Caelestis

Chapter 24

Chapter 24: I'm in the Hospital Again

Although I was tired enough to sleep for a week, I couldn't help but want to see everything there was to see in Ominerstia. We arrived at the gates to the city around midafternoon. The dark, stone wall towered above us. Ardennais stayed right at Zanzibar's feet the whole time. Ben and Eohippus rode up on either side of me, ready to protect if need be. Skye stayed behind me but only to stay away from Ben, I thought. The group paraded through the gates and into the small marketplace. People came out of their homes and gasped in astonishment at my return.

The homes were made of wood. The roofs were thatched but the doors were all made of stone. Odd, I thought. We came to another gate and the soldiers came out to check our wagons, horses and people for any "travel alongs", as they called those who sneaked into the city by riding, unknown, on a wagon. Eohippus helped them but the soldiers spent more time looking at the centaur than they did the wagons.

I sighed. An old woman slipped through the group of men and took hold of my leg with her long and sharp fingernails. I winced and stared down at her.

"'Aw nice of thee to come visit me, this 'ere old lady." She smiled. I grimaced. Old though she was, her grip was that of a snake. Her teeth were yellow and rotted. Her skin was pale and thick, green and purple veins ran through her arms.

"Uh...good to see you too...?" I replied almost questioningly.

"Why not thee come 'ere into me ole' 'aouse?" she asked and smiled. Her lips curled up and my stomach did somersaults. She reached up and took hold of my hand. Ardennais growled. "What a cute lil' pup thee has."

"Uh...no thanks..." I said and looked to Skye. He almost gasped when he saw the look on my face. He dismounted and walked around to the old woman. She, seeing that he was approaching, took her hand off of me and looked at him with lust. I was so utterly disgusted with this whole situation that I almost revisited my breakfast. This old lady was the ugliest, vilest, thing I had ever seen. Ben followed silently and placed his hand on Zanzibar's hind quarters.

"You need to leave now," Skye ordered.

"Wew' aren't thee a cute one!" the old woman exclaimed and grabbed Skye around the waist.

"Get off!" Skye demanded and ripped her off of him. He pulled her to her house and pointed a finger in her face. The old woman snapped at his finger and missed only because Skye's reflexes were amazing. She laughed and her witch like voice sounded through the group. Eohippus trotted over to us and stood in between me and the woman.

"You fool!" she screamed. "Fools!" The soldiers crowded around Anne and drew their swords.

Skye drew his sword and held it to the woman's throat. I gulped. He pulled it back and thrust it through her chest. I couldn't believe that he had just killed that woman so quickly.

"Skye!" I screamed and flung my leg over Zanzibar's back. Eohippus held me back. Skye shoved his sword back into his sheath and walked back to me; anger written all over his face.

"What did she do to you?" he asked.

"Why did you kill her?!" I demanded. "She was unarmed!"

"No, she was far from defenseless, Princess," Eohippus corrected.

"She was a witch," Ben continued, and placed his hand gently on my shoulder. I gulped. "Are you all right?"

"Y...yeah." I was starting to feel lightheaded. The sight of the old woman crumpled up on the floor was a little too much for me. Seeing someone die on TV was much different than in real life. Killing those robbers wasn't the same either. I hadn't really seen the blood. It was too dark then to see much of anything without a torch. But looking at this old lady...I had taken those men's lives without a second thought. I didn't even feel badly about it, until now. I fell to my knees. What had I become?