Chapter 175: Two Gifts

Abby was in the middle of creating a new engraving template for some Star Wars based picture books when Al dropped by the printing office. He casually mentioned that they were looking for volunteers to go bring today's rations to the Warrior camp.

Aside from Tahvo and one other male apprentice, everyone else present was female. The boy rolled his eyes. "I spend more than enough time there already, thanks."

Tahvo agreed. "Sorry Alamar, I feel the same. Why don't you take Abby, Janna, and Mitzi? I'm afraid we still need everyone else to keep working."

Abby was taken aback. Why her? She was in the middle of something! It was true that she had been waiting for an opportunity to see Blaise again but she hadn't wanted to do it where other people could see. She didn't want to let slip how much she had actually missed him in front of any witnesses.

Janna and Mitzi were more enthusiastic about the prospect than she was; particularly Mitzi, who was at the very romantic age of sixteen. Her heart thudded at the thought that she would see him so unexpectedly.

With any luck, everyone else would be so distracted by the food and new people that she would be able to talk to Blaise in peace for a few minutes. Though everything she wanted to say to him definitely couldn't be fit into that short amount of time.

Since a third of the men were currently in training, the women of Ilmir were busier than usual. Each business could only send one or two.

Some were married women who wanted to see how their husbands were doing but most were single girls who were curious about the newcomers. The Pullman sisters were likely the only ones who didn't fall into either category. Katie went because she was the clan leader's wife and Abby did because she didn't know how to say no.

The women chatted happily among themselves as they carried the provisions to the camp but she didn't join in. Her stomach had twisted into knots.

They hadn't spoken a word to each other in nearly a year. How would she even start a conversation with him? Considering how much she had to say, Abby was at a loss for words. It didn't make sense.

She really shouldn't be this nervous. Blaise wasn't the type to tease or make things awkward. Aside from that one misunderstanding when she tried to figure out his sense of humor, they had always been comfortable with each other.

Abby set down her basket of food, consisting of sandwiches from the bakery, and scanned the crowd. About half of the people here were her friends and neighbors while the other half were Warriors.

She thanked her lucky stars that they hadn't come over during the first shift when all the younger boys were there because they would monopolize her the entire time and she wouldn't get the chance to seek Blaise out at all.

Her heart stopped when she spotted him because he smiled widely at her and gestured a greeting from across the mess hall. Abby made her way to him as quickly as she could without looking desperate with a dazzling return smile.

"Hi."

Inwardly she cringed. That was really the best thing she could say after so many months with no contact?

But Blaise didn't seem to mind. "Hello. I have two gifts for you."

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Abby blinked at him in surprise. That was very direct of him. She had expected he would bring up the ribbon but what was the other one? "Two?"

He nodded seriously and held out the coiled up blue ribbon she had lent him in his hand. It looked exactly the same as it had when she gave it to him and her heart sunk slightly. He had probably shoved it into a corner of his knapsack and forgotten all about it until now.

Thinking he would do something as romantic as tie it somewhere of importance had been stupid anyway. She had barely entertained the thought a handful of times while he was gone.

"You're a man of your word," she said around the lump in her throat. "Thanks for bringing this back."

"I have something else," Blaise said a bit nervously. She had never seen him like this before. He went through life with utmost confidence. "I picked it up in Shibatsu's northern neighbor, Stanarussi. I hope you will like it."

He pulled a small wooden box out of his bag and Abby was startled. Had he been carrying this with him all along? Or had he known she would be coming today and brought it on purpose?

Meeting her brother-in-law's smug gray eyes from across the mess hall made her suspect the latter. Al set her up! She would make him pay for this later.

Abby took the box from him curiously. The workmanship was beautiful; the lid and sides were covered in intricate carvings of flowers and other gently swirling patterns. Did he get her a box because he thought she would find it pretty?

She opened it and was rewarded by tinkling music playing. She had taken a music history class in college and thought the tune sounded a lot like something Mozart would have composed even though the tune wasn't one she recognized. The musicians had a similar style.

She couldn't help but laugh in delight. It had been so long since she had heard any kind of recorded music. The Kanta weren't particularly musical people. They had a few traditional lullabies and folk songs that were meant to be played on something similar to a fiddle with tambourines but all of their instruments were destroyed in the raids.

No one had been prosperous enough to buy new ones in their temporarily adopted countries and the craftsmen who knew how to make them the Kanta way had all died. Music was a lost art here.

"A music box! I had one of these as a kid with Aurora and Philip from Sleeping Beauty dancing in it that popped up when you opened the lid…not that you would know what that is. But thank you. I love it," Abby said with a genuine smile.

Blaise seemed pleased that she enjoyed it but tilted his head in confusion. "What is that?"

"Ah…it was a movie I liked when I was little. Movies are like plays that you can watch on a sort of magic box. It's hard to explain using this world's terminology," she said apologetically.

He nodded thoughtfully. "I did wonder if you had seen something like this before…Stanarussi is a nation of scientists and brilliant craftsmen. I was amazed by the things I saw there. This music box is but a small part of what they are capable of."

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