Mina and Edvard consider their journey, realizing time is closing in on them.
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Read into the world of shadows and mirrors.
♫♪Suggested Music: from Dance for Gilgamesh on AudioNetwork
Yuila returned to the inn room an hour later, flushed and smiling, full of gossip and with a new roping-skipping chant she had learned from Kura. Mina already knew the chant—she had been hearing it non-stop for half an hour from the window—but Yuila sang her own solo rendition of it again.
The humid afternoon had dissolved into a muggy evening, and the thin, occasional breeze that drifted in through the window was not enough to sufficiently cool the room. As the daylight passed into dusk, Mina lit the twin-candle table lamp and packed their belongings.
She moved slower than she wanted, but was not eager to hasten. Some of the pain had returned to her foot when the numbness wore off, and she wrapped it more securely. She had dozed off twice during the hour she was alone, but never slept for more than a few moments. Yuila had expressed her concern for the injury, and Mina had dissuaded the girl from wanting to see the burn. They finished packing and sat at the table, trying to catch the slightest whisper of air, with Yuila propped on the stool that was too tall to comfortably fit her legs under the table, which didn't seem to matter much to her.
They looked out over the inn courtyard and neighboring yard. Low voices could be heard from near the fountain, coupled with music that strayed from festivities further in town. Mina hadn't dropped the bamboo blind, not wanting to hinder any breeze.
Yuila leaned over the table to peer into the next yard better, her violet eyes moving across the darkened patio. "There was an owl on that branch there last night," she said, pointing to a thick limb from an elm tree. "It had big yellow eyes and it looked right in the window at me."
"Are you sure it wasn't a cat?" Mina asked, finding the branch the girl had indicated. She caught her breath as her injured foot touched the table leg.
"I saw it, Sapo. It was an owl. And they have an older girl there," she said, catching herself before toppling off the stool. She sat back a little, looking into the neighboring yard. "She's there now. See her?"
Mina turned the lamp light down a notch and looked across the yards. "I don't see anyone."
The Crone pointed to a bench by the fountain that was partially hidden by hydrangeas. "She's sitting there. With him."
Mina leaned closer to the window, careful not to bump her foot this time on the table leg. After a moment, two forms could be seen sitting on the bench, very close together. She looked to Yuila.
"He kissed her. Yesterday I saw them." The younger girl pouted at the accusatory look crossing Mina's face. "Edvard was gone and I was bored, Sapo. No one saw me."
"But you saw them," Mina said. "Some things are not meant for prying eyes, Yuila."
"I didn't watch for long." She looked wistfully at the dark yard. "Do you think he'll kiss her again?"
Mina shook her head, turning down the lamp light again, easing back in a chair as her back ached. "That is none of our business."
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