The Witch of Storn

Chapter 23

Rey was bored. She had licked the plates clean and now they sat in a tidy pile on the tray and the tray was on the bedside table. Then she had looked around, examining every inch of the room with just her eyes until she was certain there was nothing that had gone unnoticed. That had been a while ago, and now she was bored.

What had Zaria said? Something about books and the bedside table? Rey smacked her forehead when the thought of it occurred to her, regretting the action immediately she did it. She rubbed her smarting forehead with a grimace and turned to the table. It was a large thing, reaching up to Rey's waist. Actually it was a chest of drawers, holding three drawers, each one with a knob in the center of it. She had left it alone while she was observing the room because she had thought she wasn't supposed to, but now she gladly reached towards it.

The top drawer came first. It slid out smoothly, but Rey's face crumbled when she saw what it held. Just clothes. She reached into the drawer, groping with her hand among the clothes and touching the floor of the drawer but found nothing else. Only clothes. Ugh. Weren't places in fantasy supposed to have secrets and hidden compartments? She felt around again but discovered nothing. And it would be a bit of a stretch if she took out all the clothes just to search for a secret compartment, wouldn't it? The image of Zaria walking in while she sat emptying a drawer of clothes onto the floor came to her mind and she shuddered. There was no need to test her luck —who knew what Zaria would do? She decided to close the drawer but paused as she did so, a particular apparel catching her eye. She pulled it out and shook it out to its full length, gasping. It was beautiful. It was a white dress in the Grecian style, bunched and belted at the waist by a thin golden chain that hung down to one side and tinkled whenever it shook. Rey had likened it to ancient Greek clothing but it really was nothing like that. The top half had long sleeves which ended longer in the front, and the garment had a simple round neck. The bottom half was flowy and simple. It was rather plain if not for the gorgeous embroidery that decorated the edges and seams, golden just like the one on the blanket earlier. Rey made sure not to look at the embroidery this time, even if it didn't move like the other one. The stitching on the dress was neater too and smaller. She admired it some more and folded it carefully before placing it back into the drawer. Was the dress Zaria's? She compared the woman to the dress. Maybe Zaria had worn it when she was younger? It was too small for the woman now. It still looked good as new though. Maybe it was only for special occasions?

Rey closed the drawer, shutting the door on whatever questions she had about the dress at the same time. There were still two more drawers and some books to get to. She also had no idea when Zaria would be back, so she had to move fast.

The second drawer contained the books Zaria had spoken of. Rey shut it when she had seen its contents, saving it for last. She reached towards the bottom drawer and stopped. The first two had been easy to open as they were close to the level of the bed. The third one, however, was a little way above the floor. Rey could reach it, but to do so she would have to stretch. She grimaced at the thought but decided to try anyway. Her arm reached out, going past the first two drawers. Just when it had gotten to the upper border of its destination it stopped and retreated. Rey groaned as she put an arm on her back. There would be no exploration of drawer number three until her body didn't protest whenever she moved her limbs too far.

She opened drawer two again and examined it properly. At first glance it had seemed to be full to the brim with books such that closing it would require some sweat. Actually the books were just big. Taking them out one by one revealed that there were only six in total, with the last one taking up all the space on the bottom of the drawer. She closed the now empty drawer and turned her attention to the books laid out on the bed on either side of her legs. The biggest was the one that had been at the bottom, so Rey started with it. She hefted it onto her lap, wincing at the accompanying ache. It was bound in leather dyed red and she turned it around. There was no title on the front cover, the spine or the back, so she opened it.

Rey stared. Then she smacked her forehead hard. She didn't wince this time — the pain was deserved.

How had she forgotten that Zaria and Rhaenar weren't from the same country? Rey had no idea what language she spoke herself; it just felt natural to express herself. Zaria had said something in a different language once, but Rhaenar had no knowledge of it and if she did, it wasn't passed on to Rey. She groaned aloud as she flipped through the book; it was all in the strange language. There were no pictures either to tell her what the book was about. So she gave up and shut it, putting it to one side.

The next book she picked up was smaller, like all the others after it. It was leather-bound too, and when she opened it she cheered, disturbing the silence. She could read this one! There was a title on this one: Mysterious and Magickal Mythical Tales. Rey flipped through it, stopping once or twice to admire the illustrations. There was one she particularly liked; the one of the beautiful woman in a dress that looked as light as foam and hair that had leaves budding out of its strands here and there. Rey's fingers moved over the powdery surface of the page, tracing the title below the illustration: A Wood Spirit. She looked back at the illustration, noticing the roots that emerged from below the hem of the dress. Her eyes moved to the passage beside the illustration.

'...found in forests everywhere, the wood spirit can take the form of a man or a woman. Most tales however feature mostly spirits in the form of a woman...'

Rey tore her eyes away from the book with difficulty. She closed it and tucked it behind her pillow, convincing herself there would be plenty of time to enjoy the book. She wasn't going anywhere after all.

With much less enthusiasm than she had begun with, she picked the next book up. She put it down just as fast when she opened it to find it was unreadable. The two books that came after it were the same and Rey piled them onto the big book easily. There was a small smile on her face. The faster she finished with the rest of the books the faster she could get back to reading Mythical Tales.

The sixth book was strangest. It had a cover of what felt like wood wrapped in rough cloth. There was a word boldly printed on the front. Rey mouthed the word: Calla. It was a name; not Revonan but—

But what? Rhaenar's memories fizzled out whenever she tried to remember where she —Rhaenar— knew the words from. Certainly the language was familiar to Herr but she couldn't place it. Rey sighed, bringing a hand up to massage her temple. There was no use forcing remembrance; it would only end in a crippling headache. Rhaenar's memories were frustrating, being incredibly helpful and incredibly useless simultaneously.

She turned her attention back to the book. Calla? Is it a story about someone called Calla? She opened the book — well, she tried to. It didn't yield, not even when she braved the pain that followed trying to force the covers apart. It was as if the pages of the book had been glued together. Swinging the book back and forth by the spine proved it wasn't so. Rey dropped it and frowned at it. She touched it, intending to try opening it again but the pain in her joints made her drop it on the unreadable pile. She gathered up the books and put them back in their drawer and closed it.

Mythical Tales came out from its hiding place. Rey smiled at it. She dropped it to fluff the pillows and rearrange the blanket over her legs. When she was snug and warm she picked up the book again and opened it, settling in for an afternoon of reading.