The Raven's Source

Chapter 43 - Funeral of a Raven

"Hello child, what brings you to this celebration of life?" he asked as he knelt in front of her.

Nikola realized his voice tried to sound sweet but still carried a lot of gruff. Her heart pounded heavy in her chest as she stood silent in front of him. There were birds on his hand.

"You don't need to be afraid of me," he chuckled.

"Mamma said not to talk to strangers," she said quietly, trying to look away from him and toward the hut. Her fear was visible but thankfully came off as stranger danger.

"We're all here to celebrate the same person. Doesn't that make us friends?" he asked. "How did you know Sheja?"

"She was to be my auntie," Nikola said softly. "Sir's my daddy...he's gonna be my real daddy someday when mamma marries him and she was his sister...I think? That's where aunties come from, right?"

He chuckled. "Cerno's gonna be your daddy? What a lucky guy!"

"You know my daddy?"

"I do. Probably better than anyone else here." He chuckled again and held up a glass. "Hey, are you thirsty? I grabbed this cup of tea as I came up here but I don't want it. I'd rather it not go to waste. Would you like it?"

Her mind was screaming all the red flags at her, but to keep in character she nodded and took the cup. As she pulled it up to her mouth, she could smell the woody, tree-bark scent and realized the cup was laced. She pretended to take a big gulp then frowned and made a disgusted face. "This tastes bad."

"Maybe it was brewed too strong, it's just a simple black tea. I put some sugar in it but I can go get you some more," he said. "Or maybe I didn't mix it well enough? Swirl the cup then take another sip, tell me if it really does need more sugar."

As she swirled the cup, she let it "accidentally" slip from her grasp. It spilled and quickly absorbed into the grass. "Oh! I'm sorry!" she whimpered.

"That's okay, no use crying over spilled tea. Tell me your name, child," he said. His voice this time came off on the verge of demanding.

"Nikki," she immediately replied, knowing he was trying to test how much she drank and how controlled she would be.

He grinned at her quick response. "What kind of magic do you possess, Nikki?"

"We don't know but mamma thinks I might be able to create things someday like my real daddy did," she said flatly.

"Can you try create something for me now?"

Nikola held out her hands and small particles started to float above her palms but nothing seemed to come to fruition.

"Gotta focus on things like that. Need to see what you want," he coached.

"Nikki?" Rose's voice called out.

"I gotta go now," Nikola said softly as she picked up the box of tissues again. "It was good to meet you."

He grinned as she walked away toward the hut.

"What took you so long?" Rose asked, taking the tissues and handing them to Leena.

"He approached me," Nikola said softly.

"What?" Cerno asked.

"Weren't you watching? He tried to get me to drink a laced tea. I pretended to take a big gulp and promptly spilled it," she said in a whisper. "Pretty certain he thinks he's got me under his control."

"Could you see him?" Cerno asked.

"Yes," she replied.

Cerno grinned. "Good. This might play out better than expected."