Passion for War

Chapter 8:

Madeleine:

The sun feels wonderful on my skin, this would be the last of the warmth before we are thrown into the winter season. It's hard to enjoy this when I'm still hurting after what Fitz said to me yesterday. I shouldn't be affected this much. I have had many insults thrown at me before including with the council, so why do his hurt?

Am I truly twisted? Or broken? I know that I can't shift as yet and I have experienced weird things but I never thought myself to be mentally unstable.

Huffing I shut my book and lay down on the blanket, it seems my appetite for reading has been squished.

Hearing muttering I sit up and find Thea walking towards me but she looks angry. "Your mate is an asshole," she says as she sits next to me. I wonder what Fitz did to upset her. "Can't argue there." I lie back down on the blanket and try to relax but my mind is still stuck on what he said. "Thea? Do you think I am twisted?" I ask, never turning to look her in the eye. I hear shifting next me, she fixes her dress and comes to lay down next to me. "No but then again nobody is perfect either," she responds. Her words ease the pain a little but it's not enough.

"Is that what he said to you?" she asks after a while, too lazy to use my words I slowly nod my head. "Asshole," she mutters again, bringing a smile to my lips. "The worst part is, I believe him. I have never been bothered by people's insults but all of a sudden I am emotional over his." I chuckle but there is no humour in it, rather the sad idea that I am sulking over a man. "You care so much and you care for him, love? I don't think we are there yet but just the fact that you care is enough to make you vulnerable to his words. Fitz is not as complicated as he appears to be, he hurts others when he is frustrated or angry and he shows his love in odd ways even if it sounds insulting." "So which one are we receiving right now?" I ask, making us both giggle.

"Even though he is currently being a pain, he's still my brother and I love him. He saved me after all." "Saved you from what exactly?" I ask, needing a distraction from all this talk about Fitz.

"I had a mate once and if you thought Fitz was a monster then you are terribly wrong." I didn't know that she had found her mate, I always thought she hadn't come across them yet. All this time there was someone in her life.

"Had?" I ask, "In my time life was never as simple as today. Those days life was a struggle," she says as she stares off into the distance. "My parents were loving people, they wanted to help people and cure them of illnesses but the churches grew fearful of people's faith in us instead of them. That's when they started burning us in front of our community, claiming our work was of the devil. They would take away our properties and force the children into a system." her story sounds horrible, it is similar to Fitz's however. Could that have been why he took her in because of their similarities? "What kind of system?" I ask, urging her to continue.

"They would sell us to a black market of wealthy families, we would serve them with our magic and if we ever disobeyed the punishment was severe. We would hang for days in chambers, the rods would cut through the bones and we would hang like animals for weeks even months. Never really dying, the pain was like nothing you would ever experience, the cold conditions..." She takes a breath before continuing.

"When I was sold, I was brought to become a maid for a wealthy man, he and his wife and his children were cruel people. I watched many go into the chambers and come out either never walking or their arms were gone. I knew in order to prevent myself from landing up there I was to obey." "Why didn't you just use your magic to escape?" I ask the obvious question. "They had this priest in their community, he was technically a gifted but the people believed it was the power of God. He was skilled, he knew when, where and who used their magic and he was in charge of the system to trade slaves for his wealthy friends. He sold me to that family, I was nothing but trouble for him back then. So he got rid of me as quickly as possible.