Circe and her Gossip

"Good morning Mrs. Maelony" Seira greeted the old woman at the information desk near the front door of the library. The memory of her in front of the old woman, receiving a lot of nagging for not bringing the owl was still fresh in her mind. The old woman nags her all day and keeps bringing back the subject for the last four days already. And as of this moment, she hopes that the old woman will not nag for the nth time.

"You have a lot of organizing to do today," Mrs. Maelony said, slightly raising her round eyeglasses.

With a nod, she saunters towards the far side corner of the room where her compartment is located. She put her sling bag on the table. The library is not big enough to accommodate another compartment for her. The space is just enough for some reading tables, several bookstacks, and one small office for Mrs. Maelony. That's why she made a small compartment with a table, one chair, and a cabinet that has the same height as the table on the far corner of the hall. She doesn't need a large space after all.

After settling her things, she started her duty right away by cleaning the room, organizing the book, and putting back the used books that were piled messily on the long table to the bookshelves.

After finishing her work for the morning, Seira walked to her compartment. She sat with a huge sigh; resting her head to the back of her seat.

"Seira, Seira" someone poked her arm.

"Stop that Circe" she slowly opened her eyes; facing the woman who was casually sitting on her table. The sunlight coming from the window made the copper hair of the woman glow. Her dark brown eyes and freckles gleam.

"Why are you so gloomy today? Did Mrs. Maelony nags you again?"

She shook her head "No"

"Then why are you like that?" Circe insisted, moving to Seira's side.

Seira shrugged. Circe is the owner and tailor of the boutique that was popular to almost all of the town. Her store was located in the public square of Darthill Village. The woman is the regular reader of the library and somewhat talkative especially when gossip is related. They became close along the way of her working and the woman constantly asked for recommendations of books to read.

Circe pouted, flipping her hair before getting back to sitting at the table. She knows that she will not get anything from Seira. The woman was tight-lipped sometimes about her life. "I know that I will not get anything from you" she rolled her eyes; crossing her arms "But because I'm your friend, I will fill the gap of your part to talk"

Seira chuckled, spreading her hands "The floor is yours then"

Circe slapped Seira's shoulders "You're a quiet person but you sure loves gossips"

"I inherited this from you"

Circe ignored Seira's joke and instead moved closer to her "This tittle-tattle that I will tell was a huge gossip" she glanced around to make sure no one was near them "This was going on all around the town. Someone said that the crowned prince and Lord Theron were spotted in Herstings the other day" Circe suddenly clapped her hands "You went to Herstings four days ago right? Didn't you see them? That's the day those two came there. Oh my gosh!"

Seira raised a brow "I don't know their faces Circe and I doubt the sky will let me meet those royalties. I'm not that lucky"

"You're right because bad luck seems to be attached to you forever. You're so full of negative vibes" Circe fan herself using her hand.

"But why are they there? I mean why would they step foot outside Arcadis?" she tilted her head quizzically. There's no way that the royalties will grace the towns outside the capital. If it was the typical nobles, she would believe it but hearing that those royalties, especially the prince went to Herstings, was hard to count on.

"Well that's the thing I didn't pick up. But I think it must be related to Lady Selena. She was popular for being soft-hearted to our kind—the low class people. Who knows she asked the prince to bought her something that could only buy in Herstings" Circe exclaimed, looking up dreamily on the ceiling; rocking her feet.

She facepalmed at the imaginative mind of her friend "He could ask his servants to buy for him"

"Well the prince is naturally a gentleman so I believe that he will buy it himself. I mean someone who was in love is willing to do that, speaking from experience"

"Well I have nothing to say about that" she has no say when Circe made an example of love and such because she has no experience with that or near that thing. "Speaking of love, how's your relationship with your ever so loving boyfriend—Ailen?" she asked sarcastically. She never did like the man for Circe.

"We're….. Good. He's.. He is out of the town right now" Circe avoided making eye contact with Seira; clasping her hands together. The truth was Ailen and she was not on good terms lately but she didn't want Seira to know because she will surely encourage her to break-up with him and she didn't want that.

Seira saw how Circe nervously clasped her hands together. Sighing, she jokingly slapped her arm "Make sure to leave something for yourself. Resign yourself if it is already too much"

Circe looked down for a second and nodded.

Moments pass when no one talks between them until Circe breaks the silence "By the way, remember Vickie? The fire elementalist who got to study in the Hildebrandus Academy? Her family was moving today in Arcadis. Her mother said that the a noble from one of the powerful clans in Arcadis liked and offered Lana's family a place in the capital"

"It is good then, her family long hoped for that, '' Seira replied. She only happened to talk to Vickie from Circe also but she was not close to the woman at all. All she knew was the woman was one of the individuals who was gifted by great magic although they came from a low class family and was asked to study in the academy of magic—the Hilderbrandus Academy. It was rare and very unlikely to happen that someone in the proletarian kind was blessed by considerably above the normal or average magic. It is commonly for middle class and high ranked people only and not the inferior kinds like them. So anyone who was endowed by magic in their class attained popularity among them. That's why she came to know Vickie Stone. Her name was an inspiration and pride for the people outside the capital.