Chapter 4: The Dry Decision

Mother Marigold listened to Sister Opal's account of the events in the jungle, and then took my report as well. She was certainly more familiar with the nature and depth of my Transformation and the gifts that had come with it than anyone else in the Sisterhood.

"The story told by the man you brought back matches both your accounts, and we now know that the decision to ambush your group was planned, but the decision to take you and Sister Opal was a spur of the moment decision, based on lustful urging from two of them."

"What about the original robbery?" I asked.

"Oh, that was very much a planned thing, and not a spur of the moment decision at all. Their leader apparently had been planning it for months." Mother Marigold poured me another cup of tea and I grabbed another of the small sweet cookies from the tray between us.
"It forces us to reconsider how we accept the yearly contributions from the more remote kingdoms." She continued. "We do receive contributions from remote kingdoms and others outside of the Shadar river valley system. The biggest comes from Beletara, and some efforts are currently underway to coordinate our annual collections with the one from Beletara. Princess Redstone has a 'secure' delivery option which she may be able to extend to us for that."

"I can see where that would be a big help." I said. "I will do my part - whatever is asked."

"Ah. Well that is a problem. You see my dear, as much as I love you like my own child, your actions in the jungle have caused no end of consternation amongst the council of elder sisters. There has been a growing call to have your association with the order terminated. One I am no longer able to oppose."

I sat stunned and hurt, the bit of cookie in my hand forgotten. I had not cried in years, but I felt tears beginning to well up. Mother Marigold must have anticipated my reaction.

"Before you get too upset, listen. I have a plan."

"A plan?" I said. My voice quavered like a seven year old taken to the woodshed.

"Yes dear, a plan." Mother Marigold's voice had a touch of light humor in it. "It begins with you going home and spending some time with your parents. Try to recapture a little sense of what it is to just be a girl growing towards being a young woman. Reconnect with your family. In two weeks you will have a visitor who I will send to take you somewhere where you can train and learn, and do it without fear of yourself."

"Really?" I said, looking up into Mother Marigold's eyes.

"I believe so." She answered, her eyes all serious and thoughtful now. "I won't guarantee that you will love the place I send you, but you will be better for the time you spend there."

My parents were surprised to see me of course. I usually plan my visits around particular dates or seasonal events. Unexpected or not, the welcome was warm, and I was soon settled into a comfortable routine.

The very first day I was able to help my mother put up a nice crop of carrots and beets. I was thickly covered with the smell of sealing wax by the time my father came back from the forests across the river.

Without my acolyte's robe in my bag I felt like I was in limbo. None of my old clothes fit me anymore. All I had to wear were my riding leathers, and they were worn and fraying, at least one of the fraying spots was going to be potentially embarrassing if I let it get much worse. I decided to go into Demethia the next day to visit the leather shop where I had originally gotten these. The large city-state was not the largest city on the Shadar, but it was relatively safe for a woman traveling alone, and the shop I sought was near the river.

"I need to go into Demethia tomorrow to get some new riding gear." I said at evening meal. "Can I bring anything back for either of you?"

"Do you need some money?" Dad asked.

"Will you be safe there by yourself?" Mom followed with immediately, not waiting for me to answer Dad's question first.

"Yes, I will be safe." I answered. "I am known there, and the shop I will be visiting is close to the river." They both nodded at this, knowing that when I was close to the flowing water I was more than a twelve year old girl. "I have plenty of money Dad, don't worry. I was paid ten percent of the recovered funds from the robbery."

"Is that normal?"

"No, but since I was being told I had to leave my association with the Sisterhood, at least for a while, I think Mother Marigold saw it as severance pay."

I was up the next morning before anyone else, only possible because Changa, our milk cow was not one who demanded to be milked at sunrise. I was in the grassy yard in front of the farmhouse doing my morning exercises when Dad came out to do the milking. Not wanting to put any more strain on my riding leathers than I already had, I was doing them in my riding under clothing, the same gear that had so disappointed my captors that day in the jungle. I was focused on my stick work and his passing barely registered.

Over morning meal, Dad teased me somewhat about my workout attire.

"Its a good thing there are none but other women in the Sisterhood, if that was your normal exercise attire."

"It would not have been, but if it were, there are those among the Sisterhood who would have responded in the same way as you are assuming men would." I answered.

"I think this is not a matter of assuming my dear." Mom said. "You have grown into a beautiful young woman, and with your height, look older than your age. There is no doubt that men will find you appealing."

"You worry about that, don't you?" I asked, having heard it in her voice. "Whether it is safe for me to be an unaccompanied woman in cities like Demethia?"

"Of course my dear." She answered. "We worry about what will happen when you first look upon a young man and feel your heart doing flip-flops, and where it might lead you. You are young yet, and we are your parents, it is only natural we would worry."

"Well, I have met someone who gave me flip-flops, at least a little, but I was able to hold myself above it and move on." I answered, expecting to rouse a commotion.

"Indeed! And who was this boy?" Dad asked immediately.

"His name is Chopper, and he lives in Vakkha, far north of us on the river. I was there to assist after a fire had burned a large part of the town, and he and I spent some time together."

"Will you return to Vakkha to see him?" Mom asked.

"Probably not. He is sixteen, and tall and handsome and a faithful son who is tending two ailing parents. But there is war along that stretch of the Shadar, and it doesn't appear to be close to ending. He will soon become an attractive prospect for the many widowed women of the town, I expect, despite their disdain for him at the moment."

"But the flip-flops don't have you pining after him?"

"No Mother," I said with some calculation. "I think it was simple lust. He is very handsome and well formed."

There was a long silence at the table for a moment after that, as we all addressed our food. Finally mom started to laugh a suppressed little snort of laughter, and I quickly joined in, with Dad following.

I waited several hours, almost to mid-morning, before using the river to move myself to Demethia. There was little unattended space along the river near where I wanted to go, but a small wooden dock provided cover for my emergence. I had my staff in my hand and my eyes open as I walked the short distance to the shop I wanted.

A small bell rang as I opened the door to Tiger's Leather Goods. The dim interior of the store and the smell of worked leather and rawhide gave the shop an amazing smell, one I had good memories of.

Tiger, whoever he or she had been was no longer around, but the shop retained the name. Scallop had been the owner when I was here last, but the person who approached me was not familiar.

"Can I help you?" She asked with a pleasant voice.

"Is Scallop here?" I asked.

"Yes of course, she is in the sewing room." She said with a smile. "My name is Sienna, can I assist you for the moment? We wouldn't want to take the boss away from her work until we need to."

"I am in need of a new set of riding leathers, as you can see." I said, raising my arms and slowly turning a circle. "This set has done me well in the year since I bought it here, but it is beginning to wear, and I think I have almost outgrown it."

"Of course." She said. "I thought I recognized Scallop's work." She turned and clapped her hands. Two young girls, twins in fact, appeared from a back room. "Pen, Peg, take this young lady to a dressing room and get her out of these clothes and get her measured and into a robe."

The two girls were a couple of years younger than I was, although again, with my height it appeared to be more. The changing room was spacious, more so than I remembered from my previous visit, and I was quickly naked in front of the twin girls. They seemed to be perpetually giggling, but they were quick and efficient in getting their measurements. Their touch was light as well, and I managed to avoid any embarrassment when my nipples popped to attention at the contact. They seemed not to notice, and were calling out measurements to each other in such a matter-of-fact way that I found it calming. I had to move my arms into several different positions, but even so they made short work of it and I was in a robe and through the curtain of the changing room within five minutes.

Sienna met me outside the changing room with a cup of Cintosara and another pleasant smile. I took the cup gratefully and smiled in return.

"Are you new to the shop?" I asked. "I'm sure I would remember such pleasant service from my previous visit."

"Yes, I've been here for six months now. The work in the back is fascinating, but I find I much more enjoy being out here working with the customers."

"And the twins?"

"My daughters. Their father is the local yard master for the Makarian Shipping Line."

There was a rustle from behind us and I turned to see Scallop Yrevesan coming towards me, giving me a head to toe examination as she did.

"River Dambro, is that you?"

"Yes it is mistress Yrevesan." I answered.

"Now I believe I told you to call me Scallop when you were last here. Have you forgotten already?"

"No Scallop. How are you?"

"Oh I am doing wonderfully well, thank you for asking. Finding Sienna has made my work here so much easier, and the customers rave about her!"

"Well, I have to add my compliments to theirs. She has made me feel very welcome here, since the moment I walked in the door."

"She is a treasure, as are you my dear. My! You've done some growing in the past year!" She said, motioning me to do a spin for her. I did a slow turn.

"Even if the old leathers weren't wearing out, I'm afraid I'd be outgrowing them soon anyway."

"You are going to be one of those tall and willowy beauties River Dambro, there is no doubt in my mind. Are you still lending your skills to the Sisterhood?"

"No, Mother Marigold has had to ask me to leave. There had been an incident that brought some unwanted animosity."

"I suspect that was not the only reason. You are too young and full of promise to wind up stuck being a Sister of the Weeping Road."

All the while we had exchanged these words she had her hands inside my robe, running her hands over me, gleaning an understanding of my new and changing body. It had seemed odd the first time she had done it, but I knew she was expressing her minor Talent this way. It was why her outfits were so sought after by the Sisters, among others.

"You are what, twelve years old?" She asked, I replied with a nod. "You are the size of most grown women, though not as filled out as you are going to be. I can easily modify some existing leathers for you. Lets pick a couple sets."

The three of us walked over to a wall where dozens of sets of leathers were hung on pegs, there were many dozens I realized, as each peg held three or four sets, each tied together.

"We don't have to worry about the under gear, I have some that is laced on the sides and easily adjustable. We'll have to ignore the men's leathers from now on for you too, you are beginning to bloom, and the chest would become more of a problem as you went along."

With a practiced eye she ran across several sections of pegs, pointing at a set here and a set there. Sienna would pull the set from the peg and add it to the collection. We wound up with six sets of leathers.

"Good enough. Lets go see what you think of these."

We soon had the six sets of leathers spread across a long table. Two of the sets were completely different from anything else, and each other, but the remaining sets were obviously designed to be sold in pairs. One of these paired sets in particular struck my eye, both done in a dark, reddish brown leather with small yellow and dark red highlights. Scallop had been watching my eyes as I looked.

"Those would be a good choice, particularly if you will be traveling." Scallop said. "They are a matched set of warm and cold climate leathers. The summer set has small nested breathing pockets sewn into them, see, to allow air to come in and help keep you cool. The winter set has a chamois lining that is mounted on a mesh of spun caper root fibers. The fibers help draw sweat away from you while protecting the leather itself from staining."

"I do like the look of them." I said.

"Good! Girls!" Scallop called. Pen and Peg were there immediately. "Measure her feet, do it carefully. I will make matching riding boots for her to go with these."

So I sat carefully while my feet were measured. The twins managed to stop giggling long enough to tell me that they had come to be almost as invaluable to the mistress of the shop as their mother, and that they had learned quickly under Scallop's watchful eye exactly how to take measurements in a way that best suited her.

"I have never seen it done more efficiently, I can say that for sure." I said, which brought back the giggles.

By the time we were done with all the measuring and selecting, it was getting close to time for midday meal. I came out of the dressing room with my old leathers on again and my belt pouch and weapons back in place.

"Ladies, do you close up shop for midday meal, or do you eat on the fly?" I asked.

"We usually let the girls go home and eat with their father." Sienna said. "Scallop and I either skip the meal or eat something we've brought in."

"I wasn't expecting things to go quite this quickly. My parents won't be expecting me to be home for midday meal, so I should have something here. I was thinking I would invite you all to share the meal with me."

"If you don't mind eating here in the shop, you could run down to the Blackpool and pick us all up whatever the inn is offering for lunch." Scallop suggested.

"An excellent idea." Sienna said. "But I think this is the kind of errand we should send the girls on. Pen, Peg?"

"Yes Ma'am." They responded in unison.

I gave them a gold coin, more than enough for three meals. I added a couple of silvers.

"See what they have for dessert and if its to your liking, get enough to feed us, with enough extra to take home with you for you two and your dad, okay?"

While they were running out the door, we made sure to clear a place behind the counter where we could eat without staining any of the merchandise. My two sets of leathers as well as all the measurements, including those of my feet, got taken to the back room.

"Did I hear Scallop mention that you had worked for the Sisterhood?" Sienna asked.

"Well, I wasn't under hire, but I did assist them in their work in exchange for a place to live. I was offered access to whatever training and education they had available for themselves, and I've been taking advantage of it for the past couple of years."

"Why aren't you still living at home with your parents then, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I know I look normal, but I am one of the Transformed." I answered. I waited for the look, and got it, but it went away quicker than I expected. "I went through Transformation two years ago, much earlier than normal."

"I confess to not having much experience with the transformed," Sienna said. "But I thought there was some sort of physical transformation, that your appearance would be altered, like the Brude or even the Ur."

"Most of the transformed are like that, it is true." I said. "There is mostly a distinction of Magic and degree between the Brude and the transformed. Some Transformed, like the Fenrim, are shape-shifters. They can change from one form to another. Even rarer are the ones like me. I do not change form at all, except under a very special condition."

"So its not just a matter of physical transformation then?"

"It seldom has anything to do with the actual physical transformation, that is usually only a superficial reflection of the inner change. There is always Magic involved, sometimes minor, sometimes major."

"You sound like an expert in the subject!"

"Well, it is a part of my life, so when I could, I learned as much about it as was available."

The twins were back with our meal then, and we broke off our conversation about the Transformed. Scallop came back from out of her work room and we gathered around the table we'd cleared and dug in. The girls had brought back roasted ribs of wood hog and grilled onions. The desserts were iced lemon cakes, and they had left excitedly for home with their share of them.

"River, are you fond of knives?" Scallop asked me, out of the blue as we ate.

"Yes, in a way." I answered. "I'm very good with throwing knives, though all I have are a mismatched collection of hand-me-downs."

"You and I will need to make a quick trip after we're done eating then. My talent is minor, but it is usually very reliable. As I fingered the leathers you had picked I kept seeing little knife holders sewn onto them."

That was how I found myself, twenty minutes later, walking alongside Scallop as we headed across the riverfront on a typically wet and smelly cobblestone street and into a shop called 'The Blade and Chain'.

"Wander? Wander? You here?" Scallop began hollering as soon as we were through the door.