Before the first of winter~
A Fall storm had moved into the area, the cooling air was perfect for the late season thunderstorm. The area had been needing the rain.
The sound of the drops and the soft distant rumbles put the girls into a deep restful sleep, and even help sedate one worn out Mithra and a very worried Taru. The only ones stirring at the late hour where Henrietta who busied herself in the kitchen quietly, and Jenai who sat silently in the study staring at a black piece of writing paper.
Jen barely visited the kitchen anymore. It seemed a distant place since Brian had vanished. She'd see to the girls meals, but that was about it. She herself would take her meals at his desk if she ate at all. It was always this one piece of paper she stared at now. As if expecting some answer to just appear. The Answer to everything that she needed to know.. Where was he?
Her heart felt as though it was trying to chew its way from her chest when ever she thought of him. With every worry, with every prayer. Every mention of his name. She'd smile a bit and reassure her belief that he was well to anyone that asked about Brian.
She didn't need to know if he was well... somehow she just knew it, She knew he was alive. But silent. A living ghost in her life haunting her nights and days. How do you explain this to your friends and loved ones?
Henrietta doused the lights in the kitchen and quietly walked past the little study poking her head in. Jen gave her a tiny quick smile and one was returned. If there was one person Jen thought understood her, it was Henrietta. She and Brian had been through so much together long before she ever came around. She, like Jen had been used to him being "gone" one minute and back the next. It was in his nature. Even if they both disliked it highly.
The only light left now, was the lamp on the desk and a small trace of the light Henrietta had as she ascended the stairs to turn in for the night.
Jenai had cried only a few times in her life, and wanted nothing more then to do so now in hopes to feel better. But nothing would come, no tears, no sobs, nothing. Just the ache would remain. She convinced herself that it simply meant there was nothing to cry over, there for, she knew with even more of her being, he was alive and would return home.
She lifted her eyes to watch the rain on the windows as her fingers laced slowly with each other and nestled under her chin. She didn't want to do what she thought she might have to, but there was only one person left to ask for answers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning the chime of tiny bells greets the opening of a shoppes front door as she stepped in out of the morning sun.
"Its been a very long time since you have come for a visit Priestess"
"I've come in search of something very specific that I'm sure only you might have" Jenai didn't like coming to the Lotus very often. She always felt a sense of unease wash over her in doing so. But there were things that could only be found here, in the little oddity shop.
Upstairs Jenai sat across from Myllyanna, who's girl Ami offered and served tea neither would touch. Jenai had nothing but respect for the Shop's Mistress but,
"There is something on your mind. Correction, Somethings..." Mylly's history with Brian and Garet went further and deeper then Jenai's and that made Jenai have more trust in her aide. She watched her for a moment trying to decide exactly what to ask.
There was something dark about many denizens of this realm. Many darkly aligned souls walked by many that stood in the light, sometimes working towards the same goal if the end was desired by both sides. But there was something much more about her. While some were dark as night.. they seemed hot, as if on fire beneath the blackness. Turmoil, turbulent, chaos.
Myllyanna, was dark as night, but underneither was cold and still. Like the deep sea on a moonless winter night. There was no telling what lie beneath or how far it went.
"... you've lost your Raven"
"I just want to know if he is safe. and Where he is. Again she knew she would feel better if the tears would come. Yet her voice would not even crack.
"I can tell you of your Raven, though the answer may not be the one you look for and come with a price. You are a strong woman and of warrior blood. It's no small task for you to have come seeking help of any kind from anyone. You went no where else. To no one else. You do not want them to know you have doubt, that you worry. So that you may be there for them. But a pillar that stands on shaky ground eventually falls."
"As long as I know something I am better off than I am now."
"I ask for something small and simple. Nothing that even stays gone for ever. It;s been a symbol to you both, even as a token of love once you gifted to him."
Jenai's eyes looked curiously into the darker hues of the Dragon Lady across from her in puzzlement as she listened, " For you to give over your famous crimson locks. Just cut to below the shoulders."
Jenai couldn't believe her ears, she'd never cut her hair much in her life past trims to keep it manageable. her hair had grown much and it grew more rapidly then many. Even now it danced softly at the back of her knees since she'd let it go in Brian's absence. But it was very true. She'd once made a choker of her own hair for Brian when she was expecting their daughters... but this?
Ami handed a silver pair of scissors to Jenai, the metal feeling cold as ice in her hands. Her heart felt like it was sinking slowly into her stomach as she reached behind her pulling all of her hair over her shoulder binding it with a strap of tight leather. Her hair may have been a bit of pride, but he was her love. The sheers worked through hair like silk, leaving fistful of her locks shaking in her hand as she held it for Ami to receive.
As Jenai placed the scissors down on a side table, Myllyanna took the tied hair into her fingers, pulling out a single strand as she spoke.
"Your Ravenlock is safe. A bird taken and caged has found a way free. He is where you can not go, because you are already there..." she flicked the single long red strand into the hair where it hovered softly as if suspended on a slow breeze. She pursed her red painted lips and blew softly at the strand to glitter and disappear as it drifted away into another time and place.
"He looks for away home. But even I do not know if he will find it."
A Fall storm had moved into the area, the cooling air was perfect for the late season thunderstorm. The area had been needing the rain.
The sound of the drops and the soft distant rumbles put the girls into a deep restful sleep, and even help sedate one worn out Mithra and a very worried Taru. The only ones stirring at the late hour where Henrietta who busied herself in the kitchen quietly, and Jenai who sat silently in the study staring at a black piece of writing paper.
Jen barely visited the kitchen anymore. It seemed a distant place since Brian had vanished. She'd see to the girls meals, but that was about it. She herself would take her meals at his desk if she ate at all. It was always this one piece of paper she stared at now. As if expecting some answer to just appear. The Answer to everything that she needed to know.. Where was he?
Her heart felt as though it was trying to chew its way from her chest when ever she thought of him. With every worry, with every prayer. Every mention of his name. She'd smile a bit and reassure her belief that he was well to anyone that asked about Brian.
She didn't need to know if he was well... somehow she just knew it, She knew he was alive. But silent. A living ghost in her life haunting her nights and days. How do you explain this to your friends and loved ones?
Henrietta doused the lights in the kitchen and quietly walked past the little study poking her head in. Jen gave her a tiny quick smile and one was returned. If there was one person Jen thought understood her, it was Henrietta. She and Brian had been through so much together long before she ever came around. She, like Jen had been used to him being "gone" one minute and back the next. It was in his nature. Even if they both disliked it highly.
The only light left now, was the lamp on the desk and a small trace of the light Henrietta had as she ascended the stairs to turn in for the night.
Jenai had cried only a few times in her life, and wanted nothing more then to do so now in hopes to feel better. But nothing would come, no tears, no sobs, nothing. Just the ache would remain. She convinced herself that it simply meant there was nothing to cry over, there for, she knew with even more of her being, he was alive and would return home.
She lifted her eyes to watch the rain on the windows as her fingers laced slowly with each other and nestled under her chin. She didn't want to do what she thought she might have to, but there was only one person left to ask for answers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning the chime of tiny bells greets the opening of a shoppes front door as she stepped in out of the morning sun.
"Its been a very long time since you have come for a visit Priestess"
"I've come in search of something very specific that I'm sure only you might have" Jenai didn't like coming to the Lotus very often. She always felt a sense of unease wash over her in doing so. But there were things that could only be found here, in the little oddity shop.
Upstairs Jenai sat across from Myllyanna, who's girl Ami offered and served tea neither would touch. Jenai had nothing but respect for the Shop's Mistress but,
"There is something on your mind. Correction, Somethings..." Mylly's history with Brian and Garet went further and deeper then Jenai's and that made Jenai have more trust in her aide. She watched her for a moment trying to decide exactly what to ask.
There was something dark about many denizens of this realm. Many darkly aligned souls walked by many that stood in the light, sometimes working towards the same goal if the end was desired by both sides. But there was something much more about her. While some were dark as night.. they seemed hot, as if on fire beneath the blackness. Turmoil, turbulent, chaos.
Myllyanna, was dark as night, but underneither was cold and still. Like the deep sea on a moonless winter night. There was no telling what lie beneath or how far it went.
"... you've lost your Raven"
"I just want to know if he is safe. and Where he is. Again she knew she would feel better if the tears would come. Yet her voice would not even crack.
"I can tell you of your Raven, though the answer may not be the one you look for and come with a price. You are a strong woman and of warrior blood. It's no small task for you to have come seeking help of any kind from anyone. You went no where else. To no one else. You do not want them to know you have doubt, that you worry. So that you may be there for them. But a pillar that stands on shaky ground eventually falls."
"As long as I know something I am better off than I am now."
"I ask for something small and simple. Nothing that even stays gone for ever. It;s been a symbol to you both, even as a token of love once you gifted to him."
Jenai's eyes looked curiously into the darker hues of the Dragon Lady across from her in puzzlement as she listened, " For you to give over your famous crimson locks. Just cut to below the shoulders."
Jenai couldn't believe her ears, she'd never cut her hair much in her life past trims to keep it manageable. her hair had grown much and it grew more rapidly then many. Even now it danced softly at the back of her knees since she'd let it go in Brian's absence. But it was very true. She'd once made a choker of her own hair for Brian when she was expecting their daughters... but this?
Ami handed a silver pair of scissors to Jenai, the metal feeling cold as ice in her hands. Her heart felt like it was sinking slowly into her stomach as she reached behind her pulling all of her hair over her shoulder binding it with a strap of tight leather. Her hair may have been a bit of pride, but he was her love. The sheers worked through hair like silk, leaving fistful of her locks shaking in her hand as she held it for Ami to receive.
As Jenai placed the scissors down on a side table, Myllyanna took the tied hair into her fingers, pulling out a single strand as she spoke.
"Your Ravenlock is safe. A bird taken and caged has found a way free. He is where you can not go, because you are already there..." she flicked the single long red strand into the hair where it hovered softly as if suspended on a slow breeze. She pursed her red painted lips and blew softly at the strand to glitter and disappear as it drifted away into another time and place.
"He looks for away home. But even I do not know if he will find it."