Leoma of Palouse (a fief near the Scanran border), Lia to all who knew her, threw herself onto the golden meadow. Roughly a half mile away, she saw the stone walls of her manor-house, and the miniscule village surrounding it. How she wished she could leave this place, no matter how dear it was to her!
Lia had never left her fief in her fourteen years, mostly because of what had happened to her older brother when she was two. Klaythe had been only fifteen, when he was struck down a Gifted bandit. Since then, Mother had refused to let Lia go to the City of the Gods, to be trained as a mage.
Lia brushed her hair, the color of gold, out of her face, and picked out with her steely gray eyes a large cloud that seemed to be coming toward her. She ran home, thinking to herself, 'I must do something TODAY. No more putting it off. I have to take action, and make something of myself.'
Lia stopped and looked around..."But," she said aloud, "If I set foot inside, Mother will chain me down and teach me to be a 'lady', as if there was any use in that..." She mimicked her mother's voice, "You know, Lia, I've seen better embriodery from you, yes, much better. Do you remember when you used to be content with just sitting for hours and stitching?...Ooh, but now, you're so brown and course, not at all delicate, and how can you stand being outside in this heat?" She muttered to herself, "I vow to this day that I will NEVER do embriodery AGAIN! I swear it by the Goddess, nothing will stop me from being a mage!"
She looked around for something to focus her energy on, a clump of weeds met her eyes. She sat, tailor style in the soft grass and closed her eyes. Her browns knit together as she concentrated. Softly she started the spell for transformation. Her midnight blue Gift streamed outwards from her open palms. The dark blue filled the plants and set them sparkling and shimming from green to blue. Little by little the plant leaves mutated together and formed a glowing orb of energy. Slowly the orb began to take on shape.
When Lia finally opened her eyes a large butterfly fluttered over and landed on her knee. She picked it up with her hand and held it up to her face. "You know, little one, I wish I were you." She wrinkled her nose as the butterfly settled on it. "You have more freedom than I ever will." She smilied, guessing what she must look like, with a large butterfly spreading its wings on the tip of her nose.
She sighed, "Well, now that I have company, I think I'll take a nap." She leaned back onto sweet fresh grass and closed her eyes. "Only for a time of course, one can't lose a day to complete leisure and happiness, I must keep some for tomorrow, and the next day too." She drifted off into sleep as the clouds drifted slowly overhead.
Lia had never left her fief in her fourteen years, mostly because of what had happened to her older brother when she was two. Klaythe had been only fifteen, when he was struck down a Gifted bandit. Since then, Mother had refused to let Lia go to the City of the Gods, to be trained as a mage.
Lia brushed her hair, the color of gold, out of her face, and picked out with her steely gray eyes a large cloud that seemed to be coming toward her. She ran home, thinking to herself, 'I must do something TODAY. No more putting it off. I have to take action, and make something of myself.'
Lia stopped and looked around..."But," she said aloud, "If I set foot inside, Mother will chain me down and teach me to be a 'lady', as if there was any use in that..." She mimicked her mother's voice, "You know, Lia, I've seen better embriodery from you, yes, much better. Do you remember when you used to be content with just sitting for hours and stitching?...Ooh, but now, you're so brown and course, not at all delicate, and how can you stand being outside in this heat?" She muttered to herself, "I vow to this day that I will NEVER do embriodery AGAIN! I swear it by the Goddess, nothing will stop me from being a mage!"
She looked around for something to focus her energy on, a clump of weeds met her eyes. She sat, tailor style in the soft grass and closed her eyes. Her browns knit together as she concentrated. Softly she started the spell for transformation. Her midnight blue Gift streamed outwards from her open palms. The dark blue filled the plants and set them sparkling and shimming from green to blue. Little by little the plant leaves mutated together and formed a glowing orb of energy. Slowly the orb began to take on shape.
When Lia finally opened her eyes a large butterfly fluttered over and landed on her knee. She picked it up with her hand and held it up to her face. "You know, little one, I wish I were you." She wrinkled her nose as the butterfly settled on it. "You have more freedom than I ever will." She smilied, guessing what she must look like, with a large butterfly spreading its wings on the tip of her nose.
She sighed, "Well, now that I have company, I think I'll take a nap." She leaned back onto sweet fresh grass and closed her eyes. "Only for a time of course, one can't lose a day to complete leisure and happiness, I must keep some for tomorrow, and the next day too." She drifted off into sleep as the clouds drifted slowly overhead.