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MIDWINTER MAGIC: ONE
Wandering slowly from the infirmary toward the firehall, Jera was quite distracted with something in her upraised palm. She finally looked up when her concentration was pleasantly broken by a cherished voice. Ashevathallion was in the firehall and Jera was so pleased to catch his smile, a dazzling thing, marred only by the scar tracing the right side of his face from ear to chin. "Arwenamin! How are you this eve, Jera Skyspear?" The tall elven woman put on her own dazzling smile, "These halls are always filled with surprises. How pleased I am that you are one of them. I am well, thank you." Ashe stepped closer even as Jera routed to meet him. It was odd that as she approached she still held her hand up and palm open. "It has been too long. I beg pardon...What is that there?" Jera showed him the tiniest caterpillar in her palm, a thin green one. "Small and slow he is. Long ago he should have become the moth. I can't imagine why he still crawls when he could fly." Ashe tilted his head and looked closer, "Curious indeed. Where did you find him?" "Hidden among the fresh gatherings I brought in for the infirmary." She looked again while shaking her head. "He hid from Time there, I suppose." Gently touching the caterpillar with a long finger, the tall elf nodded, "In the end, Time finds us all, even those of the Sithryn." "Aye, but not for some time, I hope," Jera smiled. "One hopes, but we all dance to the Mother's song. The question is... How can we help this small one..." he grinned, "without upsetting the Balance?" "Yes, that is my dilemma at the moment." Her light manner indicated that she recognized how small a dilemma it was. "I cannot help him with a verse he missed. I know not what to do. It grows too cool at night now for him to be returned to the wild, but he'll not fare well indoors either, away from nature." She smiled and whispered, "I just felt that letting him get ground or steeped with those medicines seemed an unfair end." Ashevathallion considered for a moment, "What of a place that is both but not either? Skye has a solarium with plants. The sun shines brightly there and it is warm." "Oh! Yes, that might be just the place. Perhaps he'd find a way to catch up on his own in that environment, presuming I do not worry him too much before he gets there." She snickered. "Well, keep him in a warm place for the night and bring him by the Manor in the morning. I'll let my niece know why you are visiting. Of course, he might have little privacy from the children once they see him." Jera snickered, "Well, I think Lumiere may have a jar to keep him and the children may look. This little one doesn't seem to mind that." ~~~ The next morning, Jera arrived at Blackthorn Manor while the dew was still on. She hoped the house was awake. Waiting for the door to be answered, she wondered whom she might be disturbing with her seemingly small matter. It was nearly ridiculous to make such ado over one tiny caterpillar yet Jera could not help but think him special. He had somehow defied a summerful of predators and the cycle of nature to still be crawling about at harvest time while all his kin were on the wing. Small as he was, this accomplishment was quite a feat and frankly bewildering. For all this, he deserved at least a little extra care. Jera also realized that Ashevathallion had four nieces and he hadn't specified which one would be assisting with this little task. She was vaguely familiar with all the children except the twins, Kara and Dara, which had only recently been brought back home again. Jera's knowledge of the children was second-hand from talking with Ashe or merely watching them from a distance as they clustered around him for storytellings. She stood with the jar and her anticipation, anxious to actually meet one of Ashe's flowers and to see what must surely be a fine solarium, given the Lady Skye's reputation with herbs. In short order, the door opened and it seemed that a miniature Skye stood there. Same red-gold hair curling down around her shoulders, same brilliant green eyes, same freckles sprinkled across the aquiline nose. The girl, just on the cusp of womanhood still had the lanky arms and legs of a tomboy, but there was in her a promise of curves and the grace of a refined lady. A smile lights up the face of Arista Leandra Blackthorn, now nearly thirteen summers in age. "Greetings and welcome to Blackthorn Manor. Won't you come in?" Ashevathallion hadn't spoken to his eldest niece yet, so the girl had no idea why the lovely elven woman was at the door, however she assumed she there to see either her father, Uncle Ashe, or possibly her mother. Arista stepped back, inviting the visitor inside and closing the door behind them. Jera whispered something of a blessing in her native tongue as she crossed the threshold of the Manor, then nodded with a slight bow to the young hostess, her usual respectful greeting. Arista had always been fascinated by those with elven blood, ever since Ian Blackthorn had become her father upon marriage to Skye, Ari had not so secretly wished for her own ears to be slightly pointed, her eyes given that exotic slant. And the magick that came with the elves was something she had always wanted. At first, she had lashed out at her elven brothers, and her father, thinking it was a gift withheld from her for some insidious reason. Only age and maturity had brought the realization that if the Gift were Ian, Skye, and Shane's to give to her, they would, and so she was no longer grudging of them. Looking at the woman in the foyer, Arista felt the same fascination and pull. The elven woman was blessed with the same calm grace that her father, Uncle Ashe, and siblings possessed. Standing next to her, it was almost impossible for Ari not to feel awkward, gawky and all too human. END ONE © 2002 DP & SO along with all other participants ~ This and other stories may be found at Willow's End |