Sorceress

Chapter 13

I could hear voices in the distance.  I vaguely recognized the sound of their jumbled words.  Nothing seemed clear.  My eyelid was forced upon and then shut again.  My heels dragged and bumped on the ground before being lifted.  Warm water brushed over my face and hair.  I was jolted into awareness by the feeling of a needle poking into my head.  Jerking, I tried to move away but strong hands pushed me back down.  My eyes focused on the Matron’s face.  Her mouth was moving, but her voice sounded far away.  Focusing, I swallowed hard.  The needle poked into my head again.  Struggling to sit up, I pushed against the hands holding me down.

“You’ve got to lay still,” The Matron said.  I struggled against her strong hands as my eyes searched her face.  My head felt thick and my thoughts all jumbled.  I sensed a difference in the Matron but I could not focus on what it was.  Her long black hair hung loose over her shoulders, and tickled my cheeks as she leaned over me.  She smelled unnaturally sweet, and the scent filled my nostrils making me feel sick. I lay back on the bed and closed my eyes.  My thoughts calmed and the evening events bubbled to the surface causing a panic to surge through me.

“Wynny, Delaena,” I croaked.  My throat was hoarse and painfully scratchy.  I could emit barely more than a whisper.

I felt the needle tug against my head, and then heard the snap of thread.

“All done,” A voice said.

The Matron turned my head to the side.

“Very nice, small stitches.  It should heal well,” she said.

A cup of water was help to my lips and I drank greedily.  Looking up I saw Wynny, her white shift covered in blood.  As she leaned the cup away from my lips, she gave me a tentative smile.

“Don’t worry, it’s yours,” she said gesturing to her blood stained dress.

Delaena appeared on my other side.  Her face was puffy and swollen from crying, but she seemed otherwise unharmed.

“I had to sew your head together,” she started, but before she could continue tears welled up in her eyes.  “I am so sorry Morgana.  I never meant for this to happen,” she sobbed sitting at my feet.

I shook my head and tried to speak to her, to tell her I was alright, but only a croak came out.  I put my hand to my throat, grimacing as my fingers touched the bruise around it.

“I would not try speaking for now I think,” I heard behind me.  Pushing myself up to a seated position I took in my surroundings.  I was lying on a small bed of straw covered in a thin blanket.  A small table sat beside the bed with a candle burning that provided the only light for the whole room.  A curtain hung up in the corner with rope hid the chamber pot and wash basin from view. There was a small hearth and a couple of shelves filled with pots.  Dried herbs hung from a rack tied to the ceiling giving the room a sweet smell.  A table filled with paper was in the other corner with two chairs.

“Claire found us in the alley and brought us here.  We thought you were dead,” Deleana said drying her eyes on her sleeve.

It took me a moment to understand what Delaena was saying to me.  As my head cleared, I understood that it was not the Matron who had been holding me down, but Claire.  She still wore the red dress I had seen her in earlier, and she leaned against the wall by the only window in the room watching and listening.

“What..?” I whispered, struggling to speak.

“What happened?” Wynny finished for me.

Nodding my head, I looked from one to the other.  Wynny’s white smock was stained red down the front.  She had lost her head dress somewhere and her blonde hair fell messily over her shoulders.  Delaena sat at the foot of the bed, twisting her hands nervously together as she glanced from me to Wynny.  Wynny cleared her throat, and began speaking.  Her voice was soft and shook slightly as she recalled the events from earlier in the evening.