Arialla ought to have found the aroma of fresh-baked bread calming, but it wasn't quite right, not the same as at home -- different types of bread, she supposed. That set her on edge when she was already a bit nervous. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down. She was starting to get a bit more used to life in Caido -- she still wasn't happy to be here, but she no longer cried every time she saw Torchline's ocean, or wandered through Hollowed Grounds with a bruised expression on her face. She'd managed to go for hours without thinking that she ought to be home right now -- and then she'd remember and feel worse, as if she'd forgotten her grieving family.
So it was about time she got to work on her whole getting-home project.
She'd managed to make an offering for Safrin: a lucky beachcombing find, a dark and iridescent shell with silver specks -- like the night sky, or at least Arialla hoped Safrin would see it that way -- formed the centerpiece of a silver necklace. On either side of the shell hung matched pairs of small stars in silver and mother of pearl. The silver chain and stars Arialla had traded for here in the Hollowed Grounds, where shells did have some value as decoration. Nothing on the necklace was expensive, really -- Arialla doubted the chain or stars were real silver -- but it was pretty, and it had taken a good week of work for her to find and trade for all the pieces. She had new muscles in her legs and new sunburn on her back from walking Torchline's beach; she could only hope that Safrin would be pleased.
But a nagging voice in the back of her mind wouldn't accept that hope, so she'd come to the bakery seeking a second opinion. As Samuel had suggested, it wasn't hard to find, and in asking for directions she'd learned of Amalia's title: Shield of Safrin. Back home, a title like that might rule a city -- so no wonder Arialla felt a little intimidated at the prospect of meeting Amalia. But she was a consecrated priestess herself -- if only of a small town temple, she had been blessed directly by her god -- so she squared her shoulders and walked into the bakery.
She then immediately unsquared her shoulders, because that was a curiously aggressive posture to adopt in a bakery. Instead she approached the counter and said, "Excuse me: I'm looking for Amalia, Shield of Safrin. I ... was hoping for some advice about Safrin."
(Amalia )
So it was about time she got to work on her whole getting-home project.
She'd managed to make an offering for Safrin: a lucky beachcombing find, a dark and iridescent shell with silver specks -- like the night sky, or at least Arialla hoped Safrin would see it that way -- formed the centerpiece of a silver necklace. On either side of the shell hung matched pairs of small stars in silver and mother of pearl. The silver chain and stars Arialla had traded for here in the Hollowed Grounds, where shells did have some value as decoration. Nothing on the necklace was expensive, really -- Arialla doubted the chain or stars were real silver -- but it was pretty, and it had taken a good week of work for her to find and trade for all the pieces. She had new muscles in her legs and new sunburn on her back from walking Torchline's beach; she could only hope that Safrin would be pleased.
But a nagging voice in the back of her mind wouldn't accept that hope, so she'd come to the bakery seeking a second opinion. As Samuel had suggested, it wasn't hard to find, and in asking for directions she'd learned of Amalia's title: Shield of Safrin. Back home, a title like that might rule a city -- so no wonder Arialla felt a little intimidated at the prospect of meeting Amalia. But she was a consecrated priestess herself -- if only of a small town temple, she had been blessed directly by her god -- so she squared her shoulders and walked into the bakery.
She then immediately unsquared her shoulders, because that was a curiously aggressive posture to adopt in a bakery. Instead she approached the counter and said, "Excuse me: I'm looking for Amalia, Shield of Safrin. I ... was hoping for some advice about Safrin."
(
