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Okay, This is an alternative version of the Gift by Alison Croggon and is when Maerad meets her younger sister.
Though I have tried to keep things accurate some of them may have changed slightly.
Background Information:
Maerads sisters name is Dara Lore of Pellinor Minor Bard of Innail. The school of Pellinor burnt when she was five but she was in Innail with her grandnmother. Silvia and Malgorn have never told Dara where she comes from, Only that she is a Minor Bard of Innail and is adopted. She is a bard.
"Dara!” I looked up as a sweet, calm, voice called my own. Silvia. “Dara come quick this is very important!!” I placed my book on the table be side my bed and, stood up, straightened my robes of blue tucked my long black hair behind my ears.
Silvia told me that I reminded her of my mother, though my bright blue eyes were off my father. I haven’t seen my family in 10 years. Silvia told me that they were killed in an attack by the dark. My grandmother and I however were staying in Innail to look at my Great-grandfather’s grave. We came alone, my father was teaching my sister, and she’s a year older than I am! In addition, my mother needed to stay with my two month old brother Cai.
My grandmother died when she heard the news, and Silvia and Malgorn adopted me as their own, because their other child Clavila had died 20 years before. So now I’m a student here at Innail.
I walked down the corridor and into a room filled with four people. One was Silvia, dragging me to a chair and handing me some cherry cordial, second was Malgorn whom was looking towards me, mouth agape and staring back at the figure in the chair. The third person I had only heard of. Dernhil, My literature tutor, had told me Cadvan was a great poet. The fourth was the figure in the chair, she looked terrible, her eyes were a startling blue and her hair was a deep sea of black strands. I could tell that if she stood up we would be within inches of the others height.
I just stared uncomprehendingly at the adults as they towered me.
Then they started talking in the speech. I don’t have the speech yet, I am a bard, but I still don’t have the speech, I can, however speak Elidhu, even though I am not allowed.
THIS IS ALL IN THE SPEECH
“What did you say her name was again Cadvan?” Malgorn asked
“Maerad, she’s from Pellinor. The only survivor from Pellinor. Milana’s daughter. Remember her?”
“Yes. Yes! Of course I remember so sad however---” This is where Malgorn stopped and looked at me,
Silvia saw a questing nibbling at my tongue and hurriedly explained to Cadvan “Nay Cadvan she is not the last survivor,”
Cadvan looked shocked , “Are you sure this is not some doings of the dark?” Malgorn butted in
“Of course I am. I scried her!”
“You scried her Cadvan? Why she is no more than a child!”
“I wasn’t sure either and had to extinguish my doubts” Cadvan explained “But of course she is alone, no-one in the Cot was related to her!”
Silvia came at sat down next to me and put her hands under her chin, she stared into my eyes as she spoke, “Not there Cadvan no. Here, however is a survivor of Pellinor.”
“Who?”
Silvia clutched my shoulders and pulled into a hug, artfully covering my ears. “This young lady here Cadvan is Dara Lore of Pellinor, Minor Bard of Innail!”
“What? No! You can’t be serious!”
“Yes Cadvan, we are. Dara and her grandmother came over here, to mourn her great-grandfather, during the weeks-for they were here for two- a note came to us from a messenger who had travelled to Pellinor but had found it in ruins.” Malgorn stopped
“The messenger came straight to us, we were the closest school. Dara’s grandmother attended the yearly council. She was told of the disaster. A couple of days later she told Dara. Then a week later Dara’s grandmother died. ” Silvia and unleashed Dara and put her head in her hands, Malgorn came over and sat down next to Silvia and put upon her shoulders a comforting arm, and continued the story “Dara didn’t fully understand she was only five summers old after all. We adopted her and always told her she was a minor Bard of Innail, though never where she was from. We didn’t want to repeat the story.”
Cadvan sat down heavily onto another chair, and looked into Maerad’s eyes then into Dara’s. “So Maerad has a sister! She will be pleased. We should tell her!”
“No!” Silvia looked up “Not yet only when both girls are ready, we don’t want to open old wounds” with that Silvia, Cadvan and Malgorn bowed their heads in remembrance. I hated the mournful silence and ran off back to my books, to slip into the fantasy world around its pages.
