The Pieces Adorned

Week's End

"Here, is your daughter's dress. I hope she has a lovely birthday ball." Aurora handed over a small pale pink dress to Lady Flovios.

"Thank you, dear. Here's your payment. I hope your mother is doing well." She handed Aurora a small leather pouch with the payment.

"She is thank you. Have a good day."

"You as well dear." Lady Flovios leaves and Aurora feels her shoulders slump down and let the large false smile fall.

The chaos of the week finally caught up and she flopped on her stool. She had to finish all of her orders and get them out this week, while also not taking any others. She felt like she had the weight of the entire world on her shoulders.

Her mother also has been having coughing fits over the last couple of days and hasn't given any sign of letting up. And every time she tried to tell her mother that this is why she can't go on that silly hunt, her mother shakes her head and says that she wants nothing more than to see her go through it. Aurora knows she is saying it like that because Aurora has said in the past she wants nothing more than to do everything to make her mother happy and proud.

Every night after she has helped her mother settle for the night, she has been sitting by the low fire, reading the journal. Something that she found interesting, are sketches at the very end of the journal. It's of the three sisters. Sometimes playing and sometimes just enjoying each other's presence. She has taken notice that the sketch of Solis is a gentle-faced red hair woman, almost always depicted in soft washes of oranges, yellows, and reds. She had asked her mother about the sketches, wondering if she had done them but her mother always said that it was an old friend who had done them.

Aurora is now just sitting alone in the quiet storefront. The wood and stone walls having seemed to dull in the week she has let this decision weigh on her mind. The soft rays that filtered through the window panes didn't warm her skin like it once did.

"Why did that dryad have to happen to cross my path? If I hadn't gone out then this mess wouldn't be happening right now." Aurora was so stuck in her head that she hadn't heard the small bell above the door chime when someone came in.

"Miss Aurora?" The moment she heard her name, she snapped her head up and found the dryad she had just been thinking about come into view, along with another forest folk behind her.

"The Forest King has sent me for your answer." Her voice was small and meek. Not like the loud bubbly personality that Aurora met last week.

Aurora let out a sigh, grabbing the journal that sat in the sewing basket under the table and just gently ran her thumb over the spine. She knew her mother wanted her to go but for what? Just to go on a wild chase?

She looked up at the two forest folk and just nodded.

"Yes, I have my answer..." There was a long pause and Aurora could tell the two others were getting restless waiting. "I'm going. I'm going to try to find these supposed pieces of these celestial beings."

The dryad smiled and clapped her hands. She pulled the other person in front of her. Aurora could tell that it was a young faery.

"This is Sana, she is our head healer in the Forest Kingdom. She will be taking care of your mother while you are away."

"It's nice to meet you Sana. My name is Aurora. My mother's name is Meridith."

"You as well Miss Aurora. May I meet your mother so that I can assess what I may need to treat her?"

"Yes, of course. Follow me. She should be up by now."

Aurora took both of them back into the house and entered her mother's room.