Crowning Glory

*Eethyl stands next to a thick wooden workbench with one hand on it and his smile fades some. He crosses the space and grabs the wrought iron handle on his desk top and rolls the cover up. He plucks a leather bound journal from one of the desks' many shelves and pulls it down to thumb through the pages for a moment before resting on a sketch of an elderly gnome woman and smiles, exhaling through his nose. The gnome sits down as if weighted down onto the chair in front of the desk and runs his fingers over the image and closes his eyes again remembering.*
 
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*The gnome pulls out a small pearl gazing at it.* “Sila I need to be let in please” *He sucks in a breath and there is a soft pop in his ears before he is standing in the space again. He turns and looks out through the blue glass.* “There you are dear” *The gnomish woman before him is elderly and in a rocking chair. She holds something out before her and smiles at it as she speaks. Eethyl walks to the glass and lifts a hand against it next to her face. He traces her features as he listens to the conversation she has with a younger gnome next to her.* “Oh dear, you don’t have much longer do you?” He says as he traces the wrinkles around her eyes, thin gray hair, and down the side of her face” *Eethyl pulls up a chair and sits heavily up on it staring up with a sad smile as he listens for the next 20 minutes to a story she tells. The view eventually turns toward the younger gnome who smiles at what she now holds. After a few words she thanks the older gnome and kisses her on the cheek. He continues watching for a time further as the view moves toward the younger one's neck line and then turns to face out. There she is again. After a bit she is helped to lay back and propped up. Looking at an hourglass on the desk he realizes time is short and stands back up and kisses his hand, placing it on the glass a final time.* “Ok Sila, Back to the outer court I guess.”
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*Eventually he opens his eyes and traces his hand one last time over the sketch.* “Blessed always by the time spent in the light you reflected. As a ruby, but more precious.” *He coughs for a second to clear emotion from his throat, obviously not wanting it there. “Well dear, maybe perhaps eventually again. Always a joy. There are other joys in life... thankfully. You did well to demonstrate for me a proper center.” *He closes the book before looking back around the space and mumbles to himself… “goodness… their crowning glory but just a reflection of what’s inside. How do you help them with that?” *He makes toward a corner of the space and removes a cloth cover from a wooden frame of some sort.* “That may do? I wish I had watched you more dear” *and he sits down before it, reaching for a box of colored threads.*