Pressed Violet Ch. 03

The unnatural cold kept her from feeling too much pain, kept her heart from pounding as she sat there amid the gore and brutalized corpses. It was hard to draw breath; each inhale and exhale watery. She coughed, and blood spattered in front of her. Looking up she saw Maetheld towards her, eyes wide as she shouted to the other warriors. Something about Aedwen.

A cry caught her attention and she looked up to see a raven perched upon the wall. Its head flicked to the side, stared at her.

"Your task is not yet done," the bird told her, and Riona almost laughed again but coughed instead.

"Sure fucking feels like it is," she said.

"It is not. Get to the lake," the bird spoke into her mind with the voice of another. Riona frowned at it, before its wings spread, and it launched up to the sky.

Riona watched its ascent, as did Maetheld, as she knelt next to her. Then Riona fell forward, scarcely feeling the hands that caught her.

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Aedwen had seen death many times through her years. Often peacefully though sometimes from the result of violence. She had never seen it delivered though, save for once, with Mildreth.

Now she listened to it through the walls of her home. She had a pot of boiling wine over the fire, and was preparing poultices as she cut strips of linen, trying to ignore the screams and the crash of metal. It was a cacophony, and it ate at her sanity.

Then came the screech of crows, and Aedwen paused in her work to stare at the doorway. It wasn't long before all was silent save the crackle of her fire. The silence consumed her thoughts as she stared, and waited to know what exactly that silence was the herald of.

Then came the heavy knock on her door that pulled a yelp from Aedwen. Letting out her breath, she moved quickly across the room, but the door was already opening. Ulfred stood in the frame, an axe rested over one shoulder, his other hand fell to the side, fingers flexing.

Injury to the wrist Aedwen immediately thought.

"Witch needs you. Now. Get your things," the warrior said and Aedwen felt an icy hand clench her heart. Bile rose in her throat even as she turned to find her satchel, nearly knocked a few jars over in her haste.

Her breath came in short gasps, and she knew she had to stop to collect herself. But if she stopped, Riona might die. She barely had the strap of her satchel over her head when she pushed past Ulfred and ran as fast as she could along the path of her village. Past barricades it seemed hadn't been used, not a sign of violence until she turned one corner and saw the gate.

The gate splattered with blood, and the mounds of corpses in once white robes, impossible to even begin counting. Her eyes though, were pulled to Maetheld, who knelt beside a woman on her back. A woman with dark red hair bound into a tight braid. Even from here Aedwen could see the arrows jutting from her.

"NO!"

The scream tore at her throat as she sped up. Her vision blurred from tears as she fell to her knees beside Riona. She tried to concentrate, to ply her trade, but she could only look at the pink fluids frothing from Riona's mouth. She closed her eyes a moment, and took solace in that she had seen breath still pushing.

"Aedwen, I'm sorry," Maetheld said, one of her hands rested beneath Riona's head.

"She's not dead yet," Aedwen said, and glanced around as she pulled off her satchel. She'd watched Mildreth die, she would not watch Riona do the same.

"Where's Tancred? Oswin?" Aedwen asked.

"Dead," Maetheld said, before taking a deep breath. Aedwen could only nod as she took out her knife and a thin set of forceps. She glanced only once to Riona's face.

"I'm sorry, this will hurt," she said to the unconscious woman, and hoped she would stay unconscious.

Leaning down, she began to cut into the flesh, parted it cleanly from where the arrowhead had punched into Riona's shoulder. She pushed the forcepts into Riona's flesh and began to slowly pull the arrow out as Maetheld watched. Aedwen's hands were steady, but her heart pounded as she finally drew the arrow free, blood immediately flowed upwards through the links of her mail.

"I'll need your help with her armour once this arrow is out," Aedwen said to Maetheld as she tossed the arrow away and immediately went to repeat the process with the second. She was slower this time, afraid to tear more tissue of her lung. But, she had to risk it.

Soon the second arrow was free.

"Alright now, quickly," Aedwen said, and Maetheld lifted Riona off the ground enough for Aedwen to pull off the woman's mail.

Grunts spilled from Aedwen as she pulled, and struggled even with Maetheld pushing upwards from below. Eventually, though, it came off to land in the mud, and Aedwen found the gambeson beneath far easier.

"Lay her back down," Aedwen said as she shuffled up beside her lover, and dug into her satchel.

Maetheld did as she was told, gentle in laying the witch flat upon the ground. Aedwen found the reed she was looking for and set it upon Riona's stomach and took up her knife. With a single cut she opened Riona's tunic and placed the point of her knife against her lover's chest.

"Christ... Morrigan... someone give her the strength she needs for this," Aedwen said, and leaned into the knife. The steel pushed through skin, and between ribs until she felt it break into the cavity within. She moved the blade just enough to make her opening large enough for the reed.

Pulling the knife free, she grabbed the reed and placed it against the opening. Gingerly, she began to push it inwards. Once she felt it enter the cavity, she wrapped her lips around one end of the reed and began to suck until she tasted the bitter flavour of blood. Pulling back she spat it out, and went back to the reed. Again, and again, until Riona's breathing became easier.

"Will she live?" Maetheld asked.

"God willing. There is more yet to do," Aedwen said, and sighed. "Get some others, we'll use the cart to get her back to my home. Out of the rain."

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The world was that of mist. It swirled around her, and hid anything beyond her hand. Riona took a few measured steps, blade in hand as she tried to find any form of bearing. The dew coating the dark grass beneath her feet soaked into her boots until she felt it against her skin.

A raven's call had the witch spinning, sword at the ready.

The mists parted in front of her, and revealed a mountain of bones. The eyeless sockets of skulls peered out from tangles of fleshless limbs and ribs as the mist continued to peel back until Riona could see the woman descending from the summit barefoot.

Pale skinned and white eyed, she was clad in black robes that swirled around her wrists and legs. Her hair streamed black as the darkest night. Behind her, silent ravens watched Riona, perched on bone and tree branch that were only now revealed.

"My queen," Riona said, and fell to her knees, unable to look away.

"Your task is not yet done," The Morrigan said, her voice echoed by two others within the mists.

"I know my queen. But, I am weary. I need respite," Riona said, and her Goddess stopped at the base of the mountain of bone.

"In death there will be respite," a voice said at her left.

"Find solace in the darkness," a voice said at her right.

"Your hunt, Riona, you have known was not to be taken lightly. Go to the lake, go into the mists. Your quarry awaits," the Morrigan said with just one voice this time.

Riona frowned as she felt heat at her feet, in her fingertips. She looked down but still saw only the grass. The warmth though spread through her.

"Your task is not yet done. The journey will heal you," the Morrigan said, and Riona looked up to her only to see a wooden ceiling. She blinked, turned her head to see familiar walls, and felt a bed against her bare back.

Sitting up, she groaned as she looked around the firelit room of Aedwen's home.

"No, no no no, lay back down," the healer said, scurrying over from wherever she'd been, a gentle hand settled against Riona's back as Aedwen eased her down to lay once more.

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked, before she noticed that she was naked. It took a few heartbeats to find her clothes carefully folded off to the side. They looked as if they'd been cleaned as well.

"A little more than a day. It's the afternoon. But you need rest, that arrow pierced your lung," Aedwen said, and Riona sighed.

"I cannot afford the rest, I will heal. You've seen that. I must go," Riona said and her lover simply shook her head.

"You cannot go. You still have a hole in your chest that's not healed. Witch or not, you still need rest before you go anywhere," Aedwen said as she pulled up a stool to sit beside Riona. She held out a clay cup, guiding it to Riona's lips.

A hand behind the witch's head helped her sip at the warm mulled wine that held a hint of cinnamon. Where had Aedwen managed to get that? As the cup was pulled away, Aedwen used a cloth to wipe away a small dribble from Riona's chin.

"I will heal, but I cannot stay. My task is not yet done," Riona said.

"That hunt you mentioned before?" Aedwen asked, and Riona answered with a simple nod.

"Very well. Well then I'm going with you, and we don't leave until the morning," Aedwen said and rose to her feet, until Riona caught her hand.

The healer paused, and looked down as Riona ran her thumb across the other woman's knuckles. A soft caress without words. The meaning was clear enough though, and Aedwen shook her head as tears threatened to flow free.

Damn her own heart, why couldn't the arrow have pieced that instead?

"I must go alone. There are others who need you," Riona said and Aedwen fell back to the stool, tears cut a stream along her cheeks.

"Can I convince you to stay until morning?" Aedwen asked, and Riona shook her head again.

"Someday I will return. Perhaps in a week, perhaps when we are old and gray and you have found love again," Riona said.

"Don't," Aedwen started and took a breath. She looked upwards for a moment, at her own ceiling. Her hand ran over the tears, brushed them away before her gaze fell again. "Don't make a promise you cannot keep."

"Then perhaps in a world beyond this one," Riona said with a smile.

"Perhaps," Aedwen said, and managed a smile of her own. She clasped both hands over Riona's, the one whose thumb still stroked her.

"If you wish though, you can help me get to the lake. Where you found me. That is where I must go. The Lake Maidens will guide me from there," Riona said, and Aedwen closed her eyes a moment.

Watching, Riona hoped she did not shatter the young healer's heart, but she feared she might have. Eventually though, Aedwen nodded and rose.

"I'll get the cart at least. Make the journey there easier," Aedwen said as she let Riona's hand slip from her own.

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Aedwen watched the forest pass them by as the pony's hooves clopped upon the path. Nestled next to Riona in the back of the cart, the two let the journey pass in silence, while Maetheld guided the cart towards the lake without a word.

Spots of sun ran over them as their journey took them back to where they'd met. As they passed the meadow that Aedwen had discovered, she spotted a fox running alongside the cart. Its orange fur flashed between the trees and undergrowth.

The animal stopped, though, when the cart emerged from the treeline and came to the shore of the lake. To Aedwen's surprise, there was a boat pushed up onto the rocks. A thick mist hovered over the lake, strange for the afternoon. Maetheld brought the cart to a stop, a few pebbles scattering along the shoreline from the pony's hooves.

"Help me into the boat," Riona grunted as she forced herself to sit.

Climbing down off the front of the cart, Maetheld moved to the back to help Aedwen pull Riona off. The witch grunted with pain, but managed to get her feet under her. With the help of the other two women she managed to get across the shore to the boat, and climbed in one leg at a time.

As Riona sat, Aedwen went back to get her armour and sword. Maetheld looked down at Riona.

"Thank you," she said.

"Why? I brought them upon you. I should be thanking you," Riona said.

"You've helped avenge my daughter. You've helped right a wrong. May the Morrigan go with you," Maetheld said as Aedwen came back with Riona's belongings.

"May God give you peace Maetheld," Riona said while Aedwen laid the armour and sword in front of the witch.

Maetheld nodded and turned to Aedwen.

"I'll take the cart into the treeline. Take the time you need," she said, and put a tired hand on Aedwen's shoulder before she moved back to the pony and climbed up onto the cart.

The two women by the boat watched the cart amble off the shoreline, listening to the rocks shuffling beneath the pony's hooves and the wheels as it rolled out of sight behind the trees. The two turned their eyes towards each other then.

"Here we are, as we began," Riona said with a small smile.

"I'll miss you," Aedwen said softly.

"And I you. We shall see each other again, some day," Riona said.

"So you've said. In this life, or the next," Aedwen said and moved out until she felt the water roll over her shoes, splashing against her calves. She grasped the edge of the boat and leaned inwards.

Riona met her, and their lips caressed one last time. When they broke, the taste of the other lingered, and neither could bring a smile forth. They stared, searched for words, but were unable to find any for long moments.

"I could have loved you," Aedwen finally said, and Riona met her gaze.

"I know. But you have a kind heart beneath your pain. A lot of love left to give this world. Don't give up on it. Not for me," Riona said.

"No. No you've shown me that. I have hope again, a flicker it may be," Aedwen said.

"Nurse that. Fan it. There is always hope," Riona said.

Aedwen began to push the boat out from the shore. The bottom slid over the rocks while the waters rose up to Aedwen's knees. Her dress clung to her legs as she pushed until the water was up to her thighs. She released the boat, let it float out towards the centre of the lake.

"Goodbye Riona."

The witch nodded, and finally let herself smile.

"Goodbye Aedwen," she called back as the boat began to enter the mists.

Aedwen stood there, water lapping around her thighs, and watched the boat start to vanish. She caught sight of a naked woman in the waters, beautiful and pale. The lake maiden took hold of the side of the boat to pull it deeper still into the mist.

Too soon though, Riona's face vanished, and the boat carrying her was gone from sight.

Aedwen stood there a moment, and stared out into the lake, the wind catching her hair as she watched.

Turning, Aedwen walked back to the shore, pushed through the water. Upon the rocks she spotted a raven, and she frowned as it stared at her, something clutched in its beak. Tilting her head Aedwen walked up to the bird who waited until she was nearly upon it. Only then did it drop what it was carrying and fly off.

Aedwen put a hand to her lips as she saw it and spun back to the lake. Sunlight glistened off the faintly rippling waters, and the trees on the far shore swayed gently.

From the woodline, the fox watched as Aedwen bent to pick up what was being left to her.

A carefully pressed flower, with violet petals.

END