I Will Not Forget.

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FASTIA AND FÉODREN, SIXTEEN WINTERS PASSED.

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He was always much bigger than her. Even though they shared the same birth, Féodren always seemed so much older than his years.

He dangled the little worn pouch before her, cackling gleefully as little boys do whenever they tease their sisters. There was a brief flash of anger in her vivid emerald eyes as her muddy hands grabbed for the pouch, but missed as it was raised further out of reach.

Climbing nimbly and with expert agility, Féodren made his way upwards to the low-hanging rafters of the stable, leaving Fastia to her temper on the hay-strwen ground. The small girl stamped her bare foot and fidgeted in her dirtied skirts as she watched her twin taunt her from above.

"Give it back, Féodren! Give it back before I tell mother!" The girl squealed, silvery-blonde ringlets swishing about as she jumped and clawed at the air.

Her protestations were met only with more laugher, for the impish lad relished in such interaction.

"Why carry this old thing around with you, anyhow?" He called, holding the pouch by its thin rope cord and inspecting it with furrowed brow.

Making a face for a moment, she replied. "You know too well we're not to venture beyond the stream. That store of chopped mallow root will have to do until father heads to town again." Fastia smirked. Her brother would never understand the use of herbal medicines and the extent of their potency. Féodren may have been taller, stronger, faster than she was, but she was by far the more intelligent of the pair.

She was a healer. Even though she had only seen nine winters yet, it was well known to the people of their little community that she could work wonders with the plants that grew locally and with a small cut strip from which a bandage could be fashioned.

With a dismissive shrug, the male twin tossed the item back to his sister and jumped down from his perch on the wooden beam - only to injure his ankle upon landing. Instinctively, Fastia bolted over to his side, tore off a large section from the bottom of her dress and began binding her brother's foot as quickly and carefully as she could manage. She could feel it, too. His pain was her pain, but she would always be there to fix him.

Always.

And then, ten years later, he was gone.

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