Sarina sat on her bed. All of tonight's events kept racing through her mind. The keeper, Mary, Caspar and Vashti, all held different spaces in her mind. Her worry for her parents always sat in the background, sometimes quiet but never forgotten.
Sarina stood up walked to the bathing room. A hot soak might do her good, she thought. She twisted knobs she saw Darya turning, and put her hand under the stream until the water felt perfect. Once full, she slipped into the steaming water and looked at the twinkling stars shining through the window, letting the keeper's words continue to turn in her thoughts.
Sarina sighed, wishing she had someone to talk to once again. It was hard being alone all of the time. Only child, no friends, and now not even her parents to confide in. She felt like a balloon with too much air that someone just kept filling. One more puff and she would pop.
Sarina felt the peculiar tingling sensation again in her fingertips and this time her head was buzzing like a swarm of bees had nested there. The vibrating grew louder and louder and she began gasping, trying to take in her breaths. What was happening to her. Her vision began to blink in and out and the water that was soothing her now felt like it was burning her. She screamed out in a panic, sure she going to drown again.
Seconds after her cry left her lips she heard a bang and loud footsteps and then he was there, lifting her out of the water.
"Sarina, Sarina!"
The buzzing was still there, and she saw his lips moving as hurried to the bed, setting her down and covering her nakedness. Sarina just continued huffing, oblivious to anything except the noise in her head that was drowning out reality.
Caspar grabbed her arms and shook her roughly, but when his hands collided with her skin, he felt the wind get knocked out of him. Suddenly he felt a sadness strike his chest, seeping into his bones and anxiety clawing at his nerves. His hands flinched away from her smooth, wet arms and he felt relief front the staggering emotions.
He looked up to see Sarina staring at him with wide eyes that were round and wet.
"What ...what was that" she asked.
Caspar felt a tear fall from his eyes.
"Who are you" he asked her guardedly.
"What do you mean? I am Sarina" she answered confused, but his sudden suspicion.
"You are more than that, why have you lied to me?" Caspar stood straight and backed away from her, his eyes accusing.
"Please Caspar, I am not lying! Why would I lie? I was bathing and thinking about my day at the market and suddenly I heard a buzzing noise. It wouldn't go away and instead grew overwhelming. I ...I thought I was going to drown. That is all" she finished. For the life of her she could not guess why he had backed away from her, looking at her as if she had tried to harm him. Sarina took a stabilizing breath and sat up straight.
"Please explain to me why you think I am not who I say."
Caspar stared at her for moment before speaking.
"You truly do not know what you have just done" he asked her, still watching her carefully.
"I honestly do not" she said, her shoulders slumping and face falling.
Caspar began to pace back and forth in the small space, looking at her from the corner of his eye.
"Go and dress yourself and then I will tell you" he said finally.
Sarina looked down and then quickly clenched the thin blanket that was covering her closer to her chest. He turned and she scrambled off the bed quickly towards the closet and flung herself inside. How could she have forgotten! Grabbing the first thing that her fingers touched, she quickly covered herself in a simple green dress that was hanging there before finally exiting out of the closet. Her hair hung loosely, dripping down her back. She itched to braid it and get it out of the way but she wanted to hear what he had to say.
Caspar saw her exit and motioned for her to follow him.
They went to hallway and he led her to a door a little ways down before they stood in front of the door which she remembered was his.
He unlocked it with a key he kept in one of the pockets on his pants and entered, leaving the door open for her. She hesitated, having never entered a man's room before. The first thing she noticed was the smell, a mix of lemon and mint as she slowly walked through the door. The room was decorated richly with emerald green curtains and bedding. It was simple and elegant. Caspar walked to a bookshelf at the far end of the wall and searched until he pulled a worn looking book. He brought it to a desk next to the shelf, flipping through the pages when he settled on the one he wanted.
"Sarina, come" he called her brusquely.
She walked over to him and tried to look over his shoulder.
He moved so she could read the page he had found.
She skimmed the page , trying to understand why he gone through all of the trouble. Her eyes kept searching and she realized she was reading a page about the different types of gifts that mages were blessed with. She kept reading until she saw a portion that coined as 'empath magic.'
It read,
"A rare and treasured gift indeed. The mage gifted with empath magic will share the ability to influence and manipulate others emotions and therefore thinking around them. They also share the potential to share their own emotions with others around them, through certain channels. A novice would need can manipulate through touch while a master can influence simply with concentration."
Sarina looked up at him, wondering why he showing her this.
"Sarina, you just transferred your emotions to me" he said.