Black Mask & Pale Rider: Wishmaster the Present
Near Brockton, present day
Lyssa lowered her glasses as she closed the book. She had just finished reading the first book that Pania had written. It was a series of memories written down in the form of an adventurous story. Lyssa was perched on Pania’s writing desk as she read, she hadn’t moved in the last several hours as the book held her attention while Pania worked on the second volume of adventures.
“That oughta do it.” Pania murmured as she dried the ink on the last page and closed the book. The title had been chosen a while ago, and had some strange language written on the leather cover. Los Elfos y el Diablo. As Pania had explained before, it was fitting for the volume. A sentence in Spanish, one of the languages of the realm she and Shani had visited together.
“A prince huh?” Lyssa started with a small smirk as her gaze fell to her own protruding chest. Pania’s description of the festival in mind, her own words as a little girl had not exactly come to fruition. “Did you get lost along the way?”
Pania laughed softly at Lyssa’s comment. “Ye be perfect the way ye are, luv. Would no’ change a ‘air on your ‘ead.” She smiled softly as she sat back in her chair, the first break she had since she began writing several hours before. “’Sides, who’s ta say my dreams didna come true, jus’ with a small twist.”
“Was Shani really like that?” Lyssa said as she referenced the image of Shani as a little girl, all ribbons and bows. “And Sywyn? He would never have struck me as the type to be such a brat as a child.”
Pania nodded in reply. The idea of Shani being a girly girl and Sywyn being anything less than knightly amused Lyssa to no end. Lyssa slid off the edge of the desk, stretching out her stiff muscles. She let out a long sigh as her body seemed to protest from having sat for so long. “Will you tell me what the third one is about?” she asked as she nodded toward a small pile of papers that had several notations written on them. Lyssa knew Pania’s writing style, she would take carefully organized notes before she set about authoring a book. Even if it was the simplest of books to write.
“No,” Pania said with amusement in her voice. She too, stood up and stretched. “It’ll ‘ave more of an effect when ye read it yourself. Bu’, I’ll jus’ give ye one ‘int. Me sister is in it.”
Lyssa’s lips moved into a pout. It would be a while until Pania would let Lyssa read the book. The suspense was enough to keep her wanting more. At least she had one hint as to what it could be about.
“This book also told about how you became a knightess.” Lyssa stated as she handed the volume back to Pania. The elven paladin took it carefully and placed it upon a shelf, next to several others that Pania had written.
“It did,” Pania replied, agreeing with her. “Only I didn’t know what it was until later. I jus’ only recently b’gan ta remember the images from the dreamwalks I ‘ad. I though’ I’d forget, bu’ as I wrote this, ev’rythin’ come back quickly.”
“Well, she must be watching over you or something.” Lyssa continued. “Otherwise she wouldn’t have opened the turning power to you when you needed it the most.”
“Mm.” She said with a nod. “I s’ppose the Lady is watchin’ o’er me, now as much as she were back then. Else I would no’ be ‘ere with ye right now.”
“I’m grateful for that.” Lyssa said with a laugh. “C’mon lets get something to eat,” she said taking Pania by the hand as she pulled her toward the door of her room. “I’m starving, and I think perhaps it’s time to make a trip into Stonebridge. At least to let people know we’re still alive, if nothing else.”
“Don’ see ‘ow they would think that,” Pania giggled. “With the way we carry on in ‘ere las’ nigh’.”
Lyssa laughed and started for the door, letting Pania’s hand go as the pale elf picked up her quill once more. “Need ta add this one thin’,” she informed Lyssa as she opened up the cover to the new book she had begun. She opened it to the first page, and quickly dipped her pen in fresh ink as she scrawled out one final line. I always knew.
