Excerpt from the Diary of Podwyn Abfirmar
.....
Concerning Magpie:
She’s not the girl I met, not so long ago. That girl was vulnerable, angry and unsure of herself. Whatever treatment she received at home, she saw her family’s judgment of her as discarding her, as having been deemed of no value to them. It didn’t show in her demeanor, but as you came to know her, it showed in little ways. Things like the way she always expected to be forgotten, the way she always assumed the worst interpretation of any comment. The way she’d retreat when things got tense, slipping away into whatever cover offered, whether it was the night, a crowd, or the city. The way she seemed to become invisible, with so blank a face everyone assumed she belonged where ever she was. She’s had that gift as long as I’ve known her, and it hides a brilliant and insightful mind, one which she only shows by accident. As she’s grown, the accidents are fewer and further between.
Something changed; some chance comment or deliberate intervention has made her re-assess herself, and while it has left her with that ability to fade into the woodwork, it has taken from her the blankness. If you notice her, you know instantly from her face that she is taking everything in, forming within herself some unknowable hypothesis. She no longer disappears because she’s afraid, but from a desire not to become entangled. She leaves when she feels she’s learned enough from the situation, although it can be difficult for an observer to guess what she’s taken away from it. She’s in the process of reinventing herself, and I don’t know who she’ll be when she finishes. I worry about some of her choices, at times; it’s hard to see the reasoning behind her association with Sable, or her aversion to Danief. I am reassured, however, that she has become so close to Halm; he seems to be a very level-headed sort, and I know she listens to him and thinks over what he tells her very carefully.
On other topics, Aniero called on me today...