It was afternoon and Rowani casually sat on her bed, reading a book.
She also had a box of chocolates next to her. Her hand floated above
it, as if it ached to hold a small piece of confectionary. She really
did believe that the chocolates looked wonderful. She battled the
temptation for a moment, then placed the book face down and popped a
chocolate in her mouth. She savoured the chewing, the taste and the
swallowing. The door opening startled her. Manira and Hawk came in.
“What are you doing here?” she asked curiously.
They came closer to the bed. “We
couldn’t figure out a problem,” Hawk answered casually. He
ate a crisp from the packet he was holding. He wore a tight red T-shirt
with white jeans.
“We can’t figure out which Vilkon Sect was involved,” explained Manira.
Rowani frowned at this. “Vilkon?” realisation hit her in a
flash. “Right, the rich guy owned the Intelli Institute, which is
owned by the Vilkons.” She scrunched her face in shame.
“How could I have missed that?”
Manira laughed. “You’re smart but you
were a bit distracted last night. Anyway, we thought that at least one
Vilkon in-with-the-Coven must have been there when Larees was taken, so
if you remember someone…not at the Cathedral and describe them,
then we can figure it out.”
“I know what every Vilkon looks like,” Hawk said as if he meant it.
… Rowani gave out a shuddered breath. Manira put a hand on her arm.
“Hey,” she said quietly. “I know
you’re only now getting to grips with what happened, but this is
seriously important and can possibly save more lives. Just remember
okay? …unless you don’t-”
“No no, I can do it.” She shut her eyes tightly. It is a sunny day,
there are no shadows a fairy darts along children, it’s white and
has flowers on it. but Aunt Larees makes me smile, my Mum looks happy.
But Aunt Larees She has a long white dress and white make-up around her
eyes. “Uh…she’s wearing white.” There is a woman standing with us. She has a long white dress and Her skin is really dark. “She’s an African.” She smiles too! Larees because the Sun gives her a lot of light. “She has a kind, round face.” Larees looks like an angel. Another lady comes to the table.
Rowani suddenly opened her eyes. She was really tense. The other two stared.
“Rowani,” Hawk started gently, “I need a finished description.”
“Okay,” she said shakily,
“uh”. She stood up. “She was about my height now. Um,
well-conditioned hair, dark eyes, long hands.”
“What shade of hair colour did she have?” he asked.
“Very very black.”
“Skitesti,” he immediately said.
“You sure?” asked Manira.
“Yeah, she’s a member of Kron’s Sect.”
Rowani looked shocked. “But they were ruled out!”
Hawk only raised his eyebrows. “Seems like they’ll stop at nothing for power.”
It was a day so sunny, that the Sun itself seemed to be a source of
strength. Father and daughter walked into the bright, modern building.
They went through glass doors and the floor was marble. The sweeper
looked up and smiled warmly at their presence. She seemed
Midiro’s age, wore a long, flowing red dress and her feet were
bare. She had wavy, long, blonde hair and hazel eyes. Her eyebrows were
sparkling silver, she had to be a fairy.
“Welcome, we have been expecting your
company,” the fairy said warmly. “Her spirit has been
growing quite restless.”
“You can sense that?” asked Rowani with
some shame. She fiddled with the bunch of flowers she held.
The fairy answered with pity on her face. “Yes; would you like it if I showed you her memorial?”
“That would be wonderful,” answered Midiro.
She stood her broom on one side and led the pair
along a hall that looked like everywhere else inside the building: the
walls were a bright, soft orange and there were windows wherever
possible. Light flooded the place. The hall ended in a circular room of
wooden doors, placed a few metres from each other. The fairy opened one
of them.
“Larees rests here, you can stay as long as you wish.”
Rowani went in first, nodding her thanks. Midiro
said thanks as he went in. Inside was a small, well-lit chapel. Windows
lined the very top and light travelled with help from the mirrors. The
carpet was blue. There were a few chairs in front of the door, a
separated rail on a slightly raised platform was in front of the wall
of memorials; where there was room on the raised platform was where
visitors could kneel. The wall of memorials was a big panel of wooden
boxes with names, dates of birth and death and some extra details
printed on them in gold. There was space between each box where some
people had placed bouquets.
Rowani went up to the box with ‘Larees
Rosa’ on it and placed the flowers tentatively inside the pothole
next to it. After staring at them for a short moment, she broke down
crying. Midiro silently came up behind her. He gave her a soothing hug.
Some of the flower petals fell and clattered all over the box. One fell
on Rowani’s head.