Bio

Amara was 14 when her Gift became obvious to her family. Amara found she could cause strange things to happen around her: a sudden chill, doors opening, objects falling from shelves, and so on. It wasn’t long before her mother’s superstitious paranoia turned those Amara knew against her. After a few weeks, in order to prevent any drastic action against her, her father took her deep into the woods. She had been warned before to stay clear of those woods, but didn’t understand why until that day. Her father left her on the edge of a clearing, pointing to a run-down cabin on the far edge, telling her coolly that she was better off with her “own kind” and warning her not to come home. Left with nowhere else to go, she approached the cabin and therein met the hedge sorceress, Sabia, who recognized the Gift and trained her in its use.

Amara’s apprenticeship was not to last, however. Sabia was elderly and passed on 3 years later. Amara soon found the cabin unbearable alone and abandoned it. Once again with no other place to go, and remembering her father’s relative sympathy, she sought out her family’s home. Upon arrival, she discovered that the few years she had been gone had been more than enough for her father to become convinced that she had bespelled him into sparing her. Finding herself chased from her family home by the last person she thought she might be able to trust, Amara set out on the road.

Wandering almost without thought, she did not notice until too late the trio of men on horseback riding up behind her. They surrounded her and suggested she come with them quietly. When asked where and why, one of the men spat, “I said quietly, witch.” It was at this point she realized she had been sold out. One of the men had dismounted and siezed her arms from behind. Though partially immobilized, she managed to call up bursts of water in an attempt to defend herself. She managed to break free temporarily, but in the end all the effort gained her was “special treatment”. Bound, gagged, and fatigued, she was helpless to do anything but watch as the trio held a whispered conversation. One man removed the gag and forcefully made her swallow a foul-tasting liquid from a stoppered bottle. She soon felt drowsy, unable to focus or keep her eyes open..

The next time Amara woke, it was in shackles and in the presence of a cloaked figure..