The Wandering Lost

Chapter 1 ~ To Heal the Unjust

    Ellenora tipped her chin back and smiled, relishing the warm spring breeze that lifted loose golden hair away from her neck. The change in seasons only a month ago had been most welcomed by her. Winter had dragged on far too long this year. She blinked her eyes open as someone elbowed her side and flashed a bright grin at one of her two companions.

    Juliethe's clear brown eyes twinkled with a teasing light and on her other side, Harley chuckled. "Daydreaming again?" He gibed as Ellenora's gaze shifted to him.

    She merely rolled her eyes. "You act as if that's all I do."

    "Well," Juliethe piped in, "you do tend to wander into your own world a lot. You can't blame us for assuming."

    "And you two always tend to tease me about it." Ellenora stuck her tongue out when Juliethe did, drawing another laugh from Harley. They rounded a street corner and their destination came into view, sobering all of them immediately.

    The drab stone walls of the city prison were never any more welcoming than before, and the faces within even less so. Not that Ellenora expected them to be, and it wasn't welcome or gratitude that she sought here. She had come to Abbatia to make a difference in the lives of those who needed it, innocent and condemned alike.
   
    Ellenora took the lead as they approached the outer wall and the iron portcullis barring the entrance. Archers were stationed at the top of the wall, evenly spaced every two feet and alternating which directions they faced. One faced the city, the other faced the prison courtyard, and the pattern continued. Guards stood at attention on either side of the prison's only entrance, their sharp gazes tracking her and her friends' approach.

    They paused before the guards and Ellenora shifted her basket of supplies to one arm, freeing the other to unfasten and hold up the pin identifying her as an Abbey Initiate. The guard's eyes traced the symbol upon it, a hand holding a sprig of sage, then he gave a curt nod and waved a hand to someone in the watch tower above him.

    Ellenora fastened her pin back into place above her heart as cogs groaned overhead and the portcullis shrieked open. Juliethe and Harley followed her inside the courtyard where another pair of guards were already waiting to escort them into the prison.

    Juliethe wrinkled her nose when the courtyard gave way to a dismal antechamber smelling heavily of many unwashed bodies. Ellenora didn't bother scolding her for the look. She'd learned not to after their first visit two years ago. The smell was one thing Juliethe could never get over, though she did her best to hide her disgust when treating the inmates.

    Ellenora simply refrained from telling her how much worse the prison's actual infirmary chamber smelled, as she was never allowed to take her friends back there. She could only go herself when accompanied by her mentor. Ellenora squared her shoulders and pasted a smile to her lips as she spied their small group of patients for the day, five men and three women.

    They were seated on separate benches, their hands shackled around the wrists and linked to the cuffs around their ankles by a long chain, which was then secured through individual rings on the ground. Every prisoner was secured the same way no matter what they were imprisoned for, Ellenora had learned. Even children, when they were inevitably picked up off the streets.
   
    She set her basket on the table behind the women's bench and turned to her first patient as Juliethe and Harley set to work on the men. "You again, Mrs. Fren?" Ellenora said in greeting. "I'm beginning to wonder if you just like to see me."

    The corners of the burly woman's mouth tilted up. "A bright young face like yours always brings a little sunshine into this place." Her voice was as rough as her features, partially from disuse and partially from the congestion that Ellenora could already hear within her lungs.