Zenobia's Tale [Undergoing rewrite]

Part 5

By nightfall she could hear voices outside of her tree, still covered in dry blood and now dirt she climbed from the gap and looked around spotting a man by a fire who looked to be talking to a wagon. Zenobia assumed he was simply talking to the horse for company. That is when she heard the returning voice of a woman, inching closer she peered around a tree at the two who were talking.

"What could cause such a fire?" The woman asked sitting down next to the man rubbing a swollen stomach.

"It could have been anything. The black flag was flying a town over Ma'Riah." The male said looking around before poking a fire. "Maybe they decided to burn the town and move on. Or maybe it was an accident." He continued trying to ignore the nagging feeling that had settled in his stomach. The woman nodded but didn't look to be satisfied with the answers the male was giving. She inched closer to the fire and looked around her gaze stopping on Zenobia.

"Aajay, Something is watching us." She whispered and tugged at his sleeve causing the male to turn and look in the direction the woman was looking. Zenobia had moved further behind the tree as they stared in her direction. The man stood and walked towards her tree slowly trying not to make a sound as he did so, Zenobia, however, inched around the tree as the male did only in the opposite direction. He continued to move to his right. As did Zenobia. The woman by the fire couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her husband inching around a tree prepared for a dangerous animal as a child inched around trying not to giggle herself. The man stopped and looked at his wife as if asking where it was. She pointed next to him and laughed as he looked down and jumped startled by a child. It took them both a moment to realize the child was covered in blood.

"Child where are your parents?" Aajay asked her almost sternly, but the tone in his voice showed concern. Zenobia looked down at the grass under her feet and shrugged. The woman stood and moved towards the two kneeling next to Zenobia she took the child's hands into her own and smiled.

"My name is Ma'Riah, what is yours?" She asked softly.

"I am Zenobia." She looked up at the woman and smiled slightly.

"Do you know what happened Zenobia?" The woman asked glancing up at her husband. When Zenobia nodded the man dropped to one knee.

"Can you tell us, child?" He asked tilting her head up to look at him. When she shook her head and muttered the word no, the man pursed his lips and thought. "Why not? Did someone threaten to hurt you?" She nodded and stepped away from them ready to run if the pushed the subject further. When they didn't try to push it further she relaxed only a little before looking between the two.

"My papa died in a fire, with everyone else. A m-monster came through and, and now." She looked at her dress. She didn't technically lie just left out a few key details like she was, in fact, the monster. She thought she would simply allow the others to assume her papa had died in the town they had just past. The woman pulled the girl in close and hugged her.

"Aajay, she is all alone," the woman said keeping Zenobia close. Where the woman's pulse would usually drive Zenobia insane, that night was different. She was still sated from the night before so the pulse was simply a comforting sound. One that whispered she was not alone, she would not die as long as she was near the gentle thrumming of a pulse. She relaxed into the woman and wrapped her arms around her neck. The child inside the woman's womb seemed to move away from Zenobia's touch almost sensing the darkness that was growing in the child. The man placed his hand on her head and looked at the woman.

"Zenobia? How would you like to stay with us?" He asked softly. "We can't offer much, but we can keep you safe and feed you well." Zenobia looked up at the man and shook her head causing both of them to frown.

"I would like to sir, but I do not want to be a bother. I am not normal you see, I cannot be in sunlight. I was thought a demon child." She sniffled lightly as if ready to cry. "I am no demon." She muttered "The sunlight just makes me ill." The woman pulled her in closer and hugged her.

"No child is a demon no matter how different they may be. We will keep you safe from the sunlight dear." She said with a nod. The man stood and murmured in agreement.

"Please stay with us? We will take very good care of you. Plus Ma'Riah could use an extra hand when the baby gets here." As the man spoke Zenobia nodded enthusiastically. Making them both smile and take her closer to the fire. "Let's get you cleaned up child," Aajay said and pulled a pot of water from the fire mixing some hot water in with some cold. "Ma'Riah do we have anything in the wagon Zenobia can wear while we clean her dress?" The woman nodded and moved towards the wagon to search causing the man to laugh. "You clean the child, I will search the wagon woman." He stood and moved off to the wagon kissing the woman's cheek as she passed him.

"Zenobia, come here and lets clean you up. We must take your dress off." When the woman spoke of removing her dress she paled and shook her head. The woman smiled and nodded, "Do you wish for Aajay to not watch?" She asked and Zenobia nodded. The male nodded and dropped a shirt into the woman's lap.

"I shall go take a walk in the trees then child." He spoke and walked off into the shadows. Zenobia watched the woman and hesitantly removed her dress so the woman could clean the dry caked blood off of her skin. Once the woman was happy with Zenobia's skin she helped her slip into the shirt and ripped the bottom off so it would not be too long for the child. When the shirt fell off her shoulders the woman tied the ripped portion of the shirt onto the back to hold the shoulders in place.

"Now to clean off your pretty dress." The woman spoke softly "Would you like to help me?" Zenobia nodded and dropped to her knees in the grass next to the woman to watch as she started rubbing the cloth together in the hot water. Tilting her head caused the bright scar under her chin to show. The woman gasped lightly and smiled sadly. "I am so happy you are staying with us. We will keep you safe, I promise." Zenobia nodded and smiled looking up at the woman as she continued trying to clean the dress out. The man came back a while later and the woman had decided they would simply have to buy her one until the woman could make one. The blood had refused to leave the fabric. instead of coming clean it simply faded to pink and stayed that way. After discussing it, Aajay and Ma'Riah decided it was better to stay where they camped for the night so Zenobia wasn't caught in the sun should they fall behind schedule Zenobia crawled into her tree once more and piled the dirt up while Aajay moved the wagon in front of the hole to help block the light. They packed up camp in the early evening and waited fro sundown when Zenobia would crawl from the tree and greet them. Only Zenobia had crawled from the tree and walked off in the wrong direction, causing both Aajey and Ma'Riah to panic and go searching for her. Zenobia had already moved from sight using her speed and the shadows to help her. Finding a small fox, she lunged for it and sank her teeth into its neck draining it dry. She wasn't starving as was her usual and she was fully aware of what she had done. Her mind had not gone blank making her realize she had killed and swallowed blood on her own accord, with a smile she walked back towards camp thinking she could control herself. When she walked back into view of the two adults they surrounded her.

"Where did you go child?" Aajay asked worriedly. His worry reflected that of Ma'Riah's.

"I-I had to go.." She whispered letting them figure out what she meant. The woman nodded and hugged her close.

"Oh, you scared us" Ma'Riah whispered into her hair. "We did not mean to startle you we just feared the worst. We do not want you to get hurt." She said looking Zenobia over. Her untrained eyes missing the drops of blood on the collar of the shirt.

"I am unharmed Ma'Riah." She mumbled and rubbed her eyes as the woman lifted her into her arms.

"Come child we shall start moving towards home," Aajay said to help them both into the wagon settling Zenobia between the two. "I think you will like Selkirk." Hearing the name of the village caused Zenobia to freeze. She didn't know what country she was in let alone the town names. The ride towards town had been a time of planning. How could she get the information she needed without drawing too much-unwanted attention to herself. When they arrived in the village she looked around in awe, trying to take in everything she could and figure out where she was at the same time.