Ceres laid on her bedroll before the crackling fireplace, the top half of her body bared except for a wide strip of fabric pulled across her breasts. Alden dabbed healing oil on the wound in her side. "Does this still hurt?"

She smiled at him. "Nay, you tend me well, my dear Alden."

He took hold of her hands and helped her sit up. She pulled her dress up to cover herself. 

He shook his head. "It still is hard to believe that Waithe would be your father. The odds of randomly finding him are, well, incredibly small. And that does not even consider that you did not even know he existed."

"I think it not random at all. The Spirits brought us together. But it is more than to just reunite a family. There is a much greater purpose. My destiny... our destiny... it still lies ahead."

Eira sat sorting her collection of marbles, arranging them in varied patterns on the rough wood floor. She separated them by size, material, color, or seemingly in random patterns that meant something to her.

Waithe turned the spits in the fireplace. On them roasted three feral chickens. The aroma made his mouth water. The rock fireplace and chimney provided just enough structural support to hold up that part of the roof above them in this abandoned house. It would do to keep them dry from the drizzling rain. The house laid partially hidden off the trail, but remains of past fires indicated they were not the first travelers to take shelter here.

Waithe took a moment to observe Ceres and Alden as they sat shoulder to shoulder, reading from one of the books taken from the Medice archives. They would sometimes turn to each other, one smile would bring forth a smile from the other. Their relationship grew, not only romantically but as close friends as well. In many ways, they were a good match for each other.

They had decided to stay here for a few days to wait out the rainy weather and give Ceres some time to fully heal. Ceres... Aala... the two names of his daughter, he again savored the joyful thoughts that reverberated through his mind. So much had this young woman changed his outlook on life, and so much more she may yet change the world.

Eira gathered up her marbles and sat cross-legged on her bedroll. She closed her eyes and within a moment Phy appeared before her. The Life Spirit's green light supplemented the fading golden rays of the setting sun and the glowing coals of the fire. This little girl, once lost, was now truly part of his family. Her ability to so easily call the Spirits amazed even Ceres.

Eira closed her eyes again and lifted her hands, small clouds of shimmering lights appeared above them. As Ceres taught her, she directed the Magic to the grapevines that wound their way up the far side of the house without a roof, the vines being all that kept the stacked rock walls from tumbling down. The vines began to twist and grow, spiraling outward among themselves in an elaborate slow dance. New green leaves sprouted along their length. One vine extended before her as if hoping to caress the girl who gave it new growth. Bunches of fruit sprouted and ripened before her. The Magic faded away as Eira opened her eyes. She plucked a plump purple grape and popped it into her mouth.

Waithe grinned at the little girl, who grinned back at him. "My dear Eira, between your wonderful Magic and Alden's skill with a bow, we have the makings of a fine feast."

The warm flickering fire in the fireplace, the patter of gentle rain on the roof, and comfortably full bellies made for a relaxing late evening. The four sat on the floor in a circle around a cracked wooden platter that served as a table. Only bones and stems remained of the chickens and grapes. Ceres nestled herself against Alden while Eira played again with her treasured bag of marbles.

Waithe had not felt so content for many years, only back when his family was whole. In a way, it was whole again, with one exception. His wife Fera - she was still gone. A twinge of grief swept through him.

Ceres sat up. She must have noticed the distant wistful expression on his face. "What troubles you, Waithe? Forgive me, I mean Father. This is all so new."

"Aye, that it does. But worry not about names, you may call me by either. The feelings of the heart be what matters. As for you, Aala be the little girl and Ceres be the woman now, both daughter in my heart." He paused. "But to address your question, joy fills my heart beyond words, but still, I wish Fera would share of this."

"Perhaps she does from the house of the Creator God." Ceres cast her eyes down. "I wish I remembered her." She looked back up with moistened eyes. "But in a way, I have through your visions. Would you tell me more of my mother? You said she was a Shaman?"

"Aye, daughter. She served in the house of the Lord of the Lake Lands in Tarne, under Lord Berne's father. Your mother found him detestable, so it was not too hard for me to woo her away. It caused quite a political storm when she joined me in Woest under Lord Girald. Only when she pledged to give up her life as a Shaman did the uproar quiet."

"You did not know she was of Tau? She would have been one of the last."

"I knew of the mark, but never what it truly meant. Your mother would not answer my questions about her past life as a Shaman and never spoke of Tau. I fear she experienced something terrible, something that drove her away from it." Waithe took a deep breath. That damned mark! Important may it be to the Realm, but it has given him so much grief. "There be something I do not understand. In all the time I knew you as the little girl Aala, you had not the mark of Tau. When did it come to you?"

Ceres shook her head. "I know not, Father. For all that I remember, the mark has been upon me. And only recently did I understand what it truly be."

Alden put a hand to his chin. "Ceres, something I recall from our readings in the Book of Tau... Was there not a way that the Tau may be transferred to another? If the existence of a Tau is so vital, would not your mother have given it to you when she feared for her life?"

Ceres jumped up, retrieved a leather-bound book from her bag, and opened before Alden and herself. As she passed her hand over it, writing appeared on the blank pages. "Here it is, the Grant of the Mark. Aye, Alden, it may indeed be passed to someone loved, with consent of the Time Spirit, Aon." She kissed him on the cheek.

She turned toward Waithe. "Father, the visions that come when I call the Life Spirits... Could they have captured that moment?"

"They have been from my memories and I did not witness any such transference of the Tau."

"Aye, but the visions be more vivid than any memory could be. Perhaps they may be directed at will, the Tau might allow such."

Waithe pulled his lips tight. "My daughter, a vision of that time may be painful. The transference would likely have been done near your mother's death, a desperate last act to preserve the line of Tau."

Ceres drew a deep breath. "I need to know. And I need to see her again."

The four gathered, seated on the floor, and held hands in a circle. Ceres turned to Waithe, sitting across from her, who nodded, and then to Alden, who squeezed her hand. She grinned at Eira, who returned the grin. "Help me call Phy, little one?"

The Spirit Phy popped in immediately, hovering above the circle and casting her gentle pulsing green light across the room. Ceres peeked up at the light with one eye open. "So, my mischievous friend, did you know?" The light bobbed up and down.

The shimmering sparks of the Magic spread out from a point just below Phy and enveloped them in the white light. A pleasant warm feeling spread through Waithe. Bright visions of his young daughter appeared to him in rapid sequence, as if flipping through a picture book. Ceres did have some control over them after all. A twinge of anxiety came to him in anticipation of a painful past he may come to witness.

Fera fled through the forest, running away from the flames that claimed her home. She clutched Aala against her chest as the little girl whimpered into her mother's shoulder. The sounds of angry men followed behind them.

Fera pulled her hood back, blonde hair that matched that of her daughter tumbled out. She kissed her daughter on the head. "Hush, little one. They come only for me."

The stars and a half-moon provided faint illumination as the light of the raging fire faded in the distance. A fallen branch blocking their path in the darkness sent them sprawling across the ground. Aala cried out in pain. Fera gathered her up and held her close, trying to quiet the cries.

"Over there!" One of the men yelled out.

Fera resumed her flight. Branches smacked against her and the little one as she fled in the darkness. The men who pursued her made no attempt at stealth, the sounds of them crashing through the brush grew ever nearer.

She slid down a rocky bank and waded across a cold creek, nearly falling across a boulder in the water. Aala shuddered in her mother's grasp. A dark silhouette, clothed in black against the night sky, appeared in the distance on the creek bank and pointed in their direction.

Fera continued downstream. Just before a clearing, she laid her daughter among the tall rushes at the stream edge, moonlight glinted through the tears on her face. "Aala, know that I love you always. I hope you can forgive me for the burden I now must give you."

Fera knelt, closed her eyes, and steadied her gasping breath. A faint wavy shimmer, one that seemed to bend the air, appeared around her and then the frightened Aala. She whispered, "Please Aon, have the Spirits look after her." Aala gasped as a dizzying sensation came over her. Fera drew back the top of Aala's dress to view the Tau mark that now appeared on her daughter's shoulder, barely visible in the moonlight.

She bent down and caressed Aala's cheek. "Be quiet, my little girl, and stay hidden until dawn. Would you do that for me?" A tear passed from mother to daughter. "Find your father when he returns. Tell him... Tell him I am sorry and that I love him."

Fera stood up, wiped her eyes, and resolved her expression. She turned one last time toward her daughter and silently mouthed the words 'I love you'. Then she ran out into the darkness.