The Crow Goddess - Chapter 3

Instructions

In the Mind of a Goddess, who Only Wants Peace for her Kingdoms... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- For an event that just started, the bake sale is already quite popular. People aren’t very used to not having to pre-order bread from Cassian for him to make it for them. It takes me a while to make my way through the large crowd that has formed in front of the building. When I’m finally behind the counter, Cassian starts barking orders at me. “I have two more batches of bread in the oven, so go get them now.” He doesn’t even look at me as he says this, he’s too busy selling bread. I can barely restrain myself from rolling my eyes as I walk inside and get the bread. The very minute I return, two separate people ask me for the bread on the tray I’m holding. Cassian snatches it out of my hand and tells them it’s 20 silver coins per loaf. 20 silver coins?! It barely even cost him 10 to make them! That is not what anyone would call business, that’s just a scam. Aurum will definitely not be happy. The bake sale ends on a relatively good note as well, having made multiple hundred gold coins. Upon hearing that the king’s ransom was only two hundred, however, Cassian decided he would keep the rest. “I’ll finally be able to fix the hole in the chimney!” He tells me. “Think of how efficient that will make the oven once I do!” I really would, but he’s already had all of the materials he would need for weeks, if not months. “That’s amazing,” I responded. “I’ll go take the ransom money to the palace so that they may retrieve the king.” I take my time walking to the palace, out of possibility of running into Aurum. He typically pays more attention to whether the people of the kingdom are being good and fair to each other, and I didn’t see him at the bake sale. Unfortunately, I didn’t find him. The palace guards did, however, help me bring the ransom money to the queen, and we got our king back a few days later. It wasn’t until this point I found Aurum while on a stroll in the forest. He was perched in a very tall silver birch tree, so I transformed myself into a crow and approached him. “Aurum!” I yelled- or more, cawed. “I’ve not seen you in ages!” “Oh- Hello, Cornix.” He didn’t bother looking at me, keeping his gaze locked somewhere in the surrounding trees instead. How strange. It isn’t like Aurum to be absent-minded. I perch on the branch next to him. “What’s the matter?” I ask him. “You’re usually more in touch with the world around you.” He sighs, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I’m just… lost in thought, I assume.” He goes back to looking at the trees. “You ‘assume?’” “Cornicula…” He almost never calls me Cornicula when he’s happy. “Please, just tell me what’s bothering you.” Aurum finally looks at me. He seems upset by something. “Nothing is bothering me, Cornix. I promise.” “Are you absolutely certain? You know I can help if there is something wrong, right?” “Yes… Yes, I know.” He sighs again. “I’m just thinking, Cornix. Really.” “What are you thinking about?” I ask him. I very rarely see Aurum so lost in thought. I could often rely on him to keep the other crows on task, but there have been times when he was unable to do so. Even then, this almost never happens. “I… I can’t quite tell you.” He notices a stray leaf out of the corner of his eye, and turns to pick at it with his beak, since it seems to bother him slightly. “Please. Do not worry, I am quite alright.” I hesitate slightly. “Alright,” I finally respond. “I won’t worry about it too much.” He nods his head. “You really should get going,” he tells me. “You still have things to do, if I remember correctly.” “Ah, yes. You’re correct.” He looks at me again, but differently this time around. He isn’t as distracted as he previously was. “Then don’t let me keep you here. Go, Cornix. I’ll be okay.” I tilt my head slightly, before diving off of the branch and soaring towards the edge of the forest. I wish I wasn’t as worried as I am, I really do. But the only other time Aurum has acted this way is when something was terribly wrong… Hmm. All I will say for now is that whatever will happen, we can fight it. I can fight it.