In the morning, soon after Stephen was awake and dressed, he thought of a brilliant prank. Too many times, Kate got the upper hand on him, so Stephen decided it was time he did something about it. He stood by the door and patiently waited until it rattled. Then he quickly ripped open the door.

“Morning!” Stephen shouted before an explosion ripped open the door and sent him flying into the foot of his bed.

When Stephen came too, he was keenly away of the feeling that every one of the tiny, indiscernible muscles in his torso was being ripped apart. He screamed, sat up, and immediately the world flipped upside down as he resisted the urge to vomit.

“Easy now,” Sebastian cautioned, “I very nearly tore you to pieces. You should know better than to scare people like that. You might have scared Kate half to death if she hadn’t invited me to open the door first.”

Stephen, careful not to move too quickly, caught a look of pride from Kate, “You knew?”

“Of course, you breathe like an ox.”

“What are you?” Stephen grimaced, most of his shirt was missing and his skin was sunburnt red, “Some mutant?”

“That supposed to be an insult?” Kate’s eyes darkened and narrowed, the air around her turned sinister. Every painful fiber of his body told Stephen this girl was dangerous, maybe more so than Sebastian. He felt like a meek rabbit being stared down by a fox.

Kate picked up on Stephen’s feelings and her demeanor fell into an awkward smirk. She lifted a hand to her mouth, turned away, and quickly moved to pick up her duster. Stephen thought he saw her shoulders shaking.

“Is she-?” Stephen started.

“Today’s another experiment!” Sebastian suddenly interjected, “A lesson, I mean, definitely a real lesson. That explosion might have rattled something. An unconscious reaction, perhaps.”

“But I could swear she’s laughing,” Stephen said as Kate fixed him with a sharp look. Her lip twitched and she turned away again.

“Never mind who’s laughing and who’s in pain,” Sebastian motioned for Stephen to follow as he made his way to the door, “Let’s get started.”

“But breakfast,” Stephen grunted in pain as he tried to stand up.

“It’s in the study, we’ll have a bite and talk first.”

Stephen looked down at his obliterated shirt, “But my shirt’s ruined.”

“Enough with the excuses!” Sebastian said as he moved to whip open the door, only to find he was grabbing air. The door was in tatters, the hinges holding on to little more than woodchips.

“Kate, get someone to fix this door,” Sebastian ordered as he recollected himself and turned down the hallway.

Pulling at the edges of his shirt, Stephen ignored the embarrassment that burned in his cheeks and followed after. He glanced over from the corner of his eyes, catching Kate’s gaze before she turned away. Stephen couldn’t believe she’d pulled the rug out from under him. Her ability to hardly make a sound, coupled with her inhuman hearing, unsettled Stephen. There was something more to her than simply being a maid. He’d have to ask Sebastian.

Before Stephen passed through the door, Kate muttered, “You have something in your hair.”

Stephen reached up, sifting through his hair and pulling out a two-inch long splinter of wood. Throwing the debris down, Stephen stomped out of the room. He could have sworn he heard stifled giggling.

-

“What’s the deal with Kate?” Stephen fussed in his seat, one of two hard leather armchairs in Sebastian’s study. The wizard waved his hands, when they first entered the room, and the pair of chairs floated into position around a small coffee table. A tea set followed soon after and the two each took a seat.

“What do you mean by that?” Sebastian replied, sipping his tea loudly white the steam billowed over his eyes.

“She’s not normal,” Stephen said, “I mean, she always surprises me – I never hear her coming – and she somehow heard me breathing on the other side of the door!”

Sebastian looked at Stephen blankly.

“That doesn’t bother you?” Stephen said, trying to prod a response.

“Not at all,” Sebastian replied, “It bothers you?”

“A little,” Stephen leaned back, holding his teacup in his hands and enjoying the scent of honey and oranges.

“Does she get under your skin?” Sebastian asked, looking at Stephen inquisitively over his teacup.

“She does,” Stephen nodded.

“Do you feel on edge whenever she’s around?”

“Actually,” Stephen pondered, “Yes, I can’t relax whenever she’s cleaning.”

“And today,” Sebastian continued, “Were you embarrassed when your shirt was ruined and she saw you in a vulnerable state?”

“I mean, yea…”

Sebastian leaned forward, his face serious and his tone enraptured, “Do dream about her?”

Stephen’s ears burned, “What’s that supposed to—Hey! That’s not what I meant!”

Sebastian laughed, “You’re too easy to pull around! I bet Kate’s enjoying herself very much.”

Stephen sulked, what was the point of this? To make him embarrassed? Stephen was supposed to be learning magic from this man, but so far, all Sebastian’d done is nearly kill him and embarrass him in front of a young maid.

“Oh, don’t make that face,” Sebastian said with a groan, “I’m just having some fun. You tried to pull a prank and it failed, call that payback. Kate’s something special, I guess life on the streets gave her some unique quirks. There was some good news, however, that came from your failed joke.”

A sparkle flashed through Sebastian’s eyes as Stephen looked up, “What's that?”

“You didn’t die.”

Stephen’s curiosity plummeted, “Well, obviously, weren’t you holding back?”

“Did you see the door?” Sebastian said with a patronizing tone.

“So what, you tried to kill me?” Sebastian was getting tired of everyone treating him like an idiot, “What was the point of that?”

“To kill whatever was trying to jump me. But the point is,” Sebastian set down his teacup and stood up, “your body protected itself. You do possess magic, and it just saved your life.”