Notes on Stolen Heart:
Legend from The Holy Hills:
The wizards have a fascinating perspective. They focus on how the Dagger functions. I mean, I know the Dagger contains the souls of everyone it kills, but the wizards are talking about the actual mechanics of how it works. They bring up the magic stones as well. Apparently there is at least some link to another legend. According to Gahila, they believe the magic stones and the fact that the Dagger is made of gold are key to its ability to function. Wizards are theorizing that gold can be a conductor of magic and so make the blade itself a pathway between the victim’s soul and the magic stone. They believe a powerful spell was placed on the stone and Dagger to make them function as one. They also theorize that the Bearer might have to say an incantation for it to actually trap the soul. If there is an incantation, how could someone who isn’t the Bearer use it? How could it change Bearers without one being there to teach the incantation? This is starting to contradict the Theekatian legend of the original Bearer having to be killed for it to be passed on. Unless… I wonder if there is just one Bearer and it never switches hands. But, if that were the case, then the Northern Lands’ legend would be inaccurate as well. I know not all legends are true, but I wonder if there is a way that all of them can function together. I need to think on this more.
The 25th Day of the 9th Moon
The “appropriate” attire was just a pair of plain brown pants, a cream commoner’s shirt, and scuffed brown boots. It was not as bad as Franklin had implied. He went with me, similarly dressed. The orchard is huge. After reaching the first edge, we still walked for quite a while before we reached the main gate that marks halfway to the far end. I was starting to gain some hope the maybe she actually is nobility, there have to be hundreds of trees of many different fruits. She told me about the pears, but they also have apples, oranges, and peaches (all of which are in harvest now, as opposed to the fall pears). Her family has to have a substantial amount of money from all of it. Having so much produce in the spring and then being the only orchard to grow pears means they are making money all year-long.
Cherish greeted me before I even made it to the house. When I said that Franklin and I were there to hand-pick fruit, she laughed at me. Apparently I am not very convincing. She showed us around. She is very intelligent; she could answer any question either of us had about the orchard and the trees and fruits themselves. She even let us have a few apples that were slightly past what is ideal for selling. She could determine it just by looking at them briefly; she did not even examine it much, she just looked at them, picked them and handed them to us.
She is gorgeous. She wore a small flower in her wavy blond hair today. It was simple, but exquisite. Her dress matched her green eyes. And her smile, it could melt any heart. Seeing her smiling while leaning against a tree made my day. I hope I never forget that image, ever.
