Wish sat, tucked away in her normal booth. Her drink of the day was still rather full, a smoothly blended banana paste with hints of sweetness she knew not what to call. It would remain as such, for she had found something else more appetizing for the moment.
In front of her, the roaming spellbook fluttered, its pages flipping across the silk bookmark in her hand. She remained still, letting the offered trinket draw the sentient book ever closer. Her fingers brushed the bottom of the spine, its old leather unlike any plain library tome she had ever reached for on a shelf. The book spun slightly on its back cover, pages slightly agape like a cautious animal appraising another beast. Wish flipped the silk bookmark again to refocus its attention. She waited for the glowing gem to shift, the bead of light within once more rolling over towards the bright strip of royal blue. Her hand moved again, spread to cradle it in an outstretched hand. She hesitated slightly, wondering if she would need to capture it and hope to glean a glimpse of a page within or continue hoping that this quiet game of patience would allow her to read something new.
She dared to look towards the bar. The barkeep had plenty of customers to serve, and she had hoped to see something of the spellbook’s pages before he decided to come check on her. He had never mentioned of its escape, nor her involvement in it, but she wondered what he would do if he appeared beside her and she was reading through his previously hidden away, enchanted book of magic. She knew wizards prized such items to a dangerous fault, and while the tavern and barkeep displayed magic throughout, it was hard to think of him as such a character. She then nervously began to wonder if the spellbook had belonged to someone else entirely. She shuddered as she dismissed the terrible possibilities that came with the idea. It was only then that she took note of the gentle weight that set on her palm.
While her mind had wondered, the book had come to rest on her outstretched hand. The gem glowed, it’s semblance of an eye centered on her. The colors swirled, going from the browned amber it had been, to now become a pale blue. Wish’s breath stuttered. It was the same color as her own eyes. Her hand slowly opened the book, the pages giving a wrinkled flip, falling open a third of the way through. Wish at once cast her gaze about, new symbols and text for her mind to begin absorbing. The curiosity of deciphering and understanding all of the scrawled notes and figures fully drew in her attention. She traced over a sketched symbol, mouthing an intuitive thought of what the symbols might be voiced as.
At once, there was a loud noise behind her within the main space. She spun towards the interruption only to find the barkeep beside her blocking view. His smile was steady as always, though his brown amber eyes darted about.
“Anything the problem young Miss Wish?
Wish sat with her mouth slowly shifting in a silent failed reply. Her eyes darted back to the book in her hand, finding the dusty almanac that she had brought with her was now held open. She stared at the open page, filled with uninteresting accounts of crop harvests of rhubarb over the past decade.
She shook her head slowly, disappointed.
“No, just reading.” She murmured softly as she closed the mundane book.