Mortal Decoy

Chapter 11 - Samara

I wiped my sticky fingers on my pants, not at all minding the unlady like smear it left. I had more important matters to think of. Namely, eating more of these delicious berries. I'd now been in the human realm for over a month and spring was in full swing. Much to my delight, this meant that the earth graced us with lovely little treats. Juicy fruits and vegetables were now abundantly available. And the best part, they didn't require any cooking to be deliciously good.

For the last week I'd developed a habit of raiding the church's gardens for any fresh fruits or vegetables. Brietta had scolded me of course. Saying that food was for everyone and I shouldn't be hogging all of it. But I think she still felt bad about how massively I'd failed at cooking so she didn't try too hard to stop me.

I was mid-bite into a particularly large strawberry when Kaylin ran into the gardens, bouncing up and down excitedly. She was wearing a yellow dress with what looked to be paint stains all over it.

"Ara! Ara! You have to come see! I've finished my best one yet!"

"What's going on?" I mumbled through a mouthful of fruit.

"You have to come see my painting!"

"Alright, alright!" I wiped my mouth on my shirt sleeve, leaving yet another careless stain.

I followed Kaylin back inside and upstairs to the second level of the Healing Wing where her and Brietta's quarters were. Kaylin skipped inside to a cozy room with a large bed, a dresser, and a large desk littered with papers and books. Brietta sat at the desk reading what seemed to be a herbology textbook. She glanced up as I walked in.

"It seems Kaylin was successful in capturing you."

"It seems so."

"Look!" Kaylin exclaimed, gesturing wildly at an easel set up in the corner by a window. This window had a significantly better view than my window to a brick wall. We looked out onto the church gardens, which is probably how Kaylin knew where to find me. It was also probably how Brietta had known I'd been stealing food from there.

I walked forward to get a look at the painting. It was exquisite. To be honest my first thought when I looked at it was that there was no way a child could have painted this. It was of the ocean. But not a basic slap of blue paint on a canvas. It was as if the painting was alive. It depicted a storm. The waves rolling and crashing, the sky cloudy and ominous. She had perfectly captured the details of the water, the ripples and reflections. The clouds had depth and volume. The painting felt almost like a window to a different place.

Kaylin smiled and bounced on her heels, awaiting my verdict on her painting.

"It's... it's amazing" I managed, still drinking it in.

"Most people are pretty amazed when they first see Kaylin's work." Brietta said, giving her daughter a proud look.

"I've been working really hard at mastering blue and green!" Kaylin said.

"What do you mean?"

"Kaylin uses her water affinity to help her paint. But it's hard for her to control water when it has additives in it, so she's been working real hard to master different color dyes." Brietta supplied.

"Yep! I've already gotten pretty good with yellow and orange and now I have green and blue!"

Kaylin quickly lost interest in staring at her painting and whined to Brietta about being hungry.

"You've got legs, just go down to the kitchens and get some food!" Brietta said, clearly not willing to be Kaylin's servant. With an annoyed groan Kaylin set off on the grueling journey to the kitchens.