Counting Crows

Six: Sandman

The recent company left Eli unsettled. Gigi visited him often, but rarely did she come for a just a meal among friends; there was always something important on her mind. She always came with wise words and warnings, and he knew she hadn't said all she wanted to say for fear of scaring the poor mortal girl.

After one last poke at the cool remnants of soup, Eli stood, motioning for Noor to do the same. He would admit she was handling the situation rather well but knew she must be exhausted.

"Let us get you off to bed," he suggested, sidestepping his chair.

Noor nodded. He could her the quiet taps of her sneakers on the tiled floors of the castle halls as he led her to the sleeping wing. Rarely did he have guests over that required sleep, but a hob had prepared a room for her. He would have to remember to set out some extra milk to thank the little house-helpers for their work today.

Stopping in front of a wooden door, Eli pushed it open for Noor. Examining her face as her eyes scoured the room, Eli could see the hesitance, fear, and exhaustion from the past few hours marring her young features, and it struck him again how fragile she was. She was a real human being, a real human being that had almost died because of someone else's greed.

Noor stepped inside. "Thank you, Eli. I know I'd be dead if it weren't for you." Noor looked intently at him as she leaned against the door, and Eli tried to recall the last time he was human. Despite keeping time for over 150 years, he struggled to wrap his mind around the length of his own existence. He tried to recall the last time he had been afraid of dying, the last time he had had a real family to worry over and care for. Not that he didn't care for people here; Gigi's matronly presence was evidence enough, but sometimes he wondered where memories of Gigi ended and memories of his mother began.

He gave Noor a tightlipped smile. "Get some rest. I know you probably have many questions, but I can try to answer them tomorrow."

With a curt nod, Noor shut the door from the inside, and Eli began to walk back towards the great hall. He'd look for Gigi along the way. She hadn't yet left the castle, and he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"She's quite a looker, isn't she?" questioned Gigi. The old hag was standing in the doorway to one of castle's libraries.

Eli rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter." Shaking his head, he entered the library and shut the door behind him.

Gigi perched herself on the edge of a worn leather armchair, "I'm just teasin', so don't get too riled up now." With a raise of thinning, gray eyebrows, she smirked at Eli.

Eli could only shake his head at her antics. The woman was meddlesome to a fault, but Eli knew he could rely on Gigi for advice. She had held her role as Death longer than he had been Father Time, longer than his friend, Reo, had been Sandman, but unfortunately, not long enough to have prevented Mother Nature from tyrannizing the council.

Eli fiddled with the back of the chair across from Gigi, brushing down the velvet, worrying his fingers with a snag in the plush fabric. He couldn't help his curiosity any longer. "So you met with the Fates?"

Gigi nodded and pushed her spectacles further up her nose and said, "A good for nothing lot, they are. Like I mentioned earlier, they said something about how Mother Nature knows Noor isn't dead, and that you two are responsible for saving the world. Something like that, except it rhymed."

A clenched fist and one deep breath later, Eli looked Gigi squarely in the face. "Did you not write down exactly what they said?"

Gigi slid back into her chair and swung her legs over the armrest. "I told you what they told me, didn't I? Why would you need a transcription? Don't you trust me, boy?"