The Creator's Intent

"I mean you no harm, sir, I swear it on my fath…. Well, that would be meaningless, now. I swear it on my own life, sir. I just want to warm myself by your fire. I… I know that… that a price… must be paid, and I… I am willing if I must, for I am that cold."

"Come into the light and show yourself," Jaraen instructed. "There will be no price paid for warmth that would be wasted on the far side of the fire from me anyway, young one."

"I am not that young," the disembodied and clearly youthful voice insisted. They stepped closer to the campfire, though, revealing tattered, shabby clothing barely covering the small body. "I was told that I am old enough to do as you might demand of me. I may never have done it before, thank the Creator, but I do have a woman's body if you desire it. Well, almost a woman's body," she added as she crossed her arms under the tiny bumps on her chest in an effort to make them appear larger.

"Cease that display at once, child," Jaraen ordered. "If I did desire such distractions, you most certainly would not be a target of those affections," he scoffed. "You will bear no ill advances whilst you are with me, little one."

"Stop calling me little," she barked defensively. "I can and have defended myself before, you know. I say it not to brag, but I have slain a man for trying to take what I have offered to you. I only offer now due to my need, not because I want a gray-haired old man pawing at me."

"Gray-haired? Old?" Jaraen sputtered. "Know you not that you will get better treatment if you do not try to bite the hand that offers you food, little monster?"

"You would share your food?" the girl blurted eagerly. "Please, great sir, I meant no disrespect. I will gladly all that you say," she begged as she began to disrobe.

"I said to cease that unseemly display," Jaraen snapped. "Cover yourself, child. Are you not cold enough as it is?" She wrapped her wrags around herself once more as Jaraen stood and stepped back from the fire a bit. "I grant that my hair may have lived a bit beyond the warm wood tones of its youth," he mused and studiously ignored the girl's hastily covered snort. "That does not mean I wish to be told of it by a slip of a girl. I have tunics older than you, child."

"That I doubt not, great sir," the girl said, trying her best to not sound sarcastic. She failed miserably.

"Where are those that brought you into the world and failed to teach you manners?" Jaraen asked her grumpily. "How is it that you travel these dark and dangerous woods alone?"

"It takes great darkness to hide from great evil," the girl mumbled as she turned at the fireside to warm more of herself.

"That it does, child," Jaraen agreed. "Well, as one hider to another, I bid thee welcome to my humble home, such as it is. Stay by the fire and drive away your chills. I have a traveling cloak to spare if you will allow me to call my friend that I may retrieve it from his keeping. Pray do not tell him, but I do not think it suits him as well as he might believe."

"I thought you were alone, sir," the girl said, suddenly clearly nervous and starting to shake, this time not from the cold.

"In a manner of speaking, I am," Jaraen told her soothingly. "This is another secret I beg of you to keep from my friend. He thinks himself fine company, indeed, no matter that he is not one to have a peaceful talk with around the fire at night." He gave a short whistle, and a huge, strong stallion pranced into the light of the campfire. He twirled a bit, showing off the human traveling cloak that was laid over his neck and back, the hood not quite covering his ears. As Jarean, and no doubt Endetax, as well, had hoped, they heard giggles of delight from the young girl by the fire, at the horse's antics. "Yes, yes my friend, the cloak is quite striking on you. Certainly, the color brings out your eyes most beautifully." The girl was outright laughing now, as the enormous horse played as a bard would to the crowd. "As you can see, my friend, we have a guest whose need for the cloak is a touch more dire than your own."

Endetax walked near to the girl and sank to his front knees in front of her, pulling the cloak with his teeth toward her. She threw her arms around the animal's neck as far as she could reach and hugged him tightly. "I thank you, fine sir, for sharing your beautiful cloak with me," she said graciously, as she grabbed it to throw around her shoulders. She looked back up to the horse than and gasped. "This horse belongs to the Falholwyn. How did you steal him?" the girl demanded. "Fear not, Archael, I will see you returned to your true master or die in the effort," she told the horse as she drew a small dagger from the folds of her meager clothing.

"Peace, child," Jaraen soothed. "I have no quarrel with you, and no wish to harm you, even in my own defense. This great one is stolen, just as you say, but not from the temple. He came away from Corbrin with me when I escaped the Black Wizard. Of a truth, I sometimes think it is he that stole me rather than the other way around." At this, Endetax nodded his head vigorously, causing both the humans to laugh. "You say the animal you know belongs to the high priest? I cannot imagine that he whom I have heard so much about would ever willingly part with his companion who is the brother of our friend here, even to give him to the priest in exchange for safety within the temple grounds."

"Father K'Laad has always had Archael," the girl explained. "He arrived at the temple citadel riding the largest and most beautiful horse any had ever seen…." Here Endetax snorted in clear derision. "In defense of those that told me the tale, and myself, none of us had ever seen you, magnificent sir." There was another snort, this one of surrender and acceptance, apparently, as Endetax lowered himself fully to the ground beside the girl who immediately snuggled up beside him happily. "Oh, I see the difference now," the girl squealed and pointed to the horse's head. "You have the most beautiful star on your nose; much more attractive than Archael, I am sure. Do not let him know I have said it, though. I would never wish to make him feel badly. I spent much time in the stables before my father left the temple compound in support of the false one, Vetar. You know, the falholwyn sometimes snuck from his lessons to spend time with his four-legged friend, some of those times even after he became Master of Novices and was meant to be teaching the lessons. He asked me not to tell on him, but I think it is right to share with you," she laughed softly as she hugged the horse.

"Where is your father now?" Jaraen asked carefully, already starting to send out his magic to check the surrounding area for any other creatures not native to the woods.

"My father was slaughtered by the Black Wizard just as he killed Vetar, once Vetar and my father had secured his entrance into the citadel," the girl whispered, but there was little sadness in her voice. "A great and horrible battle followed."

"NOOOO!!" Jaraen cried out in anquish. "I left off my search believing them both to be safe in the temple. Tell me, please, they are not dead."

"When I last saw, there was not a stone left standing of the citadel, and evil forces were entering the Temple Compound, itself," the girl sadly informed him. Jaraen collapsed in sobs between the front legs of Endetax as the horse laid his head on the man's shoulder, both of them in heartbroken grief. "Good sirs, please still your hearts," the girl pleaded. "The one building that withstood their advance was the Temple itself, the great hall. No spell he cast, no weapon he threw against it could so much as leave a mark."

"Could they still live?" Jaraen gasped.

"In my early childhood, my father shared that there is a secret tunnel from that chamber leading to the crypts below the temple compound. Vetar would no doubt have known of that tunnel as well, but only three men, the sitting falholwyn, the temple archivist, and my father knew that from the crypts led another secret passage to these very woods. My father's position in the temple was to care for the crypts, and he thought to pass that job to his son, but only had me. As I was but a girl, he thought my knowing of it would mean nothing."

"So, the inhabitants of the temple compound could have…."

"Since the time of the atha falholwyn, the passage has been there for the safe exit from the temple of any who sought escape from… whatever they felt compelled to leave," she told him. "I thought to use it myself some days when the men and boys of the temple made comment on my mother dying while birthing me, instead of a boy." She sat up a little straighter and explained further, "As I ran from the ruins of the citadel, I could see women and children and even horses being led into the great hall. It was my knowledge of that passage that led me to these woods after I escaped from the man to whom my father had pledged me."

"Is he the man you spoke of earlier? The one who sought to… harm you?"

"Yes, he was," she confirmed. "Will you turn me over to the prisons now that you know I have murdered he who was to be my husband?"

"Certainly not, my dear, brave girl," Jaraen assured her. "I will congratulate you on your escape and honor your spirit. If I had a daughter, I would only hope that she could be as brave and strong."

"My father would have thrown me to the streets, once he was done beating me for my insolence and treachery."

"How could it be treachery to defend yourself, my lady?"

"The man was to receive a small fortune as my bride price, in exchange for the status my father would gain as his kinsman by marriage. When he and I saw my father slain, he ran from the citadel, dragging me with him. He said that though he would not be paid, my honor would not be damaged if he took a penniless orphan to his bed." The girl continued talking in a quiet, shallow, empty voice. "As he dragged me through the remains of the places I had known as a child, I tripped over the body of one of the temple defenders. I took this dagger from the fallen warrior and with it, I gained my freedom to hide, starve, and freeze in this forest, trying in vain to find the former inhabitants of the temple."

"If your father ever considered such an odious man for you, then he does not deserve the title he was given by your birth. If I had a daughter, she would be free to marry whom she chooses when she chooses," Jaraen told her firmly.

"Would that you were my father," the girl mumbled.

"What is your name child?" Jaraen asked softly. "Have you no one at all to care for you?"

"I am Sekana, and my mother passed soon after my birth. My father's body rots in the rubble that was the temple citadel. I was their only child."

"Then I offer myself and Endetax here as traveling companions, little one," Jaraen offered.

"I told you to stop calling me little," Sekana growled.

"Forgive me, my lady," Jaraen told her. "Perhaps when you have grown taller than me and our friend Endetax here, then perchance I will think to call you something else," he said sarcastically.

"Well, perhaps I do have some growing still to do," she admitted with a blush. "I will never be his size for I am not a horse, though my father always said I smelled like one since I spent so much time in the stables taking care of them."

"Well, Endetax may well like you more than he does me, for I fear I did not spend that much time in the stables," the man told her. "He will no doubt relish any care and attention you can give him that I have not."

"Please tell me you at least brush him every day," Sekana blurted. She ran a hand over the horse's side and frowned when she pulled a twig from his coat. "Fear not, Endetax, Sekkie is here now. I will take such good care of you," she said as she hugged the animal again. "I will not ignore you like some people."

"I never ignored," Jaraen protested. "I simply didn't know what or how to do any differently."

"I would think that brushing him so he doesn't have burs and sticks trapped in his hair would be simple to observe if you weren't blind in your old age."

"Blind? Old?" Jaraen gasped. "You are a very unpleasant child," he said with a pout. He walked over and ruffled her hair affectionately though. "You are just the kind of mouthy, unpleasant child I have always dreamed of having someday." Endetax nudged him away at that point, however. "Yes, yes, old friend, I will cease drawing your squire's attention from her duties to you, my great liege, king of all horses. There is no need to shove me about, you big brute."

Sekana giggled as she went back to stroking the horse gently, removing the twigs and leaves from his thick coat. Jaraen, meanwhile, had turned away so that she could not see what he did. He waved his staff over two of the larger twigs she had cast aside, transforming them into brushes.

"Perhaps I can offer you these, as I now understand there is a need for them," the wizard told the girl as he offered her the brushes.

"Have you had these all along? No, of course, you haven't else your own hair would not be such a fright," she asked and answered herself.

"Not the response I thought to get," Jaraen said pointedly. "Wait. My own hair… a fright you say? The insolence of the forest imp. Woe to me, that I must spend the rest of my days in such company. How shall I live? Cursed to have the truth thrown carelessly into my face by a tiny little shrew whose soul seems as black as her locks for the rest of my pitiful life."

"Do you mean that? All your days and the rest of your life?" Sekana whispered in disbelief.

"Well, I certainly hope my daughter will not abandon me in my feeble years, someday long in the future when I truly am old, for I am not now, despite her opinions on the matter."

"Never will I leave you, father," the girl wept as she threw herself into his arms, embracing him tightly.

"There is one thing you must know about me, child of the temple, before you take your place as child of my heart," Jaraen said as he rubbed her back soothingly. "Many that proclaim loyalty to your temple hold such as me in the lowest regard. We have powers they do not and believe we are all as dark and evil as Corbrin."

"You are a wizard, as the falholwyn and his son?" she asked excitedly.

"You fear this not, though you have seen with your own eyes the destruction Corbrin has wrought on your citadel?"

"But you are not like him, else you would not hide from him," Sekana reasoned. "You are like the falholwyn and his son, else you would not seek them. You use your powers not in the darkness as the Black Wizard. You are of the light as they are."

"Kielaad knows of his child?" Jaraen gasped. "How can this be?"

"Do you not know me, and we have chosen one another just as they have done?" Sekana asked him curiously. "Has your mind already begun to slip, old father?"

"Mind your tongue," Jaraen snapped and poked his tongue out at the girl who giggled. "My mind has not slipped. You say that Kielaad is the high priest and has chosen Jedaen as his son?" he asked for confirmation as well as understanding. "And they both retain their powers, even as they have both embraced temple life?"

"Archivist M'Selah did insist at the investiture of Father K'Laad as the new falholwyn that he bear along with the regalia of his new office, his staff of powers as well. It was Jedaen who brought forth the staff wrapped in his own cloak. The new Holy One was frightened for the boy, but Jedaen bore no ill from the touch of the staff."

"Well, he would not, would he?" Jaraen said dismissively. "He could take up my staff as well, were the need to arise. Neither of them should know why this can be, however. Only I know why the boy can touch his fathers' staves."

"Does this mean that as your child, I can lay hands on your stick?" Sekana asked him.

"Pray do not phrase it so, child," the man blushed. "It sounds… wrong."

"Oh, it does, father," the girl admitted looking away, blushing as well, but only for a moment. "Hold, you said fathers' staves. That is more than one."

"While I do not know that you could bear the touch of my powers, as you have none of your own, I see that you possess an intelligence beyond that of a simple stable girl."

"Jedaen taught me to sneak into the archives where we could find the hidden jar of old M'Selah's treats. They were a candy made from honey. He would only ever take one, but he would give them to by the handfuls as he knew I did not always get to eat as much as some of the other children around the temple grounds."

"It sounds as if he already has considered you his younger sister in his heart," Jaraen smiled. "Perhaps it is his powers that have led us together, my darling daughter. He wanted it to be, so now it has come to pass."

"Are you saying that Jeddy is truly my brother now?" Sekana blurted excitedly.

"Hold your tongue," Jaraen cautioned. "There is but one other who knows of this truth, and I have taken the memory from him that he be safe from the anger of Corbrin."

"Father, to whom would I speak of it?" the girl asked, gesturing to the forest around them. "I am sure Endetax knows already, and there is none else around us."

"Dark magic has dark ways, love, never forget that," Jaraen told her. "I never dreamed that he would be able to ensnare me into his service so easily and completely that it took me years to break free, and still I am hunted, no doubt. It would be foolish of me to think that he only goes after Kielaad. I have escaped him before he could kill me, therefore, he must find me and finish his job. It is the way he thinks."

"I have defended myself before, and I shall do so again, if need be, Father, but I will not lose what I have dreamed of having my whole life."

"Dreamt of it for all that long time, have you?" Jaraen smirked.

"I have never had a father who teased before. I do not think I like it," Sekana pouted, but she still snuggled up to Jaraen and Endetax after they had eaten, and soon fell asleep with a happy sigh .