Episode One Hundred and Fifty-One: Gifts

 “What is it?” I asked.

“A teacup with a leather case,” said Alas with a grin. “Pull it out for him.”

I found a flap and pulled out a beautiful teacup with a chip on the rim.

It was made of white porcelain, with pitch black paw prints along with some vines twisted about the edges. It didn’t have a saucer. 

It was beautiful. 

I twisted it in the light, and the black shimmered like a nebula. 

“Where did you get this?” I asked in a hushed whisper.

“Just something I found,” he said. “I try to get them as souvenirs from various places I’ve gone.”

I couldn’t imagine a place where he could get something so custom.

“It will fit in the collection,” said the Cat.

This time I translated it to Alas, since he couldn’t understand the Cat. Liluth watched with slightly confused eyes, glancing between the Cat and Alas, like there was some sort of puzzle she couldn’t quite understand.

Indigo came flying out of nowhere with her MP3 player and the beat-up headphones, yet she almost whimpered when she landed.

The wire holding the earbuds together had snapped.

“It broke?” She held it up carefully, and her eyes watered. “I put it on, and snap.”

Her head had gotten a little larger as she grew, and at some point, they wouldn’t work anymore anyway. 

I hadn’t expected them to break so soon, but I knew it would be coming.

“How about you grab your present from under the tree?” I said quietly, motioning toward the tree.

“Present?” she asked, as Alas picked someone up from under the tree and held it up to her.

She zoomed over and snagged it in her claws. Wrapping paper went everywhere as she tore it off mid-flight, until she just clutched a small Bluetooth speaker.

“What is it?” she asked.

I took it from her and synced the MP3 player and the speaker. Then I hit the play button. An audiobook started playing out loud.

“Books! Stories!” She twisted in the air with it in her claws. “Thank you! Best present!”

Indigo brought it over to Lady Twilight to look at, while the Cat padded off toward Lord Bennit and Alas.

That left Liluth to me. Yet again, I found her eyes watching the Cat.

“He speaks to you?” she asked softly.

“Yes, I can understand him. The dragons as well, but that’s all.” I wasn’t sure how much I could say without getting into trouble, but so far so good.

“Strange. Though the dragons can ignore many of the rules of the Tree, just like the Fey Lords.”

This time I stayed quiet on the subject and went in a different direction. “How is staying with Lady Twilight?”

A smile came across Liluth’s face. “Good. I miss Alas, but it was worth it. Plus, I have access to so much knowledge. Her library is expansive. I don’t think I could finish exploring it within a century.”

“I know how that feels,” I said while thinking of the stacks hidden within the shop. I hadn’t wandered them since discovering the Cat was cursed. Between practicing my magic and prepping gifts for this gathering, my time had been spent. “The shop has its own library.”

“This place is very magical, and it feels different from last time I was here. Especially this room.”

Lady Twilight's comment and strange looks came back to me.

“How so? My magical knowledge is limited, though I have a teacher now.”

Liluth pressed her lips together before answering. “It feels like you.”

I let myself think on that before responding. This wasn’t an area where I’d done a bunch of magic; that was mostly on the roof and by the counter. Or my room, but that was really my space. This space the shop had created for me, which I appreciated. Maybe Betty made it even more for me than I’d thought.

“Betty created this space for me, that might be it.”

Lilith didn’t look convinced. “Ask your teacher about it, and see what they say.”

“I’ll ask the Professor.”

Again Liluth paused, glancing at me and then the Cat who nodded at something Lord Bennit said. Her lips parted, but she stopped herself.

Lady Twilight stood up from where she’d sat and moved closer to both of us. Indigo followed. The bluetooth speaker was turned off. 

I held up her bag, which she hadn’t grabbed yet.

“Everything fits inside it,” she said with a smile as she shoved the speaker into it, along with the MP3 player and the broken headphones.

“It’s a fantastic present,” I added.

“I got you present,” she said, glancing at Lady Twilight, who pulled something out of nowhere. She held a deep blue cloth-covered book out to me.

I took it carefully, my fingertips tingling from the magic. The edges glowed with a golden light for a split second before it vanished. Flipping it open, it stopped on a table of contents. Various titles were listed: How Dragonlets Grow - a guide for new parents, Worlds to Visit and places of Knowledge, The Best Places to Shop, and several more.

“Is that what I think it is?” asked Liluth.

“Probably,” said Lady Twilight.

I glanced at them both.

“It has all the books, and you can add more!”

It sounded like an ebook reader, though I wasn’t sure how a magical one would work. “Oh, that’s fantastic! How do I add books?” 

“You just place the book between the pages and it will become part of this one,” explained Lady Twilight.

“It’s a library in your pocket,” said Liluth with her eyes wide. “Only you can use it, unlike carrying around individual books in a space magic bag. They are a specialty of the Clan of Knowledge.”

“And as she is one of us, Indigo thought it’d be a wonderful holiday gift…” said Lady Twilight.

“The best gift, right?” Indigo asked. “Better than the drink?”