Aphrodite's Gift
I was given a few days to recover from my poisoning though I didn’t really need it. I had felt refreshed from two days’ worth of sleep and there were no residual effects from the poison in my system. I took the time on my first day to read the letters I had tucked away a few days ago and to answer the two that I hadn’t seen since. I pulled out the first letter with Blake’s name on it. I read:
“My beloved,
I am writing you to let you know how far along I am at in my investigation. We have discovered a witch within your land that used to work with The Order. I am hoping that, in contacting her, she can give us some valuable information that will help us to, at least, find out some of the members. While I do have spies there, they have not been able to find out identities. They use very powerful magic that is able to disguise them. I can only assume that many of them are nobility. Please know that I am trying my best to bring those who would harm you to justice. I will see you in a few days when you visit my home and I await your arrival here.
Yours truly,
Blake
I had heard from my parents that the witch Dorothea was the one who concocted the antidote that cured me. She came because she was a good friend with my grandfather. When Vanessa informed me that she would like to see me when I recovered, I heartily accepted the invitation so that I could thank her in person. My parents tried to send her a reward, but she refused stating that she was rewarded enough by Blake and Lucien. I had imagined that getting rewards from two men of royalty was enough, especially one who was so enamored with me as Blake was. I wrote to Blake about how I was grateful for his hard work and especially for his assistance in curing my poison. I told him that I had heard his words when he administered my potion and that he had nothing to apologize for. His kiss was for a noble reason and that was enough for me. I had sealed the envelope with the teal wax seal and scrolled his name on the front. I pulled out Lucien’s letter to read:
“Alexandra,
I hope your first day of school was fruitful and that you had the chance to learn something of yourself. The first day is often aptitude tests and helping you to discover new skills so it should ease you into your new life. I had also heard from Ellis that you will be learning tea, but I imagine your mother probably kept you well versed on that at least. Nonetheless, my best guess is that he wants you to be prepared for the ceremony of taking tea with a member of royalty. I hope you paid good attention to his lessons since this tea with the Queen Mother is of the upmost importance to the future of yourself and also the kingdom. I have no doubt that you will charm everyone with your classic wit and sensible personality. Also, tomorrow you should know the results of the Scribe rankings. I hope you are not disheartened by the results whatever they may be. I must tell you that the top two candidates will be chosen as Royal Scribe interns. I know that Royal Scribe is your ultimate goal so this may be a great opportunity for you. I do not see you as one to use the position to get close to me so please to not fret if you should be one of the two. Anyhow, I must go for now. I just wanted to let you know that I am thinking of you today and hope it proves to be enlightening.
Your grateful friend,
Lucien”
With all of the blood drinking and poisoning, I had forgotten that the rankings had come out. I wondered if Jess knew so I pushed myself away from my desk and went to her room. She immediately answered her door, “Xan, what is it?” I smiled at her and asked, “Did you happen to see the Scribe rankings?” She nodded and walked into her room waving her hand behind her to summon me in. She walked to her desk and pulled out a bunch of papers, “I was supposed to give you all of these. This is the paperwork you need to complete to catch up on your studies. They are magic papers so the assignment will go directly to the assigned teachers. You’ll get caught up right away.” She pulled out the rankings paper and placed it on top of the small stack. It read, “Official Scribe Rankings” along with a list of names ascending from 10 to 1. The top three were The Befent at rank 3, Melody Maigny at rank 2 and my name was at the top. I nodded at it, “I figured that would be the result with my fire aptitude being so high. Thanks Jess, I think I need to get to this work then.” She nodded and walked me to the door before giving me a quiet good luck and shutting the door. I walked back to my room and to my desk and wrote the return letter to Lucien.
I turned to my work and started to work on the first page on the stack. It was from Vanessa; this was instruction on how to assemble a hearth at home. She had asked that I signed the paper to promise to summon her to get her assistance to assemble it in a designated home lab for magical tools. I would have to ask Dana if there was any space that I could claim for this task. I place the paper aside as I heard the doorbell ring. I could hear Dana’s voice greeting someone and then she called for me. I pushed myself from my desk and arose from my chair. As I came down the stairs, I saw an extremely short person standing in the foyer. I thought back to when Aphrodite had said she would send her cherub. I nodded at the man who stood there. He looked like a munchkin with rosy cheeks and a nice gray three-piece suit with a black shirt and red tie. He smiled up at me, “My Lady Alexandra?” I nodded at him, “Are you the cherub?” He extended his hand to shake mine, “Yes, my lady. Pleased to meet you. My name Mr. Snailens. I am here to deliver your gift from My Lady Aphrodite.” Dana gasped behind me and whispered under her breath, “A heavenly creature in our home.” I giggled, “You’ll have to excuse my housekeeper she’s never been in the presence of an immortal.” He smirked, “I understand, I’m used to it when I mention my master’s name.”
He dug into his pocket and pulled out a box the size of a shoe box, “This is a very rare thing in Vellum, but Aphrodite thought that you could use this for your protection.” I took the box from his hand, strode to the chairs set in the foyer and sat down. He followed me and smiled in anticipation of my opening the gift. I pulled the purple ribbon from with shimmery white box and pulled the lid. The box was pitch black and a puff of black looking smoke floated out of the box and floated to the floor. The black smoke morphed into a small black puppy. Mr. Snailens spoke, “This is a shadow dog, they are heavenly creatures that are fiercely loyal to their masters. He will protect you far better than anything in Terre or Vellum. He hasn’t woken yet but once he does, you will be imprinted on him. He will be your familiar, but you must call out his name when you look into his eyes.” Just then the puppy yawned and opened his golden eyes and stared at you, “Sebastian.” He stretched and walked up to me then jumped in my lap. He circled on my lap and passed out again. Mr. Snailens smiled, “He will be with you always in your shadow when you leave your home. His sole purpose it to be by your side. You have to feed him raw meat though.” I nodded at him and stroked Sebastian’s fur which was silky and soft. I pulled him into my arms and stood up, “Please let Aphrodite know that I am very much in love with my gift and am so grateful. I will be sure to take good care of him.” He nodded and strode to the door, “I imagine this won’t be the last time I will see you My Lady since you are the soul child of my master. Please take care of yourself until then.” He faded out from my foyer and Dana gasped again.
I turned to her and giggled again, “You really need to get used to this type of thing, Dana. Aphrodite is the creator of my soul and therefore the mother of my soul. She will be a part of my life somehow from here on out.” Her eyes widened, “Yes, Your Grace, I understand but it will take me a while. I will let the cook know to set aside raw meat from now on. Also, your parents will be leaving tomorrow so you should probably spend some time with them.” I nodded, “I understand Dana, thank you. I have to go show them my new little friend anyhow.” I walked over to the study where I knew my parents were and knocked on the door. I heard my father on the other side of the door, “You can enter.” I pushed the door open with Sebastian in my hands and smiled, “I have to show you something.” I already had a baby shadow hare that Lucien had gifted to me while I slept that my mother wasn’t happy about, but my father had to remind her that Blackwood in Vellum was my house to run. She narrowed her eyes at the small black pup in my arms, “What is that?” I looked down at Sebastian and smiled, “I told you that Aphrodite was going to send me a gift. This is it. Her messenger assured me that he would protect me very well and would be with me always in my shadows.” My father smiled at him, “So he will be your familiar?” I nodded, “Yes, his name is Sebastian. He’s a heavenly creature called a Shadow Dog.”
My father stood up straight and took a book out from the shelf. He read it and nodded, “Shadow Dogs are indeed heavenly creatures. They are very rare in Vellum and the last one seen was two generations ago to Lucien and Blake’s great grandfather. He was touched by Thanatos.” I knew that Thanatos was the twin brother of Hypnos and was considered the God of Death. This troubled me and I furrowed my brow and looked down at Sebastian who had opened his eyes a slit just so you could see a small portion of his yellow eyes. They were staring at my father, and he jumped down from my hands. He strode up to my father and sniffed him. He stared up at him then curled up on his foot. My father looked down, chuckled then pet him, “He’s really cute.” I picked up the book to look at it and read that Shadow Dogs were the creation of the God of Death and were offspring of Cerberus.
