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"Mother!" Je
"Child, there is nothing to be afraid of," Dola
Je
"Child," Dola
"Leave me alone!" she screamed. Suddenly, pure fire erupted from Je
Je
"That is why you must learn, child," Dola
"Dear, you don't have to go," Elke said softly, putting her hand on her shoulder. "Dola
"I don't have to leave?" she asked in a small voice.
"No," Elke said with a gentle smile. "When you're older, you will have to go to their tower, but not until you're older."
"Mother!" she said with a sob, crushing into Elke's arms again.
"She will learn much better in a place more comfortable for her," Dola
"What about me?" Tarrin asked.
"You, my young one, you will be going with us," she told him. "We are leaving tomorrow. And you will not be alone. Two other young ones will be going with us. Tiella Ren, and Walten Longbranch. I believe you may know them."
"Tiella? And Walten?" he said in surprise. Tiella was the herbalist's apprentice, learning the uses of herbs for healing. Walten was the son of the village carpenter, a tall, rather shiftless young man more fond of sleeping than working.
"When we return to Suld, I will send one of my brothers or sisters here, Mistress Kael," the woman continued. "As per our agreement, the instructor will reside in your home, so that he or she can be close to Je
Tarrin nodded quietly, thinking back to what Je
"There is little time to chat," she prompted. "Tarrin, you must go home and pack for the journey, but you may only bring what I tell you. You may bring enough clothing for the journey. You may bring a knife for utility, you may bring any books that you own, and you may bring some of your personal belongings, such as a razor. Anything that you use in your day to day life. You may bring weapons, but not weapons of war. Your staff and your bow are acceptable, but a sword or axe is not."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because novices come to the Tower carrying only what they need, and you will not need weapons," she told him simply. "You will need these items during the journey, so they will not be taken from you when you arrive. But you will be expected to put them away, and not touch them while there. If you were to bring a sword, it would be taken from you and held, and then returned to you when you leave."
"Alright," he said. Despite it not being what he wanted, that short touch on something larger was like a seed growing inside him. Even though he still didn't want to be a katzh-dashi, he found the idea of learning more about the sensation he experienced to look better and better to him.
"You will return to the village after packing," she told him. "You will spend the night in the i
"Wylan said you can borrow one of the i
"Alright, mother," he said.
"Well scoot!" she said, shooing him away.
"Be back soon," he promised.
He went to the i
He came down out of the loft and went to the storage room, and got his tent. It was a small tent, made only for one or two people, but it was perfect for camping outside. He then picked up three extra quivers of arrows for his bow, and took it all outside and started lashing what he couldn't wear or carry on the saddle.
He stopped, and looked at the house, and he realized that it would be the last time in a while that he would see it. He went back in and went back up to his room, looking around just once more. He'd lived in this room for the last ten years. His eyes came to rest on a section of wall that was slightly different than the others, where he'd accidentally ran his staff into the wood and made a big hole. It had happened in the winter, and his father had made him sleep in the room with the hole to the cold outside for two days until he could get it patched. He stood on the bed, and reached up into the rafters ru