"Violetta!" Laura called her daughter who stood still on the stairs. "Come look at this!"
Violetta finished going down the stairs praying that somehow it wouldn't be her paper her mother was looking at. Her prayers were not answered.
"The document this came from has to be ancient!" Laura exclaimed. She looked like she had just gotten the best present of her life. Violetta looked at her mother, her stomach turning from what she had done.
She smiled palely at her mother. "I have to go to the toilet, I'll be right back."
"Ok, ok go," her mother shooed her away. "But come right back!" In her excited state she hadn't noticed her daughter's reaction at all.
Violetta called her father once she was in the closed space of the bathroom. He didn't answer. This was not good at all.
Violetta covered her face with her hands, and then she looked in the mirror. She was worried because her dad didn't answer her. She just knew he was going to be so mad at her. She not only dumb enough to look at the book without his permission, she had also copied a page from it. Brought the copied page out of the house, and then fell asleep without securing the page.
She didn't even remember how she got to bed in her own room. She wiped her face with a cold wet towelette.
She was just going to have to face the music when her father got there. One thing was for sure. She was not going to be able to eat breakfast at all. Her stomach was in knots.
…
…
Amistad arrived at his wife's second home with some anticipation. Whatever document had been left on Laura's desk really had her excited.
When he walked in he saw Violetta stand up from sitting on the stairs. She had an apologetic look on her face. He hadn't seen that look since she almost set the workshop on fire. Just what was going on.
Before he could ask Violetta why she looked that way Laura came bursting into the foyer and dragged Amistad to her study. He knew the moment he laid eyes on the document what had happened. He found the note Violetta left for him in the safe when he went home last night. He knew she had seen the book. He now looked down upon the page she had scribed from it. He glanced up at Violetta while Laura remained unaware of her daughter's nervous state in her jubilance. Amistad held the page in front of Laura and himself, blocking Violetta from Laura's sight.
Violetta looked way too guilty right now. He signaled her that it was going to be ok, and to relax.
"This looks like it could be ancient Eitri," Amistad said to Laura loud enough for Violetta to hear. "Was there a note attached?"
"There wasn't anything," Laura said as excitement from discovering a mystery lit up in her eyes.
"Where do you think it came from?" Amistad asked her curiously. He was acting like he had never seen it before. Violetta took the hint.
"Do you think it could be from some ruins?" Violetta asked her parents.
"It must be!" Laura was way too excited. 'Amistad, I know you said you were quitting, but you really must help me with this one!"
He smiled dotingly at her. Even in this he knew he would give in to her. He would help her to translate what it said. But he would not give her the key to uncode the true meaning behind the words.
Laura saw the look in his eyes and knew that she had won him over. He would definitely help her. "Excellent!" She said.
"Mom…" Violetta interrupted. "I know this is exciting but… I'm worried about Heath."
"Heath?" Her mother looked at her with her eyes still far away for a moment. She blinked away her momentary day dreams. "Oh! My dear I'm so sorry! I meant to tell you. He called me yesterday a bit before my party. He said he was accepted and wouldn't be able to have his communicator on very often at all. He will call us from time to time when his schedule becomes less busy."
"Heath called you?" Amistad sounded a bit disappointed. "He was supposed to call me first."
"..." Violetta didn't know what to say. Wasn't this breaking the unspoken rule that they had. When something good happened they would tell each other first, and then pretend to hear it for the first time when in front of her parents. Something was wrong.
Laura saw the look her daughter had on her face. "What's wrong sweety?" concern filling her voice..
"No, It's just..." Violetta began to explain, "Heath didn't call me."
"Oh I'm sorry dear. I made him call me first. And he only got one call before he had to get started on his training. Did you know they put the team in isolation with each other to build a team mentality first?"
"Yes," Violetta smiled. "He told me that could happen when he was looking into it as a career. As long as I know he is safe, I'm happy." with that last phrase she looked meaningfully at her dad. Was Heath safe right now?
"Great!" Amistad said with counterfeit happiness. "Now that that's settled, let's get down to business. Violetta, can you go to the house, in my study I have a few books… I think they are on the third shelf, that have ancient Eruvian. Will you bring those? Oh and take Araminy with you, she can help you find them if they aren't where I said." He dismissed her with a wave of his hand indicating for her to go.
Ancient Eruvian was the closest thing to Ancient Eitri that was in print. But the translations using Eruvian for a mythical like language… Would that even work?
"Take your time and come back safely," Amistad called after her.
"But not too long," Laura added.
Violetta waved at them on her way out the door.
…
…
Violetta combed through the books on the third shelf in her father's study. She was paying so much attention to her task that she hadn't even noticed someone closing in behind her. Violetta was suddenly grabbed from behind a twirl away from the bookshelf.
"You scared me to death!" she hit the offender on the arm. Then she hugged him.
He smiled at her, "Sorry V."
He put his finger to his lips and took her further onto the study where he knew listening devices couldn't reach.
"I had to run away from my assessment," Heath explained. "I'm sorry I didn't call you… I just didn't want to lie to you."
"Why did you have to run away?" Violetta's voice was full of concern
"Mandatory blood test," Heath explained. "It's new, they started implementing it just last year." It was hard not to see this coincidence as something deeper. If the blood tests for apprenticeship were only starting now that Heath was old enough to be an apprentice… This really could be his father trying to find him.
"I'm just glad you're ok." Violetta responded. "Did you fry your communicator?"
"Yeah. Your dad got me a new one." He showed it to her. "It's unregistered."
"I'm glad you didn't try to lie to me," Violetta smiled at him. "I would have caught on right away."
"There's a chance you'll have to quit school soon," Heath said sadly. He knew Violetta thrived where she could make some sort of trouble. The school was a perfect place for her to do so. "Do you remember your escape paths?"
Violetta nodded.
Araminty came into the room. "No kissing," she teased using Amistad's voice. They laughed. "It's time to go back Violetta."
"Okay" she said reluctantly. "Are you able to contact me on your new communicator?"
"Not yet," Heath said. Violetta hugged Heath before leaving. A sliver of memory came to her. She looked up at him and wanted to ask him about it.
"Violetta!" Araminty called her trying to make her hurry. Araminty calling her had quickly made the sliver of memory disappear.
"Next time we talk I'll tell you about a mistake I made last night." she waved to him as she headed out to the hallway. "Bye!"