“My necklace changed colors!” Her mother looked at her with a mischievous grin. “Are you sure? I thought it was purple the whole time.” “Mum, it was red. What are you not telling me?” Her mother sighed. “You might want to sit down for this.” Andromeda did as she was told. “I was going to tell you tomorrow at lunch, but I guess now is as good a time as ever. When it was my 16th birthday, my mother sat me down and had the same talk that I’m having with you now. This necklace isn’t just a necklace. It’s a magical item called an enhancement charm. Many centuries ago, magic was thriving. Our family was one of the most powerful. Your grandmother of many, many years ago was being married off, but she was in love with a simple peasant boy. He taught her about magic and showed her how to tamper with the magic within herself. They spent hours and hours together, practicing magic. He gave her this necklace which was a reminder of all of their time together, and their secret about the magic and their undying love for one another. The day she was to be wed, your grandmother put on the necklace. As she looked in her mirror, it turned blue. It was just a regular crystal necklace before. She looked in the box and the note fell out. It said ‘Never stop learning. You are more powerful than you know. Love Jacob.’ She knew that Jacob was most likely dead, so she married your grandfather. Once they had been married for a while, she showed him the magic. Soon they had children together, and they had been blessed with two boys and one girl. She taught them all about magic, but it was clear that only her daughter Charlotte had shown true potential. The boys continued their studies while their sister was taken to a very special school where she would be taught by the best magical warriors in the world. She was twenty-six when she returned and the beautiful home she knew and loved was gone. They lived under the rule of a terrible king. He believed that being magical was a curse and they needed to be cured of it, but Charlotte wanted her home back. She went back to the school and asked for support, but they gave her none. They were too scared to do anything. She went back to the kingdom and marched into the castle and asked to see the king. She got thrown out of the castle, but then remembered something from her childhood. 

After having a sudden realization, she snuck into the castle’s garden and found the king sitting under the pavilion next to a pond. “Beautiful day isn’t it, Brother?”

“Wait, hold on. Her brother?” Andromeda asked. “You never said that she was royalty.  Why would you withhold that type of information? It gives me more questions, like why didn’t she stay with Jacob or stay at the school?” 

“If you listen I'll tell you. As I was saying before you interrupted me, Charlotte went to the garden and found her brother. 

“Charlotte,” he said, “I knew you’d be back. I just hadn’t expected to see you so soon.”  Charlotte slowly approached her brother. “Well, I received word that father had fallen ill and mother sent for me. Said I was to come home immediately. Christopher wrote to me every day, Thomas. Did you know that? Why didn’t you, did you even miss me? I figured that you would at least write on holidays, maybe even my birthday, but no. Why not?” 

“After Mother sent your gift for your 16th birthday, she went back to her childhood home. She said it was just for a small break, but then father got sick and everyone thought she did it for his crown. Not Christopher though. He thought she was innocent. Father had been growing old, and I was the eldest so naturally, I inherited the crown when he passed. Christopher finished his studies abroad and mother has never returned. Only sends a letter the day of father’s death every year. It made me start to wonder. And then all of the sudden you show up, wearing the necklace she always wore, except it’s different, isn’t it? See Mothers’ was blue, but yours is red. Now, why is that? So I went to some of the elders and asked about that school. Turns out it’s a magic school. And that thing you wear around your neck is an object of magic. I learned what the different types of magic are and how dangerous some of them can be. The most common is green, then comes red, but blue. Blue is the rarest of them all, except for purple, which has never been seen. You took away the most precious thing to me. Now I’m going to take away your most precious thing. Your magic.” 

“For years the king tried to defeat her and the magic but there were too many people that rallied with her and eventually she overthrew him. Her army has only gotten stronger. And the best of the best are trained in private sessions by family. Once they hand down their item, they are put into a different branch, which I’m not allowed to say anything else about. You are the next in our family line. You are the next of the Sororibus Magicae.”

“What is Sororibus Magicae? What does it even mean?” asked Andromeda. Her mother looked at her with a very serious look. “It is Latin for the Magic Sisters. Thousands of amazing young girls like yourself have dedicated their lives to the studies of magic. We protect ourselves and our families by staying underground. We don’t talk about it and no one that isn’t in the group knows about us.” Andromeda looks up at her mother and asks her a serious question. “Mum, who are we staying hidden from?” Her mother looked panicked as if she had said too much. “What I am about to say must never be repeated to anyone outside of the group, do you understand me? Not even to your brothers.” She looked at her mother and for a moment saw a flash of fear in her eyes. “I understand. Who are we hiding from?” Her mother glanced around the room to see if anyone was there before she continued. “Thomas. We are hiding from Thomas.” 

“But how, that was so long ago. He can’t possibly still be alive, can he?” For the first time, Andromeda felt the feeling of pure fear. “Not only is he alive, but he has become very powerful in the dark arts. He intends to get rid of all good and use his dark magic to rule the whole world. There is a prophecy, only a purple can defeat him. The prophecy says that the first of the magic line must be a blue, and after many generations of other magics, a purple would be born, be trained in the arts at the age of sixteen, and defeat Thomas and his followers of darkness.” Andromeda felt dizzy. “This isn’t me. I don’t know anything and now I’m supposed to save the world? Why does it have to be me? Aren’t there any other girls that fit the prophecy?” Her mother looked at her with a sorry look. “This isn’t fair to you. I know that, but what I also know is that you are capable of things you didn’t think possible. Have you ever noticed that when you are around water, it does what you want, and sometimes you see paintings move? Or how you are so honest? That is what being a blue is. Being a red is about love and passion and war. I can also control and create fire. Then there’s what being a purple is. Using the magic of the other colors to lead them. You get parts of all of the colors magic, but the bit that makes you the rarest, is the ability to control objects with your mind. This is called telekinesis.” 

“But mum, how do you know it is me? I mean, isn’t there some other way you can tell?” Her mother sighed. “No, not yet, but the prophecy says that when the time comes for the final battle to take place, the purple’s true colors shall be revealed.” Andromeda looked confused. “Wait. True colors? What do you mean? What other color would they be? “When the time comes, the purple’s item will turn back into a crystal, signifying that she is the true leader and the descendant of the first magic in our people. Only then will he truly be defeated and she will take her place on the council of colors as their ruler. That’s what the prophecy says.” Andromeda got up and looked at herself in the mirror. “How am I supposed to save the world from my evil relative? I would have had to start training when I first started walking.” Andromeda said. “No, you need an outsider's view and battle strategies that you come up with on your own. This is why you’ve been learning military strategy and military history. You’ve had your fair share of training on the battlefield. You’ve been a great soldier since you were thirteen.” All of the sudden, a young servant came into the room. “Your highness, they are expecting you.” Andromeda’smother got up and went to the ballroom. 

Andromeda looked at herself in the mirror. She looked at the pink ball gown her mother had laid out for her. Pink was never her color. It didn’t match her skin. She walked over to her wardrobe and picked out a lovely purple gown with an equally beautiful purple corset. She called for her handmaiden to help her with the gown. She took her hair out of the rollers and chose a gorgeous gold crown that had purple gems embedded in it. She put on her heels and headed towards the ballroom. Her mother was waiting for her at the top of the stairs just off to the side so she was out of sight. “You look gorgeous poppet. Although, what happened to the dress I had laid out for you? I thought you loved that one.” Andromeda looked down at her gown and then back to her mother. “I do love that dress, but it reminds me more of summertime, frolicking around the castle. This one makes me look mature.” Her mother smiled at her. “You are absolutely right, but where did you find that dress? I don’t remember ever seeing it before tonight.” Andromeda looked at the dress with a bitter sweet smile. “Father brought it back from France. He said he saw it and thought of me immediately. He knew it wouldn’t fit me. He wanted me to grow into it. On his last trip, he sent a note back to me saying that he didn’t expect to make it home, and that it was my job to keep the family together and happy.” Her mother looked at her sadly. “You were so young. That was wrong of him to ask such a big thing of you, but I’m glad he did. Without you, I would never have been happy again. You did exactly that. You saved this family. Now, there’s a lot of people waiting for you. Let’s go downstairs. Shall we?”

As she was mingling with a group of young men, and chatting with the guests there, Andromeda was startled by her mother grabbing her by the arm. “Good evening gentlemen. Having a good time?” After murmurs of affirmations, her mother continued. “You’ll have to excuse me, but I’m afraid I must take the princess from you. There are some important matters that we need to discuss. I bid you farewell and safe travels .” Her mother walked with her towards the stairs, her pace hurried. She stopped and faced the crowd. She looked to Andromeda to speak. As Andromeda looked around the room at the faces surrounding her, she felt a shiver down her spine. “I would like to thank you all for attending, and I hope that everyone enjoyed themselves. I wish you all safe travels on your way home. Farewell everyone, and again, thank you for attending.” She turned towards her mother and saw that she had a single drop of sweat running quickly down her forehead. “Mum, are you alright? You look as though you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“Not exactly. I’ve just received word that there’s been an attack on our sister kingdom, Ibethia.” Andromeda’s face went pale. “So that means…” she started. “Yes. He’s on his way. Thomas is back.

“Come, we haven’t much time. I’ve already had your things packed, although we will be traveling light due to what little time we have. You only have what is absolutely necessary. The carriage is already prepared as well. As for me, I only have one trunk.” 

“Mum, I don’t understand. We are leaving already? Shouldn’t we tell…” 

“No. We cannot tell anyone. You brother shall rule during my absence with his fiance at his side. I know not how long we will be gone, or when I shall return. I know only this, I cannot stay with you while you are there.” Andromeda stopped in her place. She inhaled sharply. “Mum, I can feel him. There’s something dark coming from the east.” Her mother looked terrified. “We have less time than I thought. There’s no time for me to join you.” She looked towards the guard. “You there, give me your sword!” The guard looked puzzled. “Your Majesty, I beg your pardon. Did you ask for my sword?” The Queen ran up to him and forced the sword out of his hands. She looked back at her daughter. “Mum, what are you doing? We have to go now!” All of the sudden there was a flaming ball of fire being shot towards the castle. Andromeda shot her hands up defensively, and they were all doused with water. “What? How did that happen?” Her mother looked at her, with proud eyes. “That was magic. You just used magic.”

The ground shook beneath them. A thudding could be heard throughout the entire kingdom. As the sun had set, you could see a grand army coming over the horizon. Leading them was a tall man mounted on a horse as black as death. As they got closer, the man reached his hand in the air, signaling for them to stop. The stranger dismounted his horse. In his right hand, he held a staff. He lifted it and a flash of black could be seen throughout the kingdom. He appeared in front of the Queen suddenly, almost knocking her off her feet. She stood her ground, but as he gazed into her eyes, it was like he was looking right through her. Like she wasn’t even there. He turned his head to the carriage that was retreating down the stone road. He grabbed the Queen by her arm and there was another flash of black. They appeared suddenly in front of the carriage. The horses reared to a stop. “If you wish to see your Queen alive, you will surrender the girl to me.” Andromeda peered out the window and saw her mother being held hostage by a man she had never seen. She jumped out of the carriage without giving it another thought. “Here, I’m here! Don’t hurt her, please!” Thomas grinned at her with a smile that could kill. She looked at him. Really looked at him. His eyes were so dark they were almost black. He looked like he hadn’t slept in months, and he was as skinny as a skeleton. His clothes looked two sizes too big and his staff had a huge stone on it that was glowing black. “You look just like her, you know. My sister.” He raised his staff to her mother’s head, and after another flash of black, her mother fell to the ground.

Andromeda ran to her mother. She threw herself on the ground next to her and started shaking her mother violently, tears flowing down her face. “Mum. Wake up, we have to go. Mum! Don’t leave me. You can’t leave me.” She felt a cold hand on her shoulder. “Dear child, don’t you understand? You never would have surrendered unless I had killed her. You have nothing else to lose. All your family is dead, even your brother.” Andromeda looked at her necklace, which glowed brightly in the darkness. “You’re right.” She said softly. “Speak up. Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to mumble?” He looked at her with an annoyed look on his face. She realized that he saw her as a whiny child. She summoned all the courage she could, then rose to meet his gaze. She was only an inch away from him. “I said, you’re right. I haven’t anything else to lose.” She thought of what her mother told her. “Telekinesis,” she thought. She backed up, and launched herself in the air, towards the carriage. She unlatched the horse and landed on her and she started off. “Yah! Run girl, run!”

As the kingdom went up in flames, Andromeda rode away, as fast as she could. Blinking back tears, she looked at her necklace, the last thing she had from her mother. She wasn’t sure where she was going. She knew one thing. She had to get away from there. 

As night fell, Andromeda looked around her. There was no one in sight. “I think it’s safe to stop. Halt.” As her horse trotted to a stop Andromeda looked around one last time. She led the horse to the small stream and took the saddle off of her. “Let’s see what we have to eat. Some fruit, granola, and some water.” She walked over to the horse. “Here girl, you did good.” She offered the apple to her horse, and Her horse took it gladly. Andromeda looked up at the stars. “I have no idea where we are.”