"That is not meant for you."

    The voice was harsh yet melodic and it came from the children's mother. She had left her harp under the willow tree and stood now on the very bank of the creek. Her eldest daughter had not seen her move and was surprised to find her now looming over her.

    The girl put up a hand as if to shield herself, but at the same time, she gave her mother a dark scowl.

    Her mother was standing plainly on the shore, her bare feet set firmly in the soft grass and her light form small and gentle compared to the wilderness around her. And yet she seemed to tower, and her passionate eyes took her daughter's in a powerful grip.

    The parchment would have been handed over and the woman would have had her way. But then the younger girl discovered that she possessed a most tempting power.

    With an expression of careless disregard and with the faintest sliver of a smile, the girl dangerously let the parchment unroll until she was holding it over the slick moving waters by only one corner. She raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but to smirk at her mother's reaction.

   "Falen," her mother whispered. The emotion in her voice was vivid and it scared the younger ones who had retreated into the green reeds at the fringe of the creek. "You know not what you hold in your little hands. Grave consequences will haunt you if you let it fall."

Falen cocked her head to the side in contemplation, and one of the twins let out a whimper. Then the beautiful woman on the shore let her gaze glow soft as she extended one graceful hand to receive the parchment.

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