Eadlyn Selects

A Free Woman

"Pheeeeeeeeyu!" A loud shriek fills the hall. I'm not sure where it's coming from. Kile hovers over me protectively. Heath unholsters his gun.

Neena's howling face appears through the bars. She screams for another good minute.

None of us in the hall say anything. Her face is a wasteland of sores and her teeth are all gone. Black holes are where they used to be. Dried blood encircles her eyes and her ratty crown of dreads give her a monstrous medusa effect.

Kile mutters shocked phrases while Heath motions for his men to stand down.

"Stay alert," he barks at them. He glances at me as if to give me another chance to retreat.

I stand firm and say loudly, "It's me, Eadlyn." It is so hard to match the face behind those bars to the demure maid who used to give me hand massages and tell me I looked lovely.

"Like I wouldn't know your whiney voice?" Neena grinds out, her voice cold and hard like a straight razor.

In a split second I know exactly how I need to handle this. And luckily, I am so up for it. 

I throw my head back and laugh.

Kile turns to me in alarm. Heath's body goes completely still and his eyes laser in on me. Even Neena cocks her head.

I wipe my eyes. It's too funny.

"My voice?" I repeat. I shake my head and laugh some more. It's not kind but it helps the knots in my shoulders and the tension in my gut. This woman acted like the perfect maid. I was totally fooled. And now the mask comes off...and I feel relief. She will not trick me again. 

I am no longer the privileged princess demanding a hand massage. I am not threatened by a woman who will sink to such levels for power, control, and greed. 

No, she doesn't scare me. Not to mention, she's behind bars. It's time to stop acting afraid.

Kile rubs his face and seems off. He's shaking but I'm not sure if it's in anger or disgust. I feel badly that I brought him into this. Neena's face is not one you can forget easily.  

Suddenly, Neena grabs the bars and shakes the door of her cell. The heavy clanking reverberates off the stone and seems to vibrate into the floor and up our legs. She just yanks and throws her body weight back and forth, no doubt killing her shoulder sockets and wrists. 

The door is solid, but the effect is on target: she's unhinged.

"You have some kind of *&#^ golden luck still being alive..." she hisses at me. "With all your body parts, too. A pity Hale did not take my suggestions," Neena spits to the side. "A hobbled princess is not going to run away. But *#&% no, Hale is a wimp when it comes to a pretty, spoiled face. Or, not so pretty now, is she?" Neena cackles and then breaks into a coughing fit.

Kile starts to say something but I put my hand up. I know I'm pretty and it's not because of my now almost totally healed face or my slender figure or couture clothes.

"It's good to see your outsides catching up with your personality," I say lightly, coming to terms with this visit bearing no information. She is too far gone. Too full of hate. Empty of fear.

Neena seems taken aback by my aplomb. But she rallies and changes her focus to Kile. Eyeing him lavisciously, she licks her lips and brings her hand up to make a crude gesture to him.

"I shared Hale with you, now you've come to share this morsel with me?"

Kile shudders and steps back. Heath steps forward, more into her view.