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titles off the spines of the books in the trunk to make sure that she hadn’t missed anything. There were a couple of books on advanced cursive techniques, a variety of poetry, an introductory history book, and several of her favorite stories.
    Her Mother had been teaching her since she was a little girl. With both of her parents being scribes, there had been a definite focus of teaching her how to read and write the common tongue used throughout most of the world. More recently they’d branched out into history, poetry and, of course, needlework.
    She knew that her Mother’s teachings had her well prepared for the first year at Haven, though she was fearing Arithmetic and Martial training, mostly because she had never studied them before and didn’t know if some of the other students would be better than her. Her Mother would never accept it if another student did better than her.
    Opening the bottom drawer of the dresser, she pulled out a stack of blouses and laid them on her bed. All were very drab colors, with long sleeves and high neck lines. She spread the rest of her clothes out on her bed and began making a pile of what she was going to bring with her. Heading back to the dresser, she withdrew her sewing kit from the top drawer. While she didn’t have much to work with, she hoped that she could at least alter some of her clothes to make them more comfortable.
    A quiet knock came from the door. “Come in,” she said.
    Her father came in, holding a small box in his hand. Her father was a very ordinary man, someone who wouldn’t stand out from a crowd, except for his pale skin from spending too many hours indoors. “How’s the packing going?” he said.
    “I’m almost done,” she said, beginning to stack clothes on top of her books.
    “Careful there,” he said walking over beside her and looking in her trunk, “you have to be able to move it on your own.”
    “I’ll manage,” she said, continuing to pack clothes.
    “Are you sure you need all of these books? You do know that you’ll have access to many books once you get to Haven.”
    “You never know what you may need.”
    “Speaking of things you need, I have a present for you.” He handed her the small box.
    “You shouldn’t have,” she said, rapidly opening the box. She pulled out a locket on a golden chain. The locket was heart shaped, with feathery wings engraved on its face. The wings split down the center, hinged at the sides so that they folded out to form angel wings, revealing a picture of Ravyn and her parents in the center. “It’s beautiful.”
    “Not as beautiful as my little angel,” he said, giving her a loving hug. They stayed in each other’s arms, neither wanting to end the embrace. “We have an early morning ahead of us. I’ll let you finish your packing.” Kissing her on the forehead, he left her for the night.
    Ravyn woke before the sun had risen the next morning. Dressing quickly, and putting on the locket that her father had given her, she headed down the stairs and saw her parents waiting at the kitchen table.
    “I’ll go get your trunk,” said her father, heading up the stairs.
    “Come here, Ravyn,” said her Mother, standing up and spreading her arms. Ravyn hurried over to her mother and gave her a tight hug. “You’ll do great, dear. You have nothing to worry about.”
    “I’m going to miss you,” said Ravyn.
    “What’s this?” asked her Mother, holding the locket in her hand.
    “Father gave it to me. Look, it has a picture of us on the inside.”
    “Very nice, dear. What did you do to get this?”
    “Nothing. It was a gift,” said Ravyn. She could hear her father dragging the trunk down the stairs behind her.
    “A gift. A GIFT!” Her Mother yanked on the locket, cutting the back of Ravyn’s neck before the chain snapped. Ravyn tried to grab it back but her Mother pulled away and turned to face her Father. “What do you think you are doing?” She brandished the locket at him.
    “Our