A few more days passed, much in the same fashion as the previous ones. Eliza was asked to play again, but she refused this time. She had never played like that before, and it exhausted her something fierce, so to do it every night was a bit much for her. Luna took this chance to sneak out during the night to get some fresh air, and also so they could both get some alone time. Eliza had also begun to limp around more in their room, just to keep herself active. Her foot also seemed to have gotten a lot better from rest, and she could walk a lot better, though running, lifting or trekking up a mountain would still be too much for her.
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Then, on the third night since Eliza’s performance, both she and Luna were awoken suddenly by an agonizing scream. Eliza scrambled in the dark for flint with which to light the candle, but Luna was quicker, grabbing and lighting the candle in one quick motion. They stared at each other for a while, listening. Then came another scream. It was Estar’s voice, no mistake. The scream held no panic, just pain. Then they heard her husband shouting for help, likely in the hope that the two of them would hear. Eliza stood quickly, and began to scramble for her clothes.
“Is she giving birth?! Already?!” Eliza exclaimed in an alarmed voice.
“No. It won’t be a birth this early on in the pregnancy. She might be losing the child.” Luna said as she sprang to her feet. She always slept fully clothed, although not in her armor or greaves.
Eliza felt cold at the thought of Estar and Hendan losing the joy they so clearly felt at the child they were soon supposed to have.
“The mother might be in danger.” Luna continued “I shall go see if they need me to run for the seidwife. You stay here. That foot of yours is only going to be in the way.” Then she ran off downstairs. Eliza still dressed, this time in her own clothes rather than Estar’s. Then she sat down on her bed and waited. The screams continued with somewhat regular intervals, and after the seidwife had arrived, shouts of encouragement about pushing and breathing mixed into the screams as well. Eliza could sometimes hear Luna’s voice in the midst of it all, ordering Hendan to get water or cloth. At some point during all this chaos Eliza left the room to sit on the stairs, so she could better follow along with what was happening and if they needed an extra pair of hands at any time. She would still be out of the way, so it should be fine.
The fight against whatever horror it was to lose a child went on for several hours, until something changed. Though the screams continued, the words of encouragement ceased, replaced by exclamations of disbelief and horror. In between the cries of pain, Eliza could hear the seidwife talking:
“No… It can’t be…? Is that…?”. Then nothing but silence. Filled with concern, Eliza began to make her way to Hendan and Estar’s bedroom, limping down the stairs and through the kitchen. There stood Luna and the seidwife looking at something in Hendan’s arms, in front of bloodsoaked bedding with a half naked Estar curled up and sobbing on top of it. In Luna’s face Eliza saw confusion, shock, and bewilderment, and in the seidwife’s she saw horror as well as disgust. She could not see Hendan’s face from where she stood, as he had his back to her. Eliza was about to ask what was going on, but before she could, the seidwife shrieked in hostility towards Estar:
“Ye horrible disgusting whore of a woman! Have ye been sleeping with trolls and elves and whatnot?! Do ye know what ye’ve done?! This could doom us all!” She violently pushed Eliza aside, as she turned to leave before anyone could reply or stop her. “Well, ye keep me out of this, ye hear?! Ye even mention my name, I’ll say ye’ve been going to the stone circle, I will!” Then she ran out of the room like a bugbear was on her tail. With a million questions tumbling around in her mind, Eliza came closer to Hendan so she could see what all the fuss was about. In his arms was a tiny… Child? Eliza could not quite describe what she saw. It was the size of an infant, but had the proportions of an adult, though with no gender or sex to speak of, nor did it have a navel. It was completely hairless and covered in blood. It sat upright and cross legged in Hendan’s arms, while calmly wiping itself down with the cloth he kept slung over his shoulder. Eliza stood there, stunned. It was clearly no child. Nausea worked itself up from her stomach and through her throat at the thought of Estar giving birth to that thing. Hendan looked at his wife, who was holding bloodstained hands to her face in an attempt to hide her tears and stifle her sobs.
“Be it true? Have ye laid with them fairies at the stone circle? Or have ye made a deal with them?”
“No!” Estar cried, removing her hands to look at her husband. “Hendan, I would never. Ye know me! Please!”
Hendan looked down at the creature in his arms.
“What be this then?” he asked sedately, his eyes slowly glassing over.
“I don’t know. I really don’t. Please believe me!” Estar looked at Eliza, then at Luna, her eyes pleading for help. Eliza just looked over at Luna, likely with a similar expression. Luna didn’t seem to notice them though. She just touched Hendan’s shoulder, motioning for him to give her the ‘child’. He looked at her with confusion, then down at the creature, before quickly handing it over to Luna, quickly letting go of it as if he had been burnt. He looked at it with revulsion.
“We have to get rid of it. No one can know.” At that, the creature suddenly looked up from Luna’s arms.
“Get rid of me?” it said. “But I am your child. Humans love their children, I know, I have seen.”
Hendan jerked back and Estar shrieked as Luna shushed the creature.
“Ssshh, be quiet.”
“It… It speaks?!” Hendan screeched. “That thing be no child…? And ye?” He gestured to Luna. “Ye act like ye know of this creature! What be the meaning of all this?!”
The creature looked from Hendan to Luna.
“Wait... What did I do wrong? I was born just the way children are, wasn’t I? And I look like a child, do I not?” it demanded to know.
Hendan looked at the creature in horror. Luna shook her head.
“Not now. Later.”
“Later?! There’ll be no later! We need to get rid of it, or the church will burn me wife! Don’t ye understand?” Tears began to well up in Hendan’s eyes. Meanwhile Estar just cried and sobbed, writhing in her own blood.
“I understand. I’ll take care of it. Do you have a cloak?” Luna asked.
At that moment, before Hendand could answer Luna's question, they heard three loud knocks on the door, startling all four of them.
“Oh no, I hope it not be the church…” Hendan whispered in a panicked voice.
“Do you have a back door?” Luna asked.
“No… And no windows large enough for ye either.” Hendan replied.
Eliza snapped out of the trance she had been in since the start of this... situation.
“Hide it in my bag. The… child… should be small enough. I think.” she suggested.
Luna immediately rushed up the stairs. Someone hammered on the door again, and a man shouted from the other side:
“Is everything well in there?!”.
Eliza looked over at Hendan.
“You had better open the door, master Hendan.” she said, the quiver in her voice betraying the calm she was trying to exude.
“Aye, I’d better…” He mumbled in response, wiping his bloody hands in his equally bloody apron as he walked to the door. Eliza quickly grabbed the cleanest sheet, and draped it over Estar’s trembling body, before following Hendan. From around the corner she saw him opening the door to three armed men donning the uniform of the Church of the Sun. Eliza decided to keep out of sight of the men for now, and ducked back into the kitchen to listen in on their conversation. Though she could still see Hendan from where she stood, the men were now out of sight.
“Good evening my good man.” she heard in the same voice as the man who had shouted before.
“Evening milords. What might ye be wishing of me this late?” Hendan replied.
“Ah, your neighbors heard screams, and then saw someone come running out of your house. They asked us to see if everything is alright. We also heard shouts coming from inside as we arrived.”
“Yes… I be afraid ye’ve come at a bad time. Me wife just lost our child, so they be screams of pain and shouts of grief.” Hendan lowered his head, both concealing his lie and his tears. There was a pause, then the man on the other side spoke.
“You have my sympathies, good man, but is that all that happened? Truly?”
Hendan looked up, genuine confusion on his face.
“I don’t understand?”
Eliza didn’t see what happened outside the door, but Hendan paled and stepped back. At that moment the three men pushed past Hendan and walked in, dragging an equally pale seidwife with them. Eliza stepped out as they entered. Hiding would only stir their suspicions further, she thought. The man who appeared to be the leader entered first. He was wearing the same tabard as the other two, but he had a clear sense of authority and entitlement. Eliza was intimately familiar with that type of character. His hair was flaming red, and his eyes light gray. He looked up and saw her.
“You don’t seem to be this man’s daughter.” he said, gesturing at her fine brocade and silk dress. Eliza snorted in her most pretentiously indignant voice.
“You will address me as 'my lady' or not at all! And no, I am not master Hendan's daughter, as you so astutely pointed out. I am simply a patron here, for the time being.”
The man looked at his comrades who appeared to be snickering, then back at her.
“Very well, ‘my lady’. What might one such as your most distinguished ladyship be doing in an establishment such as this?”
Eliza ignored the man’s obvious sarcasm and looked at him with brows raised in disdain.
“You and your men are loud and rowdy, sir. I had to look elsewhere if I wished for peace and quiet.”
“It appears your peace was disturbed either way, my lady. Were you present for this night’s unfortunate events?”
“Merely at the end of it all.” Eliza said. “I mostly stayed in my room.”
“Well, then this does not concern you, my lady. You may return to your chambers. We will be there shortly to search them.” The warrior of the sun motioned for Eliza to leave, but she refused.
“I shall do no such thing. You shall act as is befitting in a lady’s presence, as one should at all times, and I shall not be denied my involvement.”
The man sighed, then nodded.
“Very well. Do as you wish.” He then looked back at Hendan and gestured to the seidwife. “We caught this woman fleeing your home. She was… unwilling… to talk at first, but when we applied a little pressure she claimed that your wife just birthed a fey monstrosity. Is that true?”
Hendan glanced over at the seidwife who was staring intensely at the floor.
“No, milord. It did be a stillbirth. An ugly child, true, but no monster.”
“I see. Then may we see the child?”
Hendan faltered.
“Me… Me wife be still in shock. It’d be best if ye came back on the morrow. I do not wish to disturb her mourning.”
“My apologies my good man, I appear to have given you the wrong impression. I merely asked permission as a courtesy. You shall show us the child willingly, or we shall search the place through force.” His eyes were cold and deadly as sharpened steel. Hendan looked out of his depth, but then a voice sounded behind Eliza.
“The woman be speaking truth.” Estar said, as she leaned heavily on the doorframe to the kitchen, still covered in blood and dried tears.
Shocked, Hendan and the three warriors turned to look, some averting their eyes at the sight of Estars bare and bloody legs. The leader, however, barely blinked, and said:
“You confirm this woman’s story? What you birthed was not human?”
Estar tried to walk forward, and nearly fell. Eliza barely caught her.
“It was a horror, milord.” she replied, her voice quavering. Hendan looked at his wife with a stunned expression.
“What… What be you doing, Estar?” he asked her, though she ignored him and pointed at the seidwife.
“It do be her fault, all of it.” The seidwife snapped up to stare at Estar, aghast. “She cursed me to carry a changeling, she did. She do be an evil witch!”
“Ye lie!” the seidwife screamed, but Estar ignored her as well. She looked down, as if ashamed.
“I had trouble carrying children, so I did ask her to help me, thinking her a simple herbalist. But she gave me drafts that made me carry monsters! Ye should search her house, not ours! It do be full of dark things. I’ve seen it all!”
The seidwife was about to rush Estar, but one of the warriors grabbed her before she could. She thrashed, screamed, and cursed Estar for her betrayal and lies, but was held firmly in place. The leader looked back at the seidwife, then at Estar.
“Very well, we shall search both. Brynn, find some more men and go to this woman’s home. Search every nook and cranny, leave nothing untouched.”
The warrior, who was evidently named Brynn, gave a quick bow.
“By your orders, inquisitor.” he said and hurried out the door, dragging the seidwife with him. Eliza lifted an eyebrow. She had heard of these inquisitors. They were relatively high ranking within the religion, though she was not particularly familiar with the intricacies of the faith’s hierarchy. She did know, however, that they cared little about social rank in their quest to root out sinners and foul magic, though they rarely arrested nobles without somewhat of a proper case on their hands.
“Apologies.” she said. “I did not perceive you to be an inquisitor. I should have been more respectful in how I addressed you, my lord.”
“Nothing surprising in that,” he replied. “I am wearing the infantry uniform after all.” Then he quickly turned to Estar. “What happened to the creature?”
“It flew away, milord. I don’t know where to.” she replied in a tired but innocent tone.
“Uhuh… We shall see if you are speaking the truth.” Addressing Hendan he said: “Master tavernkeep, is there anyone else here?”
Hendan looked to Eliza, then back at the inquisitor.
“Yes, milady’s escort be upstairs in their room.”
“I see. I shall bring him down here. Yale, keep watch over these three. See to it that they do not wander or attempt to hide things from me.”
Eliza stepped forward.
“I shall go with you. I’d prefer not to let unaccompanied men into my private chambers.”
The inquisitor peered at her questioningly.
“Is your escort not an unaccompanied man?”
“No, she is not.” Eliza replied curtly, and walked ahead of him towards the stairs in as normal a fashion as she could manage. She heard an irritated sigh behind her, but he voiced no objections and merely followed. As she tried to climb the stairs, she began to make pained sounds and exaggerate her limp, both to ensure that Luna would know that she was on her way up, and to take as long as possible in getting there. Then she announced in a loud voice:
“Apologies for the slow climb, lord inquisitor!” she nearly shouted. “I’m afraid I sprained my foot on my travels, so this might take a while!” as she made sure to take up the entire stairway so he was prevented from walking ahead of her, without rudely pushing her aside. When they reached the top of the stairs, Eliza took a long time regaining her breath before she opened the door, despite the inquisitor's annoyed stares and insistent tapping of his foot. The room was dimly lit by the candle which now stood on the floor, as the chair had been relegated to door-lock every night. Luna stood leaned up against the far wall, her sword strapped to her hip. Eliza’s bag was nowhere obvious to be seen. She sincerely hoped Luna had hidden it well. The inquisitor entered the room behind her, his eyes widening at the sight of Luna.
“Well, you are a freak of nature if ever I saw one.” he stated in a cold voice, as his eyes narrowed to slits. “Dark skin with pale hair and eyes. What an abomination.”
“Excuse you?!” Eliza said as if what he had just stated was an affront to her very being. “I will have you address my half-sister with proper respect!”
If Luna was surprised by that lie, she didn’t show it on her face, but the inquisitor still looked her up and down with suspicion in his eyes.
“Your half-sister?” His eyes wandered from her worn greaves to her scarred face.
“Indeed”, Eliza said. “She may be a bastard child, true, but she is my half-sister none the less. My father has been gracious and kind enough to offer her a place by the family’s side to serve as my protection. It’s always good to have a woman among your traveling companions if you are one yourself, and as you can see from her appearance, she was unlikely to find service anywhere else.”
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“I see…” the inquisitor mumbled, though the suspicion did not leave his face. He looked to be practically burning with the desire to see Luna tied to a stake, but he wasn’t dumb enough to arrest a noble’s daughter without proper cause, even if she was an alleged bastard. “Your father must have poor taste in women.”
Eliza could not help herself from making a sarcastic laugh, which luckily ended up sounding more like a scoff. The inquisitor then turned his gaze on Eliza.
“Where is the rest of your party then, my lady? It seems unusual and inadvisable for someone of your stature to be traveling with just a single guard.”
“Regrettably we encountered trouble on the road through the forest, my lord. Some of my party was killed. Others, like myself, ran for dear life. The only ones who ran towards the Roudmarkian side of the forest were Luna and I, so what happened to the people who ran back the way we came, I do not know. My coach is likely still there, should you wish to check if my story holds water. It is only a day and a night away for a fast rider.”
The inquisitor shook his head.
“I’ll assume the truth of your story for now. Take your bastard sister downstairs so we can search your chambers.” His voice held contempt and impatience in equal measure, so it was probably best not to push their luck. She just had to trust that Luna had hidden the creature where it would not be found.
“Very well. Luna, follow me.”
Luna pushed off from the wall and walked to her. The inquisitor was around medium height for a man, but Luna still looked down on him from above as she passed.
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The two of them made their way downstairs where they joined the people waiting there. Estar had been allowed to sit on a chair, but Hendan, Luna, and Eliza had to stand while waiting. The inquisitor sent the man named Yale to search the small attic room, while he himself tore the common room, kitchen, and bedroom apart. Nothing was left untouched, not even the walls, ceiling, or fireplace. While he was doing this, a few more men arrived and joined in the hunt. The whole thing lasted about two hours, and the entire time Eliza was keeping a desperate focus on not letting any fear or panic show on her face. Luna seemed unfazed, although she appeared to be missing her sword from the way her hand continuously tried to grab for it, even though the inquisitor had confiscated it for the duration of the search. Hendan looked pale and almost green with nausea, while Estar held herself resolute in spite of her trembling body. Luckily she had been permitted to put on a dress, so she wouldn’t freeze. Everyone except Estar, who had been naked at the time, also had to be padded down to ensure that none of them were hiding anything on their person. Eliza had protested vehemently, claiming that being touched by a man would lower her marriage prospects, since only she and Luna knew that Eliza was to become a nun in a week or so. It didn’t stop the inquisitor from ordering her to be frisked, but the man doing the search made sure not to touch anywhere under her smock.
At the end of this whole charade, the only thing of even vaguely witchy nature that the warriors had found, was the drafts Estar had been given to drink by the seidwife. The inquisitor apparently did not feel that this cleared up suspicions, for at the end of it all he stood in front of the four of them and said to Hendan:
“It seems no witchcraft was practiced here specifically, but I will need to bring your wife in for questioning.”
Eliza did not know what this entailed, but both Hendan and Estar grew ghostly white in their visage. Even Luna became paler.
“No please don’t, milord,” Estar pleaded. “I do be innocent. Don’t take me in, I beg ye. I do still be weak from childbirth.”
“We shall find out if you truly are as clean as you claim under questioning. If you are without sin, Helia will protect you, so there is nothing to fear.” He motioned for some of his men to grab her. Eliza was about to object to this rough treatment, but Luna grasped Eliza's arm and shook her head.
“Naturally, the seidwife shall also be taken in. I hear what was found in her hut was quite damning. “ the inquisitor commented. “We should have a clear picture of the situation tomorrow. Meanwhile I will have the rest of you stay in this house, seeing as this village has no prison to speak of. The door will be guarded, so please make no further trouble for yourselves. It will only make things worse.” Without waiting for anyone to reply, he turned on his heel and marched out, clearly expecting his orders to be obeyed without question. His men followed behind him, leaving the entire house in a complete mess. Porridge and water had been poured on the floor, there were ashes everywhere, and everything that wasn’t nailed down had been knocked over or tossed to the floor. In addition, the bed was still bloodsoaked and needed fresh hay. In a daze, Hendan just began to clean up the mess with a constant glassy and confused expression on his face. It seems the reality of it all hadn’t really sunk in yet. Luna picked up a chair, seemingly to help, but Eliza stopped her, pulled her aside so Hendan couldn’t hear them, and asked:
“What about the creature? Where is it?”
“Oh, they aren’t here anymore. I lowered them out through our tiny window in your bag, using your sheets as a rope. They jumped out and ran off. Your bag is probably still down there, but don't worry, I left all your stuff on the bed.”
Eliza breathed a sigh of relief, then stopped in her tracks and asked:
“They? There were more?”
Luna shook her head.
“No, but they are neither a he, she, or an it. So through a process of elimination I just use ‘they’ instead.”
“You seem awfully familiar with these types of creatures.”
“Is that a crime?” Luna seemed defensive, knitting her brow in a frown. Eliza felt angry about being kept in the dark on this matter when she was so clearly involved.
“According to the church and most common sense, yes.” She hissed at Luna. “It didn’t exactly seem human, did it.”
“You seemed eager to lie to the church just a little while ago, but now you start preaching?” Luna argued. “You could have just told everything to the inquisitor. After all, you had nothing to do with any of this and would likely have escaped the situation unscathed. If you have such an issue with fey creatures, I’d suggest being more honest with the church in future.”
“I lied to protect Estar and Hendan. They are innocent!” Eliza protested. “And what do you mean by issues? You heard what it said about having seen children before. It sounded like it had planned this entire thing out and then hid inside Estar’s body. It made her give birth to it. It is a horror!”
“Stick around this area for a few days, and you are likely to witness plenty more horrors.” Luna said with a completely furious expression and turned her back to Eliza, ignoring any further arguments she may have had. Eliza sputtered some angry half baked retorts under her breath for awhile, but eventually gave up on re-instigating their spat.
They cleaned in silence from then on. Eliza was fuming that Luna seemed to be accusing her of prejudice, when she had seen what had happened with her own eyes. Luna on her part was ignoring Eliza’s glares, while Hendan just kept walking around looking more and more like a broken man.
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They didn't finish cleaning until around sunrise, so Luna went to the kitchen to find food for all three of them. Some of the bread was still edible although stale and had to be brushed off, but they gnawed on it even so, since they were all hungry and weak. As they did, Hendan suddenly slumped over and began sobbing into his bread.
“Curse that creature…” he said through clenched teeth. “Why did it do this to us? We never did the fey no harm.” He wiped off his tears and snot in his bloody sleeve. Eliza tried to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off, stood and walked away. Luna said to leave him be, but since Eliza was still angry with her, she decided to do the exact opposite and followed him anyway. She quickly wished that she had not, as Hendan began to shout at her to leave him alone when she came close. He was clearly crying bitterly into a pile of bloody sheets in the corner, though trying to hide it. She couldn’t blame him, with everything that had happened, and so she just ended up going to her room. Her mood wasn’t helped by finding the place a mess. Apparently they had not cleaned here yet. The bedding was spread across the room, and her precious flute had been removed from its case and thrown to the floor. Eliza quickly picked it up and examined it. It didn’t appear to have suffered any damage, so she gingerly placed it back in its case. Then she cleaned up the bedding as best she could, and laid down on it when she was done. It felt a lot more lumpy than before, but Eliza was too exhausted to care. She just closed her eyes to try and forget it all.
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She must have nodded off for a spell, because she was later woken up by Luna shaking her.
“The inquisitor is back. We need to follow him to the village square.”
Eliza rubbed her eyes, having forgotten her anger for a moment.
“Right… I’ll be there… How long have I been sleeping?”
“About four hours. Hendan also fell asleep after trashing the bedroom he had just cleaned.” Luna replied.
“I see..” Eliza yawned and stretched her aching body. Then she stood and brushed herself off. Her bed making skills were subpar, so she had gotten a little hay on her hair and dress.
They went downstairs where they found the inquisitor and a few men waiting on them with Hendan in tow. He seemed antsy and was wringing his apron nervously, but he had thankfully changed out of the bloody one he had been wearing up until Eliza saw him last. The inquisitor had also put on different clothes, as he now donned a polished breastplate with the holy sigil of the sun engraved on the chest. They were all escorted out of the tavern to the square, where most of the village, as well as a good dozen warriors of the sun, appeared to have been waiting in a semicircle around a large pyre with a wooden stake in its center. The three of them were made to stand on the other side of the pyre, just outside the semicircle. People stared as they walked past, but the crowd was soon distracted, as two other guards came into the center from the direction of the large inn, bringing Estar and the seidwife with them. Both women appeared to have been soaked to the bone and their eyes had something dead to them, as they dragged their feet slowly along the dirt road. Unlike the three of them, Estar and the seidwife were forced to stand in the middle of the semicircle, right in front of the pyre where the Inquisitor had been waiting for them. The seidwife glanced up at it with an unfocused look in her eyes. It was not clear whether it was water or tears dripping down her face as she did, but there was something highly unsettling about her expression. Estar’s eyes never looked away from the ground in front of her, and she was squeezing her dress much in the same way Hendan had been wringing his apron earlier. Then the inquisitor spoke in a loud voice for the whole crowd to hear.
“We have found evidence of fey presence amongst you!” he shouted as a gasp rippled through the crowd. Then he pointed to Estar. “Last night this woman gave birth to a fey monstrosity by her own admission! Where the creature is, we do not know. We ask that all you good folk keep vigilant for the next moon or so, as the monstrosity could be hiding amongst you or in your houses! Please search everywhere before laying your heads tonight.” He paused for a spell to let people murmur and whisper among each other, but it was not long before he continued the announcements, this time gesturing to the seidwife: “This wicked woman has confessed to practicing witchcraft and cursing the child in this other woman’s belly! The church has only one punishment for such evil! The pyre!”
As he said that, two warriors of the sun grabbed the seidwife by her arms, forcefully dragged her onto the wood and kindling, then tied her to the stake. The seidwife didn’t appear to have the strength to even try and resist them, but she whimpered and mewled weakly while they did so.
“As for this other woman!” the inquisitor exclaimed, addressing the issue of Estar’s fate. “She has been cursed and defiled by vile magic! She is to be beaten with an iron whip until cleansed of the fey taint!” The inquisitor motioned for a warrior standing next to Eliza to come forward. He did so, clenching a sort of sectioned iron rod in his right fist.
“Please no!” Hendan exclaimed, reaching for the man who had just stepped forward. He was immediately pulled back and forcibly subdued by the warrior standing behind him. Eliza recognized him to be Brynn, the man who had dragged the seidwife away and searched her house the night before. Hendan continued to scream and beg them to please leave his wife alone, that she was innocent and undeserving of what was about to befall her. Except for a few swift glances from his fellow villagers, his pleads fell on deaf ears. Estar was stripped naked, save for a small cloth around her waist, then forced to kneel and held in place.
“The evil must be purged with uncorrupted iron! Ten lashes, six to the back, and four to the legs! Begin!” the inquisitor ordered.
The holy warrior raised the rod. It glinted in the sunlight for a short moment before he brought it down on Estar’s back with full force. She screamed and toppled over, digging her face into the dirt. The first hit left a sickeningly large bruise and drew blood, but she had yet to stop screaming from the first blow when the second hit cracked and made her choke on her own cries. Then came another blow, then another. Again and again he struck, until her skin was a tapestry of reds, yellows and blues. But he was not done. Four blows were then aimed at her legs so they might come to match her back. He did it with such aggression that one of her shins appeared to break during the barrage. It was unclear if Estar was still conscious at this point, but she had stopped screaming and was lying completely still under the weight of his blows. At the end of it all, the same warrior who had beaten her threw a worn blanket over her broken body, and Hendan was finally allowed free, so he immediately ran to her. He was neither a big nor particularly strong looking man, but he picked her up nonetheless, and carried her with him away from the crowd. No one stopped him as he left and walked home towards his tavern. Eliza felt sick to her stomach, and looked at the warriors around them to see if they might also leave at this point, but someone instantly gripped her arm, so she didn’t try anything.
“Now!” the inquisitor shouted. “We burn the witch who caused this village and especially the poor goodwife so much anguish!” He was handed a lit torch to the cheers of the village folk around. As he walked to the pyre, the seidwife looked down at him from the stake, now with obvious tears streaming down her face.
“Please, milord. I don’t want to die…” she implored desperately in a hoarse voice. The inquisitor did not deign to even return the seidwife’s gaze, and promptly lit the fire without hesitation. The flames began with the kindling at the pyre’s base, and slowly made its way up the firewood towards the seidwife’s feet. As it began to lick her bare soles she moaned in pain through tight lips, and only as it almost reached her ankles did she scream. The smell of burnt flesh reached Eliza’s nostrils, who almost immediately buckled over and vomited. She had heard of burnings before, but never attended one, and this… She had never imagined this. The smell didn’t let up, it grew even stronger as it enveloped the seidwife’s legs. Eliza tried to push herself through the surrounding warriors to get some distance between herself and the horror transpiring before her, but she merely met a wall of armored bodies. In the end she chose to turn her back to it all, crouching down on the ground whilst attempting to cover her ears, nose and mouth simultaneously.
The rest of the burning was a blur for her, though the screams occasionally penetrated the barrier of limbs she had wrapped around her face. After about an hour of this, Luna pulled Eliza to her feet.
“They are going to keep the fire going for at least another five to six hours, to completely reduce the body to ash, but the official burning is over now.” she said. It was quiet, although the body was not fully burnt yet. The stake had collapsed, so the seidwife’s charred remains were now lying down amongst the flames and embers. The smell, however, was still thickly pungent in the air. Eliza stumbled away from the pyre, just trying to flee from it all. She was so occupied with distancing herself, that she did not see the inquisitor until she walked nose first into his gleaming breastplate.
“You seem to be in a hurry. I suppose that’s understandable. Helia’s justice can be overwhelming to those unfamiliar with the harshness of the world outside their own gilded gates.” he said, grabbing her arm to steady her. Eliza turned her face away from him.
“I’m sorry, I need fresh air. Please let me pass…” she replied without attempting to keep up her indignant noble lady act. She pushed herself away from him so hard that she almost fell, but Luna caught her at the last second.
“We’ll need to be going now.” Luna said to the inquisitor. He looked almost offended that she spoke to him from the way he wrinkled his nose. Eliza thought it ironic that he seemed so disgusted by Luna, even though he had no issues with the smell of burning humans. In the end he ignored Luna and addressed Eliza instead.
“Where are you traveling to, my lady? If you wait for a few more days you might be able to travel with us, since you have lost most of your escort.”
Still nauseous and dizzy, Eliza just said:
“I’ll keep that in mind, please excuse me…” and awkwardly moved past him down the road.
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She somehow made it all the way home to the tavern and up the stairs. She didn’t see Hendan or Estar there, and they frankly were not exactly at the forefront of her mind at that moment. She just sat down on her bed, enveloped herself in a blanket, and tried to get the screams and stink of burnt flesh out of her head. She had very little success, and even her sheets began to smell like burning bodies at that point. She would have puked again, if her stomach was not already completely empty. Time passed slowly as she sat there curled up in her own misery, but Luna eventually came up, seeing her still wrapped up on the bed.
“It’s a nasty sight.” she said somewhat gently, as she sat down beside Eliza.
“I can’t get the smell out of my head…” she simply replied.
“Yeah, I never get used to it either…” Luna hesitated for a bit before continuing. “Have you been to see Estar? She has started running a fever and is very weak. It looks like she has some severe internal bleeding as well.”
Eliza looked up.
“She is ill?”
“Mmhm. She gave birth, was tortured for information, and then beaten with iron. I don’t think the prospects of her making it are high.”
“Even after all that, after hiding that creature and lying to the church, she is still going to die?” Eliza said in disbelief. She felt cold and clammy.
“It’s very likely.” Luna answered.
Eliza looked back down.
“Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“Not unless you have some surprising knowledge about herbs and medicine. The only one who might have been able to help was just burnt alive, and besides, I don’t think it is wise for us to stick around this area anymore. We should leave tonight under the cover of darkness.”
“Leave…? But why? We can’t just abandon them.”
“The inquisitor is out to get me, I think. He was staring at me the entire time the seidwife was burning. I think he got some sadistic kick out of showing what he wants to do to me, and seeing my reaction. The fact that he wants us to travel with them is probably just so he has a chance to pin something on me…” She sounded irritable while she said that, but became more soft spoken as she continued. “And there is nothing we can do for Estar besides letting the two of them say their goodbyes to each other in peace. My continued presence in this tavern also makes it more likely that they are both punished again, eliminating any slight chance Estar has of making it. We need to leave, even if it’s difficult.”
Eliza nodded reluctantly. Then Luna’s face took on a strange expression.
“There is also the option of you staying here alone and having the church escort you. They would likely get you to the monastery in a more comfortable fashion, while I'm probably going to become more and more of a liability the further away from the forest that we get, and…”
“NO!” Eliza blurted out loudly and without thinking. The only thing in her head at that moment was that smell… That disgusting, sickening smell… She collected herself and quickly corrected her rude outburst: “I mean… No. I will travel with you. I have already paid you after all.”
“I see..." Luna smiled. "Oh, I never thanked you fore lying and telling the inquisitor I was your sister. It was a smart move.”
Eliza would have blushed if she hadn't felt as sick as she did.
"Ah... You don't have to thank me... It's fine... Anyway, if we must, then we must.” Eliza said to change the subject. “But I’m going to see if there isn’t something I can do for Estar before we leave.” She stood up and quickly walked downstairs to Hendan and Estar’s bedroom, though she only got as far as to the partially open door. She overheard the two of them talking to each other, so she stopped in her tracks.
“I do be so sorry I doubted ye…” Hendan said in a soft voice that had grown hoarse from crying.
“I don’t blame ye.” Estar’s replied so weakly, it was almost a whisper. Eliza could barely hear it.
“Please get better. I can’t go on without ye… Ye’re me snowdrop, remember?” Hendan sobbed.
“Oh stop it, Hendan. That nickname do be embarrassing. I be no flower.”
“I mean it, I do. Ye were the most beautiful girl that cold winter morning when I first saw ye. No one else did compare. They still don’t.”
Estar gave a weak laugh, then a nauseatingly wet cough.
“No, no, please don’t speak. Just sleep and get better.”
“Hendan, dear, I don’t think I can…”
“No! Ye get better!” His voice was almost a cry. “I’ll not hear anything else!”
“As ye say, milove. I’ll sleep then.”
Then it became quiet. Eliza could not make herself go in there anymore, and regretted intensely eavesdropping on their very private conversation. Instead she went to fetch some cold water in the well, though her ankle ached and protested at the task. She also brought down her own blanket from upstairs. She left these things by the door, knocked gently on the doorframe to let Hendan know, and then went back upstairs to the room. She didn’t have any idea what else to do. Luna was still there, sitting on the floor with her eyes closed. Eliza sat down beside her, and together they just waited for evening in silence.
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The rest of the day was quiet. Of course there were no guests in the tavern downstairs as there would usually be, but no sounds were heard from Hendan either. He didn’t seem to move from Estar’s side at all for the entire day. When darkness fell Luna stood and helped Eliza up. Without a word, the two of them made their way down to the bedroom where Hendan still sat by Estar’s side. He appeared to be using the water Eliza had brought him, and was bathing a sleeping Estar’s forehead. She looked deathly pale, though her breathing seemed normal and peaceful.
“Hendan…” Luna said.
“Be ye leaving?” he asked, as he looked up at them.
“We have to, Hendan.” Luna explained. “We’re not safe here. I’m not safe here.”
Hendan simply nodded and looked back down at his wife’s face. He gently stroked her forehead.
“We’ll get you some more water before we go.” Luna picked up the almost empty bucket and left to go get it.
“Is there anything else you need?” Eliza inquired.
“Could ye soften some bread in milk? She’ll be needing some food when she does wake.” he answered.
“Of course.” Eliza walked to the kitchen where she found a bowl of milk from the night before. Most of its contents had been spilled when the inquisitor and his men ransacked the place, but there was still enough to soften some of the stale bread lying around. She cut the bread into bite sized pieces before soaking them in the milk, then she brought the bowl to Hendan at the same time as Luna returned with the bucket of fresh water. Hendan nodded at them and gave a meek thank you without taking his eyes away from Estar.
“I hope we see you again.” Luna said, before gently leading Eliza out the room by the wrist. The last thing she saw of Estar and Hendan was him gently kissing the cheek of his wife. Then they left. It was a cool night outside, with a crescent moon shining brightly in the sky. They exited the village by the northeastern road, then circled around to walk in a southwestern direction. Luna said it was to throw anyone off their scent. Clouds gathered in the sky as they walked, and Brushby was ever so slowly swallowed up by the darkness behind them.
The Baby from Brushby [https://i.imgur.com/9wyV7fJ.png]