Leandra knew only that her father had been killed by 'bad men' when she was young, and that her mother kept secrets. It was probably the former that fueled her anger at injustice, leading her to become a defender of the local farms, challenging wolf and outlaw alike.
At 17, cleaning a corner of her home, she noticed for the first time that an animal skin in the corner hid several floorboards beneath. Under them was a hole that concealed a large wooden box.
The book inside was written in her father's hand, and remembering her lessons she could make out some of what was written. Enough to know that it was magic. Enough to know that this book was the answer to the restlessness, the alienation, that she had felt all her life. She was mageborn.
Illus. © Eric Pommer, 2003