Wax Wings - Azriel Shadowsinger

Spills, Spells, and Spirits Tell

"Stars above- sir, I am so sorry," I say, as I accidentally splash a few droplets of tea onto his hand, as I handed the cup to him. My cheeks reddened, as I stepped away from my to-go counter to run a hand through my hair.

The man simply chuckled. "I didn't feel a thing, Di. Don't even worry."

Thankfully, this customer had been in the shop before- I didn't need to have any angry wives arguing with me, or anything. It was a blessing to have people react nicely when I made mistakes. I run the cafe by myself- these things do happen.

Can we stop them from happening? No.

I fixed the nametag on the right side of my dark blouse that read 'Diem,' and got to wiping off the corner tables in the cafe, should anyone come in before dinner.

I doubted it would happen, but oh well. Things were a little slow right now and few of us realized why. Sometimes we citizens learned glimpses of the truth- the High Lord's presence wasn't something we had felt in a... while.

As the half hours went by, the clock slowly made it way to six in the evening, and I found myself closing Crescent Cafe a few minutes early. I locked the front door, pinched out my candles, and left a few coins from today's tip jar on my altar for the spirits, gods, whatever they may be. As I also made sure to pick up any extra cups or saucers left out, the sound of the fountain in the corner of my shop suddenly sounded real, not just white noise constantly in the back of my head.

It was a blessing to have clean, fresh water in Velaris. Some in the Court of Nightmares were not so lucky.

That's what this fountain was- my parents had built it. Clean water, next to our altar- as a child, they'd told me that the water had healing properties, as it would be blessed by the spirits.

Knowing all was in order in my shop, I poured the remains from the tip jar into the pouch at my waist, and pushed back my curtains to go upstairs into the home above.

As soon as I entered the upstairs kitchen, there was the feline that had found her way into my heart, my love, who I preferred to call 'Moss.'

Today, Moss immediately began to circle between and around my legs, meowing softly, as to ask for attention. "Calm down, Mossy. I'm tired, but I'm going out. I'll be home as soon as I'm done."

The cat meowed as if she understood, while I walked into my childhood- and current- bedroom.

My parents' bedroom was left as it was the day they left for that ball, save for my occasional dusting and cleaning.

They hadn't returned, and at this point, I don't know if they ever will.

I unclasp the pouch from my belt, loosening the corset that was over my black blouse, long sleeved and off of my shoulders. I found a pair of black trousers, able to be cinched at my waist.

Yawning, I pushed my long charcoal hair into a knot above my head, leaving the black top on, before lacing up dark boots, and finding a dark jacket to match.

As I locked the back door, I walked down the path behind the shops on my side of the Sidra, finding my way to the edge of the city, where the paths met the woods. It wasn't too dark yet, and thankfully that meant I wouldn't have any trouble tonight, maybe similar to others..

So I walked, humming a song I remember, not exactly knowing from where, but detailing fighting, a high spirit song. The woods was exactly as I remembered as well, but I knew not to speak to the trees anymore- they tended to speak back when I didn't exactly want them to, nor did they ever take kindly to my swearing. I never thought tree spirits could be so sensitive to foul language.