SHIELD OF THE GODDESS

CHAPTER THREE

SHALA

SHALA’S FOURTEENTH WINTER passed slowly for her. She felt trapped in the moment of jumping, between being here and being there. In her heart, she was already in Feros, or what she imagined it to be. But she had months of living left to do here in Tinath. Most mornings she stayed in the hut, finishing the work that her mother, Farila, brought home from the netting workshop each evening. In the afternoon, if it wasn’t raining, she wandered. She always returned first to the tree where she had decided to tell her parents everything. From that special tree she started walking in a new direction each time.

One afternoon Shala walked around the edge of town, past a series of workshops, large huts with open walls, busy with different activities, sounds and smells: grain milling, woodworking, flint knapping, storytelling, copper smithing, weaving, leather tanning, sheep shearing, and more. She enjoyed watching people at work, until she saw children she knew, and noticed that when they looked up at her they did not seem to recognize her. Truly, I have no friends my age anymore, she thought.