Aloi Who Learned To Fly

An Unexpected Visitor

A jolt of fear stiffened Aloi's spine. She wasn't sure to smile or frown or just run in the other direction as far away as possible. No, no, she decided at the Mirrored Pools that she would face her fate and so she would.

"Trin, very happy to see you. I didn't know you were coming for a visit," she said.

"Oh, I hadn't planned on a visit," Trin said. "It wasn't until this morning that I decided. I was allowed dismissal from the Elders and given personal time. I'm not required back to the Symposium for another day."

There was a queer look in Trin's eye. She must know, Aloi thought and felt it prudent to keep quiet. She sat down at the table next to her sister and folded her hands in her lap.

"Aloi, darling, please bring me the large strainer from the pantry," their mother said. "the oak one."

Aloi walked to the large pantry that was really a small room of their house. There were bowls and spoons and pots and pans and stones and so many things that if one was not educated in cooking, you would simply be lost. It was as if they had bought an entire market's worth of cooking tools.

She retrieved the strainer and handed it to her mother. She could feel the look of Trin's eyes piercing the back of her head. Bo twittered and cheeped upon her shoulder and hopped down her arm to stand upon the table. She cocked her head at Aloi and twittered a little message that only she would understand.

"The Mirrored Pools were just fine, thank you Bo," Aloi said. She knew her cheeks were flushed.

"Mick said you were at the pools," her mom said. "What happened there?"

"Nothing--that is, nothing at all." Aloi said. "Just a little dip and that's all. You know how I love the stillness of the place."

"I don't know," her mother said. "You sound as though something exciting went on."

Aloi blushed again. She looked sideways at Trin. Trin's thin smile was curled up on one side, a smirk. A knowing smirk. Their mother turned and looked at her daughters. She could tell there was a secret between them but chose not to press the issue too much. Girls had their secrets and sisters most of all.

"Trin why don't you come take a look at the radish patch. It's really growing lovely this year," Aloi said.

"Of course," Trin said. "I'd love to see it." Trin rose, Bo hopped to her shoulder, and the three of them left the kitchen and went into the back garden.

"Be sure not to bother any of the Greenkeeps. It's High Summer Eve, you know, and there is magical work to employ for the harvest." Their mother worried a lot, but gave them their space nonetheless.

Pinch was sitting by the back door waiting for Aloi, cooling his belly on the flagstone doorstep. She collected him in her arms and stroked the hair between his ears as she and Trin walked through the garden. She could feel the tension growing between her shoulder blades. There was a brooding energy in the aura surrounding her body. She could see it in her third eye. It was dark green with flecks of red. She wished for nothing more than to erase that energy and regain the lovely pink, white, and gold she normally saw around her body.

Trin cleared her throat. "So, Bo tells me that there was some excitement at the pools." She turned and raised her eyebrow at Aloi. There was a glimmer in her golden eyes. In a good mood, they appeared like amber nestled within the bark of a tree. In a dark mood, they appeared to blaze like fire. There was definitely fire in Trin's eyes tonight.

"What exactly did she say?" Aloi asked. She tried to keep her voice even and steady but there was certainly a higher pitch than she intended.

"Oh I don't know, I wasn't sure if she was just reciting an ancient poem or not. She mentioned something about wings. Your wings. Something about flapping? Yes flapping." Trin giggled hysterically. She slapped a hand on her leg as she walked. "I think my dear little Robin has gone a bit off. You know, a little loose in the mind."

Aloi giggled as well. But it was not humor that caused her laughter, it was nerves. "What a silly old bird," she said.

"Silly isn't the half of it," Trin said."I have a mind to take her to the healers." Bo fluttered around Trin's head and tweeted. She pecked playfully at one of her pointed ears."Stop that," she said.    

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