I stared down at the generous portions of food on the exquisite plate in front of me. Two lamb chops and a variety of other meats were arranged perfectly together so the smells would reach my sensitive nose and have me begging for more. My stomach growled audibly, but I had to wait for father to stop his conversation before I ate anything. The commotion around me was louder than necessary, but seeing as my eldest brother, Varro, and father were discussing market issues, it seemed appropriate.
I looked around the table at my boisterous family as they wrapped themselves in conversation; Father sat at one end of the rectangular table, Mother at the opposite end. Varro sat closest to Father, being the eldest male; and then Liamos next to him. The boys were to Father's left, and I, being the only female in this generation, sat to Mother's left. We all carried the same features: dark brown hair and eyes, slightly tanned skin, and Demi-wings the same color as our hair. The only mismatched person at the table was a crow-maiden that my Mother kept with her was nearly my age, just a few years older, and she was on my side. They all talked amongst themselves, so I kept my delicate hands in my lap and waited most impatiently.
My thoughts drifted away from the table, as they always did. I daydreamed about feeling the wind part across my face as I soared across the bright blue sky; how the lake on the other side of the Reach reflected so perfectly, and the way my feathers rippled in a cool breeze…
"Aurelia," a velvety voice called. "Sister?"
I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to look to Varro. He was smirking at me for my short attention-span.
"You seem very disoriented tonight, nestling," Varro noted. Behind his casual smirk, concern brimmed in his dark eyes.
I shook my head and did my best to mask the anxiousness from my features. "I'm just a little tired from the flight back from Ahnmik, is all."
"How was the flight?" he asked, seemingly with actual interest.
"Long," I said shortly, which was followed by a few chuckles from around the table.
"And the city?"
The city. What could I possibly tell him that would explain how…regal…everything was? The magic in the streets called to me, pulling me every way; the gracious and mildly intimidated citizens were quick to help anyway they could. The only similarity that Ahnmik remotely had to Reach was that the people of both wore their Demi-wings.
"Bizarre," I said before I could think about the consequences of putting it down. I immediately corrected myself. "It's very different from the Reach in ways that I wouldn't know how to say. Their magic has a different pattern than most, Varro. It's practically painted all over the city, and can be quite confusing."
He seemed to register this with a questioning look, and then dismissed it with a wave of his hand. He flicked a dark brown lock of his hair away from his face and folded his hands in his lap identically to mine. I frowned. I knew that the idea for my travel to Ahnmik wasn't entirely agreed upon, and it was awkward to say anything about it. I waited for someone to change the subject.
"Let us eat, then!" Father said. "My young eagles cannot go hungry by conversations best left unsaid!" He pushed the sleeves of his white tunic back past his elbows and prepared to eat. I shook the golden bangles back from my wrists and realized that somewhere in the talk of Ahnmik, I'd lost my appetite.