Chapter I Part VII

The journey back home was even more uneventful for Anjali, she had left Ashmita in the workshop with his thoughts. When he used the distraction technique with her she knew perfectly well that she wasn't going to get any more information out of him, and it wasn't too wise to press him, as even mannered as he appeared to be most of the time, she knew that he did have a short fuse on his temper, if pushed the wrong way. Only once had she seen him loose his temper and get angry, and it was not something that she wanted to repeat again.

Somehow, after sun down, the city took on a new life, perhaps it was the darkness hiding the gloom, each and every little light seemed to sparkle a little in the fog and mist, it was almost a pretty sight.

She wanted desperately to get some more facts from Ashmita, there were things that she wanted to know, things about the past, about her family, and about her little treasure.

She'd look at it again when she got home, although she could almost feel it through her pocket. Never did she go anywhere without it. Not because she was obsessed about it, but because she was told that it was secret, and that no one else must ever know of it's existence.

“This small, insignificant little thing could cause too much trouble.” she was told.

So long ago since those words left her Great Grandfathers lips, she was 4 then, and it seemed to be a great adventure for her, he made sure she felt that way about it. But since she got older, she began to wonder. It was some of her fathers tales that made her think, things he said that seemed to hint more about her treasure.

She would see what she could find out in her vault-book first, and see what that takes her.

Having stowed her scooter safely away on the platform, Anjali made her way into the house, hoping to avoid her mother and go straight to her room. No such luck! She was right there waiting for her, like some predatory animal just waiting for ambush.

And Anjali knew all too well what this ambush would be about.

“Anjali, is that you?”

“Yes Mother” she replied, with more than a hint of inevitability in her voice.

“Oh good, you haven't forgotten about tomorrow have you? You know what we have to do?”

“Yes Mother”

“Well then, go to your room, and make sure you're well cleaned and rested before the morning, we will have a full day tomorrow!”

That wasn't at all what Anjali was expecting, that was much too short an ambush. But, like every good girl, Anjali complied with her parent, and was soon on her bed, her vault-book in her hands. Looking at it, she wondered if she shouldn't get cleaned up first, it would keep her mother off her back for the rest of the night, and free her to do her research. That was a good plan, she decided, even as her fingers seemed to be itching to open the clasps of the book. Resting it down in the covers of her bed, Anjali was soon in the washroom, and within a few minutes all clean and fresh, ready for what tomorrow would bring. The dreaded visit to the Law Priest of the Makarium.

It was going to be a long day tomorrow, her mother was right there.

Dressed in her night gown, Anjali settled back into the pillows, the vault-book resting on her lap. With a small flick the clasps were open, as she hindged the two halves of the book apart, she could see the screen and dials spring into life. With a few soft touches, she set the book to retrieve any facts it had on the history of The War and The Enemy from it's vault. After a few moments of watching the progress bar on the main screen, she was presented with a whole list of options to refine her search. Where to start she wondered, where do you start looking for information on something that has always been?

Taking the trinket out of it's box, Anjali looked at the markings on it, and decided that would be as good a place as any to start a search.

Picking the correct menu from the options, she began to refine her searches.å