Adept

by J. P. Larson

  I nodded.

  "But they've also posted a notice on the town bulletin board."

  "Oh?"

  "It says: Kia, please come home. Is that your name?"

  I nodded.

  It was another week before Serenda woke and was lucid, asking for something to eat. Glim was ecstatic, and he spent hours thanking me.

  I was going a little crazy in the house, but I didn't dare go outside, and I didn't even dare go near open windows, lest the queen be looking at just the wrong time. I remembered looking into windows in Lamore's Holding while she and I were in Nalori.

  I cured her, or I believe I did, but I was there in that house for six weeks. I don't know how many people died because I stayed to cure one woman. I don't know if I avoided capture because I was hiding when I needed to hide. But I did the right thing, and I will always be proud I saved a life.

  Finally it was time to go. Deirdre obtained new clothes for me. Glim gave me a new horse and a packhorse and even replaced my tent with one that looked entirely different. And then he gave me a pouch thick with money besides.

  "No," I said, trying to give it back. "You have fed me for six weeks. You hid me from the people chasing me. I'll take the horses and the gear."

  "Take this," he said. "You can't go back to healing anyone, not until you are far, far away from here. You're going to need this, and I'd have given everything to have Serenda back. Thank you, Ruby." And this time when he shoved the pouch into my hands, I accepted it.

  And so, in the middle of the night, I left like a thief, heading north to Haltorda.

  * * * *

  The border between Roltaria and Haltorda is rough. There are roads, of course, but roads are patrolled. I traveled north to within twenty miles of the border, and then I turned northwest. I crossed the border in the dark of the night, and I rode hard for three days afterwards.

  I was safe, or as safe as I thought I could make myself. I finally stayed at an inn, and the next day, I bought fresh maps of the country. I asked questions. I knew I was leaving memories, and so I asked a great many questions, wondering where I could go.

  And then I made a decision.

  I spent two months finding the place to call home. I returned to what I was: a traveling healer, moving between isolated villages. At each, I hinted I was looking for a place to settle, and then I waited to see what opportunity might arise.

  And finally, opportunity was handed to me. I arrived in a village called Renway. Renway was twice the size of Lamore's Holding and not quite so isolated, but it was a goodly way from anywhere important. There were another half dozen villages within a half-day's ride. There were ample patients.

  More importantly, it was off the beaten trail.

  And just as importantly, I was presented with an offer.

  I arrived late in the morning, and I spent several hours seeing to the needs of the villagers. There was a small inn, and I was offered my evening meal, paid by the village. It was as I was finishing my repast that I was approached by a committee of two men and two women.

  "What should we call you?" one of the women asked.

  "Ruby," I said. "Call me Ruby."

  "I am Kara," she said. "This is Moira, Trent and Gendo. We're what passes for a village council here. May we sit?"

  "Of course," I said, gesturing.

  They took seats, and the barmaid stopped by with drinks for them; she already knew what they would want. I looked between them, waiting for them to say what they came to say.

  "You speak with an accent," Moira observed.

  "I do. Everyone speaks with an accent. Mine is not from Renway."

  There were smiles at that.

  "You suggested you might be looking for a place to settle."

  "I may have said something about that," I agreed.

  "What are your expectations?"

  "I have no expectations," I said.

  "Let me rephrase," offered Trent. "How much would it take to convince you to settle here?"

  I had thought about that. "A home," I said. "Perhaps there is an abandoned farm not far from town. It may be a poor farm. But it should have a sturdy house with a dry roof and perhaps a barn for my animals."

  "You would expect us to gift you this land?"

  "I would expect you to offer the land for as long as I choose to stay. If I am here ten years from now then it becomes mine."

  "What else?" Trent asked.

  "I am unable to touch metal," I said. "I may need some assistance making my new home more suitable for me. I will need help with some of the heavier duties associated with living in such a location."

  "You wish to own the farm and have us do the farming for you?"

  "No, but I might need help with repairs. And I expect to continue to be paid fairly for the work I do for this village. I am not offering free healing in exchange for a home."

  The four exchanged looks.

  "If there is such a farm," I said, "then it costs you nearly nothing to offer it to me."

  "There isn't," Gendo said. "There is a farm with a poor building and an even worse barn. It has been abandoned for perhaps twenty years."

  "Is the well sound, and are you willing to repair the buildings before it snows?"

  "Will you stay if we do?"

  I thought about it. "I will," I said. "There is more I should tell you, if we have agreement."

  "We do," said Kara, "depending upon what else you tell us."

  "I am hunted. I will not say by whom. I believe I have sufficiently hidden myself here. I do not believe they are searching Haltorda for me, and it is a big country besides. However, if they find me, either I will run or they will take me away."

  "Are they dangerous?"

  "If you fight them. If they come, do not fight them."

  "Will they take revenge upon us for sheltering you?"

  "I cannot promise they will not, but I do not believe that would be their way."

  "Are you a criminal?"

  "I became a criminal when I ran. I wasn't before that. I have broken no laws in Haltorda."

  It was perhaps foolish to tell them all this, but it was not in my nature to take advantage of people.

  "I will say this: if I am forced to depart, I will leave behind a productive farm, at least if I am able to remain through a growing season."

  "The soil is poor," Trent said.

  "Rocky, or just not wholesome?"

  "Not wholesome. There is a small orchard of apple trees, but the apples come in blighted every year, and the trees are twisted and tired."

  I smiled. "Does the well work? Will you make the house safe for the winter? Will you give me a good place for my horses? Will you help me build a chicken coop in the spring? Will you pay me a fair price for my healing and treat me kindly?"

  "Yes," Moira said. "Yes to all that. You will stay?"

  "I will stay, for as long as I am able."

  * * * *

  They showed me the farm the next day. It was in horrible shape, but exactly as I expected. But it was perfect. It was absolutely perfect.

  The house was bigger than I needed, and there was an extra room I could use to see patients. They could come to me, at least when I wasn't visiting the nearby villages.

  There was a root cellar, cool and sound.

  There was a barn, but it would need to be torn down.

  Kara, Moira, Trent and Gendo promised to fix everything, if only I would stay.

  And so, on Sevenday, the entire town came out. A third of the men set themselves to repairing the house. The rest tore down the old barn, and then there was a good old barn raising.

  The women went through the inside of my new home, cleaning it and replacing the metal as best they could. There was an indoor sink with a hand pump. Someone wrapped the handle with layers and layers of leather. They wrapped the door handles with more leather and replaced metal fittings on the windows with wood so I could open and close them easily.

  The cooper came by with a large, wooden tub. There were two ban
ds of metal encasing it, holding it together, but it was otherwise all wood, and I could climb in and out with little difficulty, as long as I was careful.

  I was going to miss the showers at the school, but I could stay clean.

  It took three days, but the village was good to their word. Before the last of them parted, I had a sturdy home, safe from the coming winter winds. There was a new barn for the animals, and the paddock fence had been repaired. They filled my larder and ensured I had everything else I would require.

  I was overwhelmed with gratitude.

  Once everyone was gone, I gave myself a second tour of my new home. It was an isolated farm, surrounded by wilderness, and I explored the immediate area carefully, leaving tracking spells as necessary so I wouldn't get lost.

  I visited the orchard. The trees were indeed in sorry shape, and when I explored the land with my magic, I felt a deep hurt. I sent cleansing magic deep, deep into the ground, and over the next few weeks, the land thanked me.

  I sent more magic into each of the trees, one by one, easing their tired bones, helping them to stand straighter, to dig their roots even deeper. And one by one, the trees thanked me and apologized for the poor, rotted fruit hanging from the branches.

  But I collected that poor fruit, and I harvested the seeds, and in the deep of winter, I would plant those seeds in borrowed flower pots. By spring, I had ten new saplings to plant.

  I made a schedule with the surrounding villages. For emergencies, they could come to me or send for me. Otherwise I would spend a week each month, except during the worst of weather, to visit each village. I made sure they knew what an emergency was.

  Winter arrived, and it was cold, far colder than even it had been in Lamore's Holding. I grew accustomed.

  And then spring arrived. I visited my apple trees, seeing to their needs. I bought seed, and I paid two young men of the village to plow and plant for me. And I poured my magic into the ground, ensuring I would have a bountiful harvest.

  I found the herbs I needed for healing, and I made my salves, new salves, far different from the old ones, as I couldn't find the same plants.

  Harvest season arrived, and I traded a portion of my harvest in exchange for the work required to bring it in. Kara, Moira, Trent and Gendo arrived and marveled at what I had done.

  "How?" Moira asked.

  "I know more than the healing of people," I said.

  "Will you share this healing with the village?" I asked.

  "Yes," I said, "but you needed to see it for your own eyes first." I handed her an apple, red, plump, and wholesome. "There is no blight on my land now. Have I kept my promise to leave a healthy farm, if I must someday leave?"

  "You have," they agreed. "You have done all you said you would. And have we?"

  "Yes," I agreed. "You have done all you promised. You have given me a new home."

  And then I turned away and quietly cried.

  They left me then, all but Moira. She stepped to my side and put an arm around me. "Did you want to tell me? From whom do you hide?"

  I told her. I told her all of it. I told her about Eva and Lunia, Quartain and Marie. I told her of the school, and of the games Quartain played with me.

  And then I took a deep breath. "I am a traitor to my country," I said. "And I left the woman I love."

  "You did not break faith, Ruby," she said. "Your queen and your senior magus broke faith with you."

  "And Eva?"

  "That is harder. It is all overwhelming, isn't it?"

  "Yes," I said. "Thank you for understanding."

  She hugged me, and I had a friend.

  And then winter came, and it was more comfortable for me than the first. The land slept for months and months. But I tended to my patients, and they paid me what they could.

  Spring arrived. I planted more trees: pears and cherries. It might be a few years before they produced for me, but I thought I could encourage them to hurry. I helped some of the nearby farms and told them they could pay me as they saw fit from their improved harvest. One of the farmers didn't want to wait and immediately gave me two cows with a calf each, then sent his sons to help me make the improvements to the farm to handle them. Another farmer had two trained cattle dogs, a brother and sister now two years old, and he gave them to me.

  I suddenly had a lot of farm for one woman to handle, but I made arrangements for the animals to be tended while I would be gone to the other villages.

  I looked around and realized that while this wasn't the life I had envisioned, it would be okay. The villagers were kind, and if my bed was lonely at night, I could survive a broken heart.

  Reunion

  Autumn approached. I set out on a one-week circuit of the surrounding villages. Moira's sons would see to the animals while I was gone. They would keep the milk and eggs as payment, but I knew the farm would be sound when I returned.

  I always did my circuit the same way. I started in Renway and headed north, then looped west through Galton, Horen, and Jaspar before heading south through Brick, Eagen, and Lima before finally returning via Micka and Dalton. I stayed overnight at Micka then spent the morning at Dalton. Dalton was twenty miles southeast of Renway, so leaving after lunch meant I got home well before dark in all seasons.

  It was in Dalton that my ears began to twitch, but I didn't recognize it immediately. I felt eyes on me, but no one mentioned strangers in town, and I thought perhaps I was just skittish. Still, I sent out a few detection spells, but they didn't find anything interesting.

  I flirted with a couple of the young men of the village in exchange for help packing up.

  There wasn't a road between Dalton and Renway so much as a cow path, and it meandered. I asked the surrounding forest if there were any dangers about, but the woods came back with silence.

  One tired old oak asked me to stay for a bit. He had an itch, and so I sent forth my magic. He thanked me with a shake of his leaves and a small rain of acorns.

  "Very funny," I told him after one bounced off my head.

  Trees have a simple sense of humor.

  I arrived safely in Renway, but by the time I got there, I knew I was being shadowed. No one was overt, and no one was foolish enough to follow exactly on my track. I thought perhaps they were bandits, and I waited only for them to show themselves.

  I decided to head to the inn before going home. I was going to leave tangle spells out tonight, and I didn't want the villagers coming to me and being caught by them.

  They waited until I was in the center of town before they let me see them. One was leaning against the wall outside the inn. I stopped and stared. Then I checked the possible exits. I only found two more, but if I saw three, I was sure there were more.

  I rode my horse, pulling the packhorse behind me, and tied off to the post outside the inn. I then climbed the stairs and looked up into her eyes.

  "I've missed you, Lunia," I said. "Come to haul me to prison?"

  She offered a tentative smile. "Are you going to be difficult?"

  I shrugged. "Buy you a drink?"

  "Sure," she said. I slapped the road dust from my clothes then stepped past her and into the inn. She followed behind and, I presume, gestured to the others.

  I was greeted warmly by Garrison, the innkeeper. It was a lazy part of the day for him, and he was half asleep, but he climbed to his feet and expressed pleasure at seeing me.

  "Any good healing stories, Ruby?" he asked.

  "Good afternoon, Garrison," I replied. "Jessine will be giving birth to a healthy baby girl in another three weeks or so. The Lima midwife should be able to handle it easily."

  "Good, good," he said. "Who is your friend?"

  "An old friend," I said. "What name are you using today, Old Friend?"

  "It's still Lunia, Ruby," she replied.

  "Cider, Ruby?"

  "No, I think I'm going to need something with a little more punch. Wouldn't you say so, Lunia?"

  "Cider for four please, Garrison," Lunia replied. "Ruby wa
nts to keep her wits about her."

  Garrison checked with me, and I nodded. Garrison disappeared in back. Lunia and I hadn't taken seats yet, and we eyed each other nervously.

  "I didn't think you'd be on the hunting party," I said.

  "You look good," she replied. "I wouldn't suppose you have a hug for an old friend?"

  I made a point of checking her hands and wrists for knives. She was confused for a moment but then looked hurt. "Kia, really?"

  But I moved into her arms, and she wrapped them around me. We held each other for a minute until there was a small commotion at the door.

  "I'll go quietly, Adept Eva," I said. "You won't need that spell."

  I stepped away from Lunia and faced Eva. She stood in the doorway, staring at me. There was no spell ready, but I couldn't always see her magic, and she could have something hidden somewhere. And, of course, she had two years to learn a great many new spells, any one of which were more than a match for me.

  We stared at each other for a while.

  "Why?" Eva asked.

  "Queen Hallamarie was going to break her promise to me."

  "And so you left me?" she asked. "What happened to being together?"

  "I couldn't ask you to come with, and I couldn't stay," I said.

  "It should have been our decision together!"

  "I couldn't let you give up your dreams, Eva. I couldn't be the cause of your world coming apart just because mine was."

  She and Loralai moved closer. I still didn't see any magic waiting for me, but I couldn't beat her two years ago. I certainly wasn't going to beat her now.

  Garrison returned and came to a stop somewhere behind me.

  "Trouble?" he asked.

  "No, Garrison," I said over my shoulder. "Old friends." I turned back to Eva and lowered my voice. "They're peaceful people."

  "We're not here to hurt anyone," she said. "Is that cider? I'm parched."

  "Garrison," I suggested. "Maybe set those down and give us a little privacy." I threw some coins on the table.

  Garrison edged around us, set the drinks down, then asked, "Do you need help, Ruby?"

  "No," I said. "This is Eva, my dearest friend ever, whom I love more than life itself. Later, can you make sure Moira understands Eva came to see me? Will you remember that name?"