The Beginning of Dreams Pt.1

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I stared at the thick parchment lying on the kitchen table in disbelief. It could not possibly be true, could it? With a trembling hand I reached for it, but my mother was quicker. With a swift movement she picked up the letter and began to read.

“In’elah shan’re,

We are pleased to inform you that you are being considered as a candidate to become a novice at the Temple of Elune. Your noviciate period will begin on the first day of Xallvar and last for nine moons until the last day of Kaldore. More information will be given during your introduction. Please present yourself to the Mistress of Novices on the first day of Xallvar, at noon.

We look forward to meeting you.

Anar’alla Elune,
Grand Priestess Morningmist”

“Tinwëtar, this is marvellous news!” my mother turned to beam a smile at me, but I could scarcely comprehend what she had just read to me. I had been accepted? I was actually going to the Temple? I was going to become a Priestess? It felt too good to be true, as if all the stars had suddenly decided to align and bring me this gift, precious beyond words. I couldn’t believe it.

“Tinwëtar? What’s wrong, dalah’dorei?” the concern in my mother’s voice drew me out of my stupor and I shook my head.

“Nothing is wrong, min’da. I just…have I really been accepted?” my voice was hushed with awe and the raw and aching need I felt after having had the letter read to me.

“That is what it says right here. You are to present yourself at the Temple, to the Mistress of Novices at the first day of Xallvar.”

“That…that is just a moon away. Are you sure?”

“Yes, my darling. I am sure.” my mother’s smile was understanding and she came around the table to draw me into a warm embrace.

“You will do wonderfully, I’m sure of it. I know how much this means to you, but try not to fret. Be bold and step into this opportunity with an open heart.” As always, my mother’s words calmed my raging emotions and allowed my breathing to even out. I held her close, thankful for her staunch support and love…even when I didn’t realize I needed it.

“I will do my best, min’da. I promise.” She smiled again and let me go with an affectionate caress to my cheek.

“You had better show this to your father. He will be absolutely ecstatic, I’m sure.” She held out the letter towards me and with a last nod and smile I took it and bounded off to tell my father.

*

Later that evening, while I was tending to our small winter garden at the back of the house, my best friend came rattling into my sanctuary, waving a familiar letter around excitedly.

“Look! Look at what arrived this afternoon!” she was practically bouncing and for once I could wholeheartedly sympathize with her need to express every emotion physically. I had felt much the same when my own letter had arrived after all.

“You got one as well? That is amazing, Agam!” I rose to my feet and went to embrace her, a silly grin plastered across my features.

“You mean…you got one too? Oh, Tinny! This will be great! We’ll never be parted now! We’ll become Priestesses together!” Now she -was- actually jumping up and down and I laughed at her infectious enthusiasm.

“Yes, we will. We will become sisters in truth, at last.”

“It’s only a month away…and there is so much we need to prepare!”

“Prepare? What do you mean?”

Agam’adil studied my confused expression and a faint air of superiority settled over her.

“Of course we need to prepare. The noviciate period is nine moons and then there will be tests. They will have to weed out who is truly dedicated to the path, you understand? We also need to consider the impression we’ll wish to make as we enter into the Temple. We can’t just appear there like vagrants.” Agam wrinkled her nose and shook her head, as if the mere notion was deeply insulting.

“No, we’ll have to consider this carefully. It’s all about impressions and image. If we have that down, we’ll be fine.”

I loved Agam’adil dearly, I truly did, but sometimes our views and priorities were a bit out of sync. Never had I even considered that the image we presented as novices would be important. I thought it would be something we would learn as our training progressed. That the grace and poise of the Priestesses we had so admired for years was not something that had been present from the beginning. I had wanted to imagine them a little bit like me; hopeful, young, unskilled and untrained, but deeply devoted to the Goddess and her teachings. Agam, apparently, had other ideas.

“Everyone will look to us now, Tin. We want to make a good impression.” she smiled and tossed her long, purple hair, her eyes already sparkling with the prospect of being admired by the masses. The same prospect that usually made me blanch and want to hide.

Agam’adil was a tall and statuesque girl, whose body curved in all the right places. Her hair was long, perfectly straight and reached down to the middle of her back. She had a lovely, heart shaped face with large silver eyes and a pair of plump lips. She was absolutely stunning and well aware of it too. She came from a fairly well off Highborne family. They were lower caste, due to the fact that they did not have any arcanists closely related to them, but they had plenty of connections to make up for it. Agam’adil had always seemed to lead a fairly easy life and she was everything I wished I was. In comparison my life was not nearly as glamorous. First of all, I was lowborne. My mother was a seamstress and together with my father they owned a little shop where she sold her services as well as ready-made garments. Our life was a happy one, but we rarely interacted with the Highborne and their world. We lived in one of the poorer districts of Suramar, a thriving community of artisans and craftsmen. But we were lowborne, something the highborne would never allow us to forget. Unlike Agam, I was tall and willowy. Bony and slender where she was soft and curvy. My skin was a pale lavender colour to her her rosepetal pink and I was unusually tall for my age. I was all angles and sharp cheekbones. My only real redeeming feature, at least in my own eyes, was my hair. It was the colour of the ocean, a deep and radiant turquoise and the strands had a soft, natural curl to them. I was growing it out, but currently it reached to just above my shoulder blades.

Despite our differences, both in regards to upbringing and social standing Agam’adil and I had found each other. She lived with her family a couple of blocks away from my home and she had befriended me instantly when we first met. We had been inseparable ever since. It was strange, perhaps, as we did not have a whole lot of common interests and we were fundamentally different. Where I was shy and preferred the company of my books over that of people, Agam’adil was outgoing and thrived in a crowd. She had a hot temper and was quick to anger, whereas I was more level headed and calm. We were both, however, extremely passionate and we shared a deep connection and undying devotion to the Goddess. A connection and devotion that only grew stronger over time as we started spending more time around our small community shrine and watched the Priestesses stationed there at work. We watched and participated in the rituals held throughout the year, we saw how the Priestesses acted as healers, mediators, guides and spiritual leaders for our entire community and we saw how their faith and deeply rooted belief in the Goddess touched those around them and enriched their lives. And we wanted it. Both Agam’adil and I wanted to serve in that manner, we wanted to help our community, spread the love of the Goddess and bring joy into people’s lives. The Priestesses serving at the local shrine were our role models when we were children and I think both of us spent more time with them than with our own families. My parents did not mind terribly. They saw the enthusiasm and devotion that drove me and encouraged my interest. I knew my mother had hoped that I would follow in her footsteps and become a seamstress, but while I had learned her trade and was adept at it, my heart truly belonged to the faith.

Agam’s family was a bit different. They were obsessed with social climbing and would do anything to see their status rise within society and thus they encouraged their daughter’s ambition. A Priestess in our society was just below the Queen and her Highborne Arcanists in status. They were the servants of the Goddess, healers, leaders, guides and warriors all and the amount of respect and social clout the Sisterhood of Elune held was undisputable. They were the Goddess’ voice and will on this earth, and no one could ever dispute their devotion. The Sisterhood was also an organization made up of only females, since only females could ever understand the Goddess’ deepest mysteries. Having a Priestess in the family was a sure way to see yourself rise in both social status, influence and power, something that mattered more than anything to the Highborne. For the lowborne things were different. We revered the Sisterhood for their dedication and connection to the Goddess and we wholly embraced their philosophy that everyone is equal under the Goddess’ light, and thus any female of our race could become a Priestess regardless of her social class and standing. For me that was a huge motivation. I had been treated as lesser by most of society for all my young life and I had seen how my family had been treated as well. Some Highborne were kind and treated us well, but almost all of them had that air of superiority that indicated that they felt that they were better than us; that because of their magic and heritage they were superior. It was as infuriating as it was saddening. What rankled even worse was that the Queen herself, our beloved Light of Lights, valued the Highborne and their magical powers above everything, even above the Goddess herself.

So while our reasons for wishing to be a part of the Sisterhood were different, what mattered in the end was that we were going in there together. We would be joining together and become sisters in truth, even if we weren’t by blood. It was something I was dearly looking forward to. Agam’adil had been my best friend for ten years and she had been by my side through thick and thin during that time, just as I had stood by her. Going into the Temple together, becoming Novices and then, hopefully, Initiates would be our biggest adventure yet, but Goddess, how I looked forward to it. I looked over to where Agam was pacing, no doubt coming up with various plans for how we could present ourselves to best advantage when an idea came to me.

“Agam, I just thought of something…” she turned towards me, excitement shining in her eyes.

“Yes? What is it?”

“You know that my mother is a seamstress, right? And that I have trained with her for as long as I can remember?”

“Yes, what of it?”

“What if I made new robes for us, robes that would symbolise our entry into the Sisterhood? You have seen the Novices up at the temple, no? What they wear? I could try to replicate that, if min’da will allow me to borrow fabric from her stores.”

“Tin! You’re a genius! That’s a great idea! Just…I think we’ll get new robes once we are actually there, but perhaps you could make something that would symbolise our dedication towards the Goddess and each other? Something that will show everyone that you and I are one?”

I considered her request for a moment before nodding.

“I can do that. It should not be too hard to think of a design.” I smiled at her, ideas for designs already forming inside my head. I went over to the small desk in the corner of the winter garden and picked up my journal and a quill, trying to put my designs on paper before I lost them. Agam’adil immediately came over to peer at the designs over my shoulder, offering suggestions and commentary as I worked.

“Oh no, that’s way to frumpy. We can’t go to the Temple wearing that. It needs a lower neckline.”

“Are you sure? How deep of a neckline do you want?” Agam took the quill from me and marked an estimate on my sketch, an estimate that made my brows rise high as I saw it.

“Goddess, Agam, really? You know I would never wear something like that. I would not dare…”

“Of course you would. You would look great. Come on! Pretty please?” she gave me her very best smile and batted her eyelashes, something that may have worked on the male half of the population but on me it had absolutely no effect.

“No. I can settle for a compromise though. How about this?” I made a slight alteration to my sketch and showed it to Agam. She studied it for a good long while before nodding slowly.

“That should be alright, I guess. But it won’t make quite the same statement…”

“Agam, we are going to be Novices at the temple, not impressing your family’s friends at a party. Try to keep that in mind.”

“Fine, fine.” she threw up her hands and settled in to sulk. I knew her well enough to know that it would only last for a few minutes, and thus I let her be.  And just as I thought, a few moments later curiosity got the better of her and she leaned over me and my work again.

“So…what colour should we go for? Something bright and bold?”

“I was thinking something a bit more…pale. Not silver, since that might be a bit too close to what the Priestesses are wearing, you know? But perhaps a light blue or a pale pink would suit?”

“A pale pink? That would make me look naked, no doubt.” Agam smirked and shook her head. “No, but perhaps a pale blue or a cream might work. That would look nice on both of us I think.”

I considered her words and nodded in agreement.

“A pale blue or a cream might be nice, indeed. I’ll see what my mother has in her stores once I am done here.” I smiled at her and once I had noted down the ideas for fabric, I returned my attention to my plants.

The winter garden at the back of our house was a small indoor space with large windows and a glass roof. I used it to grow herbs and certain foods during the winter months when I couldn’t use the regular gardens. Herbs and their various uses had always held a specific interest for me and thus my parents had made this tiny extension of our house. It was just big enough for one medium sized plant bed and two small ones. I grew a variety of herbs there, most of which had medicinal uses. I had quizzed the Priestesses at our local shrine at length about what herbs would be most useful to cultivate. They had been more than happy to teach me, both the basics of gardening as well as about the various uses for plants and medicinal herbs. They had even given me my first seedlings, fresh from their own garden behind their small shrine. I would be forever thankful for their generosity. Agam was mildly interested in herbs herself. She was too impatient to work with gardening, or at least, that is what she claimed. Her spirit burned too brightly, her passions were too fiery for her to spend time puttering about in a garden. She was made for the front lines, wielding the special moonglaives that all Priestesses knew how to use and fling moonfire and starshards from her hands. At least, that was the image that she talked about most often. I could definitely picture her like that, astride one of the mighty sabercats that the Priestesses of the Moon favoured, charging into battle, her voice raised up to the Goddess in song. It would be a glorious sight no doubt and I could see why the image appealed so much to Agam. For me…I was content with my garden, my herbs and my interest in healing. I wanted to help people, I wanted to learn how to beseech the Goddess for aid and how to apply her grace to heal and mend, both physical and mental wounds. That would be an invaluable skill to have, I thought. And once again, it would be a skill that would compliment Agam and her own skill set quite well. If we managed to stick together throughout the entire process of becoming Priestesses, we would make a fearsome team no doubt. Agam with her passion and fire, her strong sense of right and wrong and her need for justice, and me with my calm and careful approach to things, my cool intellect and loyalty. We would be unbeatable.

At least, that is what I frequently told myself, especially when Agam’s shadow became a bit too dark. Ever since the day I first met Agam I had stood in her shadow. I was never special and that didn’t bother me at all in the beginning, but once I met Agam and was swept into her world, into her enthusiasm and passion, I had started to resent that shadow. She was beautiful and vivacious. She turned heads wherever she went, people listened to her, despite her young age. In short, she was everything a Priestess should be already. It was infuriating at times, knowing that she had such an advantage going in. It was not fair. Most of the time I didn’t mind being her companion and sidekick, far from it, but sometimes…sometimes it rankled. I wanted to be seen for myself, for what I could do, for my skills and personality. But with Agam shining bright enough to overshadow everyone and everything else that was not a possibility. A part of me had hoped that I would be going into training at the Temple by myself, even if we had applied together. That way I could have finally been able to step out of Agam’s shadow and made my own mark on the world. But at the same time, the larger part of me was infinitely grateful that Agam would be there with me. She may be an overshadowing presence, but she was a fierce and loyal friend and she would do anything for me. She was my best friend after all and it was an experience I really wanted to share with her.

“Tinny? Where did you go?” I looked up from the flowerbed I had been tending and Agam giggled.

“You haven’t heard a word of what I’ve been saying, have you?” Agam’s tone was amused and I could feel a faint blush creep across my cheeks.

“Ah, no. I am sorry, falore. My mind must have wandered.”

“Well, I was just saying that I have complete faith in your ability to make us robes that will surely make us look fantastic and make a great first impression at the temple.” the praise warmed my heart and just like that my misgivings and resentment vanished. I smiled and the world felt a bit brighter again.