Sara watched her burnt apartment from a nearby park bench, and recounted how things had gone too far for her.
After last night's quite bizarre happening, Sara pretty much hid in whatever shelter she could find. Only by dawn that she took the risk and checked the ruin of her home. Why, perhaps to bid her last farewell, or to take her chance and hope the fire had spared things that may help her travel further. There she met a patrolling officer, from him she learnt that about the same time she held that troubling conversion with Lady Alinna, and then making her way back to Paris. The apartment caught fire, which was not so odd a thing to happen. The building was old, and was built from wood and b.ricks. The police officer thought it might be a short circuit of electricity wires. Too much coincidence, Sara thought, and she had a list of arson suspects in mind.
"What should I do now?" Sara muttered to herself, and dropped some muffin crumbles on the bench for her Avian Friend. The police officer was kind enough to buy her a cup of coffee and a muffin cake, but she rejected any further help he offered, she didn’t want any trouble.
The bird paid no attention to the muffin crumbles, he stared at Sara with his human-like silver eyes, and that stare made Sara rather uncomfortable. "Go back to Lady Alinna..." That Damian's advice might be reasonable...
Have you lost your mind Sara! The Lylthian woman scorned herself mentally.
"What do you think?" oh great Sara, you are talking to a bird now.
The bird, as if was answering her question, flew to the nearby grasses. There he rumbled and dropped a shining piece on Sara's lap. A glass shard, a 'souvenir' from the fire most likely. Sara looked at her violet eyes on the reflective surface.
Reflective surface?
"You want me to go to this..other Realm?" Well the bird didn't suggest anything, it was all Sara's own mind calculating the possibility. It won't be a bad idea, she was tired, wet, cold and hungry, she could really use a warm bath and a soft feather bed, and probably she can provide both...
"How mean!" So that was her intention for the whole long way round to England, the black-haired witch, she wanted the odds to beat the younger Lylthian, she was waiting for her to b.reak down and give up, and come to begging for mercy at her feet.
"No, never!" Sara declared, "She and that wonderland nonsense may go to hell! I'm leaving this country!"
The raven-like creature shook his head, all of a sudden he flung his wings to Sara, the woman in turn covered her head and let out a short scream. The bird hovered over Sara's head and grabbed onto her jacket and flew away.
"Come back!" Sara ran after the bird, that's her only way to keep warm! And TINUL WAS IN THE POCKET!!!
The bird did not fly far, he turned around a corner, dropped the jacket on a tree's root and soared to its b.ranches, there he perched and waited. The young Lylthian was not far behind him.
"Why did you do that!" She picked up the jacket and glared at the bird. The tree's root was covered by leaves, and Sara's momentum swept clean a large area of them, and those leaves were not just nature deb.ris, they were covers, and underneath them was a cloth wrapper.
Sara gasped and covered her mouth with a hand, that cloth...that was her dress!
Sara unrolled that piece of clothing, inside the wrapper were her purse, cellphone, passport and several other valuables.
"Did...did you do that?" The raven-like bird glided gracefully from the b.ranch to the ground, with tilted head he watched the baffled Lylthian. No Sara you must have lost your mind. How can a bird dig a hole and hide your belongings in it, that's simply too much.
She was free now, all she needed is a warm bath, a soft bed, and a computer for her to book the next flight to maybe Japan or America. A hotel would do, but...viberation came from her phone and a ringtone sang. Sara looked at the number and answered
"Yes, it me..."
"No, I'm not hurt, I was not at home..."
"Hey, could I please ask for a favour?"
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Alinna stood at the floor-to-ceiling window of her study, outside the window, dark clouds were gathering at the horizon, and they were rolling fast like a black treacherous sea. Storm is coming. At her side stood the loyal silver-eyed bodyguard.
"Madame Chatain has returned to Paris, she is intend to leave the country." Reported the familiar.
"Good, where is she staying?" The Lylthian princess asked, with her eyes still fixed on the rolling clouds.
"At a friend's house, a monsieur Auguste Dominique, he's a fashion designer, Madame Chatain is his regular customer."
"Can he be trusted?"
"I will keep my eyes on him."
"Good."
Then the air went awkwardly silent and dull.
"What is it Ishuul, you can speak openly." The princess caught the familiar with the corner of her eye, he opened his mouth, then closed it.
"It is unwise to let her go, my queen. Madame Chatain has been kidnapped on her way back to Paris, I fear the secrecy of her presence is no more."
"Who are those people?" Alinna asked, b.rows locked in a frown.
"I have two faces, and a plate number."
"Good, I will have Mikhail run them through." The princess paused, then continued. "That is why she must go, I cannot risk her path intertwined with mine, or else she will be drawn deeper and deeper into this vortex."
"If that is your wish, we could simply send her away."
"But that won't be her will. It is best to let her stand alone, to make her own choice, to shape her own destiny."
"And, Madame Chatain gave this to me, my queen..."
Ishuul produced a small paw-shaped cube from his pocket, it was white, and sticky, and the familiar looked concerned, and a bit lost. "She said, 'It's for you, if you don't like it, keep it for me.' Is it of any importance?"
"How does it come to her?"
"A police officer bought Madame Chatain a cup of b.rown water, this thing came with that drink."
"My dear Ishuul, the drink is called coffee, the white cube is a marshmallow, and you may eat it." |
