~ Chapter 1
"Girl. Miss!" A male voice interrupted my thoughts. To my dismay, it was already dark and the vendors had long gone home. I looked up and saw a tall man, thin yet strong. He looked almost like Master Connall. A sudden wave of panic struck, and I was unable to speak. "Well?" he continued, "what are you doing out here in the middle of the night, child? The excitement's over! Go on to bed."
When he saw that I was carrying a pack, and wearing travelling clothes, he peered his eyes down at me. "You're not running away, are you? Best not to go when it's dark. Get back to bed and try again tomorrow, child."
I ignored his question as politely as I could. I curtsied and said, "Pardon me, Sir, but I was looking for the inn. The..." I fumbled, suddenly realizing that there must be ten different inns in Corus, and I did not know their names.
"So...we've a scapegoat." The man sighed and looked around. Then he looked me in the eye, "Well, well, well. I can't make you go back to your folks, but I can find you a place to stay. Corus at nighttime is a dangerous place to wander around. There's all sorts of thieves hanging around. Come with me."
I hesitated. I knew it was against all my common sense to follow this stranger. Where would he take me? Who was he?
I curtsied. "Yes, Sir."
As we walked along the main street of Corus, he told me about himself.
"I am a merchant," he said. "Today, as you saw, was market day. I come here mainly to sell weaponry. Knives, swords, spears, glaives, you name it. I wield them myself and trade them on days like this. Today I had a special delivery to make-that's why I'm around so late." He looked at me and said, "You must be hungry, child. There's a bakery right over there that is open late." He reached inside his cloak. "Here are some coins. Go buy yourself a loaf. Here, let me hold your bag. You must be tired of this."
Again, I hesitated. Accept money from a stranger? However, he seemed trustworthy and I was hungry. Plus, what had I to lose? It was night, and I had nowhere to go. My mind set, I handed my heavy travelling bag to him. Relieved for a while of such a heavy load, I started towards the baker's.
However, the moment I had the money in my hand, I sensed something was wrong. Maybe my Gift was intuitive, or maybe the reason was that my money felt different. I looked at the stuff in my hand closely.
Three flat pebbles.
I turned around to look at the merchant. He was already yards away, clutching my bag and running like the wind.
My heart jumped in my mouth. I thought fast. I was an excellent runner, but my specialty was more agility than speed. It was too dark-there was no way I could catch him. A magical fire would require too much concentration. Think, Psyche! He is escaping with your Ma's herbs!
That got me going. Wasting no time, I took the pebbles and aimed for the sound of shoes hitting the cobblestone. I launched the pebble with a powerful throw. Then I aimed again with the second pebble-then the third.
I listened hard with my ears for a fall. I did not find one. Not wanting to take a chance, I concentrated hard to light a fire with my Gift. It was blue-violet, the color of my eyes. Fire in hand, I ran to the spot where I aimed. It turned out to be farther than I expected. In the distance, I saw a form on the ground. I ran over to the "merchant" and bent over him. In the bluish light, his face was distorted in pain, and he clutched at his arm. Taking a closer look at him, I found that he was much younger than he had acted.
There was no way he could go anywhere. Two of the pebbles had knocked deep purple bruises in his leg. The other punctured his arm. Shocked at my aim, I had to resist all temptations to heal them. After all, after this incident, I had to think three times over before deciding to trust a stranger again.
The thief looked at me with a mixture of surprise and pain in his eyes. He murmured, "You're good. How'd you aim like that in the dark? ...Oh gods!" he winced and held his arm towards me. "You don't have a job 'ere, do you? 'Cause you'd make a great Rogue..."
The word "Rogue" suddenly caught my attention. I whispered, "Did you say Rogue? Because that is why I'm here... I ran away from my school to find a job..." I quickly shut my mouth, realizing that I had said too much.
The thief motioned at my fire, which was quickly dying out. "I see you've got a Gift there, too. You don't happen to heal, do you? Fix my leg and I'll get you to the Dancing Dove and introduce you to the Rogues."
"That's a lot to ask from you, thief, who just stole my bags!" I muttered back.
"Please... At least let me give you a place to stay." He took a deep breath and went on, "I swear by the Mother Goddess that I'm telling the truth. You looked small and vulnerable over there, and that's why I tricked you. But I guess I underestimated. My name's Roznin Leaver. I'm 19 years. I work for the King of the Thieves-it's my job. Now, your bag is over there. You can take it and find your way for shelter. On the other hand, you can let me show you the Dancing Dove, and you can stay there for the night. That's the inn where the Rogues meet... Look, I've said too much already. Your light's dying, so decide what you want."
"Roznin," I rolled the word on my tongue, trying it out. "You have sworn to the Goddess, and I pray that you are devout. However, I can't work healing magic now; I'm too tired. But I can do a cooling spell that'll reduce the swelling, and I'll get you a poultice for your arm." I rushed to my bag for Ma's-my-herb pouch. With practiced skill, I wrapped a selection of herbs in gauze and wet it with water from my jug. I thought silently that this would be my very first patient without Ma nearby. And for a thief! How well my first night at Corus was shaping out.
I hurried over to Roznin and sat down beside him. His body trembled from the chilly night breeze. I gave him a reassuring smile and put the poultice on his arm. "Hold this in place," I told him, "and try to relax. It won't hurt, but don't try to resist my magic, okay?"
"Yes, Mage," Roznin joked.
"Hardly," I grumbled.
Taking deep breaths from my stomach like my teachers had taught me, I focused inside myself for my magic. There was a pool of my Gift deep inside me. Right now it was a tiny spot, just enough for my cooling spell. Concentrating, I placed both my hands on his left leg with the two ugly bruises that were now the size of eggs. Good, I thought, that would teach him a lesson. I drew my magic out in two threads that flowed through each middle finger. I saw the bruises in my mind, and placed the spots of blue-violet on each bruise. I willed them to reduce the swelling, and slowly, the bruises began to shrink. Outside my mind, my body heard Roznin sigh with relief. Slowly, I withdrew from my meditation and returned to my body.
I sat quietly for a while before I tried to stand. However, exhaustion and stress put me asleep in a blink, so deeply that I did not notice Roznin pick me up and drag me away.
"Girl. Miss!" A male voice interrupted my thoughts. To my dismay, it was already dark and the vendors had long gone home. I looked up and saw a tall man, thin yet strong. He looked almost like Master Connall. A sudden wave of panic struck, and I was unable to speak. "Well?" he continued, "what are you doing out here in the middle of the night, child? The excitement's over! Go on to bed."
When he saw that I was carrying a pack, and wearing travelling clothes, he peered his eyes down at me. "You're not running away, are you? Best not to go when it's dark. Get back to bed and try again tomorrow, child."
I ignored his question as politely as I could. I curtsied and said, "Pardon me, Sir, but I was looking for the inn. The..." I fumbled, suddenly realizing that there must be ten different inns in Corus, and I did not know their names.
"So...we've a scapegoat." The man sighed and looked around. Then he looked me in the eye, "Well, well, well. I can't make you go back to your folks, but I can find you a place to stay. Corus at nighttime is a dangerous place to wander around. There's all sorts of thieves hanging around. Come with me."
I hesitated. I knew it was against all my common sense to follow this stranger. Where would he take me? Who was he?
I curtsied. "Yes, Sir."
As we walked along the main street of Corus, he told me about himself.
"I am a merchant," he said. "Today, as you saw, was market day. I come here mainly to sell weaponry. Knives, swords, spears, glaives, you name it. I wield them myself and trade them on days like this. Today I had a special delivery to make-that's why I'm around so late." He looked at me and said, "You must be hungry, child. There's a bakery right over there that is open late." He reached inside his cloak. "Here are some coins. Go buy yourself a loaf. Here, let me hold your bag. You must be tired of this."
Again, I hesitated. Accept money from a stranger? However, he seemed trustworthy and I was hungry. Plus, what had I to lose? It was night, and I had nowhere to go. My mind set, I handed my heavy travelling bag to him. Relieved for a while of such a heavy load, I started towards the baker's.
However, the moment I had the money in my hand, I sensed something was wrong. Maybe my Gift was intuitive, or maybe the reason was that my money felt different. I looked at the stuff in my hand closely.
Three flat pebbles.
I turned around to look at the merchant. He was already yards away, clutching my bag and running like the wind.
My heart jumped in my mouth. I thought fast. I was an excellent runner, but my specialty was more agility than speed. It was too dark-there was no way I could catch him. A magical fire would require too much concentration. Think, Psyche! He is escaping with your Ma's herbs!
That got me going. Wasting no time, I took the pebbles and aimed for the sound of shoes hitting the cobblestone. I launched the pebble with a powerful throw. Then I aimed again with the second pebble-then the third.
I listened hard with my ears for a fall. I did not find one. Not wanting to take a chance, I concentrated hard to light a fire with my Gift. It was blue-violet, the color of my eyes. Fire in hand, I ran to the spot where I aimed. It turned out to be farther than I expected. In the distance, I saw a form on the ground. I ran over to the "merchant" and bent over him. In the bluish light, his face was distorted in pain, and he clutched at his arm. Taking a closer look at him, I found that he was much younger than he had acted.
There was no way he could go anywhere. Two of the pebbles had knocked deep purple bruises in his leg. The other punctured his arm. Shocked at my aim, I had to resist all temptations to heal them. After all, after this incident, I had to think three times over before deciding to trust a stranger again.
The thief looked at me with a mixture of surprise and pain in his eyes. He murmured, "You're good. How'd you aim like that in the dark? ...Oh gods!" he winced and held his arm towards me. "You don't have a job 'ere, do you? 'Cause you'd make a great Rogue..."
The word "Rogue" suddenly caught my attention. I whispered, "Did you say Rogue? Because that is why I'm here... I ran away from my school to find a job..." I quickly shut my mouth, realizing that I had said too much.
The thief motioned at my fire, which was quickly dying out. "I see you've got a Gift there, too. You don't happen to heal, do you? Fix my leg and I'll get you to the Dancing Dove and introduce you to the Rogues."
"That's a lot to ask from you, thief, who just stole my bags!" I muttered back.
"Please... At least let me give you a place to stay." He took a deep breath and went on, "I swear by the Mother Goddess that I'm telling the truth. You looked small and vulnerable over there, and that's why I tricked you. But I guess I underestimated. My name's Roznin Leaver. I'm 19 years. I work for the King of the Thieves-it's my job. Now, your bag is over there. You can take it and find your way for shelter. On the other hand, you can let me show you the Dancing Dove, and you can stay there for the night. That's the inn where the Rogues meet... Look, I've said too much already. Your light's dying, so decide what you want."
"Roznin," I rolled the word on my tongue, trying it out. "You have sworn to the Goddess, and I pray that you are devout. However, I can't work healing magic now; I'm too tired. But I can do a cooling spell that'll reduce the swelling, and I'll get you a poultice for your arm." I rushed to my bag for Ma's-my-herb pouch. With practiced skill, I wrapped a selection of herbs in gauze and wet it with water from my jug. I thought silently that this would be my very first patient without Ma nearby. And for a thief! How well my first night at Corus was shaping out.
I hurried over to Roznin and sat down beside him. His body trembled from the chilly night breeze. I gave him a reassuring smile and put the poultice on his arm. "Hold this in place," I told him, "and try to relax. It won't hurt, but don't try to resist my magic, okay?"
"Yes, Mage," Roznin joked.
"Hardly," I grumbled.
Taking deep breaths from my stomach like my teachers had taught me, I focused inside myself for my magic. There was a pool of my Gift deep inside me. Right now it was a tiny spot, just enough for my cooling spell. Concentrating, I placed both my hands on his left leg with the two ugly bruises that were now the size of eggs. Good, I thought, that would teach him a lesson. I drew my magic out in two threads that flowed through each middle finger. I saw the bruises in my mind, and placed the spots of blue-violet on each bruise. I willed them to reduce the swelling, and slowly, the bruises began to shrink. Outside my mind, my body heard Roznin sigh with relief. Slowly, I withdrew from my meditation and returned to my body.
I sat quietly for a while before I tried to stand. However, exhaustion and stress put me asleep in a blink, so deeply that I did not notice Roznin pick me up and drag me away.