The Rossem Project

A Perfect Day - Part 4

     An hour later the children left again, their little tummies filled with alberry juice and Lirenna's home made honeycakes. The demi shae was glowing all over with happiness at the unexpected visit and sang to herself as she cast the spells that would wash up and put away the dirty crockery. "That was incredible!" she cried when she'd finished, dancing over to throw her arms around Thomas’s neck and hug him tight. "I didn't dare hope they'd come to trust us so soon! Do you think they'll bring their parents next time?"

     Thomas was still staring at the gift one of the children had given them, though, totally astonished and delighted by it. It was a wood carving of a field mouse playing in a ball of straw. The boy had carved it there and then from a piece of the oven's firewood, Thomas’s pocket knife a spinning blur in his hand as he whiled away a boring half hour, but the result was as perfect in detail as the masterwork of a human master craftsman. So lifelike that it seemed the tiny creature would actually move if only you stared at it for long enough. Thomas had known about the artistic talents of the shae folk, of course, and Derrin's extraordinary talent at charcoal drawing had given him some idea of what a pureblooded shae might be capable of, but now he had an actual example of it. A piece of sculpture that might have fetched a good price in any human market, given away as casually as the chunk of firewood it had so recently been. He realised he was in awe of the shae folk, a not uncommon reaction whenever humans came in contact with the fair race and another reason why the two races tended to shun each other. Awe all too easily became envy, which in turn became hatred…

     "More likely they'll be too scared to tell them they were anywhere near here," he replied, placing the carving carefully on the table "Their parents probably warned them to stay away from us. I bet they dared each other to come back."

     "Cynic!" accused the demi shae, amused despite herself. "Why do you have to spoil such a wonderful occasion?"

     "Just trying to be realistic. If you run across one of the adult shae folk, don't mention it unless they mention it first. We don't want to get the kids in trouble."

     "They wouldn't get in trouble for coming to visit us!" cried Lirenna in outrage. "What are we, the trolls under the bridge? We're not monsters who'll put them in a cooking pot and eat them!"

     Thomas laughed. "Yeah, well, maybe I am exaggerating a bit. Just don't be surprised if their parents aren't overjoyed to find their kids visiting us, that's all I'm saying."

     Lirenna nodded glumly, but her good mood soon bubbled up again and soon she was singing around the house again, making Thomas smile happily. Every day he fell in love with her a little bit more. He wished he could spend all day every day with her, just soak her up like a sponge, but the time he spent away with her just made him appreciate her all the more when he came home. Thank the Gods for second downdays, he thought. Thank the Gods for the eccentric vagaries of magic that gave him these precious days with her, with no work or other worries to distract them.

     Then he noticed that the demi shae was preparing to leave, though, tying a money pouch around her waist and draping a shawl around her shoulders. "Where are you going?" he asked.

     "Just something I want to take care of while I've got the time," she said, a strange look in her eye. "I won't be long, I promise, and then we'll have the rest of the day together."

     "Be as quick as you can," said Thomas. "Otherwise I might come looking for you."

     He pulled her close, and the demi shae lifted her face to be kissed. "Half an hour," she promised. "Not a second longer," Then she danced out of the tree, turning to wave back at him as she set off along the path leading to the teaching buildings. Facing away from her husband, he didn't see how her eyes were burning with purposeful determination.

☆☆☆

     The first place Lirenna visited was the University chapel, a large and beautiful building that stood all alone to the south of the teaching buildings. It had altars dedicated to all the best known Gods, but the three clerics and their six acolytes who looked after it were all worshippers of Caroli, the Goddess of Healing. The altar dedicated to Caroli was the largest in the building and stood at the head of the main hall, in front of the hundreds of wooden benches used by the apprentice wizards and their teachers for the daily services.

     The apprentices were not compelled to attend, many of them having little time for the Gods and some of them even being followers of evil Gods. The University didn't care whether the students used their magic for good or evil so long as they used it competently. They were actively encouraged to attend as often as possible, though, and gaps in their work schedules were deliberately left vacant for this purpose. The ability to harness and control the power of magic sometimes made wizards feel like gods themselves, and a visit to speak to the real Gods was often all that was required to cure them of this misconception.

     All the clerics and acolytes lived in the temple building, having their own living quarters down the corridor from the main entrance, and one of the clerics also had a small stall stocked with holy potions and blessed artifacts, guaranteed to protect their owners from one or another of the many evils that plagued the world. Many of the potions and artifacts required rare and expensive ingredients for their preparation, but they were given away free to whoever had need of them, since it would have been a terrible sin to debase the holy power of Caroli with commercialism. Instead, an offering bowl stood beside the stall, on which patrons would leave offerings of whatever they thought they could afford or that the temple deserved, and this, along with some charitable donations from the valley's wealthier occupants, was enough to purchase the ingredients for more potions and artifacts.

     Most of the healing done by the clerics, of course, was done by the direct laying on of hands and praying, but there were times when only a potion of healing would do. A wizard who was up in the mountains collecting rare lichens and mosses for his spells, for instance, might fall down a rocky incline and break a leg. If he lacked the ability to cast a teleportation or a flying spell, or if he was too weak to cast a spell to summon help, then he might well die there, miles from the nearest cleric, but if he had a healing potion in one of his pouches all he had to do was break the top off the glass phial, gulp it down and he would be able to walk home unassisted. No-one ever went exploring in unknown territory without taking a few with them, unless they could entice a cleric to come with them, of course.

     Lirenna didn't look at the healing potions, though, or the shelves stacked with holy protective artifacts. Instead, she went over to a smaller table, set aside from the others, on which a handful of far less important potions was arranged. Potions that did nothing to improve the health of the person taking them but which were designed to have a purely cosmetic effect. Here, for instance, were potions to remove unsightly warts and pimples, potions to cure acne, flatulence and bad breath and potions to firm up flabby muscles and remove cellulite. A passing acolyte was astonished to see the beautiful demi shae poring over the contents of this particular table, since there was surely no-one in the whole valley less in need of them, but when he saw the potion she had selected he relaxed, thinking he understood. "For your father?" he asked conversationally.

     "No, a friend of mine," Lirenna replied with a strange smile as she placed a large silver coin in the offering bowl. "A very good friend indeed. I'm just collecting it for her, I mean, him." She flushed with guilt and turned away before the acolyte could see it on her face.

     "I hope it is efficacious," he said as she turned to the door. "It's wonderful to have friends, isn't it?"

     "It certainly is," replied the demi shae, still smiling strangely. "A very good day to you, brother."

     "And to you, sister. May the Gods go with you and keep you safe."