Emalia sat down on the bench in Market Square with a huff. What in the hell just happened? It wasn't possible that a man who had been proclaimed dead, who had sent her mother into fits of crazies, suddenly rose from the dead and started walking again, was it?
The man came in the house like he owned it. Well, he said he lived there and was to see Sanria, his wife. Emalia was face to face with a stranger, but eventually, she could feel from him a deep sense of honesty. She knew he was telling the truth.
When her mother saw him... it was confirmed. Rarely had her mother ever come out of her ramblings, and suddenly, like a miracle - Sanria was healed. Suddenly, Emalia - the girl who had cared for her mother for most of her own life – was a ghost against the black night. Nothing.
She should be happy, but knowing her mother didn't need her anymore and knowing her position was usurped by a man she didn't even know (not to mention seeing her mother actually in the arms of any male figure), made her a little jealous.
Her mom talked to her briefly after Thasmudyan had gone to bathe. Isn't it wonderful? she had asked. "Aren't you happy? she had asked. It's your father! You finally get to meet him. I'm so excited!" she had said. But no matter what Sanria asked or said, Emalia had only nodded and put on a happy face. What right had she to place sadness on such an unbelievable, incredible, miraculous event?
Neither of them noticed as she slipped out of the cavern. Dressed in her white robe and cloak, she rather stood out against the black, brown, and green of the forest. She had not been to Westbridge very often and she really didn't believe the stories about it being such a terrible place. Her hope was that she would find someone that would need her as her mother once did. Surely, someone would appreciate a young healer, wouldn't they?
Scanning the bustling square, she let out a sigh and waited.
