Quinn hadn’t returned by the time Sharna had finished unpacking. Sharna wasn’t worried, she would feel instantly if anything went wrong through their connection. She still wished she could see what Quinn could see, or pinpoint her location, but hadn’t had the time to try to work out if that was possible yet.
Sharna’s tummy started to grumble. She decided to head downstairs to meet the others. She hadn’t heard the dinner bell yet, but delicious smells were coming from the kitchen.
She paused halfway down the stairs as she heard voices floating up. It was Anna and Gogo. Gogo was chattering happily about Sharna, and Sharna’s heart warmed as she heard Anna’s positive reply. She was so lucky to be here!
The bell rang for dinner, so she quickly continued her descent.
Downstairs, she saw someone new, laying out the last of the food onto the table and moved forward to introduce herself.
“Hi, I'm Sharna, you must be Marjorie, it's nice to meet you!”
The woman straightened up and smiled warmly at Sharna, “lovely to meet you too, how are you settling in honey?”
“Really well thanks! I'm happy to be here.”
“That's great,” Marjorie beamed, “let me know if you need anything. Also, let me know how you find the food, or if there's anything you can't eat.”
Sharna looked over the laden table, “are there set seats for meals?”
“Not at all, how about you sit here next to me tonight? We can get to know each other better.” Marjorie ushered Sharna into the seat closest to her.
While they had been talking, the others had all made their way to the table too. Gogo sat on Sharna's other side, with Myra and Gabby opposite and Anna and Eliza at either end.
Everyone started serving up their meals and it was quiet for a while, except for the sounds of cutlery and requests to pass dishes around.
The chatter during dinner was light and the food was delicious. There was a larger selection of dishes than she had enjoyed at her grandmother's house; with just the two of them they had kept a light menu.
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“Why don't you tell us all about yourself,” Marjorie prompted Sharna as everyone’s eating started to slow down.
“What do you want to know?” Sharna’s shoulders lifted with tension, she felt suddenly nervous with all eyes turned her way.
“What is your family like? How far away is your home?” Marjorie asked kindly.
“My mother died when I was little, and my family don't know who my father is -” this was technically true, THEY didn't know who he was “- so I was raised by my grandmother.”
Sharna smiled as she thought of her grandmother, “she was a wonderful woman. She was kind and generous, very sure of her values and she worked hard to live up to them. She taught me everything I know about magic and how to be in the world. After she.. after she died, it was.. decided that I would begin an image-materialisation apprenticeship. I applied here and was lucky enough to make it in.”
She looked at Anna and Myra. “I'm so grateful to you both.” They smiled back and nodded, encouraging her to continue.
“My grandmother's house is quite far away. It took us a few days to get here, we were quite close to the Shadow Mountains, north of here.”
“Are the Shadow Mountains as scary as they say?” Gabby asked, wide-eyed.
“No,” Sharna grinned, used to this reaction, “I know the Shadow Mountains have a terrible reputation, but it was a really beautiful area to grow up in.”
She paused for a moment, thinking about how best to explain. “The rumours started because there is a natural vast occurrence of mana in the area, and that has attracted a large community of soul and spirit mages. That's where the shadow part of the name comes from - because people fear the supernatural. Additionally, the large amount of ambient mana caused a couple of the mountains to float in place, casting shadows over the ground below.”
She shrugged, “but the mana that accumulates in our region feels.. sustaining, life-giving.. And so it has attracted only mages that are interested in the pure and light manifestations of their field.”
Myra leaned forward with interest, “do they use the term manifestation in soul and spirit magic too?”
“No,” Sharna shook her head, considering, “that's just my translation. The mana is not as strong here, I feel the loss of the flow already. Anyway, my uncle and his family are living in my grandmother's house now, so I guess I don't have a home anymore..” Sharna trailed off at the end, suddenly depressed.
Sharna knew that her uncle would take her back in if she asked. There were probably other more distant relatives that would happily do the same. But her life would no longer be hers.
Gogo grabbed her arm a little too firmly, interrupting Sharna's disheartening train of thought. “You have a home here now!” She interjected earnestly. “We all have reasons to be here, you're not alone anymore.”
Gogo stared intently at the other women around the table, waiting for their assent.
“It's true,” Myra said lightly, “we all have our own justifications for being away from our families.” She looked away. “Remembering that you are living a life that you chose can make that realisation less painful.”
There was silence after Myra spoke, all were lost in their own thoughts. Sharna was mad at herself for making everyone uncomfortable. She wracked her brain to come up with a change of topic only to find it completely blank .
Sharna was saved by Marjorie. “Right,” said Marjorie, slapping her knees and standing. “Let's clear away these dishes and then we can all have some dessert.”
Everyone agreed with some relief. They all immediately started transferring the dishes to the kitchen. Sharna tried to start washing the dishes but they pushed her, protesting, back to take a seat at the table.
“We'll have you on the chore roster starting tomorrow.” Eliza smiled mischievously. “Might as well rest while you can, Gogo is always trying to push her chores off onto everyone else, and you don’t want her to think you’re a soft touch.”
“Ow!”
Eliza whirled around. Gogo had whipped the back of her legs with a towel and was now demurely back to drying a serving platter. Eliza squinted at the back of Gogo’s bowed head suspiciously, then looked back at Sharna with a twinkle and returned to clearing the table.