Every now and then, Afia’s grandma would arrive in town, usually at the Southern Port. She never stayed for long. As a seer, Grandma didn’t stay anywhere for long. She might stay overnight here or there, gathering supplies and rations for her journeys up and down the Merle River. Perhaps she might stay longer, if the villagers wherever she landed had a particular need for spiritual guidance or purification. As such, Afia had a fondness for her grandma formed mostly out of the memories of infrequent but pleasant visits.

Once or twice when they were younger, Ama would allow Afia or Kofi to travel the Merle with their grandma, for some kind of spiritual education Ama didn’t particularly care for but felt might benefit her children. Even in recent years, Ama never joined her children during their brief visits with Grandma. She had long grown tired of that dogma.