Kora was a stocky child whose only dream was to be a blacksmith. Her sisters, all true noble ladies thought she was crazy. But the love of the heat and the movement of the metal was in her veins itching to get out. She tried to sneak away from her noble lessons each day to get a peak of the smithy near her home; the Duchy of Petura just East of Trebond where the famed blacksmith Coram lived. The last time she saw him work the metal she fell in love, she knew from that moment on she was destined to a Smithy and has tried ever since to learn about it.
She spent countless hours in town with the local boys all trying to help the town's blacksmith. Her friends were the only ones the aging blacksmith trusted with the bellows to keep the fire even, once he even let Kora hold his tools one a piece of particularly delicate work. She longed to learn more, but between Math and Dance lessons she hardly had time to visit the small town.
One evening Kora went to the village to visit the blacksmith Karac; he was a kind old man, always willing to pass on a few tricks of the trade. He promised her that if she could convince her father to let her become a blacksmith he would train her once she turned 11. That was only two months away, and she had been working tirelessly on her father since midwinter.
Kora walked into the small empty smithy, which was not unusual for this time of year, and headed towards Karac's humble home. She knocked on the door then entered, as was custom as the old man was hard of hearing from working for so long. "Mister Karac… Oy Mister Karac, I brought some of tha willow tea for ya." She looked around for her mentor, and found him in the living room sleeping. He must have been worn out from the day.
She went to get a blanket to cover him, but when she came back she knew something was wrong. She has visited many times before when Karac was sleeping, but he always snored. Today however he was silent, she leaned over to check his pulse and breathing and he was cold. No pulse to be found Kora withdrew slowly, she was in shock. Unable to express anything, she mumbled a prayer to the Black God as best she could and wandered into the town to tell his friends.
Eventually she came upon her best friend Theo. He was stunned to see his best friend a shadow of her former self, completely ignorant of the cause of her shock. Kora mumbled "it's Karac… he…he… he's gone." It hit him like a ton of bricks, and he collapsed. So many afternoons helping shoe horses, or mending plows, never in his wildest imagination did he expect it to be over so soon.
It was Theo that came to first, regaining enough sense to walk Kora home. She could not be alone right now, and her father would be able to console her like nobody else knew how. As they reached the front door he saw the Duke of Petura running towards his daughter. "What happened Theo? Why is she so upset?" The Duke was panic stricken, after loosing his wife his last and youngest daughter was the most precious thing in his world, as his wife died shortly after her birth.
"Mister Duke Sir, Kora went to visit Karac and he was dead." Theo did the best he could, under the circumstances it was a wonder he was even able to talk.
The Duke paled, he knew what Karac had meant to his daughter, and was so worried about her and what she is going through. Seeing her in so much pain was a knife that stabbed deep as he could do nothing to stop the hurt and make it better. "Why don't you two come in. Stay the night if you wish Theo, my daughter could use all the support she can get right now."
They went inside and had some tea in front of the fireplace. All there for the same reason, to wait out the night, maybe tomorrow the truth will be less painful.
