The Herbalist's Apprentice

by the Lady of the Mists

Chapter One: Sandry the Healer

She could still remember the first time that she ever saw him, when he entered Angela's shop that day in Teirm. His youthful face that was filled with determination enchanted her, but there was also something mysterious about him, something that entranced her. The moment that Eragon, the Dragon Rider, entered into the shop, changed her forever.

There had been moments like this before in Sandrine's life, where she had been so changed by one moment that her life was never again the same. When her father had left, abandoning his wife and daughter in order to go find a woman who would give him the son he so desired. Her mother had tried to raise her as best she could, but the inn that she ran slowly turned to shambles in her husband's absence.

One night, some raiders came and torn the place apart for some cheap jewellery that her mother owned. Her mother was frightened by the thieves and managed to help her daughter escape, but her mother hadn't been able to escape the inn. Sandry watched from nearby as the inn was burned to the ground.

Later, when the robbers were gone, Sandry returned to the destroyed inn and found her mother's body. Or what was left of it. The burnt body was all that was left of her mother. If she hadn't found the locket her mother always wore, Sandry probably wouldn't have recognised her.

How it had survived the fire was beyond her, but Sandry had taken the locket and put it around her own neck, a reminder of what she had lost and a reminder of the mother she loved dearly. She still wore that locket now, refusing to take it off.

She had walked from the inn to the nearest city, which happened to be Teirm, and slept on the ground that night. The next morning, she awoke to find a curly haired woman with a pleasant smile standing next to her. Angela brought her into her shop and took her as her apprentice.

As Angela's apprentice, she learned all about herbs and plants, which ones would hurt and which ones would heal. She learned where to find them, when to cut them, how to use them in salve, ointment, or infusion. In time, there was not much that Angela had left to teach her, but Sandry was still only a child at the time, with nowhere left to go.

Now, at sixteen, many men had come to call on her and ask Angela's permission for marriage. Angela had laughed jovially before telling them that she was only Sandry's teacher, not her mother, and her choice for marriage would be her own.

But Sandry had no wish for marriage, not until she met the man who could respect her and who would allow her to think for herself. All the men that had come to call on her she could see only wanted a trophy wife. They were not interested in what was in her heart and soul. Not once did they ask her what she wanted, only told her what they wanted.

It was only when Eragon walked through the door that Sandry found herself longing for the kind of life that people expected her to. But she knew all too well that her life was far from ordinary.

She watched him from the back, keeping a careful look as Angela cast the bones for him, not listening to her teacher's words, but watching Eragon as she hid amongst the herbs and plants that were in the shop. He must have sensed her watching him, because she saw him glance in her direction once, but she had always been adept at concealing herself and remaining hidden.

She was almost disappointed when he left, but she was glad that Angela had asked his name before he did—and even more relieved when he hadn't lied to her about it.

Eragon . . . she loved the sound of his name. It was a powerful name, too, for only a handful of people had been named after the first Rider. Angela watched him go before clearing up the dragon bones and replacing them in the sack that she held them in.

"Better put these in a place where I'll be able to remember them," Angela said dryly to he apprentice. Sandry jumped, startled, looking around at her teacher quickly. "What's the matter with you? You're never this jumpy, lass."

"Nothing," Sandry said quickly, a hot blush rising to her cheeks. Angela glanced towards the door where Eragon had vanished and a small, amused smile crossed her face. "I'll go put these away, shall I?"

"I'll do it," Angela said, shaking her head. "You always put things where I can't find them, Sandry." She paused. "It's been awhile since you've had a day off, hasn't it? I never let you have as much time away from here as you should. Go on, lass."

Sandry, knowing there would be no changing of Angela's mind, hurried to her small room, changing out of her plain, working gown. The green dress that she changed into was the only other dress she owned, made to wear on days where she wasn't to work in the shop. Slipping her grey-blue cloak over this, she seized her knife and hurried out of the back door of the shop, attaching the knife to her belt as she walked out onto the streets of Teirm. Her long mane of dark hair fell halfway down her back, framing a quiet and calm face with eyes like the sea.

Although Angela wasn't aware of it, she had recently gone to studying some forms of magic from books. Of course, the person who had the most books on the subject was Jeod, from next door. He normally didn't mind about her borrowing the books; in fact, he was thrilled that a youngster actually cared about learning. The trick was getting past his wife Helen. Usually, the butler opened the door, but this time it was Helen who opened the door.

"What do you want?" Helen demanded, glaring at the young healer as she stood nervously with the giant book in her hands.

"I wanted to return the book that I borrowed from your husband," Sandry said politely, not wanting to put the woman in a foul mood. Helen didn't move from her place at the door.

"Well, then, I'll give it back to him," she replied, reaching for the book. Sandry didn't give it to her, though.

"If you please, ma'am, I would like to borrow another one from him." It took as much will as Sandry had not to start snapping, but she restrained her temper in order to get through. The older woman hated it when she lost her temper. Of course, Helen didn't like her much to begin with, so that didn't matter much. But it was worse when Sandry got upset.

Helen's eyes narrowed, but she glanced up the stairs and suppressed a sigh. "He's in the study," she said briskly.

"Thank you very much," Sandry said as she opened the door wider. Not waiting to see if she would change her mind, Sandry hurried up the stairs, walking down the corridor quickly to the study. As she neared the study, she heard voices coming from the room.

She knocked on the door and the voices quieted immediately. "Come in!" Jeod's voice called. Sandry opened the door and allowed herself to walk in. "Ah, Sandry! Finish that one already?" he asked with a smile. There was another man with Jeod, as well as Eragon. She swallowed quickly and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "That's good. This is Sandry, by the way. She's Angela's apprentice, from next door."

"How do you do?" the man said politely. "I'm Neal and this is my nephew Evan." He nodded towards Eragon and Sandry suppressed the urge to roll her eyes; obviously they were here undercover for some reason. She could sense magic radiating from both of them. Obviously, Eragon was the new Rider people were talking about, but who was the old man?

"Pleased to me you," Sandry said when she was sure that her voice was steady enough. She glanced at Eragon quickly, who met her eyes once and there was a strange moment, as though something passed between them that she didn't understand. "Um, I would like to borrow another one, sir, if you don't mind?"

"No, of course not," Jeod assured her, waving towards the books. "Go right ahead. Sandry's quite the scholar," he explained to his friends. "She's here almost every day to get another book from me."

Sandry wandered over to the shelves, scanning the titles carefully. There were many books in his study, but she had read most of them, gobbling them up as fast as she could find them. She finally picked one of the books up and let out a deep sigh. "I think this one will do," she said, handing it to Jeod. He smiled slightly and opened up the book where he'd kept all records of what she'd borrowed and wrote down the book's title, A Complete History of the Elves and Their Practices.

"I think you'll enjoy that," he said with a smile. "That one doesn't deal with everything that the Empire wants us to know; it actually has the complete history. Off with you, now."

"Thank you, sir," Sandry said, smiling back at him. "It was pleasure to meet the both of you," she added to Eragon and his friend as she left the study. The conversation seemed to resume the moment that she left, but she was too immersed in her book to take much care.

--

Sandry lay awake late on night as rain pounded against the roof of the shop, making it hard to sleep. No matter, though. She had her book propped up against the bedpost as she read by candlelight, reading about the elves that lived in the far east.

Glancing up at Angela's werecat as he climbed up onto the bed, glancing towards the book, Sandry said dryly through her mind, Do you mind? I'm trying to read here. If you want something, then just go ahead and say it.

Actually, I'm more interested in what you're reading. Do you think that reading all of those books are going to help with practicing magic? He shook his head, obviously annoyed with her. Sandrine, you've got a lot to learn. Here's a hint: if you want to learn, then why don't you just ask Angela to teach you? She does know some magic, after all.

I know, I just . . . wanted to do something on my own. Sandry sighed, knowing that she was being stupid. There was no way that she could learn magic on her own without help. All right, you useless cat, you're right. Where is she at, anyway?

In the shop, with the toad.

Of course, Sandry sighed as she closed the book, marking her place in it as she pushed Solembum off of her and headed into the shop. Sure enough, Angela was in the shop, writing on a tablet as she held a toad in her free hand. But she looked up the moment Sandry approached her.

She smiled slightly. "Was there something that you wanted, my dear?" she asked. Sandry took a deep breath, feeling just as she had all those years ago when she had asked Angela if she could be her apprentice in healing.

"Angela, ever since I completed my apprenticeship in healing, you've done so much for me. You took me in, even though you had no reason to. You've been so good to me."

"You were only a child," Angela said absently. "Anyone with any sense would've helped a poor child. Of course, not many people have much sense nowadays, so that may contribute, but still . . ."

Sandry smiled slightly. "But now I have to ask you of something else, something I have no right to ask of you." Angela nodded encouragingly. "Would you teach me how to use magic?"

A smile spread across Angela's face as she slowly stood up, walking over to Sandry. Placing her hands on her shoulders, Angela said, "I was wondering when you were going to get the courage to ask. Come along. No time like the present to begin."