~*~Chapter One~*~

~*~Starlet~*~

She didn't know why they stared.

No one would tell her why they ran.

Starlet huddled in a corner of the playground, biting her lip hard. She wouldn't cry. Mum would be angry if she cried.

Why do they run away from me?

Mum said they ran away because she was a bad girl. But she never meant to be bad. She made mistakes. That's what the teacher said. But Mum said she was a bad girl and must be punished.

"Starlet?"

She looked up quickly, automatically making sure her sleeves covered the bruises on her arms.

"Why are you over here all by yourself?" The teacher crouched down next to her.

"They ran away again." She bit her lip harder until she tasted blood. She would not cry.

The teacher's mouth pulled into a thin line, like Mum's did when she was angry. Starlet braced her small body and waited.

Instead of the blow she expected, she felt the teacher's arm come very gently around her shoulders.

"Come on, Starlet. I think it's past time I took you to meet a friend of mine." The teacher stood up and held out her hand.

Cautiously Starlet stood up. The teacher took her into the center of town, to a large white building with a pretty, colourful sign outside. She couldn't read the words on it yet, but she liked the colours.

"We're going inside, all right?" the teacher said gently, pointing at the carved white door.

Starlet nodded, wide-eyed, and followed the teacher inside.

For a child of five, the room was overwhelming. There were all kinds of people inside. Some were crying, some sat silently, and some rushed around quickly. Unlike the small-scale furniture at the school, here the furnishings were large and comfortable, in all kinds of soft colours. There didn't seem to be many children, either.

"Have you brought us another one, Lucrecia?" A tall woman dressed in a long white gown stood smiling down at Starlet. Shyly she hid behind the teacher.

"I think she might be..." The teacher gestured slightly. Starlet peered out, green eyes wide beneath a tangled mass of dark hair.

"Well, we'll have to see, won't we? What's your name, little one?" The tall woman crouched down so she was on a level with Starlet.

"Starlet." She looked at this woman curiously. Her eyes were grey like Mum's, but not all red and swollen, and she was smiling instead of scowling. She smelled nice too, like flowers. Not nasty like Mum.

"I'm Delaz," the woman said, smiling kindly. "Would you like to come with me, Starlet? I think we have some cookies in the back for special little girls."

She thought for a moment. Mum said she wasn't to take anything from strangers. But the teacher was smiling and nodding. If the teacher said it was okay...then maybe she could? She nodded uncertainly.

The woman smiled and picked her up. Starlet whimpered when Delaz's arm pressed against one of her bruises.

"What's this?" Eyes narrowing, Delaz pushed Starlet's sleeves up. Her mouth pressed into that thin line and she looked at Starlet, her grey eyes no longer quite as warm. "Where did you get this, sweetheart?"

"I fell. I'm clumsy." Mum said that was what she was to say if anyone saw her bruises.

"I see." Delaz was quiet for a moment. "Let's get you those cookies, all right?" she said then, starting briskly off toward the back of the room.

When Starlet was settled in the kitchen with two chocolate-chip cookies and a glass of milk, Delaz left the room quickly and came back with another girl, older than Starlet, with short, curly blonde hair and pretty brown eyes. "This is the start of your training, Anya," Delaz said quietly. "How to heal bruises."

Anya nodded.

Delaz knelt on the floor next to Starlet, gently pushing up her sleeve again. She rested her fingertips against the large purple bruise. Blue light started to gather around her hand. The bruise was tingling. Starlet stared, her cookies forgotten. The light got brighter, and the bruise faded away. Delaz left her hand there a moment longer, then carefully pulled Starlet's sleeve back down. "Anya, watch Starlet for a moment, will you?" she said briskly as she stood up.

"Okay." Anya settled into the chair across the table and started talking cheerfully.

Delaz walked out of the kitchen and shut the door carefully. Lucrecia was waiting, not so patiently by the look in her eyes. "My room," Delaz said, leading the way.

Lucrecia was silent until the door closed behind them. "Delaz, I brought her here because I thought--"

"I know perfectly well why you brought her here. And yes, she's a healer." Delaz rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Get her away from her mother and bring her back here to me." The healer looked up, an unusually fierce expression in her usually calm and gentle eyes. "She's ours now. We'll take care of her."

"What do I tell the mother?"

"Tell her anything. I don't care. Pay the creature off if you have to, I'll give you the money back. Just get Starlet out of there."

Lucrecia raised an eyebrow. "You're serious."

"Dead serious."

"Her mother is half-Mage."

"I protect my healers, Luce. No one is going to abuse that little girl again. Ever." Delaz's eyes glittered with intensity.

Lucrecia studied her longtime friend for a long moment, then nodded. "All right."

~*~