Chapter 2: Rowan

"One more day in this death machine, the Transitor is not exceedingly kind to my senses. I have met one person who seems to have a wonderful soul by the name of Lizbeth, she is in the cabin with me. Her eyes light up at the simplest sights; the temples we have moved past in the mountains, and the blurs caused by the snows. Her and I are to seek a calling, and I feel that we will be seeing each other much more after, there is no way the elements will turn her away. I do grow a little nervous at that thought, I feel as though I am much more closed off because of my upbringing. No one truly knows why the elements pick who they pick, but it is terrifying to think it is because of how happy someone is. I have been forced to wear the clothes of a lady because my parents only had these garbs packed for me, its uncomfortable, but at least these dresses are free flowing and not corseted, I can still move in my graceful ways as I navigate this place. Well, let me go with my new acquaintance to get some food."

Petals 5

I place the book down onto the shelf in the cabin, "So Lizbeth, what shall we do for breakfast?"

"Oh, you know the usual but not soup, that isn't breakfast food, or none of that extra fancy stuff you like," Lizbeth says to me sitting up and turning to face me down. I simply stand and put my robe on over my nightwear, "What you didn't like the foie gras last night?"

"No, that was disgusting," Liz says throwing a slipper at me, well at my head. The slipper was plucked out of the air without a blink of an eye, except this damned robe betraying my actual movement. Its flowing, just whooshing around making my look fancy. "Just how fast are you Rowan," Liz asks me pouting and grabbing her slipper from my outstretched hand. "I will never tell you; I can't have someone like you have an advantage over me." We turn heading towards the door of our small cabin, I simply say to add on to the previous statement, "Fine how about you get to pick the food for this one meal."

"Yes, you won't regret this," Liz says sliding on her other slipper. That girl's body a gesture of power and grace, well to me anyways. We begin to walk out of our room into an elaborately decorated hallway, the walls are a sort of living art, the walls swirl with colors from the stained-glass windows above and the silver shapes along the walls grab the colors and make more of their own as they swirl into the beautiful lights. The floor is a delicate grey rug that seems to not have an end to it, and others are beginning to walk into the halls, with looks of amazement at the colors lighting up the halls. The singular door at the end of the hallway nearest to me slides open as we approach leading us into a small dining area decorated with elaborate wooded furniture, with gold and silver dining wear.

As the we approach the table and take their seats, a server comes over and offers us the days selection, "Today we have fresh fruits from the northern shore with eggs served over rice, dressed with a simple chili and plum reduction, we . . ." She is cut off by Liz, "Do you have anything from the western shore, we would just like fruit and maybe a few pieces of bread and eggs please nothing too fancy, my stomach can't handle the rich foods."

The server smiles and flips her golden hair to her other shoulder, "We have several fruits and breads and can make a few sauces or creams for dipping, from the western shore yes, how would you like the eggs prepared?" I feel myself looking at Lizbeth with a little more curiosity, and I ask, "May we have them scrambled?" Lizbeth lights up as I make the recommendation, "Oh I thought you wouldn't even know what that was, kind of like I didn't know what 'Poached' was." A smile bursts onto my cheeks and lips, and I simply nod to the server, "scrambled please, and can you bring us water for the drinks." With that the server is off to the next table and the kitchen to place the orders.

I look back to Lizbeth, "So let us get to know each other better. You told me your name is Lizbeth when I had come into the cabin last night, what else should I know of you?" Lizbeth looks back to me from the windows, "Not a whole lot. Don't let the shorter ears fool you I am a full-blooded elf. My mom's is the same way, says it's something to do with our blood. I'm hoping to follow the path of the elements, my uncle has taught me the ways of the seamstress my entire life, and mother has taught me the sword. She doesn't play with the earth too much though is blessed by it." I take in what she says with care not to misunderstand her words because that is a lot of information to just put out there; she is dangerous, "Well, I introduced myself as Rowan. My actual name is Dianne Evaris, I go by Rowan because I don't prefer to live by my gender's rules and roles. Please if you would address me by, They or Them, or simply Rowan."

"Well, I will just call you Rowan for now. You are beautiful, if that holds any stake in your feelings, but I will do my best to treat you as you ask of me," Liz says not trying to be rude, or that's at least how I perceive it, but a confused look prying its way onto her kind face. "It is okay if you need time to process these things. I have been trained in three of the elements, and the way of the shadows by my three masters. My family is always ready, but I hope one of the elements will choose me. I would be one of the few in my family without, if I wasn't chosen." At least that's what I was trying to say, what actually came out is, "Simply I have been trained in combat by my family for quite some time and have experienced three of the elements, not much more and I would be on the smaller list if I wasn't chosen," accepting the water from the server who had come back with a pitcher, the bowls of fresh fruit, and sides of cream. "You grew up fairly rich, to have such a fancy taste, and quite extensive schooling to be so polite. I just had my uncle and mom. They taught me everything I know, what of your family?" Liz says plopping a fresh slice of strawberry in her mouth.

"Well, we own the Evaris compound and have several companies under our watch. I don't like my parents very much. They don't understand me, and I quote them saying this, 'My ways', when I feel it's obvious that I am just a wandering soul. I have six siblings all older than me, and we fall under the Fae bloodlines, though I am not sure yet of which type of Fae we are. I am thinking High Fae because there is no pattern to my family's callings," I once again try to explain and it is once again leaving my lips as, "I do come from a wealthy family, The Evaris Compound in Fae lake, and I have six siblings which I am the youngest," gently dipping a slice of an orange fruit I had never seen before into the cream eyeing it suspiciously. "Don't worry it's just a mango, it's very sweet, my uncle brought some home last year from a trip he took," Liz says talking past the mouth now full of various fruit. "Don't talk with your mouth full," I say looking in awe at the empty bowl in front of Lizbeth. I smell the mango, it smells like a peach but more exotic, less like an orange than I originally thought. I begin eyeing it suspiciously, after a few seconds of thinking about these choices of letting Lizbeth pick the meal, I take the chunk of mango from the fork with my lips and the sweetness floods my mouth making my cheeks burst into a blast furnace of heat. I can all but see the blush erupt across my cheeks, as I take in the flavors, and see Lizbeth's golden orbs stare into my soul, with the mouth full of fruit might I add. I couldn't help but smile. I want Lizbeth to be my friend but who knows if we would be at the Council together.

I pay close attention to Lizbeth for the remainder of the meal, astounded by how fast the woman could eat. I ask, "What do you normally do after breakfast?" Liz looks up and a fear greater than anything Rowan had ever seen crept on to the girl's face. "Well, if it were this time, I would be late for training and be doing a punishment for my tardiness. I have never actually gotten to sleep in this late without being in trouble by either my mother or my uncle," Liz looks at me finishing my small plate of eggs, in a delicate manner and I notice the tension easing off her face quite a bit. "Oh, I was worried I had said something that actually brought back bad memories," I say letting a chuckle slip past my lips.

"Oh. . . you did I was only ever late a few times, and I can still feel the punishments in my muscles. I still have a few bruises from the other day," Liz says pulling the loose long sleeve blouse, which too seemed dirty as in a workers' or field hand's kind of fashion, showing her arms up to the shoulder. Her arms look like they were chiseled from marble, every groove and line cut from the stone as if it were with water instead of a blade, except for the bruising on her wrist and elbow. The bruises were surrounding about three quarters of her arm and looked like they were put there by the horse of a wagon team battling her in a tug of war that they lost. "Well, I have never seen bruising like that, where is it from," I say astonished thinking the girl could go toe to toe with the largest of males on the Transitor in a test of strength.

"I stand on a pillar my uncle brought from the earth it's about fifteen feet up or so. . . all the while, he straps pieces of earth to me and I have to keep my balance while he adds more and more to the stone straps on my arms and he moves the pillar around in small circles and spins it. The straps bruise a bit is all," Lizbeth says to me a smile on her face as she slides her sleeve back down. I catch the moment she realized that I was thinking too hard about the event she just described. "That seems a bit extreme don't you think," I say placing the fork down and taking a final sip from my glass. "What were your punishments for tardiness?" Lizbeth asks standing up her smile coming back to its full beauty as lights of the car shift.

"I never had them," I says following suit and thinking about how much more mentally strong this woman was than she appeared. I did my best to move gracefully back to the side of Lizbeth, "Should we go back to the cabin, we have a long two years ahead of us." Liz takes my arm and pulls me along to the cabin, a joyful pep takes over my stride, as I feel a smile fighting the normal placid look from my face.