Elwanda

Chapter 3 - A Harbinger

Soft whistling made Elwanda's eyes flutter open. She glanced up and gasped, shocked by the presence of a bird perching atop the windowsill.

"Ifa!" She squeaked, sitting up and reached out to pick up the green bird. It scratched its beak against her palm twice. "How did you find me?"

She brought the bird to her chest and stroked its back. "I missed you so much. I'm glad you're here. It's lonely. But Ifa, I have no grains to give you. This isn't home."

Setting the creature atop the sill again, she rested against the wall and brought her legs to her chest.

"It's awfully pretty here though. Every thing looks expensive and smells perfumed. Even my beddings smell nice. I wonder if they will be taken away when it is time for me to leave the palace next we—"

"Excuse me, are you talking to that bird?"

Elwanda turned and found a young boy, leaning up against his elbow on his bed, his upper body twisted to allow him peer at the window side.

"Um. . ." She swallowed, recalling what Miri had told her over and over. It was strange to talk to animals and it freaked people out. "No. I wasn't. I was simply speaking to myself."

The boy smiled. "It's okay if you were talking to the bird. I wish I had someone to talk to, even a bird. I came here all by myself."

Elwanda suddenly felt sympathy. The child looked no older than eight and was the smallest person in the entire group altogether. She had first thought the lady he stood next to was his relative or someone close enough.

"My name is Ballard." He introduced, stretching a hand. "I hail from Wellfog."

"Elwanda, from Barrowley." She replied, receiving his handshake.

"Pleased to meet you, Elwanda." Ballard beamed. "Your bird friend is a green bee-eater, isn't it?"

"Yes. Her name is Ifa."

"She followed you all the way here?"

Elwanda spied briefly at Ifa, who was pecking aimlessly on wood. "I am not sure. When I first left home, she was not aware, but now she's right here. It is baffling. She couldn't have followed me."

"It shouldn't be all that surprising. Bee-eaters have always been considered omens." Ballard chuckled.

A frown moulded into Elwanda's face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, they tell you when something is about to happen. Thing is, you could never tell what or whether it's good or bad. One time, a bee-eater followed me home from a neighboring village where I'd gone to purchase buttons. I mistook the bird's company as a simple one, but it was a warning. Two days after, I realized I'd gotten the wrong buttons and went back to see if the trader would change them. After I left, a wildfire took my tent and everything around it."

"Oh no!" Elwanda gasped, covering her mouth. She stared from boy to bird.

"I didn't really think it was a mere bird that saved me that day, but beforehand, the little thing kept flying into my tent and falling asleep next to the pouch where I placed all the buttons in. It had made me take a closer look at them."

"So, you think Ifa is an omen too?"

Ballard shrugged. "Possibly. How long has she been following you around?"

Elwanda stared closely at the bird. "Ever since I was a little girl."

"That's quite a long time. Perhaps, she just really likes you then." Ballard chuckled.

"Perhaps!" Elwanda muttered.

That evening, a second round of examination took place, but it was a different scribe that asked the questions. He was lean, graybearded with sunken eyes, and asked smarter questions than the previous scribe had done. As Elwanda made to leave the hall, she was halted by someone familiar and recognized him when he drew close. It was the main herald.