Branch 4: Miltinnia
"That's a lot of thunder. Doesn't look like there's a storm coming? ... Papa?! I'm done!"
The young women yells down the stairs after checking the sky thru the windows.
An older male voice soon answers her.
"That was fast! No problem with the doors?!"
The three wheels on her chair often had problems getting thru doorways.
"They are all wide enough! These new wheels are perfect!"
"Thank you! So happy to hear that Miltinnia!"
"So?! How long will we be here?!"
She wouldn't mind staying for a while. The town was beautiful with a lot of smooth paved streets. So it was easier for her to get around. There was even a public library. Meaning the book crazy girl would have plenty to read.
"I'm sorry daughter! It will only be a year or two!"
Another crash downstairs as another crate falls. Yelling and cursing as the man and his apprentices pick up and resume unpacking. The girl waits for it to get quiet again.
"Why Pearlden though?! Raelera would have been a much better choice!"
"Raelera may be larger, and we have an office there, but Pearlden has Stormgarde! Full of children of the rich and powerful. And if we make connections with them?!"
"I know! We make connections with their parents! An Alnus always keeps an eye on the future!"
"That's my girl!"
"I love you too papa!"
"And Stormgarde does magical research! They might just have someone who ca-"
"Stop!"
"..."
"I'm, sorry! I... Please papa! I've accepted this! I wish you would too!"
An accident. A child not paying attention. A noble's carriage going too fast to stop or turn. A girl's life, changed.
"It's alright! Your mama always said your papa is a fool!"
A mother's sacrifice. A saved child. A father and daughter left in a colder lonelier world.
"Papa, did you see that?"
"What?!"
"Never mind!"
Its been a long morning and was a longer voyage before that. Her tired eyes must just be playing tricks on her. Shadows can't move on their own. Can they?
"Milti! Come down! Let's take a break!"
"Yes papa!"
As the girl carefully navigates her special chair down the stairs to the ground floor of the shop. Of course she can't see the entrance to her room behind her. Nor the shadow leaning around the doorframe.
Watching her.
Alnus, Miltinnia (female, human, aquecian)
Alnus, Kamern (male, human, aquecian)