A Letter from Kaela
30 days of Fantasy Prompts 26 (& 25), Thalenra Short Story. Kaela writes a letter to Arvon, speaking of the Spirit Moon and the Pools of Calleshan
Written for Prompt 26 of the 30 Days of Fantasy challenge, hosted by Luna Asli Kolcu. Come through the door.
This follows on from the ‘The Flowers of the Lindall Tree’, which is in two parts, and can be found here.
16 Thalenor, 1187 - Syen Hollow Academy Mental Recovery Research Centre, Vellgrove Waylet, Calleshan
My dear Arvon,
It is hard for me to comprehend that a month has passed already. When I received your letter this morning, and realised that despite my promise I had not written to you each week as I intended, I was mortified. Do believe me when I say that my neglect comes from the sheer intensity of my experiences here, and not from any wish to avoid writing to you. I will endeavour to correct the lack of contact now.
I expect my address comes as a surprise to you, being so far removed from Syen Hollow itself, so let me begin there. My essay caught the attention of Magister Rundon, who has a long-running project under way into the long-term recovery of weave-afflicted patients based here in Vellgrove. He requested I serve my placement with him, and document what is discovered during my time here. He has discovered within two of his case studies remnants of memories underlining those forced on the victim by the weave, which he believes may belong to the Weaver responsible, and may provide a clue to how the false memories take hold so firmly.
Watching him at work, I find myself both fascinated, and unsettled. The former is due to the sheer beauty of the pools themselves. I had hoped I would feel something akin to home here, with the veil as present in the pools as it is, but it is too different to allow that. I have however found that the heady combination of the Spiritual and Thaumic that results, has a welcome familiarity to it.
When a patient lies in one of the pools, and allows the Boundary in, I feel something reminiscent of the familial bond I share with my family, just at the edge of my awareness. As the Magister gently draws out their corrupted memories, they appear in the waters around the patient, far more detailed than what we see in a memory crystal, with a hint of depth to them that suggests it is closer to reliving a memory than observing it. Watching him unravel the corrupted threads that run through the recollection, and seeing the memory take on a lifeforce it was missing, is uplifting. As is witnessing the change in the patient when they awake, even after only a single memory has been restored.
Where I find myself unsettled, is with the remnants he is uncovering. The two patients he is finding these in, are both commonborn from Velcirra, sponsored by a mage who appears to actually care for those in his employ. Instead of leaving them to the Division’s tender mercies, he took responsibility for them, and had them brought here. Magister Rundon informed me that little research has been done on the impact of weaves on non-Thaumic users, so you can imagine he was rather enthused to have the opportunity.
I will put that aside however, as well as the truly disturbing memories the two were given - I have no intention of inflicting a description of those upon you - and focus on the memory remnants the Magister believes are from the Weaver. What unsettled me most, was the presence of children in them, no more than nine or ten, huddled in cages, and a ritual circle. It was just glimpses, but I, even with the paltry empathic sense available to me, could feel a fleeting moment of terror from one of the children. That should not be possible from a third-hand memory. If I was to feel anything, which all common sense says I should not have, I would have thought it would be from the Weaver themselves, but I am sure it was not.
The implication of that is one I hardly want to put into words, and I trust you will not share my thoughts here, with anyone else. I have not said anything to Magister Rundon, for I have no way of proving it. The whole basis for the small amount of acceptance I have garnered within the Academy, is that I am not an Empath. I doubt the professors would listen to me explain (again), how I differ from one, if I start claiming I felt someone else’s emotion through a third-party’s memory. It has barely been fifty years since Empaths were allowed back into the country by your Council. Can you imagine the uproar if I utter the ridiculous claim that a Weaver had empathic senses?
As you can no doubt tell, this discovery left me distracted, to the point that I lost track of the weeks passing. I have done my best to put aside what I can’t prove, and concentrate on what I can; namely the children present in the memory, and where they came from.
It is difficult to guess what their presence means. The Magister has put forward the theory that they have been taken from Commonborn families, given that any Mage that lost a child would have the immediate support of the Division in locating them. It seems probable, but it begs the question why the Order would take children that would need some semblance of care over a considerable time period, before they could serve them. Given their tactics in the past, they could simply take adults from smaller settlements, and make use of them straightaway.
The theory I posited, which has gained some traction among the research team, is that the children they have taken were on the verge of developing Thaumic sense. Moulding a mind to the Weaver’s purpose I would imagine is easier with those that won’t receive training, and would do much to explain how so many are found to be weave afflicted, when every Mage is registered and accounted for. I didn’t go as far as to say it aloud, in the presence of the professors, but I believe several there shared the thought; perhaps ignoring the Thaumic capabilities of individuals, simply because their roots are commonborn, may have been an error, best corrected soon.
I should cease this subject now, lest I speak too critically of the Council and bring you discomfort. It is not as if I can do anything to help those children, when I am expected to return to Gethia. I told you when we sat by the tree that night, that I wished I could stay, and I find myself wishing that again. The children of Gethia don’t have to fear their wills being taken from them, and if I could, I would see the children here had the same protection.
I’m doing it again, wishing for the impossible. Let me move to something else that has claimed my thoughts this past month. I was not entirely truthful when I said I didn’t notice time passing. I noticed it was passing all too quickly, but there was something I was waiting for before I wrote to you. It was only when I read your letter, and you said you were waiting for the next Spirit Moon, that I accepted I had been waiting for the same. Simply so I could write and ask if you had been thinking of me when it appeared, as I had you. I feel so silly not writing for that reason, when it could be months before one appears.
It has made me realise though, how much I have missed you. I am holding the ember you gave me now, seeing myself through your eyes. When you were there in front of me that night, your warm familiar presence caught in the blanket around me, I didn’t notice the unspoken question in your eyes; didn’t recognise the unspoken response beginning to kindle within me. Reliving that night through the brief remembrance you gave me, I have come to wonder if your question was real, or if I imagined it. I remember your wish, that echoes my own, and I wonder if our meaning is the same.
This is a foolish hope of mine I feel. It would be an impossible future to imagine, given your family’s position, and my own, But for this time, while we are separated, I think I will allow myself to believe that I didn’t imagine that question in your eyes.
I will stop there. I will send this letter as is, despite the embarrassment there will no doubt be when you respond to say I am being foolish. We promised to not hide our thoughts from each other when we became friends, and I will hold myself to it. I will write again soon, hopefully with lighter thoughts.
Yours,
Kaela
Thanks for Reading! There will be one more from Kaela and Arvon for Prompt 27, which may possibly resolve their tale. We shall see.
