It was all so silly, really. Six years she had slept, every day she woke up, hoping it was all a bad dream, and every day she was disappointed. The golden sparks, the strange magic, the hair that never fell out of place, the handsome stranger.
Sweet Oz, the handsome stranger! Lady Elphaba, her brothers' mother, had warned her. She had told her when Alice was born, and again when Zach was born, and she had told Zeki the story of what happened to her mother.
The story was a bad one, especially these days, when Animal-Talkers were as hated as they were. It was dangerous, to be a creature like her mother.
And today was Zeki's eighteenth birthday. It was her time to come of age, to take on the mantle of being a Shapeshifter.
Apparently, on her eighteenth birthday, her golden sparks should have turned into silver-white ones. She should have become slightly more flexible, gaining more control over her powers. And she should have been able to recall memories from before her birth.
None of that had happened. It had been six years, and she was exactly the same as she had been yesterday.
Her golden sparks, which were more of a trick of the light, sometimes lasted for minutes, other times for hours. Sometimes, when she was angry or happy, they seemed to grow brighter. It was all so terribly disappointing.
More than the way her magic stubbornly refused to progress, she was worried about her family.
Any misstep on her part could result in them being known as Misfits- people who had used magic without legal consent. It would mean all their deeds would be looked down upon, all their futures would be compromised, all their bloodlines tarnished.
She was to be the next Shapeshifter, meaning all the Shapeshifters' hopes rested on her shoulders.
She was worried about them. She was worried she couldn't perform magic like the others, that she couldn't gain control of her powers. That she would be content to just be a lady's maid.
She knew she should be happy. She was the next in line, and after her came her sisters, then her brothers. And after them, everyone in the Shapeshifter family would have their uses.
But there was those sparks of a few inches, and their incompatibility with the charming family she was born into was incredibly frustrating.
Today was her eighteenth birthday, finally. Alice had brought it up several times, her golden sparks were different, and her parents had confirmed it.
Zeki had woken with her blankets and her sheets twisted in knots, her fingernails bitten and her hair in tangles.
And she was quite sure she felt the same before coming to the realization that this was her eighteenth birthday.
Instead of the wretched golden sparks, Zeki had a strange, amber-colored one. While they were smaller, they still seemed infuriatingly bright. It was almost as if they had been deliberately weakened, she was certain she could feel a touch of magical attraction.
"Good morning, Miss Zeki," Mrs. Upton greeted her as she entered the room. "I'm glad to see you awake. I was starting to worry. And your hair is not in a knot!"
Zeki smiled at the comfortable older woman. They had known each other well before Zeki was brought to Chelby Manor. The Shapeshifters had steered a path away from the less than allied families as fast as they could.
"I apologize, Miss Zeki," Mrs. Upton apologized. "I know you can't taste the magic anymore, we must have grown accustomed to your powers. It is just that you look impatient, today."
"Oh." Zeki wiped away the tear that had trickled down her cheek and pulled the covers up to her chin. She knew that Mrs. Upton would happily fix anything that she wanted fixed.
In the past three years, she had become quite close to her nurse. In the privacy of her thoughts, she knew it was a big, if not the biggest, thing in her life. Mrs. Upton cared more about her than anyone else did.
Alice and Zach had grand futures in store for them. It was a pity, it had surpassed their expectations, Zeki thought. And that was the best choice they could have made.
It was wonderful how her parents were willing to go through so much trouble for her.
It was a pity, she was certain, that there was something wrong with her. She was positive that her powers were weak, that she had no control over them.
While her siblings were growing into intelligent, graceful people, she was still trapped in the childish tantrum's and tantrums. She was a grown woman in a grown woman's body who couldn't even cook a pie and whose hair was only half red.
She was an embarrassment to the Shapeshifter family, and no one doubted it. She might as well be dead, for the good of those around her, for the good of the family name.
She had learned that much, six years ago. If she had had magical powers, she would be conversing with the captain of the guard. If she had had magical powers, she would have enchanted him with her beauty. If she had had magical powers, he would have been enchanted by her beauty.
But, of course, she was a misfit.
She knew, of course, that her mother had been a misfit, and a Shapeshifter.
Alice had told her that her Grandmother had been a Misfit and had done things her parents thought were quite scary. And Mrs. Upton had obviously known her mother, which was why the old woman had warned her when she was born.
Her mother had used her magic, that was why she had been killed.
Maybe that was why there was something wrong with her. Maybe that was why she couldn't perform the magic her sisters and brothers could. Maybe that was why she just wanted to be with her nurse.
"If I do this, will you really not cry?" Mrs. Upton pressed her lips together as she finished the buttons on the dress. "I know you hate it when I do this."
Zeki sighed. She hated it when she was forced to wear dresses, she had told her nanny that it was quite unnecessary. She wouldn't meet her future husband anytime soon.
She was wrong, of course. She would meet someone today. After all, it was her eighteenth birthday.
"You always look so beautiful, Miss Zeki," Mrs. Upton rubbed her hands together, the talon-like nails clicking against one another.
"I'm not beautiful," Zeki mumbled.
Mrs. Upton stopped. "Of course you are," she said. "And whatever has you moping about needs to be corrected. The rain has finally subsided, so you are allowed to go out to the rose garden. And you need a change of scenery, you are too pale," she said. "Is it the rain? Or the lack of sun?"
Zeki bit her lip. It wasn't the rain, she had stayed in her room for four days because of the rain. It wasn't the lack of sun, she had been in her room because of the sun.
And who would meet her there, anyways?
Mrs. Upton huffed. "Take a rose with you. You need sun and fresh air. And one of your brothers will be waiting at the door. He will make sure you don't have any problems getting there."
Zeki looked at her nurse. "I can go by myself," she pointed out.
"Miss Zeki, two weeks ago you walked off the path, and you had no idea where you were going. I know your brothers have been training you. And I also know how hard you have tried to get used to your powers. But this is your birthday. You should be in the gardens, not under your covers. This is your birthday. This is your time."
"Fine," she let Mrs. Upton lead her out of her room.
"You will be fine," Mrs. Upton promised. "But you will be late. I am not late, you are."
When Zeki entered the gardens, she heard the unmistakable sound of whistling.
She approached a bench, leaning against the cherry trees. As she approached, she could clearly hear what he was whistling.
One of the lyrics.
"To have a place in the sun," it was actually the chorus for the song.
The man was handsome, she conceded as she took a seat. He had a nice smile, a kind smile. His words were beautiful, and the way he spoke had a strange lilt to it. He was smoking his pipe, which was relaxing, she liked the smell of it. And his leather jerkin smelled like he himself wore a good deal of leather.
He was a Shapeshifter. So he could smell things that she couldn't. He could cast spells and play tricks.
But he was charming, she thought.
And he was smoking his pipe.
Could his pipe, she wondered, be cursed?
She had never heard of anyone with a pipe smoking only bad dreams.
