The Power Of Cithrí - A Chaol Westfall Fanfiction

Part 21

The women infront and behind me walked in single file, heads held down, watching their feet. Women dressed in white with either blue or black made sure we maintained an orderly line. I had to pace myself, calm my breathing down as I scanned around for Chaol. However I could see no men at all! It was all women. We were ushered into a large hall - not the throne room, but big enough to hold the feasts and celebrations of one. On long dull tables we were served a miserable dinner of soup and grainy bread, everyone remaining in silence. I saw one girl, to the left of me, a couple people down, mutter as she tripped up on her way to the table. A stern woman, her face lined with wrinkles grabbed the girls wrist, twisting it harshly as she dragged her off to a side door. I noted the small bump around her abdomen, she was baring a child and yet the woman that had dragged her out showed no care she could be potentially harming a future child.

Everyone around me, leant over their bowls of soup, mumbling a form of prayer even the women in charge seemed to join in, and we tucked in.
I observed the bizarre act as we ate, there was an obvious age difference between the girls around me to the women who bossed us around. Everyone was so young, many caring a child, others looked to be recovering from labour. Whereas the women around us were old, and I had a funny feeling they were the women who would die as virgins.
I didn't dare to ask anyone what was happening, the last thing I wanted was to be dragged off alone.
When we finsihed we said another prayer of sorts, thanking for our tasteful meal. I looked at my barely touched meal, the girl next to me had sapped hers up, and spent the rest of the time watching me hungrily.

Then we took corridors down to a lower level in the castle, passing walls that were missing - big gawking gapes in the castle side, the harsh cold night air whipping through them. I prayed Shadow would behave with Dorian, help the prince maintain sane as he waited for me.

The rooms we were section into, in groups of roughly fourty, had blankets laid on the floor, a white night gown besides them. A deflated pillow on the blankets, I got changed, noting the width of the girls waist lines, the number of ribs that showed. Whatever this place was it was a brutal, slowly murdering slaughter house. I lay down, the ice cold stone floor seeping through my skin and into my bones. I could barely remember the feeling of his body pressed against mine as I watched other girls shiver to sleep, two cried, and I could have sworn one went into labour.
The girl who had talked at dinner was guided in by two others after an hour of shivering. Her wails and whimpers echoed throughout the room. She had a huge bandage wrapped around her head. With none of the seniors around I walked over, everyone ignoring me. There was a large red stain where the girl's right eye should have been.

A girl with short cut hair and a cute nose sat up in her bed, the nightgown was too big for her and the neckline revealed too much of her breasts for my liking, not that I could say she really had any. She looked fourteen max. "If I faulter, let the lord take my right eye, so I shall not faulter again." She whispered watching the dreadful scene too, the de-eyed girl wailing in her bed. I walked over to my newly gained outfit, my dagger was bundled in it, along with some viles I had smuggled in places on my body. I fetched the one I wanted and walked to the girl's side. She had beautiful wavy ginger hair, and lovely freckles. "Here." I whispered, minding out for her baby bump. "This will ease the pain." As soon as she understood me she sapped up the drink, and went back to wailing. Everyone else watched me. "Don't help her." The fourteen year old whispered. "You will get us all in trouble."
I tucked away the empty vile into a crack in the wall. "It will just help her with the pain. Why would they do this to someone? She did nothing wrong?"
"She spoke during the holy times." A girl on the far room piped up.
I sighed, running my hand through the lovely ginger hair, I touched her cheek like I had seen Elena do to Rowan's daughter. The thought of how they had pried her eye from its socket made the soup reenter my mouth, luckily i swollowed it back down, the added stomach acid burning my oesophagus. I clenched my jaw, I mustn't waste time, I had to focus. I rechanged, pulling my cloak hood up. All the girls watched amazed, all in their loosely hanging night gowns. I left them behind trying to push aside the image of a one eyed girl. She had muttered! That simple! I gulped, what would they do to me finding me out of bed? Chop off my feet? Take both eyes? Luckily I knew that neither Chaol or Dorian would ever let anyone do that to me. They would certainly be more merciful than Shadow, she would tear them in half for laying a finger on me.