Not only were we close in business, but in love. Fondly I remember  Winternight celebrations when everyone who could, came to the farm my parents had taken over from my grandmother. We would all gather in the big kitchen, with the fireplace large enough to roast a whole cow in and sing our favorite songs. The singing was my favorite part.

I was constantly around animals. In addition to the cows and horses, we also kept chickens, cats and a pack of soft-eyed, loyal hounds. I also had a habit of finding sick animals and taking them home with me. I took in a young fox, a pair of baby ducks and a whole nest full of starlings whose mother died in a bad storm. I loved caring for them and seeing the sickly ones grow strong again.

My mother and my aunts taught my cousins and I the tricks that helped them get the best of every trader than came across. We were schooled from the very beginning to move with that uncanny grace Domani woman are known for. We were taught how to use sursa to eat daintily. Instead of crossing the room, with books balanced on our heads, the way I hear that Andoran girls do, we were taught to balance wide, shallow dishes of water while going up and down flights of stairs.

When I was sixteen, my father sent me to visit my oldest sister, Kyreane in the capital. She had just been married and was expecting her first child. I rode in on a wagon train run by two of my uncles. The plan was that I would help my sister with the baby until autumn, then return home on another wagon train. I would miss my pets and the  wide open spaces of the farmlands, but my sister needed me more.

Within a few weeks of my arrival, I was helping the local healer woman, Mother Ysabey deliver the baby. It was a beautiful little girl my sister named Kiara. After Kyreane recovered a bit, Mother Ysabey asked if I would be interested in coming by for lessons on healing. I gladly  accepted, eager for something to take my mind off how homesick I was becoming.

As the summer cooled into early autumn, it became time for me to leave. My favorite brother was coming into town with a load of winter woolens for my aunt to sell. He also had instructions from my parents to pick up ninety-three sacks of seed, four news shovels and rakes to replace the ones broken by the field hands that summer, two casks of Two Rivers tabbac and one very homesick Soraya Tarkanah.

The late summer air was cool and crisp. I was excited to be returning home, but sad to be leaving my sister and her baby, as well as Mother Ysabey with whom I had spent many fascinating hours discussing folk medicine. The wagons was to crowded for me to ride in, so I walked along next to the dray horses. I slept under the stars every night pleasantly exhausted from walking all day and carrying the fragrant scrip of herbs Mother Ysabey had gifted me with before leaving.

We were only a week away from home when we were attacked by the bandits. As they came out of the trees, Madin yelled at me to get down.  I quickly obeyed. Diving under the wagon, I squeezed my eyes shut  and tried not to listen to the horrible noises.

A big, meaty hand reached under the wagon and grabbed my arm. I  was hauled out like a sack of grain. “Hey there, Pretty. Wanna have some fun?”  The big man seized both my wrists and tried to drag me back into the woods. “No!”, I screamed, trying to kick his leg. He bellowed out a nasty laugh that ended quickly when one of the drovers came up behind him and slit his throat.

 “Are you all right, Mistress?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.”

The raper’s blood had sprayed over the front of my dress. I would later realize that my wrist was sprained. “I’ll be fine.” I repeated, trying to sound convincing. The attack was over quickly. They had been more interested in... 

“Mistress Tarkanah! Come quick! Its your brother!”, the same drover who had rescued me was now calling for me.

 “Madin.” I whispered. “Oh no. Not Madin.”, I grabbed my scrip and scooped up my skirts and ran to where he was lying in the dust. 

“Soraya...” he moaned.

“Hush, Madin. I can fix you. I know I can.”  The words were dry in my mouth. He had a wicked gash across his belly. I grabbed a handful of herbs out of my scrip and crumbled them into the gash. I tore strips from my shift and bound the herbs tightly to his wound. Tears ran down my face as I worked.

I was so scared. I felt hot and cold at the same time. Sweat poured off me and froze to my skin. I felt like flying and dying all at once. I didn’t know it, but I channeled and Healed my brother. He screamed, and clawed at the bandages.

“What did you put in me? Ice peppers?”

 “Hold still.” I ordered him. I asked the the drovers to help him into one of the carts. A few hours later, I rechecked his bandages. Underneath them, there was no sign of injury, just new, pink skin. I was confused.  When I had put the bandages on earlier, my brother had looked like a piece of raw meat. I finally decided that in my panic, I had misjudged the extent of his injuries. It must have been some one else’s blood everywhere.

A week later, we limped into the farmyard I had missed so much. I was almost euphoric to be home. When the wagon I was riding in pulled up to the house, I jumped out without waiting for it to stop. I nearly flew up the porch steps and into my mother’s arms. “Mother! Mother! I’m here. I missed you so much. Madin got cut by a bandit, but its alright now. I was wrong, even though Mother Ysabey taught me about those things and Kiara is so precious! That's how I meet Mother Ysabey, when she came to help Kyreane have Kiara...” I rambled on, my words nearly tripping over themselves as I attempted to force them out before my tongue could catch up.

Mother laughed as Madin grinned and explained what I was nearly raving about. I just bounced back and forth on my toes, so excited to be home.