Medice Ceres

Chapter 50

Waithe laid Ceres on a cot at the clinic and gently covered her with a blanket. Her trembles stilled as he kissed her forehead and stroked her hair.

He spoke to the three others who looked on. "Fighting the Darkness drains her. She will be better again once she rests."

Gracie kneeled near the edge of the cot and gently cleaned the coal dust from Ceres' face with a damp cloth. An ointment was then applied to the cut on her cheek. "Then rest well, our dear brave Lady. A great victory for freedom did you achieve this day."

Graham looked down at the sleeping Lady of the Order, his brows pulled together. The other man beside him, a tall but gaunt man with dark messy hair, seemed to be equally as concerned. His hands and face smudged with black due to his work at the foundry.

Waithe looked up at the unknown man. "Director of the Freedom Alliance, I presume?"

The man's chin trembled as he closed his eyes. "I be no longer worthy of that title."

Graham grasped the man by the shoulders. "Peto, it was not your doing, rather by the Darkness cast on you. I knew you would not willingly give up the cause. You may be restored."

Peto shook his head. "Nay, my friend. True that the betrayal was not of my will, but too great be it for any redemption. You must now lead the cause." Tears came to his eyes. "That which you called Darkness... It took away my very soul. I be eternally grateful to this young woman who returned it to me."

After a moment of silence, Waithe spoke. "No longer can we stay here."

Graham nodded. "Aye, more of Scias' men will come, especially with the fire. They will search everywhere. We have more places away from here where she may be safely hidden."

*****

Waithe came back inside the cottage, to find Ceres sitting upright in bed and stretching her arms high above her. She glanced around the room and wrinkled her forehead. "It seems every time I battle the Darkness I wake up in a new place. Where are we?"

"Another safe house. I think you shall like it. There be a clean dress on the chair and food on the table. A tub and hot water await you if you would like a bath. With all the coal dust at the foundry, you be a dirty mess, my dear Daughter."

She glowed. "Oh, that would be so wonderful! You prepared this, Father?"

"Nay. It all be courtesy of the resistance and all those you saved today. Most appreciative they be."

"What finally happened?"

"The workers be free of the Darkness, thanks to you. They looted Scias' foundry of all they could carry and set it ablaze. All that coal made for quite a spectacular fire. There would be far too much unwanted attention if we stayed near, so here we be on the west side of Welde, not far from the docks." He spread his arms. "And a fine cottage this be."

Four feather beds lined one side of the room, each separated by privacy curtains. A kitchen area sat at the other end, complete with a pot stove and washbasin. A stone fireplace took up much of one wall with a wool rug and cushioned divan placed before it. A sturdy wooden table with six chairs took up the middle space. Part of a metal bathtub peeked out from behind an open doorway in one corner. Compared to the last cottage they stayed at, this was luxury.

A young blonde-haired woman wearing an apron entered from a door near the kitchen area. She bowed with a smile. "My Lady, I be so happy to see you awake and well. May I prepare a bath for you?"

Ceres raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

"Alina, my Lady. I shall attend to you and your father's needs while you stay here." Her smile widened. "My brother Clavis, you saved his life at that wretched foundry. Thank you so much."