Sparnas

Flowers

Gwyn was at the back of her cottage when Zils flew in. She was sitting on a stool, stirring the cauldron in front of her she did not hear him call.

"You startled me!"

"Sorry. How are you? Have you eaten? Here, I brought Morsterran hard crackers." Zils dangled out a drawstring pouch and placed it on a window sill behind them.

"I'm fine. What are you doing here in the middle of the week?"

"Thank you for the biscuit, Zils." He said. He took a stool and sat near the cauldron. He bent down and began stoking the fire with a long branch. "I'm stationed at the Gungla Base now. Admiral Modry sent me to send a message to Castra, and I think I'd drop by for a while. Are you okay now?"

"Yes Zils, we're fine. Although I still worry about it. I know it's none of my business but I think something will go wrong. Horribly wrong. Liath is still seeing him. There's something else that's been bugging me about her. It was before she met the sparnas. So don't you dare tell me that I'm biased in this. I felt like Liath changed way before they met before they begin to spend time together. There were times when I think I don't know her that well. When he came, she changed, she had joy, she smiles more. So I'm torn in two, whether to let her follow her heart or confront her again and tell her it should be off, now. I tried to go for the latter option but you knew how it went. She was pissed at me. I can't bear her being angry at me. She's a nice sparnas I only meant well."

"It's a good thing then, whatever this guy is doing to her? Doing her?" Zils joked. "Come on tell me who the guy is. I need to be his apprentice. If he can melt the famous ice wall of Lumi, then he can teach me a thing or two. How to deal with stubborn ladies."

Gwyn sighed and rolled her eyes at the mention of Liath's nickname. "Anyway, earlier in the week, Rosso Rooi asked me out for lunch. Well, not exactly. He only wanted to brag to me and he wanted me to put some good words in for him to Liath. He brought me to that Beltzak place, again. I don't think he knows many eateries. So I sat there nodding my head, smiling politely, and I was all thinking about how to get out of there. Then suddenly, Dimma Juodas, the BlackWing Brother came through the door yelling for Rosso's blood. If I could see how clean the floor was, I could kneel and said a prayer or two. I could finally excuse myself. I hailed a carriage."

"You went out for lunch with Rosso Rooi?"

"He- I was- Well that's not the point. The thing is, before I hailed the cab, I went to the side of the bar right along their table. Their usual table beside the bar was on a wall with no windows but I saw Dimma move to the back. I could hear him talking with Hegal clearly from that rear window. There were talking about the arsons and the necklace kept here in the shrine, as one case. And also about the gold coin. I couldn't hear much but it sounded huge."

"Come to think of it, Dimma Juodas was the one who came here to meet up with the Matron, not the BlueWings. It seemed fishy." Gwyn was preoccupied with her reminiscing her hand stopped stirring.

Zils took the ladle from her and continued stirring the simmering cauldron. "Best not to poke your nose into the Brotherhood matters if Dimma Juodas was involved. He's high up the rank and very close to Admiral Modry. I've seen him meeting the admiral a few times each week since the last few months."

"Well he mentioned Liath, so I was worried, that's why I eavesdropped. He was so angry with Rosso. I was scared they would punch each other. Anyway, the Matron showed me the piece of cloth before he came. We did not touch it, we left it there for him to find. Rosso was wearing a bright red tunic the day before the new year! I have never told a soul. I didn't tell Liath or the Matron what I know. What should I do, Zils, what can I do?"