because it has been a while.

this is the fourth instalment. The first three parts are earlier on.
The prologue
The first half of chatper one
The second half of chapeter one

The elder gentleman stepped forward letting go of her hand and traversing the short yard to the door of the small wooden house. He took a slow moment to open the door and look back at Verra. He smiled and walked through the door, his brown robes flowing slightly behind him. Verra waited another moment staring at the open door before she followed the old priest.
As Verra walked cautiously and quietly up the stair to the front door, they creaked under her feet. The door, swung shut after she walk past the entrance. Inside the home it was decorated with simple furniture. There was a table to eat on, a few clean chairs to sit on, and a fire place near the far wall, which had a rug in front of it. The fire burned happily in the fire place and the small little home seemed cheery.
Verra questioned the fire burning so well, the priest had only set foot seconds before her. She also questioned the validity of this home as being a place of worship. She had always seen followers of the gods worshiping them within their temples. She had never seen such a place called a place of worship.
“Seems odd to you to worship here, does it?” Ranmaral question as if reading her mind. “It did to me too, at first, but my teacher taught me many things about worship that I never would have guessed.” He smiled and beckoned her to sit near the fire. “I would guess it has been a while since you have seen the comfort of a fire, come sit and I will get you some water.”
Verra did so, it was true that she had not seen a fire in near a month, and she would not like to waste the time thinking about it when she could be warming herself up. She sat on the carpet, with her hands near the fire gathering up the heat. She could feel the heat hit her cold flesh at first with such intensity then soothing like the warmth of a wool blanket on a winter night. As she sat she watched the flames dance in the fire place, and put her energy into the relaxing. Her mind emptied of all the harshness of the last few years since that day in the bar.
Verra eyes popped open as Ranmaral returned to her side. “Here, it is clean!” Verra took the water and drank it quickly. “I can see you are tired, but I think you should bathe first.” Verra nodded.
He led her from the small room with the fire place to another small room, which had a bath filled with hot water in it. The priest passed the young girl a towel and some cloths. “I will find you some clothes.” Then he shut the door and left her. Verra was not slow getting into the warm bath either. She was however reluctant to get out of the water. It felt so good to be clean and warm, not something she had experienced in some time. When she did emerge and dried her body, an elderly woman walked into the room. When Verra saw the woman it seemed to explained the hot bath and the happy fire.
“I guess you are Ranmaral’s new pupil.” The woman did not seem to be asking as much as stating. Her voice was high and not the easiest to listen to. “I found these for you. We don’t see too many new pupils anymore. In fact you are the first in a few years.” She handed Verra’s some peach colored robes and left the room.
Verra struggled with the robes to put them on. In the end she decided as long as they cover her, she would have someone else show her how to tie them properly later. Once she was satisfied that the robes were covering and would not fall off as soon as she left the bathroom, she emerged from the room.
“Oh!” The high pitched voice woman was standing outside. Let me help you with that. The woman quickly readjusted Verra’s robe until it looked much the way her own did. “There, that is better. Remind me later and I will show you how to tie the knots properly, first you need some sleep.” The woman jestered for Verra to follow and she did. “There is a room prepared for guest; I will prepare a proper pupil room for you tomorrow.”
Verra nodded, though the woman leading her to her room was not looking at her. “Thank you.” The two walked for a moment in silence until they came to a third small room with a bed, a dresser, a basin on the floor and small dresser and changing curtain. “Where is Ranmaral?” Verra asked in a quiet voice.
“He will be back in the morning. He has lots of work to do. You will be all right here. There is nothing to be afraid of my dear. Rest now and in the morning you can start your work.” The woman started to leave.
“Who are you?” Verra asked quickly?
“I am Ranmaral’s wife.” the woman looked calm and content with that statement. “My name is Ravelt. Now rest child you have a long journey to take and rested is the best way to start any journey.” Ravelt left the room shutting the wooden door behind her.
Verra was well asleep before her eyes were even closed.

Morning came too quickly for Verra she could have slept for several more hours had the woodland birds not woken her up with their songs. She had been using them for some time now to wake her up. When she heard them sing she knew the roads would soon have traffic, carts and pedestrians roaming between villages for trade and commerce. Once the songs of the birds started she would wake up and start down the road again.
When she opened her eyes she had somehow expected to see trees and leaves and the sky, instead she saw a plain white ceiling and a window. She could also feel the comfort of the blankets and smell the sent of home made food. A smile came to her face as she pulled back the covers. Her feet found the cold floor and with it a pair of sandles that she quickly donned. Standing and looking at the room, she decided to make the bed before she wondered out of her room and into the small hall she had been in the night before. She followed the smell of the food and quickly found the kitchen.
Like everything in the house the kitchen was small and clean, with a fire burning in a fire place and a cauldron steamed with the smell of porridge. Verra looked around there was no one there. For a single moment she found it odd, then the door at the back of the kitchen swung open and Ranmaral and his wife wondered into the kitchen. Verra smiled.
“Good morning!” The pair said in unison.
“I am glad to see your robes fit. Come we have work to do before we can eat breakfast.” Ranmaral looked at her.
Verra nodded, only slightly disappointed that she did not get to eat breakfast right away. She followed Ranmaral out the back door, while Ravelt wondered into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Verra and Ranmaral came to a stop in front of a large pile of leaves. She looked at Ranmaral with a curious look on her face.
“I want you to jump into the pile of leaves,” with one eyebrow raised she looked at Ranmaral who motioned with one hand as if to say you first. Verra shrugged her shoulders and jumped, Ranmaral followed. For a brief moment they were small children playing in a pile of leaves. Then the two stood up and the giggling stopped.
“Now help me bring these leave over to the garden.” Ranmaral grabbed a large part of the pile in his two hands and carried them to a narrow path behind the house. Verra followed with her own arm load of leaves. This narrow path was much shorter than the one they had taken the day before, when they left the tree cover they were next to what look to Verra as the most extensive garden she had ever seen.