spectacle of myself, but I think I can manage it.”
“Well, you are pretty spectacular.” He winked and left the controls to enter the rear of the shuttle. When he returned, he handed her a cup of tea. “To a successful first assignment.”
She clinked her cup against his and watched the stars run by. “Here is to hoping.”
Chapter Eight
She nodded her head slightly at the building made of fitted wood panels guarded by two men.
Hero nodded next to her and quickly kissed her forehead for luck. She got up and walked through the trail onto the main road with her cane at her side. She knew the signal she was waiting for and hoped that Hero took his time in breaking the recruiter out.
As she walked with her grey robes swirling, guards stepped forward to confront her.
“Identify yourself, stranger.”
She raised her left hand and peeled back her hood. “No stranger, merely a wanderer. I am here to speak with my family. I have travelled far and have much to tell them.”
Simry knew it wouldn’t happen, but she had to try.
One of the guards knew her on sight. “Simry-Vu.”
“Simply Simry now.” She stepped forward with deliberate purpose. No one stopped a wanderer unless they left the path.
She walked slowly, using her cane, though her twisted gait was a thing of the past. One of the guards ran off, presumably to find a priest, the other walked with her.
The villagers stopped and stared as she walked in their midst. She had grown up here, the faces were mostly familiar, and they were all staring.
She moved slowly, carefully, through the pathway until she was in front of her childhood home. “Vu family, a wanderer has come visiting.”
She held her breath, and nothing happened for a moment. She counted to one hundred and three before the door opened and her well-worn mother stood in the doorway. “Simry!”
“May this wanderer enter your home?” Holding to the formalities would protect her family.
“Of course. Please come in and seek shelter in our dwelling.”
Her mother had tears in her eyes, and Simry walked into her home for a quick round of hugs behind closed doors.
Her father came in from the back, and he dropped the wood he was holding. More hugs, more tears and a lot of exclaiming over her leg later, her mother whispered that her sister Minel was the reason that the recruiter had been captured.
Minel was standing shyly nearby. “I have some skills with healing.”
Minel was the youngest; the others had already married and begun their families with no sign of talents popping up.
“Are you willing to leave, Minel?”
Minel looked to their parents, and when they nodded, she nodded. “I am. If it will save them any persecution, I will leave.”
“You can see and learn things that you never imagined. You can save lives on a daily basis once you complete your education.”
“Is that what happened to you?”
“They sent me to school. I learned, I made friends, I practiced until I was very good at what I do, and now, I was able to return here.”
Minel swallowed and raced up to her room, returning with a small leather sack.
Their parents smiled, hugged them both and cried. Simry swallowed her own tears before straightening her shoulders and gripping the cane her father had risked so much to bring to her.
He drew her aside and whispered, “Stay strong, Simry. It is for the best that Minel leaves us. Dormin and his wife have asked us to move in with them. Her father is a priest, and he will offer us protection from those who would shun us.”
“But—”
“We are your parents. We brought you into this world to live the life the gods decreed, not to have you turn around and try and hold us up. Since they have decided you will be safer away from us, we embrace that with the knowledge that you are doing what you must and you will flourish in a way you could never do here.”
Gifts of the gods are withered branches. She had had that drilled into her, and until this
“Well, you are pretty spectacular.” He winked and left the controls to enter the rear of the shuttle. When he returned, he handed her a cup of tea. “To a successful first assignment.”
She clinked her cup against his and watched the stars run by. “Here is to hoping.”
Chapter Eight
She nodded her head slightly at the building made of fitted wood panels guarded by two men.
Hero nodded next to her and quickly kissed her forehead for luck. She got up and walked through the trail onto the main road with her cane at her side. She knew the signal she was waiting for and hoped that Hero took his time in breaking the recruiter out.
As she walked with her grey robes swirling, guards stepped forward to confront her.
“Identify yourself, stranger.”
She raised her left hand and peeled back her hood. “No stranger, merely a wanderer. I am here to speak with my family. I have travelled far and have much to tell them.”
Simry knew it wouldn’t happen, but she had to try.
One of the guards knew her on sight. “Simry-Vu.”
“Simply Simry now.” She stepped forward with deliberate purpose. No one stopped a wanderer unless they left the path.
She walked slowly, using her cane, though her twisted gait was a thing of the past. One of the guards ran off, presumably to find a priest, the other walked with her.
The villagers stopped and stared as she walked in their midst. She had grown up here, the faces were mostly familiar, and they were all staring.
She moved slowly, carefully, through the pathway until she was in front of her childhood home. “Vu family, a wanderer has come visiting.”
She held her breath, and nothing happened for a moment. She counted to one hundred and three before the door opened and her well-worn mother stood in the doorway. “Simry!”
“May this wanderer enter your home?” Holding to the formalities would protect her family.
“Of course. Please come in and seek shelter in our dwelling.”
Her mother had tears in her eyes, and Simry walked into her home for a quick round of hugs behind closed doors.
Her father came in from the back, and he dropped the wood he was holding. More hugs, more tears and a lot of exclaiming over her leg later, her mother whispered that her sister Minel was the reason that the recruiter had been captured.
Minel was standing shyly nearby. “I have some skills with healing.”
Minel was the youngest; the others had already married and begun their families with no sign of talents popping up.
“Are you willing to leave, Minel?”
Minel looked to their parents, and when they nodded, she nodded. “I am. If it will save them any persecution, I will leave.”
“You can see and learn things that you never imagined. You can save lives on a daily basis once you complete your education.”
“Is that what happened to you?”
“They sent me to school. I learned, I made friends, I practiced until I was very good at what I do, and now, I was able to return here.”
Minel swallowed and raced up to her room, returning with a small leather sack.
Their parents smiled, hugged them both and cried. Simry swallowed her own tears before straightening her shoulders and gripping the cane her father had risked so much to bring to her.
He drew her aside and whispered, “Stay strong, Simry. It is for the best that Minel leaves us. Dormin and his wife have asked us to move in with them. Her father is a priest, and he will offer us protection from those who would shun us.”
“But—”
“We are your parents. We brought you into this world to live the life the gods decreed, not to have you turn around and try and hold us up. Since they have decided you will be safer away from us, we embrace that with the knowledge that you are doing what you must and you will flourish in a way you could never do here.”
Gifts of the gods are withered branches. She had had that drilled into her, and until this
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