A Broken Vow

Chapter 6: Aftermath

*continuation of flashback*

The next time she woke up, she found herself lying on a mattress with a woman over her. The woman was elderly and had many wrinkles around her eyes. Her eyes were kind and her hands were gentle as they administered to her needs.

"You are finally awake, my child," she said softly. "How do you feel?"

"Where am I?" asked Renae, as she tried to get up. Her head became dizzy and she had to quickly lie back down.

"Careful dear," the woman said. "You are in an inn that Sir Benedict has brought you to. You were in trouble when he found you. Since the time he brought you in, you have been in a coma."

Renae rubbed her head. "H-how long have I been in a coma?"

"About five days. You must be hungry. Here is some soup. Drink," she said as she gently helped Renae sit up and spooned the soup into her mouth. The soup was warm and flavorful. It was the first full meal she had in such a long time. She greedily drank the soup, enjoying the flavor of it. This could, after all, be her last time eating a full meal. Might as well enjoy it while it's there.

After she ate, the kind old woman helped her settle back in bed and she herself went to a chair across the bed and started to knit. Renae snuggled under the blankets comfortably, greatful for the warmth. She closed her eyes and it seemed only a moment when there was a knock at the door. Renae opened her eyes.

The old woman got up and opened the door. An unheard conversation took place between the old woman and the visitor. Finally, the old woman opened the door, and in stepped a well-to-do heavyset man who wore a pair of elaborate trousers: one that only traders could afford.

He knelt beside Renae's bed, took her hand, and stared intently into her eyes. She immediately pulled her hand away from his and tried to move as far away as possible.

He didn't seem to mind and instead sighed. "You are  afraid and I understand. After all, it would be traumatizing for anyone to almost go through... that..." His voice trailed off momentarily, but soon, he refocused his attention on Renae and said, "My name is William E. Benedict. But you may call me Sir Benedict. You had blacked out when I arrived." He paused and his gaze wandered to the blanket as he mumbled, "Fortunately, I was just in time." Turning his eyes back on Renae he asked, " I hope you are feeling better?"

She just stared at him. What does he want? What was his hidden motive? Whenever men asked how women were doing, they usually had a hidden motive.

After a minute of silence, he said, "Well, I hope you are feeling better. Maybe sometime after you've gotten to know me, you will be comfortable talking to me, but until then, I will be patiently waiting." With that, he got up,  walked to the door, opened it, and with one last look at her, closed the door behind him.

Every day after that first visit, Sir Benedict would visit her and ask how she was doing. Even though she would never say anything, he still kept talking to her. He would talk about his hobbies, what he did for a living, and such. He told her about his wife and how amazing she was.

As he told her more about himself, she slowly grew to like him. Perhaps even started to give a bit of trust.

It was after the end of another silent session and Sir Benedict had gotten up. He strode to the door. As was his habit, stopped right in front of the door and turned his head just enough to call over his shoulder, " Goodbye Renae."

He was about to take another step and walk out when he heard a soft voice say , " Thank you."

He whirled around. Renae was cuddled in her blankets and was watching him. "Did you...just say thank you?"

Renae nodded.

His mouth spread into smile. "Say it...again?"

"Thank you..."

She felt his joy as he turned around and left. From outside the door, she heard him exclaim, "She talked to me! She talked to me!"

Renae smiled.

After that day, Renae slowly talked more and more until finally, she talked normally with him. She got stronger each day as well.

It had been a month since he brought her to this inn and Renae was getting well and was growing restless. One day, seeing her restlessness, he offered to give her a job at his home which was located in a medium-sized town 100 miles away. "You don't live in this town?" Renae asked.

"Oh no. You see, I was just picking up some barrels of wine when I happened to find you in trouble," he explained. "If you are willing, then come home with me and I will offer you a job." Renae considered his offer and thought, He does seem like an honest man. I suppose I could give him a chance. After all, isn't it better to do a job in exchange for a place to live and food? She agreed to his offer and days later, she was taken to his home. She learned that his house was actually also a business. The top part of the building was the living quarters while the bottom level was used to run a bar. It was quite unusual since most people either only had a house, or had two separate buildings: one for their living quarters and another to run business or sell produce.

True to his word, Sir Benedict gave Renae a job which was to run errands. She would deliver messages to other people, go to the market, and fetch water from the well which was located at the south side of the large town. These were just a few errands among the many she did for the Benedict household.She thought she could forever live like this happily unitl that day...