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Chapter 1

Born in the year of our Lord 1500, I was a priestess of the sun cult. I was given to the cult as a child out of wedlock. When I was an infant, the high priestess, Naomi, took me from the orphanage. It was considered bad luck to take a child born out of the vows of marriage, but she took pity on me and kept me as her own.
She was as much my mother as I was her daughter. I had many sisters and grew very close to a small red headed girl named Giselle. She didn't have any sunspots, nor was she sickly pale like most of the people with her same coloring. I remember the day she came to the cult. She was twelve and her face was kind, filled with years of having plentiful amounts of attention from her loving parents.
I wondered what it would be like, to have a father and mother with few siblings. I would never know, but that was fine. I loved my sisters and the high priestess.
My cult worshipped the sun. It created life, it warmed the earth, it gave light to all the world. In return for our attention, the sun blessed us.
My duties as a priestess were to heal, comfort, and visit the sick or unwell.

I was out one night to see a little girl who had little itchy bumps on her body. I had encountered this many times before, so I knew which herbs and medicines to bring.
I swept through the quiet streets of our small town. The houses were all made sturdy, but were not the prettiest. Our convent was the cleanest building in the town, large and beautiful in comparison to the rest of the homes. The village was located in a forested area not far from the abandoned kingdom of Prince Vlad.
Once I arrived at the home, I knocked on the door. A few voices squeaked from the house and little, fast footfalls sounded. The door creaked open and a young boy, probably around the age of 6 years, was standing in the threshold of the dimly lit home.

"Mama, a wady's heew!" His young voice rang through the house.

A woman in an apron with a child in her arms rushed around the corner to greet me. She looked worn and tired. Her hair was messy and she seemed very flustered.

"Thank you for coming priestess. Please, follow me."

I walked with her to a small room where a little girl with brown plaited hair lay in bed covered with red bumps. I greeted the young girl with a warm smile and knelt by her bedside.

"How do you feel?"

"Itchy, I don't like it. It hurts." She said while ruthlessly scratching her arm.

I lightly took her hands in mine.

"Don't scratch it or they'll get worse." I told her kindly.

She nodded and I released her hands.I could tell she was trying very hard to restrain herself. I leaned over to the mother and asked her to get some hot water and a bowl for me. She nodded and left the room.

I set my leather messenger bag on the nearby table and got out a small vial of medicine, a cloth of dry, green herbs, and a strawberry.

While I tended to the girl's arms, which she had scratched to the point of damaging the skin, a young child played with the creamy silk of my dress.

The mother gave me a small bowl and the hot water soon after.

I poured a little bit of the hot water in the bowl and added some of the herb. I mixed it around and then added a drop of medicine. The mixture turned blue and smelled foul. I crushed up the berry and put it in the blue paste, and gave it to the girl.

She looked quizzically at it, then at me. I nodded for her to drink it, so she brought it to her mouth. The strawberry helped it taste better than it would have, so she was able to consume it all.

I grabbed a few bandages from my bag and washed off the girl's arms before applying them.

"This will help you from damaging them while they recover." I told her. She nodded and gave me a bear hug.

I rarely received this kind of gratitude from a child, and hesitated before hugging her back.

I packed up my things and slung my bag on my shoulder.

The mother came to me and gave me a silver coin.

"Madam, I don't require payment." I declined kindly.

"I insist." She pleaded with me to take the coin, and I thanked her. She shook my hands and turned back to her many children, softly shutting the door. I hurried back to the convent.
Before I made it to the door, I heard a crash. I didn't go to investigate in case it was something dangerous, such as a thief or murderer.
I climbed the stairs to my small dorm and hung my bag on the bedpost. I ventured downstairs again to eat dinner and socialize.
"Kayella!" I heard.
"Giselle!" I greeted my closest friend. She ran to me and gave me a hug.

"How did the service go?" She asked.

"It went wonderfully. The family was so kind."

"That's great." We talked throughout the meal about our day until we were tired, and went to bed.

I woke up to a loud noise. I sat up to investigate. Nothing seemed out of place.

I went downstairs and still, nothing was wrong. Giselle, seeming to have heard the noise too, found me downstairs.

"Was that you?" She asked.

"No, but I heard it too." We both looked out the window and saw a shadowy figure run into the woods.

"I'm going to go see what that was." Giselle announced.

"No! It could be a robber or something horrible." I warned her.

She sighed, "Maybe, but what if it's not?"

"What do you have to gain by going out there?"

"Sated curiosity?" She tried.

"Well, I'm not going." I told her.

"I am." She ran outside.

"Giselle!"

I quickly and quietly went to my dorm, grabbed a black cloak, and ran after her into the neighboring woods.

I followed her footprints until the ground was covered in too many leaves and plants to tell where the tracks led.

I ran a little farther in the direction I thought she may have gone and then realized how lost I had gotten myself.