Amalia
the shield of safrin
Amalia sits at her table writing letters, a bittersweet smile on her lips.
It is a hard thing, saying goodbye to the thing that has been your life since well before you were born. Devas Bakery is an institution, passed down from Chandrakant to Chandrakant. It is where Amalia took her first steps, spoke her first words; it is where she met her first love, felt her first heartbreak. She has been a baker since she first held a spatula in her hand and sent flour all over this counter and onto the floor.
Who will she be without this place? What will she become?
Three of the letters belong to people who she should have spoken to in person, yet finds that she cannot. Two more will probably never be sent. An apology, and a thank you, both for things she barely remembers. One will be placed on a notice board in Sanctuary.
There are other things, too. An overabundance of baked goods, mostly things that will keep. A cup of tea, and a half-empty pot. Care packages with carefully written names upon them. Instructions for the management of the hives her grandmother so long maintained, the garden, the ovens, the basement. A few boxes and bags, thrown into a corner, holding her scant belongings.
It's twilight when she finally finishes, her hand cramping from the effort of holding the quill. Massaging it gently, the Shield leans back, looking up to where Jyoti dozes in her normal place among the rafters. "It's the end of an era, Jyo," the girl murmurs, casting a glance around the quiet bakery. "Time to start a new chapter. Wherever that will lead."
It is a hard thing, saying goodbye to the thing that has been your life since well before you were born. Devas Bakery is an institution, passed down from Chandrakant to Chandrakant. It is where Amalia took her first steps, spoke her first words; it is where she met her first love, felt her first heartbreak. She has been a baker since she first held a spatula in her hand and sent flour all over this counter and onto the floor.
Who will she be without this place? What will she become?
Three of the letters belong to people who she should have spoken to in person, yet finds that she cannot. Two more will probably never be sent. An apology, and a thank you, both for things she barely remembers. One will be placed on a notice board in Sanctuary.
There are other things, too. An overabundance of baked goods, mostly things that will keep. A cup of tea, and a half-empty pot. Care packages with carefully written names upon them. Instructions for the management of the hives her grandmother so long maintained, the garden, the ovens, the basement. A few boxes and bags, thrown into a corner, holding her scant belongings.
It's twilight when she finally finishes, her hand cramping from the effort of holding the quill. Massaging it gently, the Shield leans back, looking up to where Jyoti dozes in her normal place among the rafters. "It's the end of an era, Jyo," the girl murmurs, casting a glance around the quiet bakery. "Time to start a new chapter. Wherever that will lead."
she is calm in the storm
and anxious in the quiet
and anxious in the quiet
