It was a benign day in early spring when maman needed an errand in town. It was a simple task: go to the healer and ask for some elderberries and herbs, of whom I had never heard the names of. Maman would have fetched the items herself as she should have been in town to work, but a slight ailment kept her and Erinna home.

   I had volunteered straightway when I heard the errand was in town. Feria, of course, offered her services, but she was already preoccupied taking care of Erinna in maman's sted. It always made maman reluctant to send us outside the house farther than the well, but she had no other option.

   As I prepared to leave, eager to break into the open air out of that stuffy house, maman pulled me aside, her brown eyes boring deeply into mine.

   "No idling, Aelita. No mischief either."

   I nodded. "Yes, maman."

   She didn't soften her voice.

   "You go right to the healer and ask for those herbs then come straight back. No wandering or slothfulness. Make haste."

   "Yes, maman."

   She was snipper than usual due to her discomfort, but eventually released my arm allowing me to hurry out the house on my way to Highloch.

   At first, I heeded her command and didn't linger on the scenery around me, but soon bad habits caught up and I dawdled. The world had been encased in snow for so long and I had been chained to the house and forest out back for too long. The snow had melted some time ago so the path wasn't too muddy or slick. The air was crisp and the breeze refreshing, blowing through my hair making it weightless.

   As I arrived in town, I ignored another of her commands- I wandered aimlessly though I knew where the healer resided. The town was in full bustle, starting up after a long winter. Words were called out but split into phrases by the cries of animals and pounding of blacksmith hammers. Smells burnt my nose in an interesting blurry. I may have gotten in the way of a few busy townsfolk for they gave me brisk, chiding glares before continuing in their systematic tasks. Making my way through the heart of town, I arrived where I needed to be in the not as bustling edge of town where the healer could be found.

   Maman had given me two coins and a block of cheese to pay the healer with. She gave me a stern lecture on being a responsible steward.

   I had confused myself a bit by taking the short way through the crowded town square and now had to search around for the house. Eventually, I did remember myself and spotted the house at the end of the road. Since I was already dwindling on time, I finally began to make haste, running down the road, careless of any other occupants in the way. That was a mistake, proven when I collided with a person going the opposite direction.

   "Oof!" I fell to the ground in a patch that was a little muddy.

   The person I had bumped into didn't sway in their footing, but they did stumble backward, dropping a few scrolls and books.

   "What rush, child!?"

   Immediately, I scrambled to collect the books and scrolls, afraid the dampness of the road would ruin them.

   "We don't run in these parts, child." The woman croaked.

   "I'm sorry." I handed over the books and scrolls, keeping my eyes to the ground, not realizing I still clutched a book to my chest.

   She accepted the items, dusting herself off though she never fell. Although my eyes were trained to the ground, I could see she was a wider woman, robust and burly for a woman. She wasn't pretty by any means, but she wasn't ugly. Short, curly brown hair hung in ringlets around her face. Lines scored her face, but her voice sounded younger than her physical tributes.

   "Why are you such in a rush, child?"

   Grinding the tip of my shoe in the dirt, I sheepishly muttered a reply so low it couldn't be heard.

   "Speak up, child."

   "I'm going to the healer to collect some herbs for my maman."

   She made an approving sound of understanding.

   "Just be careful, child. Not everyone takes reckless children so easily."

   Though she sounded nice enough, I continued to feel embarrassed, holding onto the volume in my hands, staring down at the leather covering. It was then, looking down at the book, that I noticed a startling feature on it. The gold-threaded words of a name were finely written in a familiar hand. The two biggest things that were striking to me were the M and B starting off the names.

   Without thinking about it, I strained to read the name aloud to myself, sounding it out but hardly able to decipher the elaborate script.

   "Minryn Buchane."

   "That would be me." The woman said, reminding me she was still present and I still had her book.

    A new wind of embarrassment flew through me as I quickly handed the book over to her.

   "I'm sorry, ma'am. I'll keep my eyes alert next time."

   Just as I began to hurry away, the woman pulled me back in place by the arm. I worried I was in trouble. Maman would be very crossed if she discovered the mischief I had caused.

   Before I could even open my mouth to speak, the sturdy woman spoke up.

   "How'd you do that?"

   "I'm sorry?"

   "Look up at me, child. Straight in my beady eyes."

    I obeyed, forcing my shame-ridden ones to look up into hers. She wore no visible anger on her face, but I was still nervous.

    "Now tell, how did you know how to say my name?" She asked, an eyebrow arched.

    "I- I don't-"

    "A clear answer now, child."

    "I sounded it out, ma'am. I didn't know right away how to say it because it's a name so I sounded it out."

    Her eyes narrowed and I shrank again, my gaze falling to the wayside.

    "Why'd you read it out loud? What's so special about me name?"

    "Uh, nothing impo-"

    "Eye contact, girl, look up at me and tell me now."

     I did so.

    "I saw your name before, or the first letters of your initials. MB. I saw it at collection on the final paper."

    "You read?"

     I was about to nod but thought she might scold me for not using my voice so I gave a verbal response. "Yes, ma'am, I try."

    She glanced out for a moment before looking back at me, rubbing her knobby chin then shooting me a sideways glance.

    "Read it again." She held out the book to me.

    Peering down at it, I inspected the name again then looked up at her to answer.

    "Minryn Buchane."

    "You can't read cursive, child? That's not a B at all. My Ps be looking like Bs now?"

    I shrank yet again. Noticing this, she lightened her voice.

    "You got me first name right. My surname is Punome."

    Minryn Punome. I never imagined I would meet the person who wrote their name on the paper that day.

    "Why'd you take such notice of my name on that paper?"

    "Yours was the only real signature."

    "Oh? So you can read, but not cursive."

     I nodded yes, but she opened the book filled with finely written notes anyway and asked if I could read any of it. I got through short terms and words, but not much. It was like learning to read all over again.

    "Can you write?" She asked, closing the book.

    "Yes, ma'am."

    "You can't write in cursive, can you?"

    "No, ma'am, not like yours. It's so detailed and eloquent."

    "Why are you out here, girl?"

     I looked up at her, sure I had already stated my business, but I replied back anyway.

    "To visit the healer and get some herbs from them for my maman."

    She merely shook her head in dismay, seemingly thinking upon something.

    "You have no servants for that?"

    "Why would I have servants, ma'am?" I blinked, surprised at such an assumption. I surely wasn't dressed as a prominent child would be.

    "You have a tutor. Not a very efficient one, might I add, who fails at teaching you how to read and write in cursive."

    Again, I was lost as to how she could look at me and come to the conclusion I was wealthy enough to afford a tutor.

    "I don't have a tutor, ma'am. My family can't afford one."

    With an eyebrow arched, she gave me a look riddled with suspicion and slight disbelief.

    "You live off a farmer's pay?"

    "Yes, ma'am."

    "Your maman or father teach you how to read and write?"

    "No, ma'am, they don't know how to read or write either, they don't believe it to be helpful for them. I'm the only one who reads and writes in my household."

    Now she was in total disregard for my words, waving me off with a scolding look I'd expect maman to give me if I make up a farfetched tale.

   "Then how on the good Fates' names did you learn such things, child?"

   "I taught myself, ma'am."

   "Nonsense. I'm daft, but not a daft fool yet."

   "I did. I taught myself to write with a speller and read the letters then make words. I swear my life on that truth."

   Her expression was still a skeptical one.

   "You taught yourself how to read and write with a speller?"

   "That's what they're used for."

   "If I wasn't a devil's vixen," She muttered. "If you're telling the truth, child, which I'm partially prone to believe, then me next question to you would be why?"

    I was confused at her question so she clarified.

    "If you're born into a farmer family where they don't value such things, why learn it? Why put yourself through it?"

    The answer, to me at least, was as simple as the sky was blue.

    "I enjoy learning things I don't understand. My papa owns a book and I saw words but I wanted to know what they meant. I didn't know I'd teach myself to read when I picked the speller, but I eventually did."

   The woman, Minryn, rubbed her thick, callous fingers over her knobby chin again, pondering to herself. I knew time was fleeting, but it was considered rude to walk away from a higher authority without proper dismal, so I stayed, waiting silently as she thought on.

   Finally, she dropped her hand, her eyebrow still arched in an almost question-like expression and spoke.

   "You like to learn the unknown?"

   "Yes, ma'am. Me and my older sister."

   "It sounds like my cursive intrigues you. You want to learn how to write and read such things? Handwriting even more refined than mine?"

   "Yes, ma'am."

   "I find you a genuine girl. I would be willing to spare some of my time to teach you such things. As the issue is, I'm in want of an apprentice and you seem a patient, studious type."

   My mind spun. An apprenticeship? A chance to learn even more under someone knowledgeable in books and words? I was excited beyond compare, my eyes alight with passion, eagerness coursing through me. It was when I began to open my mouth did my mind catch up to me and I closed my mouth, sobering myself.

   "I don't know if my parents would allow it."

   "They must see the talent in you."

   "They do," I said. "But we live quite a ways from town with no way of easy transportation. My maman and youngest sister come to town for work each day, save the seventh day, and I stay behind to keep house with my older sister."

    The woman took this into consideration, thinking again before speaking.

   "How old are you, child?"

   "Eight, ma'am."

   "How old is your youngest sister whom your mother takes into town?"

   "She turned six this past winter season."

   "Did your mother ever take your eldest sister to town when she was six?"

   I thought on it then answered, "No, ma'am. My maman stopped taking her into town when she was five and I was four."

   "Why then does she keep her youngest with her so long? Is there problem with the child? Is she slow?"

   "No."

   "If the child is six and she kept you older two home by five and four, why then can she not leave her youngest home with the eldest why you study under me?"

   It was a fair point, but I still worried about the rejection. She continued, noticing my still present uneasiness.

   "I wouldn't keep you here the whole day. You could come at midday then leave with your maman back home. I wouldn't even summon you every day."

   The more I thought about, the more hopeful I became that such a thing could be arranged. I would beg papa and maman for this chance- I'd never receive another like it.

   "You really want me to be your apprentice?" I asked in awe.

   She gave me a sure smile for the first time.

   "I know a gift when I see it and you, child, are a gift."

   I returned her smile with a gappy one of my own.

   "Where do you live?" I asked.

   "Further down this road, the last house tucked behind some honeysuckle bushes. A quaint-looking cottage."

   I nodded enthusiastically, a wind of delight roaring through me. I shone with the desire of knowledge, knowledge from a teacher.

   "Thank you, ma'am."

   A waved hand. "Not ma'am, no, none of that. They call me Minryn. It's the name I was given, it's the name you shall call me and know me by. Now yours. What do they call you, child?"

   "Aelita."

   "Surname?"

   "Domshov."

   She nodded affirmatively, shifting the books in her arms.

   "It was a pleasure running into you, Aelita. I pray we cross paths again and give my regards to your mother and her illness."

   "Thank you."

   When she mentioned maman, I remembered with alarm why I was there in the first place. I needed to hurry before time escaped from me again. Still, even rushing to the healer's house, it was the most elated I had been in a while. The opportunity to learn such things under someone so clearly skilled was more valuable to me than all the riches Edalirwen held.

   I collected what herbs and berries I needed from the healer, paying my dues then hurrying back to the house. Before I was at the door, I stopped to catch my breath so as not to reveal myself. But it was of no use. Maman believed I was gone for much longer than I needed to be, and with her discomfort worsen by the lack of remedies, she upbraided me severely, sending me to bed with no supper or story that night. I was wise enough to keep the matter of my apprenticeship quiet until the next night when maman was better and we all sat warm by the hearth.

    They reacted with amazement that I, at such a young age and level, was offered such a thing. Maman immediately deferred how I feared she would, shaking her head and stating the difficulties that would result from it. I knew she wanted the best for me, but she was a natural worrier. Papa, on the other hand, though not fully the other side of the spectrum, was more lenient and reasonable.

   "It would cause too much upheaval," Maman said. "Besides, she is too young for an apprenticeship. She is needed to keep house. She can't do that if she's learning her letters."

   "Zariel, she is capable enough to perform her tasks and learn."

   "I have no doubt in her capabilities, but she is eight. Eight years old."

   Papa had to strengthen his argument.

   "She told you herself, she wouldn't be staying all day in town just the afternoons. She rises early, does her work for the day then hurries into town."

   Maman's face was hard and determined. "What about Feria? She is only nine, it is not right she stay here alone to carry over the chores."

   "She will not be alone. Aelita will be with her in the morning and Erinna the whole day."

   Erinna beamed at the chance to stay home with us rather than trudge into town every day like she had for the last six years.

   Maman's doubts and resolutions remained, unswayed. Papa gave me a sympathetic face as if telling me the matter was closed. It wasn't until maman and Erinna went to town, as usual, Feria and I at home, my mood sullen at a missed opportunity, that she came home, her headstrong decision reversed like the flip of a coin.

   Apparently, as I enquired later, maman had been confronted in town by Minryn. I never learned the details of their exchange, but Minryn must have talked so highly of my knowledge that it stirred maman, causing her mind to shift completely. From that moment on, I would excel under the mentorship of Minryn.

   I started my apprenticeship, which was more like a private tutoring session when I turned nine, which wasn't too far in the future. Every day, I'd wake up with my sisters, even Erinna who now stayed at home with us, and completed the chores. By midday, I would depart, leaving Feria and Erinna home alone and making my way to Minryn's cottage on the opposite outskirts of town. We would meet three times a week depending on weather.

   As I grew under Minryn's teaching, so did my friendship with her. We were pupil and tutor during lessons, which improved my writing and reading, but afterward, we were friends to which we confided our deepest thoughts. I sometimes stayed so late, we'd have supper together and occasionally I slept overnight. She could read me like a book and eventually so could I. Even as I continued to flourish throughout the years to come, we remained close, connected.

   One downside to it all was my waning- it felt as though- relation with my sisters, especially Feria, who was my reliance before Minryn. As I spent more time in town with Minryn, Feria and Erinna had time to develop a closer bond than they previously had. At nights when we laid in bed, I would be the first to collapse into sleep, but sometimes I would hear them chattering excessively to each other, just their whispered, hurry of words enough to tell me what they were discussing was meant between them. I still would talk with them at night, telling them what new things I had learned, but as we became older, I could sense their disinterest in what I was discussing. Even Feria, who once poured over her book every night, now gave me an indifferent ear to the new knowledge I had aquired. Her flame of knowledge had died out while Erinna's had never ignited. We were still sisters, though, closer than the stars in the crowded night sky. That was the way it was, that was our way of sisterhood.