Page 68 of Charmed

“Not that old ring again,” complained Zann.

“Hey, it’s better than Arcine eggs that you happen to be using again as well,” said Darium in his defense.

“I still wonder whose ring this was.” Rhys picked it up to inspect it.

“Let me see that.” Elric snatched it away from Rhys before he could stop him. “Ah ha! I thought it looked familiar.”

“What are you saying?” asked Darium. “Don’t start telling us again that I stole that from a dead person, because I didn’t.”

“See this design on the ring?” Elric held it up for the others to see. Persimmon was lost in her thought and paid little attention to the conversation.

“Aye. So what?” asked Zann.

“Now look at that necklace around Persimmon’s neck.”

Persimmon heard her name and her head snapped up. Her hand went to her necklace and her fingers caressed it. “What are you saying about my necklace?”

“It’s the same,” said Rhys, peering across the table.

“That proves it. The ring is mine.” Elric was at it again, claiming everything as his own.

“Now wait a minute,” griped Darium. “You say that about everything.”

Fang whimpered from beneath the table.

“It does look like the same design,” said Zann. “Persimmon, where did you get that necklace?”

“It was my mother’s,” she explained. “The nuns brought me her things after she died. I liked it, so I wore it. I also thought it would help me to keep close to my mother.”

“I gave Luna that necklace at the same time I gave her this ring when I asked her to marry me,” explained Elric.

“What?” Persimmon was shocked to hear this. “But you and Mother never married.”

“Nay,” said the elf. “She told me she wouldn’t marry me because although she loved me, she’d seen in her gazing ball that she was going to die young. She said I should go marry someone else so I wouldn’t end up being a widower.”

“Mother told you that she loved you?” This surprised Persimmon.

“Yes. And that she would die young, which she kind of did. I guess those gazing balls really don’t lie after all,” said Elric.

“And you told her that you loved her but she still wouldn’t marry you?” continued Persimmon, starting to put things together.

“I could see she was visibly upset. “That is the night I found out she had her lover there.”

“King Helix Kapion,” mumbled Persimmon.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What happened?” asked Lira.

“That thief stole my gemstones as well as the ring that night, and disappeared through a portal. I told Luna what happened but she didn’t believe me. She called me a liar and said I was jealous and that she never wanted to see me again.”

“Oh, no, I am so sorry,” said Persimmon.

“So Rancor must have stolen and ring and dropped it coming through the portal,” said Darium. “That’s why Murk found it and brought it to me.”

“After that, things became bad between me and Luna. Even after you were born, I didn’t see you a lot because I honestly wasn’t sure you were my child and the last thing I wanted to do was to visit the daughter of that greedy king thief.”

“Fine, it’s yours. Take the ring,” said Darium with a wave of his hand.