Rune and Ruin

Seeds of the Gods - 25 - Transplanting

395 B.C.E. - The Wilderness of the Tasurian Peninsula, Early Fall, Month of September

From Her Memory

It was raining this morning, as it had been for the last four days. A light, drizzling rain, a relief from the heat, a way to cover her tracks from the Tasuri warriors that were getting too close to her little hideaway in the remote Acerian hills. Thania was miserable, wracked with indecision and fear, and, though she tried to ignore it, a deep sense of guilt and sorrow.

She pressed her hand to her gently-rounded stomach. She had traveled slowly, delaying finding somewhere permanent to be for weeks. She ate from the land, the food bountiful in the late summer, but the leaves on the trees were slowly changing to gold, and she knew she had to go somewhere to hunker down for winter. Somewhere safe. Somewhere, she could have her baby.

She was waiting for the gods to guide her, but they had been silent except for the chilling command weeks ago;

Leave. Hurry

She had gathered whatever supplies she could carry and walked out of the camp. It had been simple but so difficult. The sense of betrayal had clung to her skin just like the rain. The General, Quintus, had spoken of giving her to the Fyrrin's father, to the frightening man Thania had nightmares about. Then, mere hours later, a new slave woman confronted Thania. She had protested the woman's rough treatment, but the nasty words had left Thania cold.

"Enough girl! I was told by the warlord's slave to have you ready for him tonight, so ready you will be!" Ignoring Thania's gasp of shock, the woman brutally wrenched her head sideways to pour water over her hair. "Don't know why you bother to complain. Your legs is only spread by one man, aren't they? Least your baby will know who its father is, I expect." Bitterly smiling, the woman pushed Thania back up toward the tent, "better please him, missy, you don't want to be with the others tonight, do you?"

Woodenly, Thania had moved back to the tent. Her baby? Her hand drifted to rest on her flat stomach. It was true, she thought in stark realization. It explained her weakness and exhaustion this last week. The thought of Yanna and her poor baby drove Thania to move faster. Would the warlord put her aside when he found out her condition? Worse, would he make her abandon the baby? Did her new companion know how to destroy an unborn child? Is that why she was chosen to accompany her? Shaking now, Thania ducked into the tent, her breath coming in little gasps. Falling to her knees, she bent her head over, her dry heaves punctuating her whispered pleas to Enlil, the mother goddess. Finding some small measure of control, she sat up, staring without seeing at the tent walls.

Then, the gods urged her to run, so she did without question.

"And now, we're all alone," Thania whispered to her baby as she woodenly gathered her dress and shoes, trying to banish sleep from her mind. The acrid scent of death and smoke swiftly reminded her of the present, however, and she moved faster. Where was the smell coming from?

In the distance, smoke. Another village burning. The Warlord of Rune was angry. Shivers of foreboding ran down her spine. Mistake or not, now that she had escaped from the Fyrrin, she could never, ever return to him. Surely, he would kill her and her unborn baby.

Thania walked in the opposite direction of the distant smoke, vaguely aware of heading due east toward the sea. There was a city there, a larger one on the coast, Caere. The Acerian king there was known to have a bad reputation. He never allowed refugees beyond the city gates, but maybe she could slip into the city and hide amongst the populace. Either way, it seemed she would go in that direction or be caught by the war machine churning at her back.

That night, she dreamt of the Warlord. He loomed over her, his red eyes glowing harshly, narrowed on her until all that existed was his glare. In her dream, he never asked, 'Why did you leave me?' He fucked her and whispered, 'I'll find you,' 'You can't hide forever,' and 'You're mine.' Over and over, his promises were delivered until Thania woke in the middle of the night, a sweaty, hot mess throbbing between her legs.

It was the pregnancy, she decided, as she wiped the sweat away and began to move east again. Just the baby making her long for a man's touch. Ridiculous but not unheard of. Her cousin, Juliane, used to speak of women's longings and dreams while carrying. They used to giggle about it, innocent of what a man could do and never thinking that they would be torn from their home to be at the mercy of barbarians and Tasuri.

The shaper had probably murdered Juliane once he...

Thania turned her thoughts away from that day, forcing her tired feet to trudge on toward Caere.

It took another three days for the tinge of salt to be tasted in the air. Thania was close to Caere, to the coast, to the sea. Only time would tell if this decision was a good one.

The gates of Caere appeared suddenly, just as Thania walked around a small hill. Still a ways off, a few more steps and she could make out the glistening bronze armor of the city guards standing on the wall above the large metal gates.

Closed. They were closed tight, and Thania had no desire to risk approaching them. She had no goods, nothing to offer but herself, and hadn't she already seen what happens to a young woman, all alone, with nothing to offer but herself?

No, better to find a way to sneak in. The citizens of Caere had no wings, so if she stayed far enough away from the walls, she could scout out another route inside the city. At least, that's what Thania hoped for.

Toward the sea

Resolute, Thania traced a winding path through the low hills to the edge of a wide cliff. The sight that greeted her was mesmerizing. For leagues and leagues, an endless blue stretched until it shimmered into the haze made by the setting sun. She walked until her feet touched hard, packed earth instead of soft summer weeds, and the small dot of existence that was Thania, former bedslave to the Warlord of Rune, disappeared into the expansive scenery.

Thania may have stayed well into the night, but she captured the attention of a small group of women walking along the cliff's edge.

"Hello, young one."

Thania spun around so quickly the blood rushed to her head, making her feel dizzy. A soft hand clamped onto her arm, steadying her. She gasped but quickly recovered her equilibrium and pulled away from the woman.

Three Acera faces stared back at her. Two older women and one younger. One of the older women smiled gently. "I am Nahma, the Hatrencu of Caere."

Thania felt her eyes widen. She had heard of the Hatrencu; who hadn't? The greatest of the Caere priestesses, the head of the temple of the Mother, the Hatrencu was someone of great importance. "Hello," she responded quietly. 

"Do you need help?" the younger woman asked, moving closer, her eyes welling with sympathy and concern.

Tell them who you are

"Yes," Thania responded bluntly. "I've fled the Tasuris. I need somewhere to stay."

"You are not alone in that," the younger woman said grimly. "I'm Vivina."

"Thania." She left off the whole bedslave to the Warlord part.

"We welcome you, Thania. May you find Caere a blessing for you," the Hatrencu said with a smile.