***
It was dinnertime when she emerged from her room. She’d been playing with the metal they’d left her while she read, trying to familiarize herself with how to mold it. It was resistant at first, not at all like the light. She’d eventually gotten the hang of it, and her little work table now proudly sported a bunch of bobby pins and three different pairs of sunglasses. On the last one, she’d managed to work little designs into the metal so they were decorative as well. The first two were more functional than pretty. Oh well, if she wanted to, she could always reshape the metal, but instead, she put them on an empty shelf. They were almost the first things she’d made with her metal magic, and much more impressive than the bobby pins. As such, she was a little loathe to remake them.
Contemplating at the pins scattered on the table, she wished she’d made a purse already. Oh well. Perching the sunglasses on her head so they’d be out of the way until she got outside and needed them, she stuck a few dozen bobby pins into her little money wallet, then locked the room behind her and shoved the key in there too. She noted with silent glee that she was at least an A cup after last night. She was becoming a normal girl!
The library was quiet, and she conjured a ball of light at her fingers to light her way as she walked away from her blazing room and through the darkened hallways. She made it to the front desk without running into anyone, and the shy boy from that morning was there. He saw the light approaching and asked as she got closer, “Turning your light in…?” His voice trailed off as he seemed to realize she wasn’t holding a glass ball, but that her hand itself was literally glowing.
She smiled and shook her head, saying cheerfully, “Not really. I did want to say hi though. I didn’t catch your name earlier, but I’ll probably be here a lot. I’m Jade.” She held her non-glowing hand out to shake, only remembering as he took it and bent over that shaking hands wasn’t a thing here. She was a little happy with the first blinking dot she’d gotten all day.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Jade. I’m Scott Weber.” He was peeking at her shyly through a mop of brown hair that needed a trim. His clothes were a little too big for him, like he was wearing hand-me-downs. His voice was quiet and maybe a little nervous, and she figured the last few times she’d come by had intimidated him. She also figured he was a commoner working his way up, due simply to the fact that he hadn’t dared say anything to the nobles or even her when she’d steamrolled her way into the library.
Taking her hand back, she smiled brightly at him. “The pleasure is mine. I’m sure I’ll see you around, Scott. And sorry for coming in without showing my card yesterday. Have a wonderful night!” She nodded in farewell and continued on her way out of the library. Instead of going straight to The Glass Phoenix, she wandered amongst the crowd, casually brushing against people as she observed the various stores and what people were coming out with.
When she’d gotten around twenty notifications, she finally turned and made her way to Damian’s, humming softly to herself. As she slipped through the door quietly, she heard a woman asking with a sigh, “Well, when are you going to have more? My daughter’s birthday is tomorrow, and all she can talk about are the lighted sculptures.”
Jade smiled, walking further into the room. Damian was shrugging a little helplessly and the woman looked a bit frustrated. She didn’t look mean, just…defeated. In front of her was a lovely oak tree sculpture Damian had made. Damian was so involved with the woman that he didn’t notice her, besides the fact that she had snuck in so the bell wouldn’t ring. Making sure neither of them were holding something that would break, she made her footsteps a little heavier so she wouldn’t startle them as she walked up.
Inspecting the figure in front of the woman, she smiled as she asked, “This is the one you wanted to get your daughter? It’s beautiful. May I?” She asked, knowing the woman might be feeling a little protective of the sculpture.
She was a little surprised when the woman, who was obviously startled at her sudden appearance, nodded with a discouraged expression. “Yes, go ahead. My daughter only wants a lighted one.”
Jade smiled comfortingly at her and proclaimed, “Then that’s what she’ll get.” Holding the glass gently, she concentrated on what she wanted, lighting the tree from within and making the leaves glow with the multi-colors of fall as she heard the woman gasp in shock. When it was fully lit, Jade set it back on the counter and smiled at Damian. “There, now everyone is happy. You go ahead and finish helping her. I’m going to light up a few more.”
“Thank you! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were the light mage!” The woman’s face was full of relief, and Jade reached out, patting her on the arm congenially and getting the coveted blinking dot.
“It’s okay. No harm done. I hope your daughter enjoys her present.”
“I’m sure she’ll love it!” the woman gushed, a bright smile painting her face. Jade just nodded and wandered off, leaving Damian to finish the transaction. She had lit up about ten other figures by the time the woman left, and she was still gushing gratitude.
Damian came over, smiling with relief as well. “You came at the perfect time. We’ve been sold out of the lit figures all day, and she kept checking back, more frantically each time. But I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Jade smiled, pouring light into another figure as she said softly, “Sorry about that. I’ll try and come earlier next time. I was a little distracted today.”
He laughed and patted her shoulder. “It’s been a long day for you, I’m sure. Don’t worry about it. As long as you take care of yourself, that’s the best. We can’t have a long and fruitful partnership unless you’re here and healthy.”
Jade laughed softly, nodding. “I’ll do my best to oblige.” With that, she lit up a couple more figures before taking her leave. She could do more and more magic without tiring now. She wasn’t sure which stat or skill made the most difference, but it was probably a combination of a bunch of things: magic, intelligence, stamina, the magic skill itself, mental fortitude, perseverance… She could think of a lot of things that might be contributing to it. Either way, she was happy it was getting easier and less draining. She had stopped pushing herself until she felt sick as well. After the scare this morning, she was being a bit more careful.
Stopping at a small restaurant called Danny’s, she chose a seat in the corner before ordering another huge dinner. She was content just to keep a low profile and take in the ambiance. She was looking at the people around her with curiosity, watching how the non-royalty acted. She was gratified to see most of them appeared happy. She had been wondering if all was only well in the nobles’ world. There was less for her to worry about if the kingdom wasn’t built on the oppression of the poor. She was hoping it wasn’t, given how nice the royal family was, but she had wanted to see for herself.
So she wandered. After she finished eating and quietly paid with a hefty tip, she slipped out of the restaurant and onto the darkening streets, pulling her hood up to hide her face. She began to wander among the areas that still had people, just listening to their conversations. They were talking about their families, their jobs, their neighbors. While there was some grumbling, it was over what so-and-so had done, generally. She noted that there were several guards wandering the streets in pairs as well, but they were there to keep public safety and didn’t seem to be abusing their position.
She watched them curiously. It almost seemed too good to be true. It was then that she focused more closely. The guards weren’t just patrolling; there were a lot of them around, more than she had seen the nights before when she was going home. It was as if they were searching for something, but trying not to alarm anyone by being too obvious about it.