Ongo had taken Samantha to Truetown. She lived among magical falcons and learned the way of magic from Ongo. For the first time, she knew love and value, growing so fond of the yellow creature that she never left its side. Her affection was returned in kind.
Born without a gift, Samantha had always been an outcast. With Ongo's help, she mastered the very essence of magic, wielding it better than most sorceresses could. And so, when she was about twenty, she returned back to the woods of Old Province to visit her people, hoping to be welcomed with open arms now that she possessed a gift.
When she arrived, she was embraced with a warmth she never expected. Happiness surged through her, a fragile hope that things would change. She shed a tear of joy. Desperate to hold onto the feeling, she decided to show them the skills she had learned. It turned out, learning magic without the birthright was a taboo. She had disgraced her family. Her punishment was banishment.
"Father, Mother," pleaded Whimper, her voice thick with emotion, "she was gone for over five years. We thought her dead. Now she's returned with the very gift you hated her for lacking. Please, for me, don't send her away. I don't want to live without her again." Tears streamed down Samantha's cheeks as she watched in shock.
In the past, Whimper had never been friendly. Not a day went by that Samantha didn't fall under a spell Whimper cast just to toy with her. When she complained, her parents told her to let Whimper practice. Samantha had always felt alone. She hoped returning with magic would finally earn her parents' esteem. Instead, they refused to acknowledge her, while her sister impossibly welcomed her with open arms. It was a wonder.
"Whimper," her mother, the bearer of the gift that flowed through the bloodline called, "we do not expect you to understand, but there is a reason this gift flows through the firstborn. That she has learned her way through makes her a sinner. Accept her at your own peril."
"I agree, I do not understand," Whimper shot back, "but I am your daughter no more than she is. Had you been kinder to her, she wouldn't have left home in the first place to try to be like me. I abandoned my little sister once. I will not do that again. Do not try to stop me."
A warmth spread through Samantha's chest. For years, all she had wanted was a sister, a connection so deep she had risked everything to become like Whimper just to earn it. She never dreamed this day would come.
"What are you going to do?" her dad asked. He was a wizard. Those with the gift in Whimper's bloodline married nothing less, so she had been told.
"That will depend on whether her punishment holds." Whimper declared.
"We love her more than you think, Whimper, but for what she has done, we are left with no choice." Her mother shook her head helplessly.
"Then you leave me with no choice either. Wherever she goes, I will follow."
Samantha's legs felt weak. She fell to her sister's feet and cried, "Whimper, your place is with our parents. Do not do this. Please, stay with them. I can still be on my own. As for you, you have a gift only Mother can guide you to wield. Do not be foolish for my sake."
"Rise, sister." Whimper held Samantha's shoulders and helped her up. "I am not worth your tears. I was a child when I thought myself better than you. After eight years without you, I learned that you are the best thing this life has given me."
For reasons Samantha and Whimper could not understand, the sentence was carried out. Samantha was banished. Unable to bear another separation, Whimper chose to follow. Their parents tried stopping her, even with magic, but her resolve was stronger. Seeing Whimper's loyalty, Samantha unleashed her own power to ensure their escape. The magic learned in Truetown dwarfed anything her parents could conjure.
The aftermath is a story of its own. They fled to the South West Province, where Whimper fell for a charming wizard named Kent. They married, but the union sowed a seed of discord between the sisters, a fact Kent noticed.
Fearing Samantha's power, Kent tried to kill her and failed. Samantha, seeing her sister was happy and wanting to keep the peace, did not tell Whimper of the betrayal. Instead, she moved to the nearby province of Inby. But peace did not last. A year ago, a dark premonition forced her to summon Whimper and deliver a warning. Whimper nodded, promising to be careful. Days later, she was dead.