Chapter I, Reading 6

Dakra then walked away, leaving her to search for any clues to be found within the package.

Flindra looked at the bundle through tear-fogged eyes.  It was a crudely made leather bag.  The seams were stitched with a heavy leather lace and the leather itself was stiff and cracked with age.  She opened the bag and dropped its contents in her lap.  There were three leather pouches of different sizes, all with drawstrings around the tops.

She opened the smaller of these bags and discovered an unusual silver ring.  The silver had oxidized with age to such an extent that it was nearly black.  The outstretched wings of a great bird, possibly an eagle, formed the circle of the ring.  An oddly shaped amethyst was held in place by the beak and talons of the eagle.  Flindra looked into the depths of the gem and saw that it wasn’t entirely clear.  At the center of the stone, there was an opaque shape that suggested something to her deepest memories.  She struggled to remember the meaning of the shape, but the thought faded before she could grasp it.  Flindra placed the ring on her finger.  It fit on her finger as if it had been made for her.  It was odd for the band had appeared larger when she first looked at it.  She shook her head in wonder.

The second pouch contained a golden hair comb.  The back of the comb was carved into the shape of the spread wings of a swan with the bird's head gracefully folded over the right wing.  The fine teeth of the comb were closely spaced so it would stay securely in a woman's hair.  The only part of the comb that would be visible in her hair would be the swan.  It would make a pretty ornament.

There were fine strands of auburn hair in the comb, which she pulled free and fingered gently.  Could these delicate strands possibly have belonged to her mother?  She tried to imagine what her birth mother must have been like.

She couldn't help but wonder why she had been given away as a baby.  It was hard enough to accept the fact that she wasn't the daughter of the kind and loving couple who had raised her, but why had her parents, her mother, given her to Kewero to be given away again?

She felt isolated and a little frightened.  Things were too confused.  She retreated from the confusion by closing her eyes and drawing forth a memory of pleasant times.

It was the summer before Leudh's marriage and things couldn't have been happier.  As always, there had been much work to do, but work was pleasure when it assured the health and security of her family.  It hadn't been all work, there had been plenty of time for play, too.  Leudh took her on hunting trips and taught her even more about the ways of the animals and of the forest itself.

The pleasant memories touched her heart with love and hope.  She knew her family would want her to face her fate with courage.  She would try to be brave and face her future without hesitation to live up to that expectation.  She knew it was going to be a challenging effort for she simply couldn't imagine living anywhere else and being someone else.  This was the only home she knew.  Eghero, Dakra, and Leudh the only family she could imagine.  The idea of her being a princess seemed so unreal.  She was a woodsman's daughter - at home in the trees and with the animals.  How could she possibly feel at home in some palace?  She would probably only embarrass herself with some clumsy comment or inappropriate action.

With a sigh of resignation, she went back to the task of examining the objects on her lap.  The last bag was both the largest and the heaviest.  Flindra opened it and found a crystal sphere, which fit neatly in the palm of her hand.  The surface of the crystal was perfectly smooth and pleasurable to touch.  As Flindra moved the sphere about, she saw colored light reflecting throughout the crystal.