and I are the same age, so I should be able to too, but papa said no."

"Do you want to?" Tanza asked, surprised by her question.

"Yes. I want to do what Papa does for people and help them." Tanza thought she should retain her innocence of her father. Lord Devall was not at all caring, for anything but his oldest son Conrad, and his ability to make people marvel over his small magical talent. Lord Devall did not help people, other than those who could afford to be helped.

"Well then, do you like to work?" Tanza asked, determined to teach this small girl properly, not like the ideals of her family.

"Yes." Came the reply.

"I have a lesson for you. One for each year you study magic. It will take you that long to master them." He warned.

Jessamine thought for a moment, "Okay."

"Here is this year's lesson." Tanza said, straightening up and rising a bit more off the ground, "If you want to do something magically, you first have to be able to do it without magic."

"What does that mean?" Jessamine asked, confused.

"It means if you want to sweep a floor by magic, you first have to be able to sweep the floor by yourself, without magic to help you. If you can't sweep a floor well by yourself, you won't be able to by magic either." Tanza explained.

Jessamine looked thoughtful, "Can that be used for anything?" She asked seriously.

"Yes."

"Where can I learn how to do things like that?" She asked him.

"I'd try the servants." Tanza advised, "They do it every day."

"Thank you Tanza!" She cried, already running from the room in her excitement.

"Good luck Lady Jessamine!" He called out toher. He hoped she'd have the will to succeed.