Chapter 9. Penumbra


    Charlotte hung Vie''s dresses over a chair. "This used to


    be our Aunt Edith''s room."


    Vie looked out the windows and across the gardens.


    On the writing desk next to the bed was a vase full of roses.


    "Thank you for helping me settle in Charlotte."


    "Your welcome. I have another sister in the house and


    Nain Joan has another daughter to fuss over."


    She hugged Vie. "Its ridiculous that we''re in the middle of a


    War and you still had to ask your Father''s permission to


    move in with us. You''re almost a grown woman."


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    Vie''s face warmed - she''d never been called a grown woman


    before. Charlotte wiped the top of the dresser with a cloth as


    she walked out the door. "Have a rest Vie, I''ll go and make us


    some tea.''''


    Vie yawned and lay on the bed. She looked around the room.


    Even though she would never say such a thing out loud,


    Charlotte was right - the War was the best thing that had ever


    happened to her.


    *


    The raven perched high in the branches of an elm tree and


    watched the house. A sudden gust of wind ruffled it''s feathers


    and swirled the leaves that lay on the ground.


    The raven clacked it''s beak and watched as the leaves rose


    higher and higher into the air, then spun in a tightening spiral until a


    single form emerged - a tawny Owl.


    The raven bobbed it''s head. "Freya."


    "Honestly Antares," Freya said, "I know that some of us are


    fascinated by the tawdry goings on of this age, but can''t you


    find anything better to do with your time."


    One day, thought Antares, I won''t have to put up with your implied


    threats. Through a window he could see Vie sitting in her bedroom


    writing at a desk. "There is something different happening here Freya."


    Freya watched Vie for a moment. "Different? How? They''re all cut


    from the same cloth."


    Antares could hear the contempt in Freya''s voice. She and the other


    members of the Senate, searched for any possibility of a divergence


    that might threaten them.


    It was a secret Antares harboured - the divergence had already occurred.


    He''d witnessed it and was following it''s progress.


    "Perhaps you right, I''ll look elsewhere."


    "Of course I''m right." Freya said.


    *