--- Roric

Marianne Wilmore was born in a well-known family of merchants.

Having a surname wasn't exactly common in Cassidia, since only nobles and wealthy people could boast one, and given the randomic nature of the Arcane manifesting in children, most of the novices of the Circle were bound to be commoners. That, however, wasn't Mary's case.

She was the eldest of three. Being the daughter of a man of business, she lived in a villa with many servants and her first five years had been ordinary to say the least. Her parents had no economic difficulties, their trading venture was constantly growing and the future seemed even more promising.

Increasing the importance of the family was the obsession of Mary's father. He had big plans for his firstborn and had already planned everything, from her education to the marriage with one of his commercial partners' son. Her mother, for her part, wanted her to uphold the name Wimore by becoming a proper lady. In her words, manners were the real source of success.

So she was a child of rich people? That is something I wouldn't have guessed.

Roric was listening to that story without interrupting the girl, who already sounded uncomfortable enough. The tone of her voice was nostalgic, almost unfit for the memories of such a trouble-free time.

"I don't remember those days well," she went on. "And for some reason I can't help but smile."

Mary had two brothers, Damian and Richard, one and three years younger respectively. She and the little one shared a deep bond and often played together, while Damian preferred reading books with their father. As the future heir of the company, in fact, his destiny was sealed since the moment he had first opened his eyes. He was expected to become an even better merchant, and marry a girl from a high-ranking family he had been promised to since well before his or his future bride's birth.

"I can't imagine someone else making all those decisions on my behalf," the young warrior commented. "How could he endure his life being... Well, an already written book?"

The Mage girl sighed. "It's easy, really. Our parents spoiled him and satisfied his every whim. Me and Richard weren't so lucky... Our father didn't pay us much attention and left Mother most of the job."

"That sounds so unfair."

"Don't misunderstand me. Despite everything we children were happy. Or at least, we remained happy until that day..."

One morning, while getting dressed, Mary noticed a strange light radiating from her right hand. It only lasted for a moment, but enough to raise her excitement to the maximum. It was purple and pretty, the same colour as some flowers in the garden. Being just a little girl, she immediately went outside and started telling all the servants about that glimmer, until her mother was informed of it.

The woman tried to understand what had happened exactly, but since the phenomenon wasn't replicating she deemed it a fruit of her daughter's imagination and let it slip. Just a couple of days later, on Mary's sixth birthday, it happened again.

"This time, I didn't want Mother to miss it. I ran to her as fast as I could, and yelled..."

She hesitated for a second. Enough for Roric to guess even thinking about it was painful.

"What did you say to her?" he asked.

"I said... Look, Mother! It's magic!" the girl replied, glancing down. "And then she fainted."

At least a dozen scholars, priests and healers came to the mansion during the following week. Mary's mother was concerned that she had some sort of illness, so she forbid her daughter from seeing her brothers and confined her in her room. Still, since the little girl wasn't able to make the light appear of her own free will, in the end the situation returned to normal. Her father kept trying to find an expert who could see Mary for a while, but the family soon left that incident behind.

"The months passed without much happening," the girl continued her tale. "And yet, I couldn't forget about what happened. I knew magic existed in the stories of old, the ones my mother used to read me when I was little, but I seeing it with my own eyes made me curious."

Roric was thoughtful. "You told me the Circle has ways to detect new Mages. Why didn't they come right away, with you being in the same city?"

"Because the Arcane in my body wasn't strong enough to be revealed. At least not until I started experimenting with it."

Mary's mother saw her playing with the flowers by accident. Perhaps she was just passing by, perhaps she had caught the smell of burning. What's certain was that when she realized her daughter could heat up random objects and make them explode with a touch of her finger the whole mansion was plunged into chaos.

The young Mage said she didn't recall much about the following hours. Her father rushed home, she saw him return from her window, then a couple of servants went through the garden talking about the Wilmores yelling at each other in the study. The night passed without anyone coming to the little girl's room, not even to bring her food, and the following morning her mother showed up. She had clearly not slept.

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Mary suddenly stopped, perhaps trying to find the right words.

I can already tell something horrible happened after. With her parents caring that much about the good name of their family...

"Take your time," Roric encouraged his friend. "If you want we can continue later."

"Sorry. I didn't think it would be this hard."

"It's fine."

The column camped, and the two found themselves sitting beside the fire. In the shade, the girl's brown hair partially concealed her face, but not enough to hide her vacant expression. Roric patiently waited for some time, until she finally managed to go on.

"Her eyes... I don't think I can describe the feeling," she twisted one strand's end, nervously. "The very same morning, they were full of love. Mother had a few quirks, but she cared for me and my future. Those weren't her eyes. Something had put a wall between us, so thick that I couldn't look over."

That picture made the young warrior remember of his own mother, of how seeing her terrified had changed his perception of the world. He knew what Mary was talking about. It was like growing up all in one go, without fully understanding the weight of the situation.

"What did she do?" he sat a bit closer, to keep their conversation as intimate as possible.

"She didn't say anything other than that I had to go with her. I was escorted to one of the lower rooms, a storage with a sturdy door. There was a meal waiting for me there."

"And then?"

In a whisper, the apprentice lowered her head and said, "I was locked in."

Mary remained imprisoned for a time beyond calculation. Every now and then she could overhear the servants discussing the latest rumours, but only a few of those were actually about her. She tried to reach the bars of the window to look outside, but fell down miserably and cried. Why were her parents treating her so miserably? Had she done something bad? When was her life going back to how it used to be?

"I lost track of the days and stopped caring about the reason. I only wanted to go out and apologize, whatever my fault was. I missed my brothers, I missed my parents..."

The Mage girl suppressed a sob, and shivered.

What did they make her endure? Were they mad? She was only six!

"Those people... They hadn't forgotten about me. While I was in there, they had been researching. And once they came to the realization that I had the Arcane, it became even worse."

It was late at night, and Mary had just managed to fall asleep, when a key began rustling in the latch. She immediately jumped up, prepared to beg her parents for their forgiveness. She was ready to promise to behave and be a good girl for the rest of her life. The person who came in, however, wasn't interested in hearing that.

It was her mother. She held a knife, and her cheeks were red and wet with tears. Step by step she advanced, muttering nonsense, until she was close enough for Mary to understand what she was saying.

"She... She couldn't accept having given birth to a monster."

"A monster? You?"

"Yes. Mother told me she had failed the family, breeding an abomination. I didn't know how to answer. I stood in front of her, confused, then I screamed and Father came."

Roric clenched his fist. "Did he stop her?"

"She only managed to cut my dress," the girl turned towards him, with a sad face. "Father brought her away, repeating her that it wasn't worth staining her hands with my blood. He didn't even glance at me, and one minute later I was locked in again. I didn't exist for him anymore."

That's terrifying. Her parents were the monsters, not her. Only because she had shown the signs of magic? Moreover, her father sounded like a reasonable man. It's wasn't the end of the world or...

The boy noticed the small detail he was still missing.

"Mary..." he asked, cautiously, "If discovering about the Arcane made him act this way... It must mean something important to him had changed."

She nodded, without saying anything.

The arranged marriage. He only cared about that.

"They had yet to be told by the Circle, but Mages lose their previous social status once they are found. Be they princes, sons of beggars, or... Daughters of merchants," her voice regained vigor and gravity. "There was no way to marry me into another family. I had lost all the value I had."

For a second, Roric was almost tempted by hugging her. From the way she usually was, he would have never thought she had such a troubled childhood.

How did she get out of there? Without getting crazy, no less...

It felt like the hardest part was over. Mary continued telling him of what happened afterwards, of how she tried to use her magic to burn the door down before her mother tried killing her again, of how she failed, of how people dressed with robes came looking for her the following morning.

She was brought away from that house immediately. The last thing she saw, looking back on the road, were her parents glaring in her direction from the threshold.

"The rest you know, more or less," the young Mage concluded. "I stopped thinking about the past and moved on. The Circle trained me and I became one of them."

This story is so sad. It's a miracle she can lead a somewhat normal life now.

Roric threw a piece of wood into the bonfire. "Thanks for telling me. I know it's not easy for you."

"You are welcome. Now you understand why I'm not new at being treated as an outcast."

Her eyes got lost in the flames once again. Going through that tale had clearly brought back some memories she wasn't used to remember.

"What about your brothers?" the boy asked, abruptly.

"My... My brothers?"

"Sure. Your parents might hate what you are, but maybe those two don't."

She giggled, but not happily. "They have probably been told all kinds of crap about their sister. I doubt Father let them ever know the real reason why I was away. He and Mother are probably acting like I'm dead since then."

Yeah... They were children. It's possible that they weren't even aware.

Hearing such a dark story had put Roric on a bad mood. No wonder his friend was so reluctant about mentioning anything about her past. It made him feel closer to her, in some way, because of the many hardships they both had to suffer and overcome.

The people she loved looked at her like a monster, the same thing that happened to me with Elise. I'm really lucky I managed to fix the situation and bring back her smile again.

Nonetheless, now there was another girl who needed the same, and Roric was pretty sure to know how.

He poked her right arm. "I recall seeing some wine on the wagons. Do you want some?"

Mary looked at him, this time with a half smile. "Thanks. For everything."