Psyche's Flight
~ Prologue
It was almost nightfall when I arrived in Corus, Tortall. I had been traveling for several weeks to get here, by foot and alone. It was worth it though, as I stared with awe at the village square on market day. Vendors and shops lay everywhere, rich with the smells of pastries and smoke. I inhaled the delicious scents and stood there dumbfounded on the cobblestone courtyard. It was the first time I had ever seen a town as big as this one. I tried to find the inn of Corus where the secret service of the Queen's Rogues met. Finally, I would have my chance to prove my worth. Even if it meant running away from my sheltered life to start earning my living, I was still looking forward to it. After all, it was a silent foot and a good Gift that helped me escape and kept me alive.
How did I get here? I was a lonely and unprotected fourteen-year-old wandering among city streets I did not know. Let me explain my story.
***
I was born in Damryn, a remote and distant town in Tortall. My father was a courtier of lonely fief Damryn, and had been since his youth. None of the titles were of any importance, for Damryn was so remote that I am sure the King would have forgotten about its existence.
In my youth, my Ma mainly raised me in our small estate near fief Damryn. Ma was the village healer, a hedgewitch if you must call her. Whenever anyone fell ill, Ma was there with her vast knowledge of herbs and medicine, ready to help. She always brought me along to assist her in a childbirth, or to fetch odds and ends for her. Ma taught me the uses, magical and medicinal, of every plant in her garden. I learned them eagerly for I had a strong urge to heal. My Ma sensed this too, and when the King's mages came to our village to test people for the Gift, she was eager to have me tested. After some probing with their magic, I turned out to have a limited Gift. The mages told Ma that my Gift could be strong, if it was trained properly. So my Ma, who was Giftless and could have helped many more people if she was Gifted, did not hesitate to bless me with a privilege she never had. Determined to shape me into a master healer, my parents agreed to send my to a mage school in Damryn. I could not bear to part with Ma and Da, but I knew Ma wanted me to be a mage more than anything. I left her and Da at nine years old.
My first three years at the Mage School in Damryn were happy ones, I suppose. Work was difficult but I concentrated hard, wanting to make Ma and Da proud. I discovered that I could not do the usual Gift-like things, like casting simple charms and scrying into a mirror or glass. Fortunately, I was still able to start small fires, a skill even Gifted children could master. My teachers said I could mend muscle, bone, and tendons surprisingly fast, and my cooling spell worked wonders on injuries. I had a healing Gift, simple as that. I worked on developing it intently for three years. All my teachers were good mages, and they taught me well...up to my parents' death.
I was thirteen when my favorite teacher, Master Connall, came to my bedchamber to tell me the news...
"Psyche? Could I have a word?" He opened my door and stood inside the frame. I noticed that his knuckles were white and his face was dewed with sweat. He beckoned to me.
"Yes, Master Connall, right away," I curtsied and stepped out to meet him, shutting the door behind me. I gazed with concern up at his face. "Are you all right, Sir? You look nervous. Would you like some water?"
"No, Psyche. You should be the one nervous," he said, avoiding my blue-violet gaze. "I have been informed by post that your parents-" he took a deep breath, "-have died." He anxiously waited for my reaction.
Tears stung my eyes; I quickly brushed them away. "Sir, you mustn't be speaking the truth. Ma sent me herbs by post only last week!" He nodded slowly. "But how?" I asked.
He lowered his voice. "That is the odd part. No one seems to know how or why they died. Someone found them in their home, with not one trace-"
"Please, Master Connall...that's enough. Now if you'll excuse me-" I curtsied and rushed for my door. I did not want him to see me sob.
He grabbed my shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I'm sorry." He hesitated. "Listen, Psyche. What you need is a protector, a guardian. I can help..."
I turned around to look at him curiously. "That's very kind, Sir, but I can fend for myself. After all, this mage school is not dangerous."
"No, Psyche," he spoke nervously, "you don't understand. You must leave this school. I will help you. You will need a protector when you leave. Marry me, Psyche, and then shall you never be alone. "
"What? Marriage?!" My manners completely disappeared. Angrily I said, "Certainly not, Master Connall. And I will have you know that I intend not to leave the mage school until my education is complete. My Ma wanted me to be a healer, so I shall do so. You are a wonderful mage and very kind, but marriage to an old teacher is-unheard of!"
For a second Master Connall just stood there, bewildered and sputtering. "You will see what a wrong choice you have made, Psyche Damryne! Not only did you have the nerve of rejecting a teacher, I see to it that your-dream-of being a Mage will never come true. So...are we in an agreement?"
Appalled at his sudden change in behavior, I hurried into my room, shutting the door firmly. I leaned with my back blocking it, panting and breathless with disgust.
"Mithros curse you, ungrateful girl!" I heard him spit scornfully behind the door. I waited until his footsteps disappeared down the hall before I allowed myself to collapse in tears.
After the incident, life at school was nothing but torture. The next day, when I walked into my first class, most of my classmates looked at me awkwardly. I must have been quite a sight with swollen, red eyes. Some had even learnt of the argument between Master Connall and I, and snickered. My friend Darsteen begged me to reconsider Master Connall's offer. When she found that it was impossible, she deserted me. What a friend she was! The mages, too, were cold and treated me as if I was a disease. Master Connall's best friend, the teacher of my favorite class, herb studies, tried to slip a powerful mixture in my drink to make me fall for Master Connall. Even worse, the Master Mages could not expel me, for I had nowhere to go and no relations. I was now a ward of the Mage School. It was Master Connall's curse.
It was too much-they did not want to teach me, nor did I want to learn from them. I often slipped away from the grounds to explore and learn my own healing magic. They did not seem to care. I also spied on my teachers. I pretended to do simple things when they were around, and eavesdropped. I knew their lives-it gave me great satisfaction for they liked controlling mine. This became a routine for me, and soon I tried to get away for an entire day, but as my fourteenth birthday drew nearer, they became stricter. I knew that Master Connall had been partially right-I had to leave.
It was harder than I thought. They did not want me to teach me, but neither did they want me to go. I was their prisoner, but not for long. Secretly I packed some of my dresses and shoes in a sack. I brought my only treasure: Ma's herb and oils pouch. I sneaked away just after nightfall on Beltane. With my other gift, a quick and silent foot, I was so quiet that no one had noticed I was gone.
I had decided to go to Corus to make my own living. I thought myself able to do a hedgewitch's job or even work as a spy. My healing Gift could prove very useful for the Queen's Rogues, the secret group of thieves, spies, and cutthroats of Corus. It was the life for me. I craved adventure and freedom, so I decided that I wanted a job as a healer-spy for the Rogues.
For about two weeks, I traveled on foot, healing my cuts and injuries on the way. I slept in soft heather, and made fires with my Gift. I found plants and herbs to eat, since I did not know how to hunt or use weapons. I was sure to stay away from large towns. However, once I neared Tortall, I stopped in at a gracious villager's cottage so I could be cleaned up for my appearance in the capital of Tortall. Now here I am, a stranger in my paradise.
~ Prologue
It was almost nightfall when I arrived in Corus, Tortall. I had been traveling for several weeks to get here, by foot and alone. It was worth it though, as I stared with awe at the village square on market day. Vendors and shops lay everywhere, rich with the smells of pastries and smoke. I inhaled the delicious scents and stood there dumbfounded on the cobblestone courtyard. It was the first time I had ever seen a town as big as this one. I tried to find the inn of Corus where the secret service of the Queen's Rogues met. Finally, I would have my chance to prove my worth. Even if it meant running away from my sheltered life to start earning my living, I was still looking forward to it. After all, it was a silent foot and a good Gift that helped me escape and kept me alive.
How did I get here? I was a lonely and unprotected fourteen-year-old wandering among city streets I did not know. Let me explain my story.
***
I was born in Damryn, a remote and distant town in Tortall. My father was a courtier of lonely fief Damryn, and had been since his youth. None of the titles were of any importance, for Damryn was so remote that I am sure the King would have forgotten about its existence.
In my youth, my Ma mainly raised me in our small estate near fief Damryn. Ma was the village healer, a hedgewitch if you must call her. Whenever anyone fell ill, Ma was there with her vast knowledge of herbs and medicine, ready to help. She always brought me along to assist her in a childbirth, or to fetch odds and ends for her. Ma taught me the uses, magical and medicinal, of every plant in her garden. I learned them eagerly for I had a strong urge to heal. My Ma sensed this too, and when the King's mages came to our village to test people for the Gift, she was eager to have me tested. After some probing with their magic, I turned out to have a limited Gift. The mages told Ma that my Gift could be strong, if it was trained properly. So my Ma, who was Giftless and could have helped many more people if she was Gifted, did not hesitate to bless me with a privilege she never had. Determined to shape me into a master healer, my parents agreed to send my to a mage school in Damryn. I could not bear to part with Ma and Da, but I knew Ma wanted me to be a mage more than anything. I left her and Da at nine years old.
My first three years at the Mage School in Damryn were happy ones, I suppose. Work was difficult but I concentrated hard, wanting to make Ma and Da proud. I discovered that I could not do the usual Gift-like things, like casting simple charms and scrying into a mirror or glass. Fortunately, I was still able to start small fires, a skill even Gifted children could master. My teachers said I could mend muscle, bone, and tendons surprisingly fast, and my cooling spell worked wonders on injuries. I had a healing Gift, simple as that. I worked on developing it intently for three years. All my teachers were good mages, and they taught me well...up to my parents' death.
I was thirteen when my favorite teacher, Master Connall, came to my bedchamber to tell me the news...
"Psyche? Could I have a word?" He opened my door and stood inside the frame. I noticed that his knuckles were white and his face was dewed with sweat. He beckoned to me.
"Yes, Master Connall, right away," I curtsied and stepped out to meet him, shutting the door behind me. I gazed with concern up at his face. "Are you all right, Sir? You look nervous. Would you like some water?"
"No, Psyche. You should be the one nervous," he said, avoiding my blue-violet gaze. "I have been informed by post that your parents-" he took a deep breath, "-have died." He anxiously waited for my reaction.
Tears stung my eyes; I quickly brushed them away. "Sir, you mustn't be speaking the truth. Ma sent me herbs by post only last week!" He nodded slowly. "But how?" I asked.
He lowered his voice. "That is the odd part. No one seems to know how or why they died. Someone found them in their home, with not one trace-"
"Please, Master Connall...that's enough. Now if you'll excuse me-" I curtsied and rushed for my door. I did not want him to see me sob.
He grabbed my shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I'm sorry." He hesitated. "Listen, Psyche. What you need is a protector, a guardian. I can help..."
I turned around to look at him curiously. "That's very kind, Sir, but I can fend for myself. After all, this mage school is not dangerous."
"No, Psyche," he spoke nervously, "you don't understand. You must leave this school. I will help you. You will need a protector when you leave. Marry me, Psyche, and then shall you never be alone. "
"What? Marriage?!" My manners completely disappeared. Angrily I said, "Certainly not, Master Connall. And I will have you know that I intend not to leave the mage school until my education is complete. My Ma wanted me to be a healer, so I shall do so. You are a wonderful mage and very kind, but marriage to an old teacher is-unheard of!"
For a second Master Connall just stood there, bewildered and sputtering. "You will see what a wrong choice you have made, Psyche Damryne! Not only did you have the nerve of rejecting a teacher, I see to it that your-dream-of being a Mage will never come true. So...are we in an agreement?"
Appalled at his sudden change in behavior, I hurried into my room, shutting the door firmly. I leaned with my back blocking it, panting and breathless with disgust.
"Mithros curse you, ungrateful girl!" I heard him spit scornfully behind the door. I waited until his footsteps disappeared down the hall before I allowed myself to collapse in tears.
After the incident, life at school was nothing but torture. The next day, when I walked into my first class, most of my classmates looked at me awkwardly. I must have been quite a sight with swollen, red eyes. Some had even learnt of the argument between Master Connall and I, and snickered. My friend Darsteen begged me to reconsider Master Connall's offer. When she found that it was impossible, she deserted me. What a friend she was! The mages, too, were cold and treated me as if I was a disease. Master Connall's best friend, the teacher of my favorite class, herb studies, tried to slip a powerful mixture in my drink to make me fall for Master Connall. Even worse, the Master Mages could not expel me, for I had nowhere to go and no relations. I was now a ward of the Mage School. It was Master Connall's curse.
It was too much-they did not want to teach me, nor did I want to learn from them. I often slipped away from the grounds to explore and learn my own healing magic. They did not seem to care. I also spied on my teachers. I pretended to do simple things when they were around, and eavesdropped. I knew their lives-it gave me great satisfaction for they liked controlling mine. This became a routine for me, and soon I tried to get away for an entire day, but as my fourteenth birthday drew nearer, they became stricter. I knew that Master Connall had been partially right-I had to leave.
It was harder than I thought. They did not want me to teach me, but neither did they want me to go. I was their prisoner, but not for long. Secretly I packed some of my dresses and shoes in a sack. I brought my only treasure: Ma's herb and oils pouch. I sneaked away just after nightfall on Beltane. With my other gift, a quick and silent foot, I was so quiet that no one had noticed I was gone.
I had decided to go to Corus to make my own living. I thought myself able to do a hedgewitch's job or even work as a spy. My healing Gift could prove very useful for the Queen's Rogues, the secret group of thieves, spies, and cutthroats of Corus. It was the life for me. I craved adventure and freedom, so I decided that I wanted a job as a healer-spy for the Rogues.
For about two weeks, I traveled on foot, healing my cuts and injuries on the way. I slept in soft heather, and made fires with my Gift. I found plants and herbs to eat, since I did not know how to hunt or use weapons. I was sure to stay away from large towns. However, once I neared Tortall, I stopped in at a gracious villager's cottage so I could be cleaned up for my appearance in the capital of Tortall. Now here I am, a stranger in my paradise.