Back in Dalan

“I cannot offer you money to help you,” Druid said, “But I can offer knowledge.”
Sirona frowned at him as he lifted his hands, turning his palms towards the group of refugees. Brilliant blue light began to wash in waves from his hands, falling over the refugees in a thick, glowing curtain.
Then, the light died out.
“What was that?” Sirona asked.
“They will need to speak the language to survive.”
The man in the front gasped, staring at Druid. The group stared at him in shock.
“Much easier now that we don’t need a translator, right?”
The man’s eyes watered with tears as he bowed his head, “You have our deepest gratitude, Druid. Blessings be upon you for all of your days. You will be remembered as a great man among us.”
The rest of the group bowed and murmured their gratitude.
“I need no thanks,” Druid said. “As I said before, live well. That is all I ask.”
The man nodded as Druid led Sirona away from the group. They began to speak in excited and hopeful whispers, hugging each other and sending up prayers. Sirona smiled as they walked away.
“You’re really great,” Sirona said. “Did you transfer the language to me as well?”
“No,” Druid said. “I didn’t need to.”
Sirona blinked at him. She wanted to ask more, but she shut her mouth. There were so many strange things that had happened to her lately. Learning that she knew the language of Berth when she’d crossed the Tara River was just one more thing on the list.
Maybe the river had taught her the language somehow.
Sirona didn’t speak much as they walked out of the town. Druid turned off the main road just as Sirona lost sight of the town behind them. She chuckled a bit as they started to walk through the forest.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Sirona said. “You just seem to like the forest’s path a lot.”
“Ah,” he chuckled. “As I said, I prefer the shortcuts.”
She wondered how many people would say that the path they were taking was actually a shortcut. They seemed to climb and descend several hills on his shortcut before she could see the little town, nestled in a fjord.
“There it is, the town of Dalan, home of sky oaks and other great mysteries.”
“Sky oaks?” Sirona asked, “Is that a type of tree?”
He laughed, “The best sort of tree. I’ll show you. I believe you will find a bit of delight in them.”
Druid led her down the slope and onto a roughly cleared path towards a tree that seemed to be as large as a house. As they drew closer, she realized that the large knot she saw was actually a window. There was a little fenced-in area behind the tree filled with sprawling vines.
“Ah, the cabbages are overgrown again…” Druid complained as they walked towards the door that seemed carved into the tree through the stick and twine gate that was barely tall enough to reach her waist. “Guess I was gone longer than I thought.”
Sirona looked up into the twining branches above her head. The leaves twinkled like blue diamonds above her. Rather than being connected to the tree, they seemed to be floating around the branches like jewels scattered through the air.
She followed Druid into the tree and found that the inside was larger than she thought on the inside. She stepped back outside to take a better look before entering.
“It’s bigger on the inside.”
Druid chuckled, “I get that a lot. Come on in. I’ll get you some blankets and clothes. There’s nothing here to eat so we’ll have to go to the market.”
The door swung shut softly behind her as she looked around at the crystals hanging from the walls, nestled in twining vines. She drew her fingers over some of the vines as Druid huffed over a stack of messages that took up the space in front of the door on the other side of the room.
In the center of the room was a large basin cradled in a network of roots. It didn’t make much sense to her, but she figured that it was supposed to be a cauldron of some kind. Druid turned to her.
“I’ll need to handle these first. Would you be able to go pick up groceries? There’s only one market in town.”
She nodded, “Of course! I have to pull my weight.”
He seemed to stare at her for a moment before turning around and disappearing behind a door. She heard footsteps getting farther away and above her head and realized there was a second floor to his tree-dwelling.
He came back down with a bundle of cloth. He approached her, drawing the cloak around her shoulders and fastening it with a strange brooch made of wood and jewels. It had to have cost a great deal of money.
“There. The townspeople will get used to you eventually, but this should help it along.” Druid produced a list and a large basket and gave it to her along with a satchel of money. “If you head out the front door and take the path to the main road, turn left and you’ll reach the market.”
She nodded, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He nodded and turned back to the stack pages, grumbling to himself as she left out the door. She took the path Druid described and came upon the row of market stalls. The woman looked up and her eyes brightened upon seeing her.
“What can I do for you?” She asked.
“I’m looking for…” Sirona checked the list. “Potatoes, carrots, onions, and a few other things. Could I buy them from you?”
“Of course! That’ll be a hundred gold,” the woman grinned.
Sirona opened the bag of money she’d been given curiously. Druid had only given her what looked to be five pieces of gold.
She lifted her head, “I only need enough for two.”
“One hundred gold,” the woman said wringing her hands and smirking. Sirona stepped back from the woman a bit nervously. The woman’s eyes dropped to her shoulder and they widened. She went pale. “Usually, but for a friend of Druid’s? You can have as much as you need for a single piece of gold.”
Sirona brightened and started to fill the basket with the items Druid requested, including the meat before handing over a single gold piece. She thanked the woman and handed back to the treehouse.
That woman had definitely been trying to swindle her, but Sirona was more horrified to realize that she only knew that because the woman had changed her price. Buying things in Gunning had been mostly handled by the staff. The few things she’d bought in town had been street stall snacks and odd trinkets.
She had never bought food before. Perhaps she should have asked Druid more questions about the value of goods in Berth before volunteering to go shopping.
She shook her head, feeling ridiculous. She was no longer a duke’s daughter. She was Sirona, the commoner now which meant she had to learn how to survive as a commoner, including not being swindled.
As she reached the path leading to Druid’s house, she wondered what she would do for the rest of her life. Originally, she’d expected to be married to another noble’s son, have children, and help manage her father’s territory until her eldest son could inherit it, but that was all out the window now.
She wasn’t bound by Conna’s laws or the temple’s tenants here in Berth.
Avenging her father and her people came to mind, but that seemed like such a remote possibility that she pushed the thought away. Even if she returned to Conna, what could she do against Haron, his army, and the cult of Anu?
Her best option was to stay with Druid. He seemed to know how to survive even if he was a bit eccentric.
“… Druid’s symbol?”
“… assistant maybe?”
She turned towards the small group of people watching her and whispering among themselves. They seemed startled as she looked at them and scattered quickly.
She continued up the path curiously. Could she learn to be his assistant? What would that look like? She had said that she wanted to earn her keep and pull her weight. Helping people for the rest of her life didn’t seem so bad.
She entered the house and found Druid pouring over notes and throwing things into a small cauldron, floating over a bed of fire crystals.
“You’re back so quickly,” he said, looking over at her. “And with so much! What happened?”
“She was having a sale?” Sirona said and winced at the way it sounded.
He laughed, “She tried to overcharge you, didn’t she, and ended up having to give it away or risk my anger? That Yvonne…”
He shook his head, “Go ahead and start packing it up. We’ll be leaving soon.”
She stared at him, “But we just got here.”
He laughed, “I know, but I’m out of a few things for medicine and ink. Besides, there’s somewhere I want to take you. It’s about a day’s walk from here.”
Sirona chuckled wondering if the rest of her time with Druid would involve impromptu trips.
As she packed, she felt that she wasn’t opposed to the idea.