Part VIII "Quick everyone! Finn's inside!" Sapphire swooped back into the Palace again and turned back into Hazel. Zoe, Levi and Ruby stepped inside the Imperial Palace and found that all was quiet. Hazel was arguing with Finn while he sat crouched up underneath the Emperor's Chair, still hiding underneath his Invisibility Cloak. Hazel quickly pulled the other half of Finn's Invisibility Cloak out of her Travel Pack and then yanked the other ripped half of his Cloak off his head and tried unsuccessfully to piece the two halves back together. She noticed that whereas before Finn's Invisibility Cloak was a silver gray, it had now turned a dark black. The pieces didn't seem to fit together quite right and Hazel eventually gave up and put them back inside her Travel Pack.
Levi and Zoe took a brief look around the Palace with Ruby flitting around above their heads. The brightly colored sunbird landed on a small decorative tapestry on the floor near the Emperor's Chair and turned back into her human form. Levi decided they would spend the night in the Palace and went off looking for firewood. Zoe grabbed Ruby's hand and Finn crawled out from under the Emperor's Chair. Hazel grabbed her Travel Pack and went to look for the Fireplace Room she had scouted as Sapphire. Zoe decided they would set up camp in the Fireplace Room and spend the night in the Imperial Palace telling stories around the fire.
Levi returned with a stack of firewood in his arms that he set down by the side of the fireplace. Finn reached over to grab a log and started to build a fire in the fireplace. Hazel wandered off looking for a rabbit to make stew for their dinner, while Zoe and Ruby chopped potatoes, carrots and onions for the pot. Eventually Hazel returned with a couple of small rabbits they cooked over the fire to fill their stomachs. After dinner was over, the small group relaxed and huddled close together in their encampment around the fireplace. Slowly, shapes began to form within the fire in different hues of orange, yellow, red and black. Ruby was watching closely and immediately, her eyes opened wide and she grabbed Zoe's arm by the sleeve.
"Look mama!" Ruby's finger was pointing at the flames. "It's a lady with a fan!"
"A lady with a fan?" Zoe was puzzled. "What does that mean?"
"French Silk Fan" 1846 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
"I'm not sure." Hazel pulled out her sketch pad and a charcoal stick. "What does the fan look like Ruby-bird?"
Ruby pulled back from the fire and turned to Hazel, "It's a big, shiny Gold fan with some lettering on it!"
Hazel started sketching a small fan on the pages of her sketch pad and made a note that the fan was shiny gold in color. She would leave the lettering for later. Finn fell asleep next to Hazel and Levi was curled up on the floor next to Finn. Zoe started to sew the two halves of Finn's Invisibility Cloak together while Ruby fell asleep in her lap. Hazel worked on her Gold Fan sketch late into the night, according to Ruby's description. When they woke the next morning, the fire had gone out and they decided to leave the Imperial Palace immediately. Their carriage awaited them beyond the gates of Constantinople.
Comentarios