Alfreda and the Mages

Alfreda stumbled into a mountain of a man on the edge of a small marketplace, delirious after days of travel. The first thing she noticed was how his thick brown hair stood out in contrast to his pale skin. The second thing she noticed was the sneer on his face as shoved her and spit out, “watch it, demon spawn.” The insult barely had time to register before she blacked out.

Alfreda awoke in the same spot she had collapsed in, only this time the sun was much lower in the sky. As she came to, she noticed a woman with an elaborate head-wrap spooning water into her mouth, and she groaned as the first few drops of water hit her lips after days without. She began to thank the woman, only to be quieted with a finger to her lips as the woman looked around furtively. “Not now” she said as she left the water next to Alfreda’s hand and disappeared into the bustle of the market. 

Once she gained enough strength, Alfreda made her way through the market only to notice many pairs of hostile eyes following her everywhere she went. Feeling self conscious, she reached up to fix her hair, only to notice it was clean and smooth. “Damnit,” she thought “the mud must’ve washed out during my travels.” Suddenly the anger she had noticed directed her way since she arrived in the small village made sense, what with her bright purple hair on display. She looked around her and noticed women with elaborate, rich colored head-wraps, and a sea of dark brown hair with the occasional head of dark green. “Earth Weavers,” she thought to herself. All clans tended to dislike clan-less mages, or Purple Mages as they had taken to being called, but Earth Weavers hated them the most. They didn’t understand their power, and thought that an unknown number of women who had the ability to switch clans at will was a threat of the highest degree. 

Quickly ducking back into the trees, Alfreda took a moment to slow her heart rate. She could feel her magic thrumming through her body, and her stomach ached for food. Despite how uncomfortable it may be, she could not afford to travel any further without supplies. She must stay at this settlement and hope she could get in and out without incident. 

Alfreda returned to the marketplace, this time with her head hung low and eyes cast to the ground. She knew her usual bravado would only continue to rub the settlers the wrong way, and she couldn’t handle any more reasons for them to hate her. She needed to act as subdued and subtly as she could in order to not upset anyone else with her mere presence. With this in mind, she set off to find a new pack, and supplies and food to fill it with.

While waiting for the weapons vendor to return to the cart, Alfreda noticed a small boy sitting on the ground by himself. Cautiously approaching, Alfreda conjured a small orb of light in her palm, and let it change colors while the boy laughed. Noticing the boy’s mother returning, Alfreda quickly extinguished the light and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her trousers, slowly backing away from the boy. Much to her surprise, she was the same woman from earlier that provided Alfreda with water. The mother kneeled down next to the boy, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and conjured a small ball of water in her palm, letting it pop and splash on the hands of the joyful boy. Astonished, Alfreda looked at her in question. The woman only smiled, pulled a lock of hair out of her head-wrap - a strand of purple hair! - and then tucked it back in. 

Alfreda looked up to see ten or more women pull strands of purple hair from their head-wraps, nod at her, and then tuck the hair safely back out of sight. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw this many Purple Mages in one place at a time, and her heart swelled with pride. One by one, several of the women took off their head-wraps, allowing their purple hair to flow free. Alfreda had been trying to fit in for so long, and yet by simply being her true self here in this settlement, numerous mages felt the confidence needed to be themselves too. While she was worried about the safety of these women, she knew it was easy to hate one stranger with confusing powers, but these new women were the wives, sisters, friends and family of the clan, and in a primarily matriarchal society, no harm would truly come to them. 

A great deal of commotion arose as other settlers noticed the women with now visible purple hair, but Alfreda saw many of them being embraced by husbands, wives and friends, and she smiled. One of the brown-haired women came to Alfreda, and while she thought the woman might try to attack, she simply pulled her into a hug. “Thank you,” the woman whispered. “My sister is a Purple Mage, and I’m the only one that’s known about it for so long. I could tell it was eating her up, but she said she would never be able to tell the truth alone. So thank you. For telling your truth, and helping her tell hers.” A few settlers left the marketplace muttering about “demon-spawns” and “traitors,” but for the most part there was joy and reconciliation in the market. Someone made their own personal rain cloud, and the children all squealed and ran towards it. Another grew a single rose out of the ground, and used it to propose to her girlfriend. Alfreda could never have imagined this kind of joy would come out of something she was so scared of doing, and honestly did quite by accident. 

After finishing gathering supplies and saying goodbye to the newly discovered Purple Mages, Alfreda set out again, this time with the knowledge that she wasn’t the only one of her kind out there. Maybe she would purposely leave her hair uncovered the next time she stopped. It seemed to have worked out well this time, and only time would tell how many Purple Mages had integrated into other clans in secret. It would take time, but Alfreda was determined to find them.