Confession

Llaiannileaf meets the monks of St. Edward's.

6.

Confession

 

The soft murmur of talking brought Llaiannileaf out of the dream of her family.    She bolted upright, to find three men in brown robes peering over the top of a hay bale at her.

Her sudden movement made all three of them jump back, looks of fear on their faces.   

“We mean you no harm!” One of the three said to her, his hands held out in a sign of non-aggression.  One of the others began quickly chanting a prayer, holding a humble wooden cross in front of him to ward her off.    The last of the three just stood there gaping in wonder at her.

Leaf shifted slightly, moving behind them, near the ladder in a blink of an eye.

The three monks spun around in almost comical terror to find her between them and the ground.

“Peace, fair lady, we are humble brothers of St. Edward!   We shall not harm you!”

A second time she shifted and now she was at the door of the barn.

“Wait!”  The monk called down, upon seeing her reappear, “Please!   We will stay up here; far away, just please let us talk to you for a brief moment.”

Leaf paused, surprised to find that she was agreeing to their request.   She looked up at them warily.

“Thank you.”  The spokesman for the three monks said to her, bowing slightly.   He was a kind-looking middle-aged man.

“Quickly!   I will not stay here much longer.”   She told him after he paused to think of what to say.

“Are you the Banshee that haunts the hillside?”   He suddenly asked, with a somewhat scared look as he waited for her reply.  

In spite of herself, she had to smile at their childlike fear of her, “I guess you could call me that.”

“What exactly are you, lady?”  

“I am something you certainly would not understand.”

“Why do you haunt the hilltop?”

“I have reason to, but when my business is concluded, you shall no longer see or hear of me.”

“We mean you no harm, m’lady.” 

“And I mean you no harm, monk.”

“Perhaps we can help you with your business.”

“I doubt it; have you seen others like me before?”

“No, never, m’lady.”

“Then you can’t help me.”

“Are there others like you?”

“There were… I hope there still are.    Perhaps I am the last.”

“You’re a… a Faerie… aren’t you?”   The spokesman clarified.

“Surely you don’t believe in Faeries, monk?”   She responded with a laugh.

“Only when I see one.”

“Then you should believe.”   She began to fade from view, but the monk called to her.

“Wait!   Are you hungry?   We can give you something to eat.”

She paused, for she was extremely hungry, “No, but you can tell me something… if you truly want to help.”

“If I can, I would be happy to.”

“There was a lady in a village near here - Finola was her name, and she just had a baby… well, it probably was a long time ago, so I will simply ask if you know of a woman named Finola with a son.”

The monks all looked surprised and then looked at each other for a moment before the spokesman turned back to her and asked, “Why, m’lady?”

“That would be my business, monk.     She still lives, doesn’t she?   In the same village?”

“Lady, you speak of our Queen Finola, wife of High King Cedric.   She has a son -Mordric- and after many barren years, is near her time of delivery of a second child.”

“How old is this Mordric?”

“He is nearly a man, m’lady.    He is strong, handsome and a bold son of Cedric.”  The monk seemed to look away slightly as he spoke the words, as if he did not exactly believe what he had told her.

“Is he a good man?”   She asked him frankly.

The monk didn’t speak, struggling with his answer for a few moments, “No, m’lady, he is ruled by his own passions and aggressively pursues them at any cost.    We pray for his soul, that he will find God, learn humility and seek the good of others.”

“How does he treat his mother, Finola?”

The monk carefully selected his words, “She is the Queen and he submits to his father.     As long as Cedric is King, she will be safe.   But he detests the child she carries.   If it is a daughter, he will perhaps not feel threatened, but most say that if she gives birth to a second son, he will see his brother as a rival.    If he heard me tell you this, I would be beheaded, m’lady.”

“I thank you for your frankness, Monk.   Continue to pray for your Queen.”

“Lady, what shall you do?”

“I shall see for myself.” Leaf responded, shifting out before any other questions could be asked.

Reviews

[Dhaye]

I think I like the length of this chapter and how the story goes...

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, I tried to keep the chapters shorter than I usually write, so it would be more reader-friendly.