The next morning I woke to a swift knocking on my door. I had found a linen shift in the wardrobe the night before which I had slept in, however I figured it probably would be frowned upon to answer whoever it was knocking in just that, so I grabbed the cloak Duana had given me and wrapped it tightly around myself before opening the door. It turned out to be Duana herself knocking. She was carrying a tray ladened with apples, bread, and cheese.

”Good morning Miss Morrigan,” she said with a pleasant smile.

”Good morning.”

”This,” she said indicating the tray, “is for you, and Master Osiris if he can hold anything this morning. I figured you might appreciate some breakfast.”

“Thank you,” I said, and meant it. Thoughtfulness toward me wasn’t something I expected from anyone serving in the castle currently.

“Of course. I will also send someone up with the things you need to wash Master Osiris’ bedding soon.”

”I appreciate it. Before I forget, though, I had a question?”

”What do you need?”

”I know you said I was limited to this floor, but could I be allowed to go to the library? I’m wondering if there’s information in there I could use.”

“You would need someone to accompany you, but yes you would be permitted. Though I should inform you that the previous healers found nothing useful.”

“I know, Master Osiris told me, but I’m hoping there’s knowledge that I’ll be able to use that they couldn’t.”

“Oh? Are there abilities possessed by your people that others do not possess?”

”Druids are particularly gifted at healing, more so than any other kind of magic user. I can’t be certain, but I’m hoping that some Druid in the past came up with some solution only we could perform.”

”Ah, I see. You may run into an issue however. Any texts written by Druids have been locked away in the King’s private section of the library. No one but him is allowed to look at them.”

That wasn’t surprising. If my theory was correct that the King was spreading false information, it would track that he would limit sources of truth about us.

“Regardless, I might be able to come up with something on my own with the knowledge available.”

”I wish you luck, Miss Morrigan.”

With that, Duana handed me the tray of food, bowed her head, and turned to head down the hall. I brought the food back into my room and set it on my desk. Picking up an apple and taking a bite, I headed into Osiris’ room to see if he was awake. He was not, so I grabbed his shoulder and shook it lightly. He cracked one eye and looked up at me.

”We have breakfast if you’d like to try and eat something,” I said.

”I’ll… try.”

I returned to my desk and ripped a chunk of bread off the loaf. Bringing it to him, he took it and took a bite. A few slow seconds ticked by while I waited to see what would happen. When he didn’t immediately vomit it back up, he took another bite. He managed to get the whole chunk to stay down , but decided not to push his luck. I finished my apple and had some bread and cheese, and by that time Duana returned with soap and a full basin of water. Before she left again she also informed me that it would be her accompanying me on my trips to the library and that we could go later this evening if I so wished. I brought the washing materials out to the balcony and began washing the soiled bedding. When it was sufficiently cleaned, I hung it over the railing to dry. I could’ve dried it myself like I had before, but I wanted to reserve my power for use on something else; I wanted to see if I could shake off some of the rust I had after being in the cell for so long. Looking at a few trees just below the balcony, I tried calling a gust of wind to rustle the leaves. It was autumn which usually meant windy days, but today was a rare exception to that rule so it would be a test with easily visible results. My first few attempts found some success; I was able to conjure a light breeze, but it came directly toward me instead of blowing through the trees. The ease with which a Druid could perform magic was also dependent on how far away their target was, as well as the general ability of the Druid. Given that I was struggling with something so simple just fifteen or twenty feet from me probably meant the only reason I was able to bring the water to me earlier was due to my affinity for the element.

The elementals that Druids bonded with fell into four types, based on the four elements; fire, water, earth, and air. The Druid’s bond with their elemental gave them a heightened ability to work with the element the elemental was associated with. This benefit carried on with the Druid even after the direct bond with the elemental was severed at the end of the Druid’s training at the age of seventeen. The elemental I bonded with was of the water variety, so I had always found it easier to perform water based magic compared to any other.

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After perhaps a half an hour I finally had moderate success. The breeze I conjured just brushed the top of the trees I was aiming for. It wasn’t much, but it was better than no success at all. It was a good thing, too, because if I had gone on any longer, I probably would’ve passed out where I was standing. In my determination to succeed at my task, I had neglected to take account of how much Elym I was using. That was another purpose for the extra practice; after so long of not using my power, it was likely to take a while before I could use it for longer periods of time without wearing out. Osiris had fallen back asleep by the time I came back in, and I still had several hours until I could visit the library, so I occupied my time by taking a more in depth look at my wardrobe. It mostly consisted of clothes similar to what Duana gave me yesterday; sets of blouses, cloaks, and pants. There were also three other shifts in one corner like the one I wore to bed. Something that did catch my eye, however, was a set of three formal looking dresses in the corner opposite the shifts. One was a light blue, one black, and one white. All Tosk colors which made sense. I was a bit surprised by their presence as I didn’t think I’d be invited to any formal events while I stayed here, but perhaps I was wrong. Under each of the dresses was a pair of silk slippers that matched their coloring, and under the sets of regular clothes sat a pair of laced, fur lined ankle-high boots. I had no clue how they’d gotten these clothes, that fit, on such short notice, but maybe they had been preparing them for a few days before they pulled me out of my cell. Realizing that I was still wearing the cloak from yesterday with just a shift underneath, I pulled a new set of clothes out and put them on. Osiris probably saw more than I’d like, but nothing I can do now. Having nothing else to do after I looked through my clothes, I went back out on the balcony. Sitting down cross-legged in the middle of the balcony, I closed my eyes and fell into a sort of trance.

All Druids early in their training learned how to go into a meditative trance. The idea was to lose one’s self completely in the nature around them. It was usually done sitting on the grass, or on the sand of a beach near the water’s edge for some Druids who made their home’s near coastal areas.

I didn’t have the luxury of sitting on the grass unfortunately, but I thought I would still be okay. I tried to focus on the sound of my breathing, the faint sound of the river, the sound of what little breeze had picked up in the last hour or so. Eventually I succeeded in falling into the trance. It was said in some texts that these trances would sometimes allow Druids to see visions. It was even claimed by some that these visions were what showed the first of the Druids, Lori Demoras, the clearing that would become the heart of what was now, or what used to be, the home of the Druidic Circle.

For around four-hundred years, the primary sect of the Druids, the Druidic Circle, had made their home in a village built among the trees in the forest to the southwest of Arienne City. I was taken there when I was seven to live and complete my training as a Druid. I would take trips every few weeks back to visit my mother, but most of the time I stayed in the village. That was until the day I was captured by the Tosk, when they burned the village to the ground and, as far as I knew, killed everyone within, other than me.

I had never experienced any of the visions the texts had talked about, nor did I know anyone who had, so I sometimes wonder if they actually did happen, or if they were just stories blown out of proportion. It would seem today wasn’t interested in proving me wrong, and so the trance felt rather similar to falling asleep for a while. I was roused by a knock at my door, heard thanks to my forgetting to close the balcony doors. The visitor was a servant I had seen walking the halls the day before on the way back from the bathing chamber. She was a blonde girl of maybe nineteen. She was about my height, and had a rail-thin frame. She was dressed in a gown similar to the one Duana wore. She carried with her another tray of food, holding what looked like a meat pie and another loaf of bread. Thanking the girl, I took the tray and set it on my desk, giving her the other one given to me that morning. Before she left, she bowed to me. Not the simple curtsy Duana usually did, but a full formal bow as if she were addressing nobility and not a someone who was functionally still a prisoner. Osiris was still asleep when I checked on him, so I ate the meat pie, which turned out to be quite good, and returned to the balcony, falling back into my trance.

When I came to, it looked to be late afternoon by the position of the sun. This guess would be confirmed a minute later when a clocktower located along the castle’s outer wall rang out, dictating that it was a quarter to five. Getting up from my spot, I stretched to fix some stiffness in my back that had made itself apparent. I went back inside, through Osiris’ doors to see if he was still asleep. He was not, he had somehow managed to get the journal off his desk and bring it, and a pen, to his bed. He was writing when I came in and didn’t notice I had entered until I spoke.

”How are you feeling?”

”I think… grabbing this was all the movement I’m going to do today.” His speech was broken up by hacking coughs, but all in all he was speaking smoother.

“That’s fine, I’ll wait to replace your bedding until it’s necessary. Do you want to try eating again?”

”Could… I have a piece of apple?”

“Do you have a knife to cut it off with?”

”There’s… a dagger in the table drawer.” His words were accented by a wincing turn of his head toward the bedside table with the Tosk text.

Walking over to it, I pulled open the top drawer and, sure enough, there was a simple dagger laying inside. Bold to leave a weapon right there next to him. Though I guess I probably wouldn’t have a chance of getting through the castle and the city if I killed him and tried to run. Taking the knife, I went to the tray and cut off a slice of one of the apples and brought it back over to him. He took it with a “thanks” and took a bite. This proved to be a horrible idea as, shortly after, the chewed chunk came flying back out and onto the floor along with some bile. I rolled my eyes and made for the balcony doors again, but on my way out I was surprised to hear him apologizing.

”I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

I furrowed my brow and looked back at him.

”Why are you apologizing Osiris?”

”For… giving you more to clean up.”

I glanced away and, having nothing else to say, I continued walking out. I called more water to me from the river and willed it to flow into his room, cleaning the bile off the floor.

”That… is going to leave a mess for the grounds keepers,” Osiris said.

“That’s not really my concern,” I said, raising my eyebrow.

”They didn’t… do anything to you… did they?”

”My people didn’t do anything to you and you still don’t like me.”

Osiris looked down.

“Your people tortured and killed my mother… and my friends.”

“All we did was defend ourselves from you. And even if what you said was true, I find it hard to feel sympathetic, given that a band of you half-breeds torched my home and killed everyone but me.”

At that, Osiris’ eyes grew wide.

“They… they what?”

”You didn’t know? I find that hard to believe. If whoever it was told you stories about what we did on the battlefield, I’m sure they would’ve boasted about how they took care of us.”

”No… they didn’t.”

“Right. Regardless of that I stand by what I said; a mess down there isn’t really my concern. Your people already defiled the grounds of this place, there’s nothing I can do that’ll make it worse.”

Osiris didn’t respond after that, and I set about finally fixing his floor. A knock sounded on my door and I went to enter my room and answer it, but before I crossed the threshold between rooms, Osiris had one last thing to say.

”I’m sorry… about your home.”