Chapter 2

My sister, Jayne, is a natural Erosceror. She's gotten training, and told me enough about it to understand how power flows through the chakras of the human body Chakras are little centers of anima within the body of all living creatures. Humans have seven primary ones, and several smaller ones. The primary ones run from the base of the spine all the way to the top of the head.

Like her, my strongest chakra is the second one, centered on the womb in women and with the power of sex, feelings, and desire. Unlike her, I don't have access to my personal magic. Most people can't do much with their power: usually that is because they don't have much.

Some people have a lot of power but don't seem to use it. They are still successful, sure, but they'd be exponentially more successful if their chakras were open. I'm in the latter category. I'm good at what I do, but if Jayne is right, then I have a lot more going for me than skill and practice can get me. All I need to do is to learn to open my chakras to the anima around me.

But I've never been able to. As far back as I can remember, Jayne has been able to do such wonders, while I had to struggle on my own. It worked okay, it kept us alive on the streets of Winterhaven. She did certain things well, keeping us warm and taken care of, and out of trouble. Sorcery of any kind, particularly second-chakra sorcery can only get you so far in the material world. That's where I came in. Jayne says my third chakra, which governs motion, is almost as bright as my second. I've never been still, and I've always been spry. I didn't always do the right or legal thing, but I kept us alive.

Jayne finally found a Master to teach her how to use her power, and I found Mistress Travia to teach me my own. We didn't have to live on the streets anymore, but we still struggled to get by. And that would just be harder without Travia's support. Jayne would be fine, but I'd be totally on my own.

To avoid being on my own, normally I'd turn to my lover Malkem. He was my main male companion and primary lover; he was also out of town. He'd finished up his training a few months before, and had taken a job as a caravan guard. He was Medrhi as well, but of a different school. We'd argue about whose was a better school, which often led to combat-inspired sex. He wouldn't be home for a few months, so I had found other amusements. I'm sure he did the same; no Medrhi schools revere abstinence.

So I was a bit indisposed when I finally saw Jayne again, two days after my meeting with Travia, and still sooner than I'd expected. I'dd spent the last two days getting drunk, getting laid, and sleeping in. I was working hard on a third day when she showed up. The bar got quiet when she walked in -- not because she didn't belong, but because of the air about her.

She walked over to my table and gave the men on either side of me a look which caused them to get scarce. No one in their right mind wants to deal with an irate Erosceror. But sometimes they're your sister. Most of the regulars knew her, of course, so it wasn't hard to tell something was up. I quickly drank half my ale, and pushed a drink across to her.

"Hiya, sis," I slurred. "Have a drink."

"Antonio said you might be drowning you sorrows."

"He told you that, eh? Well tell the bastard that they swim pretty good."

"You're lucky we were interrupted," Jayne ignored me. "The ritual we were working on takes two weeks. You only have one."

"Five days, now," I said. "And it'll be my anniversary."

She sighed at me, and took my hands. "C'mon. Let's go home."

Home was on the second story of the tavern, a one-room apartment we shared. It wasn't much, but it was ours. And it was above my favorite bar, after all. "Don't wanna go," I countered.

"Sure you do. It's nice and warm and s oft in our bed upstairs. You can sleep and dream pleasant dreams." She squeezed my hands, and looked me in the eyes while she talked to me. She smiled held me for a moment when she finished.

"Uh, sure," I said. My head wasn't very clear, and it seemed like she was right. Time to sleep.

We walked upstairs, leaning on each other as we climbed. She let me to our bed, pulled down the covers, and tucked me in. I wasn't wearing much, anyway -- I rarely do. She started getting ready for bed herself. "Tomorrow you can tell me all about it."