The Son of Thunder

Chapter Forty-Eight

 Magpie stared at her figure in the mirror. Liman outdid himself. She never noticed her figure as she did in this gown. Her shoulders seemed broader than they did in her hunting uniform. Her hips flared out, then the gown tightened at her waist. The neck was low-cut, which she was unaccustomed to, and her breasts were pushed up and forward. This discomfort would have been unbearable if it hadn't been for the softness of the material. She hugged the fabric to herself and rolled in her bed.

"Oh, I want sheets like this. I want a shift made of this. I could sleep in heaven."

Lightening knocked on her door and she jumped to her feet. She checked the gown for wrinkles, smoothed them. She wanted to be presentable when he entered.

"I didn't see you at all yester," she said. Magpie was uncontainable with happiness. "Shawna said you were at the ruins."

He had a wooden box, half-rotted away, in his gloved hands. "It was late when I returned," he said. "I've never explored this group of ruins."

Magpie sat at the dressing table and began to brush her hair. Unruly stuff. He stood behind her and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. "These houses were of the most wealthy of the Old World. They are the most destructed and most difficult to explore. It took me all day to find what I was looking for."

"I worried last night that you would not make it back in time," Magpie said, laying the brush down. "I could never attend the wedding alone."

"No," he said, discarding the box on top of the table and kneeling at her side. "That is why I went. For you. To obtain jewelry for you."

"We have jewelry stands here in Thundonia," she said, wrapping her hair on the top of her head.

"Leave your hair down," he said, pulling her hands to her sides. He combed his fingers through her tresses, touched the locks reverently. "The stands of Thundonia carry only small gems and polished rocks. The jewelry I wanted was elsewhere. I've seen pictures in my books and I've explored ruins before and found great pieces. I wanted those for you. Not the paste they forge here."

The box was a treasure chest. Dilapidated, rusty hinges, decayed. Lightening encouraged Magpie to lift the lid. The hinges bent and broke in her hands, the wood turning to splinters. White sparkled at her instantly. She pulled a chain of diamonds out and held it before her face. Then another had a V shape. Some pieces of other colors sparkled, but she was most impressed by the diamonds.

"Here," he said, taking the piece in a V shape and fastening it about her neck.

Magpie laid her fingers over it. She had never spied gems as these. She was wordless. He took a ring out. Magpie tried it on several fingers before she found a sound fit. She was suffocating on shock. She reminded herself to breathe.

Lightening knelt so that his face was next to hers. He peered at her reflection. "Good," he said, smiling at her image. "I must go to my room and prepare."

"You're dressed," she said, turning in her chair.

He was putting his mask back on. "I have another chore for my appearance."

Magpie took strands of the diamonds and held them against her hair. Then she fastened them. Jeweled rain had christened her. She reveled in her appearance. Her smile returned, her teeth large and white. "I'll be happy," she said. "I'll be a delight. I'll ... be miserable." Her chest quaked; tears choked out of her. Magpie tore the necklace, ripped the strands out of her hair and stomped on them. Black thickened at the corners of her eyes and on the rounds of her cheeks. Her red, beaten face glared at her in the mirror and she began to shake her head.