Raine could distinctly remember the first time she realized that she healed a person instantly, in a way that Mistress Bove never could, for all her mastery of herb-lore. It was during the winter, and a child had caught cold. Not just any child—the Chosen of Regeneration, Colette Brunel.
She was seven. A tiny wisp of a girl, she was all gold and blue. Most of the other children treated her with caution, an odd sort of reverence. There were a few, like the boy who came from the forest sometimes, that acted normally around her. But she was the Chosen, and even Raine, six years her senior, was slightly in awe of the young girl. But she was kind to Genis, and for that, she was grateful.
In truth, it was only a cold. But when Raine saw that happy, golden child feverish in bed, she panicked. What would happen to Sylvarant if the Chosen died in her sickbed? What would happen to Genis when the only other child in the village who ever paid him any mind was gone? Raine herself had only been 13, and frightened. When Mistress Bove left the room with Collette's father and grandmother, Raine walked cautiously to the girl's side. She shivered under layers of blankets, but her forehead was hot under the half-elf's hand.
"Hi, Raine," she said, looking up at her with those huge, trusting, blue eyes. The girl coughed weakly, and Raine left her hand on the Chosen's pale forehead. And in her terror, Raine reached for the mana that was always there, the mana that she dared not touch. She could feel it rush forth from her fingertips, all warmth and light. Tiny tendrils of golden light crawled over Colette's skin, and the little girl's eyes opened wide, a small sound escaping from her lips. The magic seemed to take on a life of its own, and when it had ran its course, the light dissolved into small curling puffs of golden smoke. Colette's eyes closed then, and her breathing took on the steady rhythm of sleep.
"Raine."
The half elf turned quickly, nearly jumping out of her skin at the sound of Mistress Bove's voice. Colette's father stood next to her, and Raine studied him, wondering how long he had been there, and what he had seen. She saw only concern for his daughter. Maybe he hadn't seen.
"I was just telling Frank how Colette only has a cold. That there is nothing to worry about." Raine bit her lip, feeling her stomach tighten. She turned to Frank, her expression softening. "I suspect that Colette will be just fine when she wakes up in a few hours. Come, Raine. We have work to do in the herb garden." Raine followed Mistress Bove out of the house and down the street, until they were safely within the walls of the old healer's own cottage.
"What were you thinking, girl!" Mistress Bove shouted, her face shaking in anger. "I thought you couldn't do magic? That the power had been lost to you, that the world's mana supply was too low!" Raine winced.
"I—well, I can't make fire or control water or make sparks like Genis does. I thought—"
"No! You didn't think. If you had, you would never have slipped up like that! You and your brother are in a very precarious position in this village already. Toddlers that cough up sparks and can conjure their own puddles to splash in are terrifying enough! Do you really want to call more attention to yourselves?"
"What happened?" Raine and Mistress Bove were suddenly snapped away from their argument by the appearance of Cara, her cheeks rosy from the cold, Genis clinging to her hand as she helped him through the doorway.
"Raine has a new skill. Apparently she can heal people with magic. Who knew?" Mistress Bove said throwing her hands up in frustration. Raine thought it was a measure of her anger that she even shared the knowledge with Cara. Cara's already wide eyes grew as large as saucers, suddenly dropping Genis' hand.
"That's amazing!" Cara said, her expression the same star-struck expression she wore the first time she saw the first time Genis lit the flower bed on fire.
"No, it's not amazing, you fool girl. Luckily I spotted you and found a way to stall Frank before he walked in on you lighting his daughter up like a candle!" Raine let out a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. Mr. Brunel hadn't seen. Good.
"You lit her on fire?"
"Cara, stop butting into conversations that you don't understand," Mistress Bove spat, not taking her eyes off of Raine. "Just take Genis to play in the snow, and watch that he doesn't actually set anything on fire." Cara left silently, the white-haired three year old trailing behind silently, his big blue eyes glancing back at his sister before the door closed behind him.
"I'm sorry," Raine whispered. Mistress Bove sighed.
"It's alright, girl. You must think, though, before you do things like that. How many times have you healed people like that before?"
"Th-that was the first time."
"Well, at least there were no failed attempts. Here, under my bed there is a loose floorboard—lift it up and take out the top book," the healer said, lowering herself into her rocking chair. When Raine only stared, she said, "Well? What are you waiting for? Move!" Raine scurried across the room and felt for the floorboard in question, extracting a heavy leather bound volume that had sat on top of the rest. She dusted off the binding, tracing the characters that ran up the side of the book. This is a spell book, she thought.
"Mistress Bove?" Raine said tentatively, looking at the woman who had taken her in, who she had lived and worked with for the last two years, and who she really didn't know at all.
"Don't look at me like that, girl. Just read it. Learn from it. Until you do, I'm taking Cara along with me to house calls, do you understand?" Raine nodded in response, still amazed by the book sitting in her hands right now had been under the floorboards this whole time.
"The other books, can I…?"
"No," the old woman said sharply. "No, those would not help you."
"It's in the Angelic Language," Raine said quietly, her cheeks coloring. "I-I can only read a little—"
"You better learn, then. I'll talk to Phaidra. She can arrange for one of the priests to help you. Don't mention the book, though. I don't want it getting around that I am in possession of such things. You are a curious girl—that should be enough for them." Raine opened her mouth to say something, but then thought better of it, biting her lip nervously.
"What is it now, girl?"
"I just wanted to say thank you." Mistress Bove gifted Raine with one of her rare smiles, her lined face creasing with the movement.
"Go make sure that Genis hasn't killed Cara yet. And start on that book!" Raine thought she caught a flash of sadness in the healer's eyes as Raine slipped out of the door, catching Genis in her arms as he giggled, trying to catch the snowflakes on his tongue. She smiled as he babbled about what kinds of animals you could find in the winter time, but her thoughts remained with that thick leather bound volume that she had left inside. Why would a healer in a small isolated village own such a book? What were the other books hidden beneath the floorboards? What secrets were contained within them? She thought of the elderly healer that she had left inside, wondering who exactly Mistress Bove was.
