A piece of clay squished between my hands as I kneaded it with my fingers. The mud stuck under my fingernails and dried on my skin. When its density was finally to my liking, I began to shape it.
In my mind's eye I pictured a bird, its wings spread wide in the act of gliding through the air. Its feathers were rippled, just so, as if it was frozen in the act of flying.
I molded the clay for three solid hours that to me felt like minutes, until finally the bird seemed perfect. I stepped back to admire my fine work.
I could make out every feather on its wings, head, and tail. The beak and talons were curved just right, shaped from the perfect mud that could only be found in the Azrith Plain of D'hara; my homeland.
"What kind of bird is that supposed to be?" asked my brother, Kada, in a teasing voice. He fingered the thick metal band around his neck.
Elisha, our adopted mother, who was more like a grandmother, had called it a rada'han. She'd taken Kada to numerous warlocks and sorceresses to try to get it off.
No one could find a way to get it off though, so finally Elisha had decided it had been put there for a reason.
"It's a hawk." I said in an annoyed tone, slugging him lightly across his abdomen with the back of my hand.
"Oh! I see it now!" he said with a grin.
"Why are you in here?" I asked with a scowl. Turning away from him, I bent and reached for my bird. I picked it up and walked it over to the old kiln that took up residence in the corner of my little shed.
The door opened with a loud creak that always sent shivers down my spine for no particular reason. I set it inside and closed it before to much heat could escape.
I turned back around to face Kada. I placed my fists on my hips and gave him a glare.
"Why are you in such a foul mood today?" Kada questioned me. "You should be excited. You do know that the parade is today, right?"
I nodded my head in response. How could I not? It was the first thing on people's lips when they wanted to gossip.
And I hadn't told anybody, but the other day a Mord Sith had paid me a visit. She had enlisted me to make a sculpture for the parade. She said it was to be a surprise for the Lord Rahl himself.
In exchange she'd given me a purse fat with twenty gold coins.
She'd hired me to make two babies; a boy and a girl. I'd made them from two trees that had been growing outside my shop specifically for something special.
I made the boy from the young apple tree, and the girl from the sapling of a cherry tree.
"Do you know what the parade is about?" he searched my face for answers. I gave him a nod before explaining.
"It's in honor of the Lord Rahl & the Mother Confessor's son and daughter’s death. Apparently they would have been 16 years old today."
Kada raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Interesting, isn't it, that we're the same age as they would be?" he asked.
"Kada," I warned, "Many people witnessed their death. Everybody saw it when that dragon came and grabbed them out of their room. All the people watched as it burned them to ash. No one could have survived that blaze, and we're obviously not dead."
Kada rolled his eyes at me. "Well, Lena, are you at least going to go watch the procession?" He gave me a look that seemed to plead with me to go.
"I guess so, I mean, someone’s got to keep on eye on you and make sure you don't pick-pocket somebody..." I muttered the last part under my breath.
