One Oath Too Many
83 Ymiden, 717, mid-trial
The developing trial took on new meaning for the dark-haired woman, as her natural tendency toward humility prevented her from skipping down the street in joy. She had left the porch of her home to tend to newly realized preparations needing to be seen to. As the sun grew in the sky, warming the city around her, it was a microcosm of the new spark of life that she now knew was growing within her body.
The pride and delight in her voice as she gave greetings back to those that offered them, left them with a smile beyond that which was generated by simple courtesy. Faith glowed. She had just realized she was pregnant, and that the father was the man she loved more than any in Idalos. Like her mood, as well as her hopes and dreams, the sun was at its apex. It was all she could do not to sing.
Cycles do not stay at an apex for long, however. And from that glorious moment, there is only down...
A young boy hurried through the streets toward her home. Perhaps the extremity of his double-take caught her eye, as he, in turn, noticed her and came to clumsy skidding halt. As he turned on his heel to hurry her way, a sinking feeling grew in Faith's gut; a vastly different one than the morning sickness she'd experienced that morning.
She could not yet know the impact her newly confirmed condition would have on what awaited her, but there was little doubt the message was important. Grown-ups did not give gold nel to children to deliver a message unless it was of crisis level. The boy was visibly palming the coin as he approached.
The lad could not be faulted for his eagerness to deliver the news. He had a second gold awaiting him upon Faith's arrival. "Are you Faith?" the boy asked in excitement. He hardly waited to verify that the nod of her head was nothing more than the need to lower her gaze to him before he continued. "I was told to tell you it's Tina. They said you'd know who that is and where she lives. Please come. They said they'd give me another gold when you got there. The other man said he couldn't get you. Had to stay. Something about a...'hemmer-ridge'? He said you'd know what that is."
Assuming that Faith dropped what she was doing and went with him, she would be bombarded with accounts of the poverty in which this boy lived with his mother, and the number of ways 'two whole gold' would help them. When they got there, an obviously overtaxed and elderly neighbor, who the boy had referred to as 'Mr. Pete', wheezed a relieved sigh and motioned Faith to a spot outside of the room where an obviously pregnant young woman moaned deliriously on a thrashed and bloodstained bed.
"I knew who 'Faith' was when the girl said it." the old fellow said, with a sad smile, which quickly sank into a look of lost hope. "She's not mine or anything, but I know what the loss of child does to a girl, and I don't see any way to save this'un without losin' her instead. But she might choose that in the end."
Faith could tell that the old fellow was only trying to be helpful, and the fact that he did not immediately leave upon her arrival indicated further willingness as well. It would up to her to decide if a hand that in all likelihood lacked any real medical experience could be of any use to her. But she did not need to be told that death awaited one or the other.
In the corner of the room, looming over the young woman's bed, unseen by the neighbor, hovered Famula. Where her expression was normally stoic and unemotional, there was an oddly critical look on her face, as though what should have been a simple passing, was greatly complicated, and that it was somehow, through some action of Faith's, that this was so.
But her face soon softened to its usual inexpressiveness. Famula was not one that actively sought the death of mortals. She sought only to smoothly conduct them to their rebirth. As such, she did not begrudge the attempts of healers to save the lives that nearly fell to her charge. Were they fated to die, they would; regardless of any healer's efforts. And she did not now wish to hinder Faith's attempt with distracting recriminations. But clearly there was some as-yet-unspoken issue.
The pride and delight in her voice as she gave greetings back to those that offered them, left them with a smile beyond that which was generated by simple courtesy. Faith glowed. She had just realized she was pregnant, and that the father was the man she loved more than any in Idalos. Like her mood, as well as her hopes and dreams, the sun was at its apex. It was all she could do not to sing.
Cycles do not stay at an apex for long, however. And from that glorious moment, there is only down...
A young boy hurried through the streets toward her home. Perhaps the extremity of his double-take caught her eye, as he, in turn, noticed her and came to clumsy skidding halt. As he turned on his heel to hurry her way, a sinking feeling grew in Faith's gut; a vastly different one than the morning sickness she'd experienced that morning.
She could not yet know the impact her newly confirmed condition would have on what awaited her, but there was little doubt the message was important. Grown-ups did not give gold nel to children to deliver a message unless it was of crisis level. The boy was visibly palming the coin as he approached.
The lad could not be faulted for his eagerness to deliver the news. He had a second gold awaiting him upon Faith's arrival. "Are you Faith?" the boy asked in excitement. He hardly waited to verify that the nod of her head was nothing more than the need to lower her gaze to him before he continued. "I was told to tell you it's Tina. They said you'd know who that is and where she lives. Please come. They said they'd give me another gold when you got there. The other man said he couldn't get you. Had to stay. Something about a...'hemmer-ridge'? He said you'd know what that is."
Assuming that Faith dropped what she was doing and went with him, she would be bombarded with accounts of the poverty in which this boy lived with his mother, and the number of ways 'two whole gold' would help them. When they got there, an obviously overtaxed and elderly neighbor, who the boy had referred to as 'Mr. Pete', wheezed a relieved sigh and motioned Faith to a spot outside of the room where an obviously pregnant young woman moaned deliriously on a thrashed and bloodstained bed.
"I knew who 'Faith' was when the girl said it." the old fellow said, with a sad smile, which quickly sank into a look of lost hope. "She's not mine or anything, but I know what the loss of child does to a girl, and I don't see any way to save this'un without losin' her instead. But she might choose that in the end."
Faith could tell that the old fellow was only trying to be helpful, and the fact that he did not immediately leave upon her arrival indicated further willingness as well. It would up to her to decide if a hand that in all likelihood lacked any real medical experience could be of any use to her. But she did not need to be told that death awaited one or the other.
In the corner of the room, looming over the young woman's bed, unseen by the neighbor, hovered Famula. Where her expression was normally stoic and unemotional, there was an oddly critical look on her face, as though what should have been a simple passing, was greatly complicated, and that it was somehow, through some action of Faith's, that this was so.
But her face soon softened to its usual inexpressiveness. Famula was not one that actively sought the death of mortals. She sought only to smoothly conduct them to their rebirth. As such, she did not begrudge the attempts of healers to save the lives that nearly fell to her charge. Were they fated to die, they would; regardless of any healer's efforts. And she did not now wish to hinder Faith's attempt with distracting recriminations. But clearly there was some as-yet-unspoken issue.
