AUTHORS NOTE:

I'm really not happy with the 'coming out' scene in this chapter. It feels too stilted and unemotional. I'd be happy to take ANY comments or criticisms or offers to help in this regard 3

Readinglover3: Thanks for the follow! I'll endevour to continue updates as often as I can.

Archer1eye: Haha! I've often wondered if that was the case, you do seem to be very quickly on the ball ;-) Haha! I have zero idea about fifth edition, so I don't really know the mechanics of Warlock. No, Think of the the Altar as being Shard's "permanent home", or... the source of her power. She has merely looped a 'leash' around Sharein to enable her to stray from her altar. Sharein is well and truly love-struck, isn't she. It seems like Shard can do no wrong (and the way I'm writing Shard is reflective of Sharein's feelings for her). As for how things are inside the house...

Slyksylva: Wonder no more :o

Chapter 51

9th Day of Middle Spring 768 n.c

We prepared a ham stew for dinner with individual loaves of round bread for each of us. Each loaf was baked until very crusty on the outside, the top cut off and the fluffy bread inside dug out. This fluffy bread was then popped onto a fry pan and cooked until crunchy. The soup would be poured into each loaf and the toasted bread popped into it. It kept us all busy, but allowed time for Mother to leave us at work in order to find Father. When she came back, Mother gave me a tight smile which helped to calm my nerves a little.

Before Father and my brothers came back inside, we even had a little time for Kara to successfully pull the two handed sword out of the scabbard, even if she couldn't lift it to put it back in again.

When he came back in, Father looked at me with a frown and said tersely, "a word Sharein," before turning around and heading back outside.

I looked at Mother, who returned a look of worry that matched how I felt and followed him outside. He was standing at the front gate, facing away from me. I walked up towards him and stopped about six feet away.

"What your Mother told me," he began, "it's true?"

I hummed, "is what true?" I thought I knew what he was talking about, but I didn't want to give anything away.

"That the girl you have invited to dinner..." He paused, and continued differently "you have proposed marriage to a girl, another girl?"

I hardly thought Mother would lie to him, or even joke about something like that. But he was obviously shocked by the news.

"Yes Father," I confessed, my voice unwavering, "that's true."

"You're just confused Sharein," he said, turning around, "your Mother's given you too much leeway."

Confused? Not at all! Perhaps Mother had given too much leeway, but I don't think that would have changed how I felt.

"No Father," I said quietly, "it's who I am."

"You don't know what love is," he said, waving his hand dismissively, "you just haven't met the right boy yet."

"No Father," I repeated, pleading, "I could never meet the right boy, there is no right boy. I love her."

He thumped his fist on the gate post, the most violent gesture I thought that I'd ever seen him make around us, and I jumped a little, "you can't marry her though. It would never be recognised by Mithras, it would never be recognised."

"Father," I said, hesitantly, "it might not be recognised by Mithras, but it will be recognised. I love her, I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

He frowned at me, sitting down with a thud on the waiting stump (a stump of wood by the gate that Jocam placed there years earlier to sit on while he waited for the Meadowbroeks to arrive on a tenday), "but… how could you be content in a marriage that could never produce children?"

Children? I didn't really think that I ever wanted children, for some girls in town it was all they thought of, but I was never like them.

"I just will Father," I told him, "so long as I have Shard beside me."

"You're determined in this?" He asked after a long pause.

I nodded, "yes Father. Yes I am."

"Well," he continued and I felt a pain in my chest when I realised that he was crying, "you are your Mother's responsibility and under her authority. If she has no problem with it then I cannot gainsay, but I'm at a loss Sharein," he sighed loudly, "I really am. It's wrong. Father Mattias never mentions it, but I can distinctly remember old Father Sorazar's sermons. It's not allowed, it's forbidden. You will lose Mithras' blessing and Celestine's light, don't you understand that?"

"I understand Father," I replied, but I couldn't tell him that I just didn't care and I definitely couldn't tell him that I'd found another deity to replace them.

"Well," he said finally then hummed and sighed, "well. She will be here soon, this girl?"

My heart twisted at the tone he used to refer to Shard and my anxiety increased. I nodded simply.

"Well, I suppose I had best freshen up if I am to be meeting my daughter-in-law to be," he spat, walking past me and inside the house.

Whatever it was that was keeping me standing, keeping me brave and clear fled in that instant and I collapsed onto the ground in a mess of tears. At some point, Mother came out and knelt down next to me, grasping me in a hug so that I could sob into her shoulder. She whispered into my ear as she brushed the hair and the back of my head gently. She soothed me until the sobbing stopped, until the tears ceased.

"It's just a surprise to him Sharein," Mother said, "he doesn't understand. Don't get me wrong, I'm very put out with him at the moment and I will work on him. It will be all right, in the end, he'll come around."

I nodded into her hair, "come get yourself straightened up before she arrives," Mother said.

She helped me up and I went to my room to brush my hair and outside to wash my face in cold water. As I sat on the bed, brushing my hair, Illith came into the room. She looked like she also had been crying, her eyes were a bit puffy and her cheeks blotchy.

"You heard?" I asked and she nodded sadly.

"Don't worry Illith," I said gently as I opened my arms for a hug, which she quickly rushed into, "Mother assures me that she will change Father's mind and that he's only upset because it's something new to him. Wherever you end up, when you do, I'm sure his reaction will be much improved."

She looked up at me with a hopeful smile, "you really think?"

"I do," I said, kissing her forehead and tightening the hug briefly, "come on Illith, let's get ready for dinner. Shard will be here any moment."

I went back out into the kitchen where everyone was gathered, fortified myself and mentally whispered, 'Shard, I'm ready now.'

Knock, knock, knock came from the front door instantly.

"That will be Shard," I said, turning around to go and let her in. My chest tightened both with excitement and anxiety. A feeling of dread was slowly settling on me.

I opened the door and was quite surprised when I saw her. Not only was she in front of my family's house, rather than the clearing, but she looked so different than I was used to. Her raven hair was done up, with gentle ringlets framing her face and cascading down. She was wearing a steel hair clip to keep the hair pinned back behind her right ear. Her dress was different also. It was still black and she still wore black slippers on her feet, but the dress had intricate lacework around the hems and cuffs with strips of black embroidery that ran from her shoulders, crossed over between her bust and went down to her waist. The skirt of the dress was tiered and gently ruffled. Her smooth flawless skin was incredibly pale, her lips red and it looked like she had put some ash on her eyelids. She took my breath away.

"You're…" I breathed, "gorgeous!"

She blushed a little and did a small curtsey, we took each other's hands and shared a chaste kiss in the doorway.

"Are you ready?" I asked and she responded with a smile.

"Always," she said.

I escorted her into the kitchen, where everyone was already standing.

"Mother, Father, may I please introduce Shard," I said to them, "Shard, this is my Mother, Father, older brother Jocam, younger sisters Illith and Kara and younger brothers Daavid and Jara."

Father and Jocam were both frowning and were the complete opposite of Illith, who was smiling brightly with eyes wide in adoration. Kara, David and Jara all looked a little nonplussed, excited enough that there was a stranger come to visit but ignorant of the situation. As for Mother, she simply stared with mouth open and eyes wide.

We both waited for Mother to say her welcome, but she said nothing. Father mumbled the bare minimum "welcome," as required to satisfy the minimum required greeting. Lilith stood up and executed a passable curtsey which Kara stood and copied. I smiled at their attempt, awkward but performed with such good intent.

Mother blinked a couple of times, looked around and gathered herself, "please be welcome in my home Shard, as welcome as your own," it was a much more formal greeting and one that basically said 'treat this as your own home'. I mentally whispered a 'thank-you' to Mother.

"Thank you Missus Askilain," Shard responded, executing a perfect curtsey, "may the sun shine ever more on your home."

Mother started a little and I looked at Shard confused, but Mother smiled quickly and gestured to the two remaining empty chairs.

"Please," she said, "have a seat, join us for dinner."

Shard and I sat down next to each other, with Illith next to Shard and Kara next to me. Mother and Father sat in their usual places. Mother served dinner and we all started eating. I drank the soup slowly, anxiously waiting for the silence to be broken.

Eventually the silence was broken, "you are obviously not from Easthaven Shard, where are you living?" Mother asked.

Shard answered Mother, hand raised with a soup filled spoon halfway to her mouth, "I have lived, for the past many years, in the forest to the east of here."

"In the forest?" Father asked incredulously, looking suspiciously at Shard.

"Yes," Shard replied calmly, "in a clearing in the forest."

"With your family?" Mother asked slowly.

"Oh no," Shard smiled, "just me."

"You're an orphan?" Mother asked, leaning closer as if she were about to hug Shard at any moment.

"No," Shard replied, "my Mother is… away. I went to visit her recently to seek permission," she finished by looking lovingly at me.

I returned the look with all the love I could summon and Mother seemed to misinterpret her meaning, "your Mother gave her permission?"

"Oh yes," Shard said happily, turning back to Mother, "it took a bit of convincing, but she agreed in the end. How could anyone not love Sharein, even if she only met her through my own testimony."

"Well, I cannot argue with that," replied Mother with a smile, her eyes twinkled.

Father grunted and I noticed Jocam looking sideways at Mother in surprise.

Dinner continued in silence for a while after that, Father looked about to open his mouth on a couple of occasions but with a look from Mother his mouth closed forcibly. I glanced at Shard every so often and we shared smiles when our eyes met. At one point I moved my foot behind and to the inside of hers and left it resting there, taking comfort in that small point of contact. The silence stretched on awkwardly to the point that Kara and Jara were both looking around the table in confusion; understanding that nobody was talking but not wishing to take the risk to talk themselves.

Mother grew concerned after a while and voiced it a moment later, "Shard, you said that you live in the forest? I don't think that we can have you walking into there in the darkness, it would be best for you to sleep here the night."

I looked over at Shard and watched her lip twitch, "Thank you for the offer, but I will be perfectly fine. The beasts in the forest will not harm me and the darkness does not worry me at all."

"There's worse than beasts," Jocam spoke up, "kobolds attacked us and the farm recently."

"The kobolds and I were aware of each other," Shard answered, "but they did not bother me."

Mother looked thoughtful, "Shard," she asked, "are you a Forest Priest?"

Father's eyebrows raised at this, the Forests Priests were a group of Priests of Mithras, who lived in and took care of the forests. Although part of the church, they were at the same time revered for their dedication and mistrusted due to their isolated nature. It was said that their presence in a forest made it come alive and made the animals in the forest more intelligent. If Shard actually was a Forest Priest, it might have even been possible that her gender would not be a problem in marriage to me, in Father's eyes.

Shard laughed at that, a musical chuckle that I almost felt like joining in on, "No, I'm not a Forest Priest."

We finished up dinner and I stood to help collect dishes, but Mother bade me sit back down again so that she and Illith could collect them instead. Mother poured some wine for us (watered more and more for the younger siblings) and we sat comfortably to let dinner settle.

While we rested, Shard asked questions about the farm and farmhouse and took a great interest in the most mundane of things. When Mother told her the story of the horse naming, she collapsed into a giggling fit and held onto me so that she could giggle into my lap. I sat stock still and rubbed along the back of her head while flushing bright red. Father just glared, but thankfully didn't say anything.

Eventually it was time for the younger ones to go to bed and Shard thanked Mother for a wonderful dinner, "I don't think that I have ever eaten something so delicious!"

"'I'd best be going," Shard announced, as Kara and Jara began getting ready.

"Are you sure I cannot beg you to stay the night, even if the animals in the forest will leave you alone it's surely a long walk," Mother asked.

Shard giggled again, "thank you, but no. I'll be fine."

"Well dear," Mother said as we walked to the front door, "I must say that I look forward to having you as a daughter in law."

Shard brightened considerably, "and I shall look forward to having you for a Mother in law."

Father and my siblings all remained inside, but Mother and I walked with Shard out to the gate.

We embraced and Shard whispered in my ear, "I'll see you tonight?"

To which I whispered back an affirmative.

We broke the hug holding hands until Shard said, "well then, I'd best be off."

She stepped back and blew me a kiss, then, simply disappeared.

Mother's sharp intake of breath beside me drew my attention.

"She's a wizard?" she asked.

I laughed a little, "no Mother."

"Just so you know Sharein," Mother said as we walked back to the house, "I saw the Masked God. She's the one, she's your one."