Devils on Starfall Isle

6

'I'm leaving tomorrow morning,' said Tira.

Verity had known in her heart that the woman was due to leave; but it still hurt her. She tried to hide her emotion, looking away; but Tira was clever and quick.

'You could come with me,' she said.

Verity picked up her knitting, searched for the correct response. She was torn.

'Why don't you?' persisted Tira.

Verity wanted to stop herself, but she couldn't; at that moment Goodwife Holly Weaver had come from milking the goats, and laughed in the evening sunlight with one of her friends; and Verity glanced at her, before looking away.

'Ah,' said Tira. 'It's like that, is it? Well the heart won't take orders from the head, as my mother always used to say.'

Verity blushed crimson, and tried to concentrate on her knitting.

'I don't know what to do...' she murmured.

'Girl, there's no happy ever after with that one,' said Tira, gently. 'But I understand. I was young once, too. I don't know what's going to happen here, but it won't be pretty. Here's what I'll do: tonight I'll teach you some charm skills, little things to protect you. Maybe it'll be enough. But, one more thing: you know the runes, now. We don't just use them for casting. We use them for writing too.'

'What...?' asked Verity, confused.

'Yes, writing. You think that it's just men that can pin words on a page? No, we do too. This is a secret, though, between us sisters. Each rune has a sound; you split a word into sounds, and you carve the runes for them, and that's it. Easy as that. We don't write on parchment, though. We carve signs for each other on rocks, on wood, on the bones of the world itself. I'll write for you at the docks, and again at the town of Dort on the mainland. Maybe you'll find me again. But remember: this is a true secret. Thus isn't like the magic, which anyone can get if they want it. This is the fabric that binds us together, us women of the earth, and you must be careful who you teach.

'Now, put that knitting down. We have a long night ahead of us.'