The surprise on the Queen's face, however, didn't last two seconds. As quickly as she had seemed fazed by the fact that I could add and subtract flames without needing to make a gesture with my hand, as quickly as the surprise had left.

The only indication that she had been shaken had been the slight shaking of her hand as she returned the cup to the table, a shaking that led the cup to spill some of its content. Its content was a blood red liquid.

Wine then. I thought, taking my eyes off the cup to her face when she stood up from her seat, dusted her hands...