Nuala skipped down the path, smiling for all she was worth. Her ears quivered excitedly and her golden eyes sparkled in startling contrast to her dark grey fur.

She had been blessed by the great Vixen! The goddess had come to her in her dreams and offered her her Blessing directly. She could hardly believe that the goddess had ever even heard of her, let alone paid attention to her directly. To be chosen as a priestess for her tribe was such an honor. It seemed almost too good to be true.

Of course, the Vixen had told her that her new path would put a heavy burden on her, and Nuala knew being a priestess wouldn’t always be easy. She would have to console her fellow tribe members after a death or when somebody had to deal with sickness or an accident. But she was convinced that it would be worth it. She had always wanted to be in a position to help others. And she would share the good moments, too. Weddings and awakenings and the dedications of the babies to the deities.

She arrived at the well and couldn’t resist calling up her new status screen once more.

She had done it a number of times already since she had woken up an hour ago, but it never got old. Nuala had already chosen her skills and put her free stat points into intelligence, wisdom and charisma.

Of course, she really should have discussed it with her parents beforehand, but she knew exactly what she wanted. And with spells among her class skills, she would profit from enlarging her mana pool and mana regeneration most. The single point in charisma had been a bit of an indulgence. But high charisma would make it easier for people to confide in her. She was still very young for the position of priestess and feared the people in her tribe wouldn’t take her seriously.

She couldn’t wait to tell her parents the news.
Unfortunately her father was away on a hunting trip with several other members of the tribe, and her mother had already gone to visit Nuala’s sister Salma when she woke up this morning. Salma was three months pregnant and had a difficult time with it, especially in the mornings. So, at the moment her mother often went to her and prepared breakfast for Salma’s little family and minded her toddler Akim for her until she felt better.

Nuala had thought about heading to Salma herself, to tell them the news. But Salma would be hardly receptive to that if she was busy being sick. In fact, it would be downright insensitive and not the right thing to do at all for a fledgling priestess. So she had headed for the well, to see if her best friend Jenna was hanging around, and of course to fetch some water while she was here.

Jenna was a bit of a gossip and loved to spend her time at the well, talking to people and getting the latest news from all those who came to fetch water and do their laundry at the laundry area. The well area and the small pool next to it were gossip central for their village and Jenna was in her element among the other Kharlins here.

Nuala usually didn’t like to spend too much of her time there. For her, a little bit of gossip went a long way, and sometimes there was too much spite in it for her to feel comfortable.
But today she didn’t mind at all. She wanted to tell the whole world about her Blessing and her new skills, although she knew it was traditional to give out information about one’s path and skills sparingly, if at all.

Well, she couldn’t exactly be a priestess for the great Vixen if no one knew about her, now could she? She would tell them that she had been chosen for the position by the Vixen, at least.

“Jenna!” she called when she saw her friend standing in a know of girls, excitedly talking among themselves. “You’ll never believe what has happened!”
Jenna turned to her and smiled. “Hey Nuala. What’s so exciting? Must be something good, the way you are beaming.”

“The absolute best! Jenna, the Vixen came to me in my dreams last night. She talked to me and gave me my choice of Blessings. I’m to be the priestess for our village. I’m so happy I could burst!” Nuala blurted out, bubbling with enthusiasm.

Something very like shock showed in Jenna’s eyes as she looked at Nuala. “The priestess? Are you sure?”
“I’d hardly mistake it. I got my skills and all.” Nuala said proudly. The other girls crowded around her. “The vixen has really talked to you? It’s been ages since there has been a god-touched in our tribe.” One of them said. The others put their heads together and whispered among themselves.

Nuala smiled at Jenna, who said slowly. “It must be so exciting for you. I wish I had also gotten my Blessing already.”

As Nuala looked at her best friend, she witnessed a shadowy bubble forming around her, swirling with different colours. At the moment the main colour was a poisonous yellow streaked with dirty green. When she concentrated on the bubble she suddenly felt part of Jenna’s emotions. Shock, envy and anger were the preeminent ones. She tried to find the joy and affection she had expected from her friend, but couldn’t find these emotions.

“You will get your Blessing in a few days.” She said distractedly. “I’m sure it will be worth the wait.”
“If you say so.” Jenna smiled at her warmly, but Nuala couldn’t see any warmth in her when she looked with her new sight. Maybe she was doing it all wrong, she told herself. Her skills were brand-new, she might have misinterpreted her impressions. But at the same time, she knew it wasn’t true. Her skill Heart of Truth was a passive, she didn’t have to do anything but look.

Jenna came closer and asked loudly: “What are your new skills, Nuala?”
A shocked murmur ran through the group of girls next to her. Asking about skills openly just wasn’t done. It went against all tradition and was considered the height of rudeness.
Nuala shook her head. “You know I can’t tell you, Jenna.” She said, very serious now.

She had expected for Jenna to share her excitement, but somehow that didn’t seem to be the case and her own joy and excitement abated in the presence of this unexpected development.
Jenna shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, I know it’s traditional to be all hush hush about skills. But you can tell me. I’m your best friend after all, you don’t need to be so secretive.”
Nuala sighed. “This is hardly a private conversation here, Jenna. I’m sorry, I thought you would be happy for me.”
“But I am.” Jenna protested loudly, while at the same time her anger stood out clear as day to Nuala. She smiled weakly at her best friend and said abruptly. “I have to go. I need to tell my mother and sister about my Blessing.” Turning around, she left the well and her best frined behind and headed back home.

Maybe seeing the truth wasn’t as positive as she had expected it to be. The Vixen had said she was placing a heavy burden on her shoulders. But Nuala hadn’t been able to imagine how the truth could be a burden. She was starting to get an inkling of it now.

Slowly, she headed home, still excited and glad of her new skills, but also thoughtful now. Purposefully, she started to really look at the people of her tribe she met along the way. If she looked closely at any one of them, the same shadowy coloured bubble formed and if she concentrated she could feel some of their emotions. One of them, an older man named Farge, had a broad black streak running through it and as she concentrated she suddenly knew that he was very sick.

Nuala bit her lip, taken aback. So she couldn’t only interpret emotions. There was still more depth to the skill. She would need to experiment with it for a while. Obviously, she had her work cut out for her.

Should she talk to Farge about this sickness? But maybe he knew about it already. If not, it would be a blow to him. Would he even want to know? What was the right thing to do in such a situation? She wished someone could teach her the right way to go about things, but the old priest of her tribe had died years ago. She was on her own. Well she needed to think about it for a while.

And she would talk to Jenna again later, when she could get her alone.