A Wretched Soul, Bruised with Adversity

Althea walked towards the sound of the raging river knowing for the first time that she was in her nightmare. And she was glad of it. She looked deep into the river's rushing waters to watch the pieces of bank break away. Instead, submerged in the river, she saw her own body lying deep beneath the current. Her eyes were open under the water fully conscious and aware, but she lay perfectly still, unmoving and wretched. Althea watched her body in the water begin to break apart piece by piece as the river bank had before and was carried off in the uncaring rush of water.

In the distance she heard the deep voice of the earth crying out to her. "Mine!"

She raised her head to the opposite bank towards the shadows of the woods. Her eyes were met with a pair of green eyes piercing through the blackness. And from these eyes came the fog slowly crawling towards her. She could even make out hands outstretched to her. As much as she willed her limbs to run, as too often in dreams, she could not move.

"No!"

Her cry pushed like a wind, and all before her had been blown away in its force. She looked around at only darkness, only pitch before her. She could feel herself drowning in it, and she was ready to be consumed by it.

"We are here."

She felt hands on her shoulders and heard the words flow into her ears as sweet as honey. She didn't need to turn to face the voices, she knew them all too well. She simply sat in the darkness on her knees in guilt and despair. The hands became arms encircling her, embracing her.

Her mother.

Her grandmother.

"We are here. Oh, my precious girl, we are here."

"Momma...."

"It's time to get up now."

"But, grandma, my body is broken."

"Will you simply let the river take you away? Will you let the darkness win?" Althea finally willed herself to face her matriarchs. They were beings of pure white light, their features barely distinguishable in the rays. She wanted to run to them, to hold them tight and not let go. She wanted to be taken away with them. More than anything. Instead their light extended into her. She felt embraced by them deeper than any physical touch.

"Althea, we are the protector of the lights in all hearts. We are Healers." She saw her mother and grandmother speak as one, and as their voices ended, they gestured behind her.

Althea turned as she was instructed to see herself. She was with Mireya. She saw her with her chosen sister as she told her, "I am the protector of the lights in all hearts. I am the soldier against the extinguishing darkness and the suffering that snuffs out the light. If I were to stop, it would defile the very blood in me. I turn my back on my mother, my grandmother, and those who battle with me. This is who I am; this is who you cannot stop me to be." She remembered this time when she spoke with Mireya. Seeing her image from before, she could see clearly now the glow she had lost.

"Do not let the darkness win."

…........

Althea opened her eyes to the soft glow just before the dawn in her room, her sheets damp with sweat as it had for the past two weeks since the night of her encounter with Durai. Since that night he had her constantly at his side with superiority in his affectionate possession towards her. He had dominated most of her time, and her strength had dried up even more than before. She hadn't even tried to put on a façade of bravery or happiness with Baldrik and Mireya, and they didn't know what to do or say. It was as if their sister was dying before their eyes, and they didn't know why.

The morning was unseasonably warm, and Althea rose from her bed still weak but now determined. She stepped onto her patio and faced the rising sun. When the rays burst forth from the top of the horizon giving birth to the day, she recoiled in its brilliance but steeled herself to face it. The light of the sun that morning resembled the light of her dreams that came from her mother and grandmother.

"Don't let the darkness win."

"I won't."

Althea turned with as much strength as she had left. She felt somewhat renewed and strengthened from her mother and grandmother in a way she couldn't explain. She went about her room taking stock of what she had, what she could use, and assessed what she needed. Her movements were lethargic still, but she continued steadily as the sun rose.

Footsteps were audible outside her door, and she knew that it was Durai coming to escort her to the dining hall. She hid her morning's labors and adjusted herself to present a normal guise and demeanor. He opened the door and walked to her in his accustomed grace and confidence. He looked her up and down in her green gown that pleased him greatly. Before him stood the woman he loved, and she belonged to him.

"You look radiant this morning," his musical voice floated into her ears making her heart break even more. She could never again hear the sound of his voice without hearing what she heard from him that night. She could never again look in his loving eyes without seeing its dangerous glow and passionate possession. She could never again feel the embrace of his arms or his skin caressing hers without feeling the pain he had inflicted throughout her body in his ardent violation of her. Even now, her bruises he inflicted hadn't even fully healed.

He bent down to kiss her lips and moved to her neck. Althea tried not to be as stiff as stone, but she knew no other way to respond. Durai didn't seem to notice or rather didn't care for her discomfort at all. He took her waist and let her out towards the dining hall.

Throughout the meal, she tried to eat more than she had been previously to regain her strength. But these long months of reduced appetite shriveled her stomach to only hold so much. Baldrik and Mireya were elated to see her eating as much as she was and to see her smiling again not even realizing the mask she was wearing.

Althea took long looks at the people she loved as she sat beside the man she now hated.