Withstanding Trials: Day 13

Word Count: 78,039

Summary of Events:

Saraid walked to the settlement with Aodhán, coming to feel like she could trust him as they walked,  especially since he reprimanded a boy for calling her names along the way, although she didn't let him see where the entrance was to the cave her cousin's family dwelt in. Since a severe storm was breaking, Aodhán took shelter in the church, which he discovered, to his extreme surprise, was an Aloneist church, which he'd not expected to find in the area. After being questioned by a man he suspected was the husband of Saraid's cousin, Aodhán was taken to the home of a powerfully built man, whose wife tended to his knuckles, bloodied by his beating of the young man, and made friendly small talk with him about his family, whom Aodhán described truthfully, but without disclosing their high societal rankings…

Excerpt of the Day:

“I’m sure you wish your sister to come to the truth,” she said. “But do you have confidence that she will?”

“I wasn’t initially very confident,” Aodhán replied. “But she’s been sent to the care of my mother’s parents, which increases my confidence. I am worried for my other sister, however, as she’s been sent to Truist relatives, potentially in an effort to turn her, just as I believe was the reason for my being sent out here. My father is not pleased with our choice of faith, and even if he’s striven to be discreet about his efforts to turn us, they’ve not been as discreet as they could’ve been.”

“Oh,” she said. “Why has your family been scattered?”

“My father hopes to not have his line destroyed all at once,” Aodhán replied.

The woman nodded, washing the salve off her fingers before producing some narrow linen bandages that she started wrapping about his fingers.

“My father probably wouldn’t be pleased to hear about this settlement,” Aodhán said. “Not that he probably would’ve guessed any more than I that such a place was here.”

“Barely,” she said. “But we’re here.”

Aodhán had to admit as he watched the woman bandage his hands that she was clearly someone who’d tended to a lot of wounds, he wondered if she was the doctor of the settlement, seeing as Aodhán had any doubts an officially trained and educated doctor would be present in a settlement this small and remote, and especially on an isle which undoubtedly had a significant traditionally believing population, as the traditional believers didn’t believe in the science of medicine, instead believing that diseases were direct acts of the gods against those with whom they were displeased, and that rituals and sacrifices to appease the gods would cure the ill, despite the acute lack of success in their efforts.

“Have you had anything to eat?” the woman asked.

“Not since the fish I had for lunch,” Aodhán replied.

“Well, go to the table then and have something,” the woman instructed.

She got up from her seat and went over to the hulking man. Aodhán got up somewhat reluctantly from being by the warmth of the fire to go over to the table, where a young woman who looked about the age of the young woman he’d followed to the settlement served him a juicy and delectable-looking leg of rabbit, along with mashed potatoes, fresh carrots, and savoury gravy.

Aodhán nodded his thanks to her before bowing his head, praying over his food silently, and, once he was finished praying, starting to eat the tasty food, doing his best to ignore the prevailing sensation that he was being watched by not merely the hulking man, but probably everyone else in the room — whose number, he was sure, was greater than he’d been so far able to observe.