"Why did you put the pendant on?" Bai asked.

"Because it was left for me, along with a note, from my birth father," Sileas replied. "I love  my Papa, who adopted me and loved me as his own. But I'd always wondered about the man who fathered me."

"You put it on just because it had your name on it?" Bai stared at her.

"And it was pretty. It looked like a regular, nicely crafted necklace. And it felt right. The pendant, the letter, it all just felt...right."

"The most dangerous traps will be attractive!" Bai scolded.

"I will be more careful going forward," Sileas vowed.

"You still don't appreciate what you go yourself into buy putting that thing on." Bai said.

"Had I known that it was a magical piece, I would not have rashly put it on. It just appeared to be a pretty stone in a pretty setting. Nothing in the letter indicated anything about magic."

"It's full of magic and old Althea." Bai shook his head.

"Althea? There's a person in there?" Sileas squeaked.

"Yeah." Bai said, nervously eyeing the pendant. "From what I hear she doesn't respect privacy either."

"Oh great, it's like wearing Yehudit around my neck in an unremovable pendant," Sileas grumbled under her breath. "How did she get in there?"

"This was a couple centuries ago." Bai said. "People in our family tend to get killed off pretty young, being a magic user is just asking for trouble, but Althea had a shot at dying of old age." Bai said. "She was getting up there in years and was thinking about how the family would be like without her in it. She didn't like how she thought it would be like so she decided to find a way of staying in the family... And somehow stuck herself in that pendant."

"How...odd. I guess then hers was the voice that was shouting at Yehudit."

"She yells a lot. I heard she's hard of hearing." Bai said.

Sileas shot a glance at Yehudit and grinned. She nearly said that Yehudit could make a saint scream, but chose not too. "That could explain it."

"She wants to protect Lowells..." Bai said. "She has magic, but prefers to try protecting by dictating their lives- and obeying her doesn't always keep the wearer alive. That's why no one has worn that pendant in about fifty years."

Sileas frowned. Had her father not known the history of the pendant? His note read like he wanted her to wear it. "And there's no way to remove it then?"

"She might let another Lowell take the pendant." Bai shrugged.

"Might, huh?" He didn't sound too certain. Still, with his words, it now seemed risky to wear it. "I guess it's worth it for you to attempt to remove it."

"What happened when you tried to take it off before?" Bai asked.

"Nothing happened when I tried, the clasp just wouldn't open. Yehudit, however, kept getting zapped when she tried to remove it."

"Hmm. Sounds like Althea wants to be with you, but I can try taking it off." Bai offered.

Sileas pondered for a moment. "IF she wants to be with me, does that mean I'll have her protection against all comers?"

"She'll try to." Bai said.