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It was early evening Imalia finally finished with her last patient. Tamasa was preparing the evening meal and Mayin was down by the lake watching her husband work on the boat again, so Alidra was playing chase with her friends on the Green when Imalia emerged from the Shrine. Her shoulders were slumped and she was walking even more slowly than the previous day. Alidra broke away from the game and ran to tell Tamasa.

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A/N: Sorry for missing Monday’s post. I had a migraine

When Alidra awoke next morning Imalia was awake but still haggard with exhaustion. She and Tamasa were sitting by the hearth watching the porridge pot. To Alidra’s surprise Imalia had abandoned her own seat and was kneeling on the floor beside Tamasa, their hands were entwined and they were talking quietly and intensely.

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“That thinking is too common recently, and most of the people I meet like that are already wrong,” Imalia scowled. “I want to know where it’s coming from.”

“She reminds me of the farmer who told us we had to convert to be healed.” Madric said. “He had a similar attitude.”

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When Alidra returned from her lesson Imalia was still kneeling by Rinia and chanting. The glow that had so perplexed her parents was still there but it had faded a great deal.

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The healer who came to Shael a couple of days later was a pretty woman, petite, dark haired, and around the same age as Alidra’s mother. She rode into the village while the children were sparring on the green as part of their lessons. As she dismounted near where Lilat was overseeing the children one of the villagers ran up to hold her horse. The mage in the meantime walked slowly over to Lilat. She had dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn’t slept for days.

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Ten moons later, not long after Alidra’s eighth nameday, another visitor brought trouble to Shael. It was Lawgiver’s day and she was playing with her friends on the green when they saw the cart approaching.

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Alidra accompanied her mother to her family’s orchard to deliver the noon meal to her father and Inarin later that morning. It was a hot autumn day and when they reached them they were already taking a break, sharing a flagon of ale and chatting like old friends. Denri spotted them as they approached and waved cheerfully to them.

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The next morning there was no sign Tamasa had been anywhere. Her boots were clean of mud and her cloak bone dry. Alidra knew it could not have dried so quickly. It must have been a dream.

They were eating their morning porridge when there was a knock at the door. Tamasa opened it to reveal one of the mages from the search party.
“Can I help you, honoured mage?” she asked politely.

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By the time she came to it was full dark, she was lying on the shrine keepers bed and the pain had gone. Her mother and Lilit were both kneeling by the bed looking worried.

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Alidra was sitting at the shrine keeper’s feet and reading haltingly from the book of the Law when the banging came at the Shrine door. She started but managed to avoid dropping the scroll in surprise while the other children whispered to each other uneasily. All of them stared at the door wondering who would dare bang on a shrine door so disrespectfully. The shrine keeper, however, seemed unfazed and simply rose and opened it.