The Tynder Crown Chronicles, Season One: Episode One: The Tynder Crown Chronicles (The Tynder Crown Chronicles, A Novella Series Book 1) by Wendy Owens

beacon in the world, and I have been switched on, calling all these freaks to find me.
    Freaks. What am I? My hair turned white, I dream about big flaming birds. Jesus, who knows what else is messed up about me? How could Joe not tell me? How could he risk me finding out this way?
    “So you’ve always been able to see them?” I ask, leading the way around the next block.
    “See who?”
    “These things … Fae?”
    She smiles. “You’ll get used to them.” I don’t believe her.
    “If you say so.”
    “My first memory of seeing them was when I was about five. My aunt could see them as well, but when she was little they decided she was a nutter and put her in a hospital. That’s when I decided to keep my mouth shut, but it didn’t take long before I was seeing them all the time. I managed to keep my secret until high school. A were-boy was my first kiss, and I couldn’t stop myself; I had to know if I was crazy or if he really was different.”
    “Wait, like, as in werewolf?”
    “Kind of, but we see them in their transformed state all the time, while humans never can.”
    “So, what happened?” I ask with bated breath.
    “He told his parents that I could see him, and the next thing I knew the academy had convinced my parents I was gifted and I needed to go away to this special school. It wasn’t until I got there I found out it was the School for Magical Arts.”
    “Did you ever see the boy again?”
    “What?”
    I shrug. “I’m curious.”
    “I rarely go home, but yeah, I’ve seen him in passing.”
    “Were you mad at him?” I can’t seem to get the betrayal out of my head.
    “No, why would I be mad? I lived most of my childhood thinking I was insane like my aunt. Because of him I figured out what I was,” she explains.
    I roll my eyes. “Whatever. If some kid would have ratted me out, I would have made sure he couldn’t speak again.”
    Piper laughs. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”
    “What did your parents think when you told them you were a Witch?” I ask.
    Piper shakes her head. “They don’t know. They can never know. It’s forbidden to allow humans to know about our world. If I told them, it would only put them in danger.”
    “Seriously? That’s just messed up.”
    “Wow, Josiah never told you,” she points out, and I resist the urge to slug her.
    “Exactly,” I huff. “Messed up.”
    “Sorry … I shouldn’t—”
    “It’s just up ahead,” I interrupt, motioning toward the brick building on the corner.
    “You live in a bar?” Piper narrows her brow.
    “No!” I exclaim. “I work in the bar, and I live in one of the apartments above it.”
    “Seriously?” she asks, and I can’t tell if she thinks it’s cool or pathetic.
    Defensively, I reply, “Yeah, is that a problem?”
    She shakes her head. “No, I just never imagined a Magistrate would bother with a job.”
    “Well, I wasn’t a Magistrate until recently,” I snarl, sliding my key into the side door that leads up to the three apartments. “And why wouldn’t a Magistrate have a job?”
    “Just that you’re all so—”
    “So what?”
    “Wealthy.”
    I laugh wildly and wait for her to follow me inside before closing the door. I head for the staircase, still laughing. “Oh, honey, a lot of people have used a lot of words to describe me, and I can guarantee that wealthy has never been one of them.”
    I climb the stairs, watching Piper as she continues, “Well, you are now. Magistrates are funded by The Queen. You tell her what you need, and she provides it.”
    I freeze and turn to look at her. “Wait.” I place an arm against the wall in front of her so she can’t move forward. “Are you telling me if I told The Queen I needed a new car, she would simply give it to me?”
    “Exactly, whatever is needed to do your job.”
    “Oh, The Queen and I are going to have to have a little chat,” I snicker.
    Piper shakes her head. “Oh no, you don’t want to do that. If you need anything, you