#stealingheartsandwallets

Ned smiled. “Is that a warning?” she teased. “Anyway, sinners are generally better company I’ve found.”

The chamberlain sighed. “Would that I could.” he murmured, shuffling through the papers scattered on his desk. “There’s so much to do, go over reports, assess the casualties, write letters to families.. If I take a break, more will just pile up and it’ll never get finished.”

The warden froze in the doorway, needing a moment to realize what was going on. Then she grinned. “Oh, there was a song we used to sing in the circle when we walked into something like this. K-I-S-S-I-N-G, or something.”

“Here it is!” It was a cold night, and things were calm- for once. The warden commander could finally relax and spend an evening with company. Mina was over, and Ned had just dug an old leatherbound book out of a trunk nearly the size of her. The book itself was worn and damaged, but readable. The elf returned proudly to her companion. The book was an illustrated story book of children’s tales. “Me and Maxie used to read something like this in the alienage when were kids. But I stole this copy from the Circle. Reading it the first month or so I was there helped me feel less homesick. I havn’t looked at it in years though.” She cracked it open. The pages we worn and old, but the illustrations were all there, the colors faded.

“I’ve never done this before.” she told Mina, referring to holiday shopping. She wanted to get things for her recruits and fellow Wardens, but she had no idea where to even start.