Xan: Red Sparks and Spells
Xan may not seem like she belongs in the “Fortune Sisters’ Magic” category, but she is a Fortune sister; the sisters’ mother and she were the original Fortune sisters. Xan’s magic is red, and it manifests itself a lot like Mare’s, the Fortune sister she’s most like. But because she’s losing power, Xan does most of her magic as spells using a see glass, a magic glass that can take any shape she wishes, through which she can see Salem’s Fork and the girls any time she wants. She uses the glass to cast spells to send the sisters and their lovers visions and impulses and passions, pushing them toward the decisions she wants them to make. She’s really very good.
Abetting her in all of this is her minion, Maxine, the owner of the Salem’s Fork diner, the Greasy Fork. As minions go, Maxine is barely a C+, but she’s in the right place at the right time, so Xan makes do:
Xan opened the gilt box and sprinkled the contents into her right hand until the red spicy powder made a mound there. Then she waved her left hand over the bowl drawing up a spiral of vapor, then another, then another, until she had the three coiling together, silver arabesques above the bowl in front of the see glass.
“Wow,” Maxine said.
Xan held her right hand in the middle of the vapor and waited.
In the see glass, Danny walked into the bank and began to talk to Dee. Xan looked closer at the Fortune house and saw Elric standing behind Lizzie in the kitchen window. And much harder to see, Mare was sitting in the diner with someone, leaning forward—
Xan gently blew the red powder through the arabesque and into the see glass, and the peppery vapor spiraled into the glass, down into Salem’s Fork, into a bank, a kitchen, a diner—
“Whoa,” Maxine said, her eyes wide.
“It’s lunchtime, Maxine,” Xan said as the spell began to work. “Go sling hash.”
Of course, with a C+ henchwoman, sometimes things go wrong:
The cream was ready, so Xan picked up three glass beads strung on a silver thread, beads she’d separated temporarily from the see glass. “Deirdre, Elizabeth, and Moira,” she said over the cream and the beads, as Maxine leaned still closer, pleading with her. “May your deepest passions be unleashed–”
“Please, Xantippe,” Maxine said.
“–may your wildest fantasies come true–”
“—he’ll try really hard–”
“–may this night make you one with your true love–”
“—Xantippe!”
“–so I say, so be–”
Maxine moved to grab her arm and knocked the cinnamon box and the see glass into the cream.
“—it,” Xan said, and watched the cream begin to turn dark as the entire box of cinnamon sticks and the see glass sunk to the bottom of the pan. She sighed and dropped in the Fortune sisters’ beads, too.
Maxine stood frozen as Xan turned to her.
“That was bad, Maxine.”
“I’m sorry, Xantippe.”
Xan looked down at the rapidly darkening cream, sighed again, and then took a glass rod from the table and fished out the see glass, letting the cream drip from it before she wiped it clean.
Maxine swallowed. “What’s going to happen now?”
“Now?” Xan poured herself a drink. “Now there’s going to be a hot time in the old town tonight.”
Xan is the best at what she does, the ultimate career woman, and what she does is magic. She’s fighting for her life in this story, so it’s completely understandable that she goes to any lengths to win.
Well, I understand it.
20 Comments so far
Leave a reply
Groan… yet another fabulous excerpt. And we have to wait for the book… Groan…
Can’t you hurry up the publishers??
How the heck can uniting the Fortune girls with their true loves save Xan’s life? Whew, that is going to be one hot book.
Cinnamon, huh? Maybe I need to try that…
great excerpt. can’t wait!
This should be interesting.
I foresee…. Xan ends up living in a trailer in Maxine’s back yard. But she’s happy, really, because all the pressure is off at last.
Poor Maxine.
Strop, I adore you, but I’m not moving into a trailer in your back yard. Stop hinting.
good help really is so hard to find these days…
Gee Jenny, living in a trailer for a few days would give you great research material. Just saying.
Love the excerpts. Now if only there was a whole book to read today. I want to know what happens to the Fortune girls tonight, although the hint sounds like it is pretty good.
Fabulous. Can’t wait to pick it up. In fact I’m going to see if I can pre-order, they’re always slower out here in the boonies. They get the shipment in and take three days to get the books on the shelves. Who wants to wait?
Well, I was just thinking you may not have noticed the parallels, that’s all. I do NOT see myself as Maxine; more Granny Weatherwax. Which means you get to be Nanny Ogg and have all the fun.
Hey, if I’m going to be a Pratchett character, I have had dibs on Susan for a long time. Come to think of it, there’s a lot of Susan in Mare.
That’s a point - what did you think of the TV version of ‘Hogfather’?
Hogfather on TV? when? where? was it good? details please
by where, i mean channel. i figured out it was “TV”
It was on Sky in the UK at Christmas, and it’s now for sale on Amazon.
Apparently the makers have this idea of developing a sort of informal Pratchett rep company for future adaptations, and Nobby Nobbs and Corporal Visit, although quite small parts in this one, were excellent - watch Nobby’s face when he gets his crossbow from Death-as-Hogfather in the department store.
Strop: i have to see this, thanks so much for bringing it to my attention.
It’s for sale on Amazon?
Then I will be getting that and the new Dr. Who.
Thank you VERY much.
Uh, Strop? Not in Amazon US and if it’s Amazon UK it won’t play on our DVD players.
ARGH.
Hmmm. I’m scanning the box of my copy for advice as to whether it’s multi-region or not, but I can’t spot anything. Anyone know what I’m looking for? Could it be the little symbol of the world with a 2 on it and PAL underneath? Very strange that it hasn’t been released in the US. It’s distributed by 20th century Fox, so try www.fox.co.uk for answers.
Jenny honey, you could always buy Life on Mars instead - there are two series, it’s very very good and the soundtrack is fab. Oh, and also over now. There will be no third series, so you’re saved a long term commitment.
The only thing I know about the UK and DVDs is that it has to be ‘region 1′ to play in the US, and the UK is often not. Although I think there are DVDs that are multi-region or non-regioned, but don’t quote me on that.
I suppose Jenny could always buy a British DVD player to supplement the Pratchett. He’s worth it.