Sky Woman: Book One of The Empress Saga

CHAPTER TEN

Winter came early that year, though it was a mild one. Snows over the sand and rocky hills approaching the desert made the terrain treacherous. Enfri rarely ventured that far from her home under even the best of conditions, so she kept her distance. She remembered Mother's final lesson to her.

Even in the midst of new spring, snow in the desert can cause a slow, lingering death.

With winter upon her, Enfri no longer needed to tend her garden, so she spent her time tending the people of the village. Whether they remembered her name or not, they needed their sky woman. When need arose, they would vaguely recall that they could go to the house at the end of the western road to find a cure for their ailments.

The sky woman of Sandharbor became a specter in their minds. The villagers rarely if ever spoke of her, but they knew that she was there. The elders distantly remembered brilliant Janwyn and her beautiful daughter Mierwyn, once called the jewel of Sandharbor. They still toasted to the name and memory of Yora, Hero of the Siege of Drok Moran. Anything else was smoke in the mist. Deebee's ward kept anything from after Yora's death from staying long in their thoughts.

They could remember the tradition of having a sky woman, but her name and face was lost to them.

Four babies were delivered during the winter months, and Enfri was delighted that all made it through their first weeks. Goodwife Thatcher even promised to name her new daughter for Enfri— swore by the winds that it would be so. It came as no surprise and only a mild disappointment when the girl was named Thalys instead by week's end.

The following spring brought hard times to Sandharbor. A sickness spread through the village, an epidemic of the golden flu. Enfri relocated into the village itself for a time. Her administrations saved many lives, though there was no shortage of newly dug graves.

Despite the horror of that time, Enfri couldn't help but feel her spirit soar. There, in the center of it all and among the villagers, there were days that she hardly needed to reintroduce herself. Several people came to know her on sight, even though it had been a day or two since they'd last seen her.

It wasn't to last. As soon as the epidemic was beaten, and the village's immediate need of her had passed, Enfri could see the signs of the ward again. People would blink when they saw her. Her name was slow in arriving on their tongues. Before long, the people that once toasted to her health in the inn saw her as a stranger and asked if she was newly arrived to Sandharbor. Enfri soon returned to her home on the desert's edge and cried herself to sleep.

Deebee came to her that night and sang her songs of Shan Alee. The dragon told her stories of when Enfri's father was young and the world hadn't seemed such a cruel place. Deebee encouraged Enfri to take heart that many would live because of what she had done. Though the villagers couldn't remember, there was one who knew all Enfri did, and she was proud beyond words.

Worst was that summer. Enfri went into the town to purchase food and supplies. She knew every face. She knew their names and who they held dear. Everything they were, she was privy to. Enfri loved them fiercely, had labored and toiled on their behalf, but they did not know her.

It was like stepping into a storybook. Every character and deed was known to her in exacting detail, but in the end, she was not a part of it. She was nothing more than an observer.

It was during that trip to Sandharbor that Enfri heard the news. The Smith family's eldest son was to be married to the cooper's daughter. Other intentions forgotten, Haythe was betrothed to someone else.

That evening, Deebee asked again if Enfri would rather the spell be broken, and again, Enfri refused. She realized the necessity of this sacrifice. If she said that it never grieved her, she'd have been lying, but it kept her safe from the king's assassins. Fear kept the ward in place, and Enfri also feared a time that she wouldn't be strong enough to deny Deebee's offer to break the ward.