After seeing the vision, she tilted her head curiously. Gifts of use. What did she have that was of use much less importance? Or anything the would appease? Now that she pondered the idea, anything she had seemed no better than frivolous trinkets. Clicking her tongue in anxious custom, she would have gone into the depths of her own mind but realized she was still in the presence of her lord. Her lips quirked in a small smile and tenderly kissed him.
"Thank you, I'll have to put in some great thought in what I shall give. Though have put heavy pressure on me. I hope you're pleased with yourself." She exhaled a humorless puff of air, head turned away from him. But she was not all irked at Hama more or less at her own lack of knowledge on political matters. Glancing to the side, she gave him apologetic stare. "We both have things to do and we'll catch up at a later time. And our conversations, well different conversations, gave me small hints in how to deal with you. Perhaps while on this journey, some games can be played just to see how well we've both learned, hmm?"
Brown orbs danced in a reckless light but without as giving him as much time to question her, she opened her door and pushed him out the room, with a blow of a kiss.
With the door now locked and time to herself she paces as she always did when conflicted. Each gift had to refer to the different nations tastes and they couldn't be halfhearted little things she simply found or asked someone to buy. "I should have paid more attention to the tutors", she muttered with the shake of her head. Immature in this area and quite prideful, she didn't want to seek anyone else's conceal on the matter.
Then she remembered something. The book.
She hated magic. Bad experiences when just a toddler and even when growing up with certain children who dabbled in the arts. They had teased and played horrible tricks on her, which in turn made her less than comfortable around sorcerers and magicians, even simple tricks of illusion made her jumpy. But this would be the best chance if ever to see what use the book could grant her since Godric had no use of it. By perchance, she could even find some ways to play her own harmless, games with a slight upper hand.This brought a sly grin to her as she went to pick up the bag. Opening it she poured out it’s contents.
The doll, the necklace, and the book plopped out onto the bed. She had forgotten about everything but the book. Brushing her fingers against the golden chained feather, she unhooked the lock and placed it around her neck. Even though the feather had been dipped in gold, the color had been tainted into a deep black.
“Such a dangerous little thing I’ve found”, she breathed under her breath.
It was only by chance that she heard of it by the servant girls. The festival usually brought strange people, with even stranger offerings and things to buy. The story behind the necklace was a peculiar one, shrouded in it’s own sense of mystery. No one really knew how the feather was gained, many rumors and tales had been spun and soon no one knew what was the truth and what was just tale. But one thing was known.
It belonged to the Raven.
Though truth be told the Raven wasn’t a raven, much less any other thing. It was a creature that had no name, that no person had ever seen. To put it simply, some said it never even existed. But those were the words of nonbelievers, people who were blind to what was already around them. The Raven was told to have been made in the first of the days of worlds creation. And old and mythical beast, that roamed the centuries. It holds the forms of many creatures, taking on their shapes and sizes, which held the reason why it had been written it was a formless creature. But as the myths continue, one lore had caught Aretha’s ear. The Raven’s favorite form was the same bird it took after and if one could catch hold of it’s feather’s they would be able to wield an extant of the powers the creature did itself even perhaps call on the Raven in trouble. Aretha though had no intention of such things. She was more interested in one simple ability it held, to block out others.
It was a power in which magic held no rule over and visions can’t be proven. It was what kept the Raven protected over the years since no sorcerer could ever cast a spell to see where the Raven would go next. And to Aretha this was now some of value. If she could be able to use this, even the foretellings of prophets from long ago could be swayed. The eyes that saw into the future would only see a blurry picture of what was to come, so predication could be proven false. No one would be able to predict her movements much less decisions unless she wanted them too.
She clutched the feather tightly in her palm, almost to the point were it hurt. It would be helpful, she was sure of it. Especially when it came to people like Grandma Eden or her own nephew. Maybe I am a bit paranoid and slightly too secretive. but it’s not my fault, I don’t like when people can read me even before I do something. Troublesome.
Aretha then crawled to her knees and slid under her bed. She grabbed hold of a brown hand and pulled out a barely used truck. It was one colored; a deep forest green. Rarely used and hidden away, she brushed off the dust it had collected. The question now what was to put in it.
Leaning against it, she looked to the floor, images what she owned flashing in her mind. It was a long process, because by the time she actually knew what she wanted the sun had fallen lower in the sky. But she had nodded off into sleep…
In a matter of moments, she had what she needed. She looked proud of herself, having folded all her clothing neatly. A chore not normally done and had taken much slow action in precisely making the ends meet. On top of the clothes, she had placed the book and the doll, which she had still no clue on why she bought it. But it had been called to be put in with the rest of what she was taking.
She stepped out of her room by this time, glancing down the hallways and made haste to her brother’s training chambers. They had always held many weapons of which she had never known much less could name. But she should be able to recognize some things, even if they were strangely made.
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