Sage and An Invitation

Rideten, Five Years Before

A women’s circle involved a gathering of women of all age groups, backgrounds, shape and size. They arrived alone, or in groups of friends or family. Grandmothers, mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, childhood friends, schoolteachers and home makers – women from every walk of life. They entered carrying with them wine which they added to the communal table and drank out of vintage teacups as they giggled, and chatted, and shared the news of their week, their family and friends.

They accepted Aislen’s presence with warmth and curiosity, and she was passed from group to group, repeating the same information about herself – where she was from, where she was studying, how long she had been in Rideten, and whether she liked it. As she and Bianca circulated, Aislen soon determined that there were three different types of women present – those who came for the socialization and did not truly believe in magic, those devotees that believed passionately in magic