Chapter 9

Two years earlier...

Shavala laughed as Lele took the pine nut she’d given him and buried it in the ground.

“You’re not going to find it here, silly,” she said. “We’re four days away from the outpost.”

He ignored her as he finished covering it back up. Then he came back and waited, staring at her expectantly, so she pulled another of the nuts from the pocket of the human-style coat she wore against the autumn chill. This time, he cracked the nut open and ate it.

Meritia returned from her exploration, holding a cloth wrap full of mushrooms. “I think this is a good spot for tonight. There’s no sign of hunters and plenty of plants and herbs to harvest. There aren’t any streams nearby, though.” The other woman was never bothered by the cold, and wore only her thin tunic and leggings.

They were traveling outside the border zone, which meant visitors were allowed in to hunt or forage, but Meritia had been trying to avoid outsiders so Shavala could focus on her training and the harvest. They’d made a dozen trips like this as the weather grew colder, and this was to be the last one.

“When will we be returning?” Shavala asked.

“Tomorrow ... but if you wish, it’s a straight line to Terrillia from here. It would be faster to head to the city directly than to return to the camp first.”

“Must I return? My studies are going so well.”

“And they will continue going well whether you are here or there. Surely you wish to visit your family?”

Shavala’s parents had asked her to come home for the winter since she hadn’t returned since spring, and that had only been a brief stop.

“I suppose.”

In truth, her parents—her father a painter and her mother a weaver—were still disappointed she hadn’t followed in their footsteps. The elder magic hadn’t given her much of a choice in the matter, but they didn’t see it that way, so the visits were always uncomfortable. It would be nice to see her older brother and his wife, though, and meet their new baby.

“In any case,” Meritia said, “you certainly know enough to practice on your own, and there are other druids in the city. It may be useful for you to seek out a different perspective.”

“But what about Lele?”

“Now you’re just making excuses. Lele will come back to the camp with me. He can amuse himself just fine on his own.”

Shavala nodded, accepting the inevitable. Plus, it might be interesting to speak to some of the other druids. She’d chosen Meritia as her teacher simply because the woman lived outside the city, but each of the druids had their own skills. The last time she’d been home, old Arvillin had promised to teach her how to work with fire.

“All right, I’ll leave tomorrow morning, then. If there are no streams nearby, would you like me to call up water?”

“Yes,” Meritia said, “but I want to do something different this time. Come sit with me.”

Meritia sat cross-legged on the ground and Shavala joined her, folding the bottom of her long coat under her.

“What would you like me to do?” Shavala asked.

“You’re very good at calling water from underground streams, and there are plenty around here,” Meritia said. “However, that isn’t always the case. When you need to, you can call water from the soil itself.”

“How?” There was moisture in the ground, certainly, but how could she call water when there was just damp soil?

“It takes longer, and you must concentrate harder, but the process is exactly the same. Go ahead and try. You’ll need to reach farther, and in more places.”

Shavala dug a little hole in the ground before her, then closed her eyes and reached out with her elder senses. There was an underground stream not far away, but Meritia would be able to tell if she used it. Instead, she tried pulling the moisture from the earth below the hole she’d dug, but nothing happened.

“Separate it first,” Meritia said. “As if you were purifying the water. It can’t move if it’s still attached to the soil.”

Shavala added the extra step. This time, she was able to call a small trickle from the earth around her. It seeped back into the ground immediately, but now it was closer so she’d be able to reach it more easily.

Meritia spoke again. “It’s more efficient to start at a distance, and finish closer. That way you’re not trying to pull water through soil that’s already dry.”

Shavala extended her senses farther out and continued her task. After twenty minutes, she was sweating and breathing heavily, but the hole she’d dug was half full of water, and the ground below it was wet enough that it didn’t immediately seep out.

“Good,” Meritia said. “Now put it all back where you got it from.”

Shavala looked at her in disbelief.

“The plants and creatures in the earth need that moisture,” Meritia said, “so you should only call the water this way when you have no other choice. Now that you know how to do it, we’ll use the underground stream instead.”

“Yes, Meritia.” Shavala took a deep breath and returned to her task. She found it easier to replenish the water in the soil by using the stream, rather than returning the little bit she’d managed to pull. Once that was done, she called more from the stream, enough to completely fill the little hole she’d dug. It would gradually drain back into the soil, but now that she’d made the connection, she could renew it easily whenever they needed.

“That wasn’t bad for your first attempt. But tell me, what would you do in a dry and barren land with no water in the soil at all?”

“Are there places like that?”

“Not many, but some. Certain deserts.”

“I don’t know what I’d do,” Shavala admitted. She’d never been outside the forest.

“There’s always moisture in the air,” Meritia said. “No matter how dry it seems.”

“The air? But how? It’s always moving. How can you pull on it? How can you pull something out of it?”

“A complicated lesson, and one for another day, I think.”

Shavala nodded.

“Don’t worry about being away for a few months,” Meritia said. “You’re coming along quickly. You’ll be ready for your travels soon—a few years, maybe less.”

When her teacher deemed her worthy, it would be time for Shavala to leave the forest and go out into the world. The thought was scary but exciting at the same time. She’d be able to see humans and stoneborn outside of the caravans and hunting parties they sent into the forest. Perhaps she’d see some of the more exotic races, too—the seaborn, or demonborn, or one of the others. And she’d get to visit the massive human cities she’d heard about from others who’d left the forest.

“Oh,” Meritia said, “but before the time comes, remind me to teach you about human money.”

“I don’t know why you don’t go to Presentation ceremonies,” Renny said. “You’ve got the body for it, and you’ve taken all the same classes as the concubines, except for the secret ones.”

Treya laughed at her roommate. “They’re not exactly a secret since you immediately come back and tell me all about them.”

“I can’t help it. It’s all so... fascinating. I can’t wait to be chosen!” Renny had begun concubine training four years earlier, but she hadn’t actually been a resident of the orphanage before that. She was the daughter of a fisherman, but she’d wanted to become something more than the wife of a fisherman. Her parents had allowed it, hoping to give her a better future.