Alphonse considered that for a moment, then nodded. “I have someone very special. I miss them terribly but, I am here to finish my schooling.”
“You’re likely a nice girl from the farmlands by the looks of it. Your family send you here so when you came home, the village would have a healer?”
Alphonse nodded. “Indeed.”
“So your betrothed is from your village too? Or from Moxous?”
Alphonse suppressed a wince. She hadn’t thought of Henri in so long. He hadn’t even occurred to her as she talked about her heart’s desires. But…“My betrothed is from the same village,” she agreed truthfully, even if he hadn’t been who she was missing.
Mister Degale nodded knowledgeably and sipped his tea. It was a blend to calm nerves and soothe. She hoped he would sleep better with it in his system. “I met my Cecile in our home village, a few hours north of Dailion. She was so beautiful. Big dark eyes, long blonde hair. The sweetest smile…”
As he went on in detail about his wife, Alphonse couldn’t help but think of Delyth. Steady blue eyes, sharply angled features, wry laugh…
She didn’t even remember what Henri looked like when they were children; she couldn’t imagine what he looked like now!
When Mister Degale finished his tea, Alphonse made him promise to come back every other day. They would share tea, and she would keep him company. Hopefully, he could sleep better if he was less lonely.
At least for a time.
But the interaction with Mister Degale had shaken something in Alphonse.
She had come back to Moxous to finish her schooling and take back the piece of her life Enyo had stolen. But… She hadn’t thought about what would happen when she graduated.
Should she return home? There was a place for her there. She would be the village healer. Marry Henri. Have his children and raise them to believe Mother Agathi’s teachings. She would knit little hats and socks and, when her own daughter came of age, help her sew her own veil. It would be a pious life, wholesome and devout. And it would mean hiding in plain sight, as Alphonse had for all those years. But if she didn’t go home… What would her life be?
Of course, Moxous kept healers in the cities to tend to the sick and injured. She could easily take up a post in Dailion or any other large metropolis and make a livable wage. She could help those less fortunate and never see another blasted mountain peak ever again.
The idea was alluring…
Though it would mean not going back to Delyth.
Of course, they hadn’t made any promises… Delyth had vowed her life to Enyo and had not been released after defeating Mascen. The warrior had to live in Enyo’s mountains and do as the crazed nature Goddess willed her.
Had she found someone, perhaps another priestess to—to share her time with?
Alphonse shook her head, trying to rid it of that image. She had been so desperate to salvage herself that she hadn’t thought beyond Moxous. Beyond healing.
What would she do after graduation?
Would she be Alphonse, Henri’s wife, loyal daughter, village healer and farmer, and mother?
Would she be Alphonse, healer and independent woman? Striking out entirely on her own?
Would she return to the mountains that sang Enyo’s name and see what awaited her in the arms of a beautiful warrior?
⥣ ⥣ ⥣
“Hardly! Alphonse, tell Risette she’s crazy. Eloise’s does not have the best pies! Eloise’s has the best cheap wine, but not the best pies! Jourtou’s has the best pies!”
Alphonse looked up from her journal to frown over at Risette and Maxus. “Huh?”
“What’s wrong with her?” Maxus asked, clearly annoyed that Alphonse had not been paying attention.
“Leave her alone. She graduates tomorrow and she still hasn’t decided if she’s returning home or moving to Port Carcarac with us.” Risette explained.
“Why would she move home? Aren’t you two from tiny boring villages that don’t even have pie shops?”
“Home is home, you idiot,” Risette snipped. “Besides, Alphonse has a betrothed. A hunky farm boy.”
“It’s not like that,” Alphonse argued, but no one was listening. Of course, it was like that, but… It wasn’t. Not really.
Duty. Freedom. Love.
Duty. Freedom. Love.
Duty. Freedom. Love.
Which should she choose?
“There are lots of fish in the sea, Alphonse. Just because your family wants you to settle down doesn’t mean you have to. And it’s not like he’s the only person who would have you. You’re not terrible to look at.” Maxus trailed off as though uncertain where he was going with the comment. Risette gave him a pointed look, and Alphonse blushed a terrible, tomato red. “Not that I was looking!”
Alphonse thought she might melt right there in her seat.
“Leave her alone,” Risette ordered. Maxus nodded and returned to whatever he had been doing. Risette gave Alphonse a final look and then turned away.
Duty.
Freedom.
Love.
⥣ ⥣ ⥣
Considering the years and years of work they all had put into Moxous to become sanctioned healers, the ceremony was oddly anticlimactic. Their masters said a few kind things about the graduates, they all stood and swore to adhere by the healer’s standards of care, and then the Sorceress who oversaw the marking of healers came forward. She raised her hands, glimmering with power, and spoke a few words in a language nearly forgotten.
Alphonse felt the heat at her tattoo and looked to see the other graduates staring at each other with widened eyes. Their markings were glowing gold.
Complete. Sanctioned. Ordained. Healers of Moxous.
They had done it.
She had done it.
Risette pushed through the swarm to wrap Alphonse in a hug. “The color matches your eyes, Alphonse. I think you were always destined to be a healer.”
Alphonse was so flattered she couldn’t think of a thing to say, but it didn’t matter because the others swarmed round to hug her and Risette in congratulations.
“We did it!”
“I can’t believe it!”
“Mine is brighter than yours.”
Alphonse breathlessly followed as they
