***
The sun was just beginning its morning assent when the disciples of Ya finished praying over the young priestess. All their spirits were lifted and encouraged, but none more than the spirit of Rose. As she pulled herself up from her knees to stretch, the first ray of sunshine shot through the trees to land on her fiery red curls. The bright flame of her lustrous hair was only outshone by the glorious smile on her face, lit by a deep abiding knowledge that Ya was with her. The Eternal One had always been with her, even in the darkest hours of her life. Whatever would come this day, she could meet it head on, for she was not alone.
“Let’s have something quick to eat,” Gaost said. “We should arrive at the coast around mid-day, and depending on the availability of a boat, we may even get to our final destination tonight.”
“I am going to change into my white dress,” Rose said to Jirah who was setting out a quick breakfast. “In my dreams, that is what I am wearing, so it just seems like the right thing to do. What do you think sister?”
“Give me a second and I will hold up a blanket for you to change behind.” Jirah said, nodding in agreement.
Jirah was such a special friend to Rose. She was like a sister and a mother all rolled up in one person. In fact, the rugged huntress had done so much to encourage Rose; she wondered if there ever would be some way to repay her kindness. With a thick blanket in place between her and the men of the party, Rose took off her leather traveling clothes, all the while thinking of the dirty rags she wore when she was on the streets of Sharron. She had never had known at the time, but when Gaost first gave her this garment, it began a transformation in her heart.
“I love it when you wear this dress Rose,” Jirah said as she lowered the blanket. “You are without a doubt the prettiest woman I have ever known.”
“Ah, if only you had met me when I was young. I had such a foul disposition that it made me a very ugly person to be with.”
“Well, none of that matters now sister,” Jirah encouraged. “You shine like a beacon of sunlight.”
Rose smiled to hear the praise of her sister and shook the dust and grass out of her wavy, thick hair.
It was at that very moment, Logan raised his head from his travel preparations to see the priestess of Ya emerge from behind the blanket, Jirah had been holding up. As if to accentuate the moment, another bright shaft of sunlight found its way through the trees to shine a golden beam on the young woman and Logan was quite quickly overcome with awe and wonder.
The big man just stood there and stared with his mouth open until Jer came over and elbowed him in the ribs to get his attention.
“Say something Boss.” the smiling squire teased. “It’s not like you’ve never seen a pretty girl before.”
“She is much more than a pretty girl Jer,” Logan said, shaking off his stunned look. “She shines so bright with the light of Ya that I feel like a sinner in her presence.”
“Well get all that weirdness out of your system now, Logan,” Jirah said with a laugh. “You need to have your wits about you today.”
“I will be just fine, thank you very much,” Logan said, laughing at himself.
The small party of travelers moved on their way at a steady brisk pace and all of them were in high spirits as they moved alone behind Gaost who was actually humming a tune to himself.
Rose and Jirah were walking together at the rear and talking quietly to themselves, leaving Jer to do his usual weaving in and out of the nearby forest, exploring as he moved along.
After a few hours of this rather pleasant travel and with the sun shining high overhead; the western sea came into view. It was a familiar sight for Rose, having grown up in a port city herself; the familiar smell of the coast filled her nose with memories of her childhood.
“When I was little and still living at the orphanage, I would sneak out at least once a week to go swimming in the sea,” she said to Jirah who was still at her side.
“I’m sure that never won you any favour with the sisters did it?”
“Not at all, in fact I always got a few lashes with the rod once I got back.”
“You came back on your own?” the huntress asked with a puzzled look. “I assumed that they came out to find you.”
“O no,” Rose said with a slight chuckle. “They could never find me, so eventually they just stopped trying to look.”
“Why did you go back if you knew that you would get a beating?” Jer now asked, joining in on the conversation.
“I really had nowhere else to go at the time Jer,” she answered with a shrug. “It was the only home I ever knew.”
“I guess I am pretty much the same as you Red,” Jer responded. “Willy beat me all the time and I still kept coming back. Getting hit was just normal for me I guess.”
“Well neither of you are going to get beat anymore, that’s for sure,” Jirah said with conviction. “Not with me around.”
Both Rose and Jer smiled affectionately at the huntress who had already become quite a mother figure to both of the orphans.
“Thanks J,” Jer said, giving Jirah a quick yet meaningful hug. You’re the best.”
Jirah blushed slightly at the rare show of affection from the young boy but said nothing.
Feeling a little awkward as well, Jer rushed on ahead of the ladies to join up with Logan.
“You would make such a good mother Jirah,” Rose said to her earnestly but asked nothing more on the subject because she had a suspicion the topic of children might be a sensitive one for the stoic widow.
No reaction to the comment came for a few long minutes while Jirah quite obviously was thinking of how to respond. Finally, she did give an answer, and it was not what Rose would have expected. Tears pooled in Jirah’s eyes as she finally spoke to the young healer in a soft, quavering voice.
“My first child was a girl, Vanessa, named after Justus’ mother. She died in my arms only minutes after being born.”
Rose was shocked at the sudden confession from her dearest friend in the world and she immediately reached out to grasp Jirah’s hand firmly.
The huntress kept on walking, looking forward the whole time, not daring to look Rose in the eyes or she was sure that she would never get through the rest of her sad tale.
“About a year later, I gave birth to a boy,” the tears where now falling freely down her sad face but she continued to push though the story with determination. “We named him Eric, after my grandfather, but he was stillborn. I never even got to hear him cry.”
Now Rose too was crying great tears of pain and she could feel such a lump in her throat that it was getting hard to breathe. What words could she possibly say that would take away this type of pain?
“I’m so sorry Jirah,” Rose spoke in a gentle and reassuring voice. She wanted to tell her friend much more, but words seemed to be so out of place in a moment like this. Instead, she simply put one of her slender arms lovingly around the woman she knew was a mourning mother, and began to pray under her breath.
Jirah sobbed openly, her chest heaving with each painful breath so she finally stopped from her steady gait to fall on her knees.
Not wanting any of the others to intrude on this very private moment, Rose waved quickly with her free arm to Gaost so he would keep on walking and leave the two sisters alone for the time being.
With one hand placed on Jirah’s head, and the other arm still wrapped around her, Rose began to pray aloud, and the words she said came from a place deep within her heart. Her heart was grieving and mourning along with her friend, who was more vulnerable than she had ever seen.
“Father Ya, I cry out to you in this desperate moment for your healing power. Nothing I can do will take this pain away from my dear sister Jirah, but I have to believe that you want to help us. Please, once again empower me to take some of this pain upon myself, so my friend does not have to carry it all alone anymore.”
Those simple words were all it took for the hea
ling power of Ya to start coursing from Rose and into Jirah. The air around the two crying women began to glow with a soft white light and in that moment, Rose understood the more deeply where her true power came from. Her ability to work this wonder was only as effective as the degree of compassion she felt for whomever she was trying to help. Since she felt such a deep and abiding love for this dear friend, the power coursing through her was overwhelming. She could feel the pain of Jirah being siphoned into her own soul, but it did not stay there. Instead of holding on to the grief, Rose simply let it flow through her body and it found its way to the compassionate god that was causing this miracle to happen. The thirty seconds it took for all this to happen seemed more like twenty minutes to the ladies, who in time rose to their feet and wiped the tears away from each other’s eyes.
“Oh why did I wait so long to tell you my story dear Rose,” Jirah said with a bright smile beaming on her face. “I have carried that pain around for so long, and it is so much less now. All that is left is a beautiful memory of a little boy and a little girl that I loved more than life itself.”
“I felt so bad at first for making you cry,” Rose said with a slight frown on her lips. “I would never dream of doing something that would hurt you Jirah.”
“That’s all right Rose,” Jirah said, clasping her sister’s hand once again. “I think that the Eternal One knew this was the time for me to let it go. There is too much danger on the road ahead to have had all of that weighing on my mind.”
Off in the distance, the Cleric of Ya could see that it was now safe to approach Rose and Jirah without interfering, so walked back to meet them.
“I trust that all is well with you two now?”
“Better than well brother,” Jirah answered, once again flashing her crooked grin. “All thanks to Ya and his very gifted priestess.”
“This is good to know Jirah. Now all in our group are free to serve the Eternal One with peace in our hearts.”
The three of them caught up with Logan and Jer who were sitting on the side of the road, waiting for the rest of the group to catch up. Having seen this type event unfold before, neither of them questioned the ladies about what happened.
“We should be in Goram within the hour.” Logan stated simply. “Do you have a plan for when we get there brother?”
“Yes I do. There is a family living just south of the city that is faithful to our cause. We will head there for the time being and avoid any trouble being in Goram may cause.”
“Are you still worried there may be assassins waiting for us along the way?” Jirah asked with concern.
“There very well may be sister,” Gaost said with a nod. “I think that Jer and I can sneak in to the city once it is dark and look into getting us a boat.”
“Sounds like a good plan boss,” Jer said, once again bringing a humorous air to the situation.
Gaost gently rustled the boy’s hair and laughed out loud.
The peaceful group of travelers moved on their way, feeling calmer than they should at the moment, considering the danger they soon would face. But the eyes of Ya were watching them every step of the way.
***
The Staff of Ramah Page 37