A Raven in the Hand
CHAPTER 22
Kayla opened her eyes, the sun was shining bright from the balcony doors and into her room. She looked around, and sure enough she was back in her own bed at the Manor. Someone had dressed her in her own nightgown and put her to bed here, she didn't remember past being in Mark's arms in the cave.
The door to the room opened as Matron Shalla walked in carrying a glass of water with her.
"I am happy to see you awake, little Raven." She smiled as she walked over to the bed and sat next to Kayla.
Kay was glad for the water as she thanked her matron and took a large gulp of the cool water.
"Where is Mark?" Kayla couldn't help but ask.
The Matron kept her smile, "He stayed by your side the entire night, but he had to leave in the morning. Reapers don't often like to be in close range with the living. It makes them uncomfortable."
"Did he say anything?"
"Yes, that he would see you at work."
Kayla looked around the room again, "I think I'll see him before that."
The Matron frowned as she pulled out something from the pocket of her robes and placed it in Kay's hands, "I found this in your coat."
Kay looked in confusement as she opened her hands, there was the amulet that the Vodu priestess had given her fore she left to Find Mark.
"What about this?" Kay asked.
"Sheer told me that she beginning to tell you a story about this?" Matron smiled.
"She told me that it's another symbol of the Goddess, but I've never seen it before." Kayla replied, "I don't know what it means yet."
"But the Vodu Sheer had left you with some clues. I would believe that this is something worth looking for?"
Kay gave her matron a dirty look, she knew how to pick at Kay's curiosity. As Kay would say, "Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought her back!" Mind you of course, it had gotten her into trouble before.
Kay thought for a moment, then looked back at the Matron, "You think I should follow this, instead of following the Reaper?"
"I believe that this would be of more importance at the moment than he, yes. You know yourself that this has something to do with you and he, I believe that you would be able to find some answers to those questions burning deep inside of you."
The matron gave her a motherly kiss on her forehead, "I pray that the gods aid you in your chosen path."
Kayla looked back at the pendant as the matron left the room, the priestess Sheer had explained a little of the pendent. It was of African decent, apparently once worn by a Vodu who controlled all four elements. But unlike Kayla, this one had full use of her powers. If the Raven on the pendant represented the Goddess, what did the skull mean? She was taking a soul to the after world?
She began to move her fingers over the smooth wood, rubbing her finger tips around the carved outline of the feathers. She looked closely at the skull, she still couldn't make out the symbol on the forehead. But there was something familiar about the shape of the skull. She looked at the overall look of the carving, the familiarities began to immerge in her mind.
She jumped out of bed and grabbed her house coat. She pulled it tight around her as she ran out of her room and towards the grand library. It wasn't uncommon for people to walk around in their house coats
As she walked quickly inside the grand room, she looked over the rows upon rows of giant bookcases, filled to the high roof in literature of magic and religions. Of course the high powered books of spells, scrolls, and artefacts rested securely in the vaults of the Manor, away from inexperienced hands.
Kay found the row of books she needed, it took her a few minutes to retrieve a large grey leather bound book on Egyptian Hieroglyphs. She flipped through the pages as she held the amulet in the other, watching carefully for a hieroglyph to match. She stopped for a moment and gazed at the picture. There it was, a carving found on a tome in the Valley of the Lost Kings. It was found once upon the tomb entrance and once again on the door. The features were sharper the skull matched the skull on the amulet perfectly. No one had deciphered its meaning, they suspected that the bird was a vulture, but the neck was much too short.
Kay grinned, she would have to explore the tomb, it would take her to the next clue. She liked the adventure of discovering new artefacts and magic, the natural high of discovering something that had not seen human eyes in centuries was exhilarating. And this would take her one step closer at discovering what this all had to do with her.
But there was one problem, what she felt for Mark. She had seen him at his worst, or so she hoped. She knew what he was and what he will always be. She was mortal, he wasn't. Regardless of what she felt for him, she couldn't believe that they could live a normal mortal life. Kayla had dreamed of living a normal life once she had gotten all her adventuring out of her system. She wanted to be a wife and a mother like her own mother. Taking care of her family would be her new priority, and she would enjoy every minute of it.
But she couldn't live like that with him, he wasn't human. Just because he looked like everyone else, he was still a Reaper. It didn't make him a bad thing in her eyes, but it wouldn't be far to him to be bonded in something he doesn't understand. And herself? What of children? If so, would they be normal? She had heard of Kane's failed marriage and the untimely death of his child, and she had read how the once kind and loving Lita had turned from caring and honest to a lying deceitful x-rated tramp.
Kay sighed, she knew she loved him. It wasn't like Kane and Lita. They didn't love each other, and Kay could feel something from Mark. He could have probably taken her at any time, but he never did. Her brother was wrong about the Deadman, he would never hurt her. But for right now, she couldn't think about that time.
She had a new mission to take on, she had to travel to Egypt and discover what the tomb there has to do with an amulet from Africa. Perhaps as Shalla had said, she would be able to discover a little more about herself. And maybe a way to control her powers.
To be continued….