Chapter 8

Her inn was ready. She had gathered her girls and told them as much as she knew, although she had admitted to them that not everything had been shared with her. There had been some sympathetic mumbles at that.

All of these girls knew at least a little bit about feeling like an outsider in the town. Each of them had at one time or another been accosted by someone who had made them feel less than welcome. Yet she had never been warned to close her inn, or change its order of business. They had never been told to leave, and no one had ever tried to interfere with the business. The locals often enough disapproved, but they were obviously unwilling to lose the business and traffic she and her girls encouraged to come to Eagle's Harbor to begin with.

There was a wooden chair on the porch and she dropped herself onto it. She was still irked at what Avern had said at the Surf and Sleep. She was also frustrated with herself at continually expecting too much from him. He was the mayor of a small town, with small town morals and sensibilities, despite his actual background. You'd think him, of all folk....

She looked around at what she could see of the town from the shadowed porch. She was at the edge of town, and at this end was primarily storage and warehousing. There was a barn where animals waited to be bought or sold. She looked at the barn, picturing in her mind the houses beyond.

The animals in the barn were bothered by something. She could hear them stamping hooves. something snorted and one horse neighed--it sounded angry, she thought. There were gaps in the plank walls, and she could see light poking out. Someone was in there with a lantern, probably Hosef, the barnmaster. Maybe his wife Nara.

The noises in the barn grew louder and more intense. One particular kick against the wall she could have sworn she saw make the planks shake visibly.

"Hosef, are you in there?" she called out loudly, standing up.

There was no answer, and she stood up from the chair again, moving to the edge of the porch nearest to the barn. After a moment, she heard a lounder noise, like a splintering of wood, and a pig squealed loudly in response. The barn wasn't overly big, she'd seen much larger warehouses used for the same purpose in the cities, but it was often full to bursting. There were frequently some cows tethered just outside during the busier shipping seasons, when the sea was calmer.

Fortunately, it wasn't as busy right now and Mary suspected that Hosef had a few stalls free, although he usually had at least four types of animals housed in there at a time. Pigs, cows, horses, and mules were the usual stock although he'd been known to see a few less common ones from time to time. He'd once housed a shipment of camels that had come in off one of the boats, bound for Ithetine across the continent, and the whole town had turned out to get a look at them.

"Hosef?" Mary called out again, stepping down from the porch and onto the dirt road that ran along the front of her inn and then curved left to head down to the docks, joining with some others along the way. She lifted her skirts and moved with hurried caution over to the building. She noticed, as she approached, that the white paint that Hosef had applied just before the last harvest festival was peeling around the edges of the wooden planks the building's walls were made of. She wondered idly just how old the building now was.

She could hear more hooves pounding against the ground and the stall walls inside as she neared the door, which had been left slightly ajar. Light streamed out in a flickering shaft that drew long on the ground within the growing shadows.

"Hosef? Are you in there?"

"Aye. Whossat?" she heard Hosef's slighly accented voice drift back at her from somewhere within. She stepped forward and stepped inside, opening the door wide to keep from snagging her skirts before pulling it mostly shut again behind her.

"It's Mary. Are you alright? I heard a crash, and the animals seem bothered."

"Aye, they are. One of the mares is about to give birth, which often gets them riled up, but they're especially edgy tonight." He came around the corner of one of the stalls, wiping his hands on a cloth. His hair was a peppery gray and his face weathered, but his sharp eyes had always given Mary the impression that the man didn't miss much. "Might be a storm coming in, might be whatever Avern's been making speeches about."

"Did you say one of them is giving birth?" Mary's mind suddenly snapped back to that with worry. Agmar said the animals would be affected first, she thought suddenly. They're trying to birth the babies before something has a chance to go wrong with them. She realized she must have let her worry show on her face, as Hosef was looking at her strangely.

"Aye. I did. Something wrong Mary?"

"Hosef, there could be something wrong with the foal. Did you attend Avern's speech?"

"I didn't have time for that, there was work to be done here. I figured I'd go to the one tonight, but now I'm not so sure I'll be able to make that either. I'll need to birth the mare. What makes you think there's something wrong with her foal?"

"There's a man in town, a doctor of sorts. He's here to birth the babies, among other things. Something bad is coming to town and it could affect the unborn children. He also mentioned that it could affect the animals first. If I understood him correctly, the children will come out wrong if they aren't born before it gets here entirely. Whatever this bad thing is, it's like a storm rolling in - we start with a little rain and clouds before the whole storm hits us. That's about all I know. Avern was going to tell everyone more details at tonight's meeting."

"Well, now that's quite a tale. I'll, ah... I'll watch my back Mary. I appreciate your concern. Now, if you don't mind, I need to be getting back to the mare." He gave her a smile that suggested he didn't believe even half of what she'd told him, and turned his back on her. She followed him, grabbing him by the upper arm.

"You're not listening to me, Hosef. This is serious. Something bad is coming and it's affecting the animals first! If nothing else, please don't birth the foal alone. Just to be safe."

"Right then." He wrenched his arm out of her grasp, his eyes flashing angrily at her, and grabbed her arm instead. "You can just stand watch for me then eh? If you're going to be such a nuisance today." He yanked her forward, half dragging her to one of the larger rear stalls, where he shoved her hard against the wall at a corner. "Just stay the hell out of the way while I do my work, understood?"

Mary just nodded silently, having never seen Hosef so angry before. She nursed her bruised arm as she shrank back into the corner away from the mare who reared up, her swollen belly clearly outlined in the lantern light. Mary could also see blood running down the mare's hind legs and soaking into the hay-lined floor. She wondered if that was normal, having never seen a horse give birth before.

Mary could not hear what Hosef was muttering while he tended the mare. Other animals in the barn grew more anxious. Mary found herself watching, frozen. She did not know what else to do, and in a lucidity that confused her she wondered why she was just standing there. Yet there she stood.

More and more the animals kicked and stomped and reared. Squeals and snarls mixed together, yet it seemed as if Hosef was ignoring it. The noise grew louder, and she wondered if he could hear anything over it.

One mule started kicking its stall wall harder and harder, until she could see that the wall was starting to give way.

"Hosef?" she tried calling out. The barn suddenly seemed an unsafe place to be. The mare fell over, grunting a gutteral noise of agony that seemed more than just a normal birthing nose.

A pig rammed a wall over and over. Its snout and face were covered with blood before the thing battered itself to unconsciousness. Hysterical was the only word Mary could think of for the other animals.

She moved closer to Hosef, still trying to get his attention. There was more blood coming out of the mare. She was thrashing about, and Hosef was clearly doing all he could just to hold her still. He got too close to a hoof and a kick threw him across the stall where he bounced off the wall.

Mary ran over to him. He was unconscious, but breathing. His breathing was unsteady and a bit labored seeming to her. Broken ribs? she speculated.

The mare made one final squeal and fell silent. Mary turned, not sure what she expected to see, not certain that she wanted to know. For just an instant there was a perfect silence--a perfect stillness. A spot of blood appeared on the mares distended belly and the cacophony resumed with a desperate sound.

Before Mary's not entirely believing eyes a wound opened up on the mare. It was being torn apart from the inside. A bloody claw appeared, curved talons slick with gore, and Mary's throat went dry. She looked around frantically for something to use as a weapon.

Her eyes caught on on the handle of something that had been knocked over from it's spot leaning against the wall of an empty stall. She dashed out of the stall for a moment and grabbed the handle, feeling somewhat better when the other end of it showed it to be a sturdy metal shovel. She moved back to stand over Hosef, hands spread apart gripping the handle.

The roar of the animals was almost deafening as she watched the creature push it's way out of the dead mare's belly, appearing to come out backwards with its hind legs tearing flesh and intestines out of the way in the process. She could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest, and felt as if she could almost hear it over the noise. She took long, slow breaths, and tried to loosen her stance. Just think of it as another bar brawl, but you've got a shovel instead of a broken bottle in your hands, she told herself. Mary had seen some pretty nasty things while growing up in Pigort City. There was a reason the locals there had referred to the place as Pigrot instead. In some areas of town the people did live like pigs, wallowing in filth and misery. For just a moment, she was reminded of all the reasons she loved this little town so much.

The creature seemed to resemble a horse in general body shape, as it finished pulling its hind legs free and used the claws to tear a wider opening for the front legs and head to come out. But the skin was hairless and black, looking thicker than a horse's hide, and it had a thick black tail that looked more like a long snake as it uncurled. Slick with blood and other fluids from the mare's body, the creature had little trouble getting the rest of itself free. It lost its balance momentarily, as a rush of blood and gore spilled out of the huge open wound in the mare's belly. Mary took a step forward and raised the shovel higher, as it turned and looked at her. She froze there a moment, her jaw slack as she stared at its face. It had the shape that a horse's face did, but its lips were pulled back in what looked like a grin, showing sharp pointed teeth with longer canines. It had black eyes with no visible pupils and no eyelids to speak of. It had sharp black horns on its head, and she could have sworn she could see them growing as she stared. Instead of winnying, it snarled at her as an angry dog might.

It got to its feet without hesitation, and Mary brought the back end of the shovel down hard and fast. She hit the ground, the metal of shovel ringing as she hit some loose stones beneath the hay. It had dodged between her legs, moving faster than anything she'd ever seen before. Mary turned quickly, to find it taking a large bite of flesh out Hosef's upper arm.

"Oh, no you don't!" she said, through gritted teeth, as she brought the shovel down upon it, flinging it away from Hosef in the process. She felt a rush of satisfaction as the shovel made contact, and stepped forward for the next swing. It looked momentarily dazed, and she put all her strength into the swing while it might stay in one place, turning the shovel to hit it with the edge. It dodged at the last moment, but her swing still took off its tail, causing it to scream. It turned and leapt up at her, and Mary dropped the shovel to get her arms up in front of her face. She cried out as its talons slashed through her sleeves, putting gashes across her forearms. She pushed as hard as she could and flung it into the wall across from her, it's blood-drenched body leaving a dark red mark on the wall where it hit.

Seeing that it was momentarily stunned again, she grabbed up the shovel and brought it down in a fast cutting motion, plunging the edge deep into the side of the thing. It screamed and jerked as she did, and she pulled it out to bring it down again quickly. It took her six more tries before she happened to hit it across the neck and it finally went limp and silent. She noticed the screaming and kicking of the other animals in the barn seemed to calm suddenly as the thing died. The animals still made anxious noises, but no longer seemed to be in a state of panic.

She moved quickly to Hosef, checking him for a pulse or breathing by putting her ear down to his chest. She was relieved to find that he was still alive, and got behind him, putting her arms under his armpits and dragging him towards the barn door. She clenched her teeth against the pain that was ripping through her forearms. She was bleeding badly from her left arm, as it had taken more of the blow, and her shirtsleeve was already soaked to the shoulder from wicking up the blood. She tried to ignore it all, but she knew that tears were rolling freely down her face and she grunted loudly with each pull. She felt extremely fortunate that Hosef was a reasonably thin man, but he was dense with muscle from laboring and not the lightest man in town. As soon as she had his feet clear of the barn door, she dropped him and ran to close up the barn, dropping the bar down into place to keep any animals from getting out. She then ran around the building towards the small house that stood nearby, where Hosef and his wife lived. She nearly ran Nara over as she went around one corner of the barn.

"Mary! What are -- you're bleeding! What happened?" Nara's already concerned look became one of fear when she saw Mary's arms.

"Hosef..." Mary pointed behind her, out of breath. "He's hurt. Bandages. Don't go in the barn. I'll get Margaret." She pushed Nara gently towards where she'd left Hosef before running off towards the Surf and Sleep, gathering what she could of her skirts with her right hand to keep from tripping. She ignored people as she ran through town, hearing a few call out to her as she passed them. In the back of her mind it occured to her that no one here had ever seen her running before, much less with blood all over her dress. I suppose this isn't helping morale much, she thought wryly.

She banged through the doors of the Surf and Sleep and into the dining hall, in time to see Aleena being handed a small crying bundle and she stopped for a moment, caught off her guard by the contrast to what she'd seen only minutes before. After a moment she realized that all eyes in the room had turned to her, and neither Margaret or Agmar were among them. She moved to Margaret's daughter, Elsa, instead. Lynna was here as well, she noted.

Elsa and Lynna turned towards her along with everyone else in the room except for Aleena who was oblivious to everything except the tiny face looking up at her. An instant hush fell over the room, and Mary suddenly regretted bursting in the way she had.

Jaws dropped, including Elsa's. Lynna stood looking confused. Mary found herself taking a step backwards, very aware of her intrusion on what had probably just been a joyful moment.

Lynna stepped forward, looking Mary over with those too-observant eyes. A startled look replaced confusion on her face. Mary shuddered, suspecting what must have just happened.

"Elsa," Lynna started, "finish up with Aleena and the baby. I'll check and see how bad that bleeding actually is." She walked over to Mary, suddenly calm and sure of herself. Mary had seen the expression enough in others to recognize it. It was the look of someone deciding to take charge. Mary made no effort to resist.

Mary was aware of letting the girl take charge, of Lynna leading her to a side room. She was vaguely aware of being led to a chair, and of Lynna asking someone for some towels. She did not notice who Lynna asked.

She tried to tell Lynna what had happened. She tried to describe what she had seen. She had difficulty finding words, and she could not explain to herself the failure. It felt as if she were living in a haze. She did not like the feeling.

"...The animals. They're like that all over town, aren't they?" she finally managed to ask.

"Yes, Lady Mary. Someone will go check on Hosef soon."

"You don't need to call me Lady Mary, Lynna. Just Mary will do fine." She sighed, thinking of all the times she'd heard the word used contemptuously. She'd chosen it as part of the inn name to try and give the establishment a sense of class, but some townsfolk managed to twist it the other way around. She'd lately been toying with the idea of changing the name of the inn altogether.

"As you wish...Mary." she said it with hesitation, and Mary noticed that Lynna was both lost in thought and uncomfortable with speaking to Mary. Although she was trying hard to look self-assured and confident, Mary could tell she wasn't feeling as sure of herself as she tried to appear.

One of the girls who worked at the Surf and Sleep hurried into the room with a small stack of towels, as well as some bandages, pins, a bowl, a pitcher of water and a pair of scissors. Lynna set herself to cutting the fabric of Mary's sleeves away as the girl poured some water into the bowl and scurried out, glancing back at the two of them apprehensively as she left. Once Lynna had the fabric out of the way, she dipped one of the towels in the water and dabbed at the wounds, gently cleaning the blood away. She looked at the wounds, inspecting them intently, and Mary found herself holding her breath as she waited for a prognosis. She saw blood weeping heavily from one of the gashes in her left arm, and wondered if she wasn't feeling some effects from losing blood.

Lynna didn't say anything, but stopped moving altogether for a moment, staring at the large gash with a furrowed brow. Mary suddenly felt her arm grow warm beneath the gash, and watched in shock as the skin started drawing itself closed over the wound. She snatched her arm quickly out of the girl's hand, startling her in the process.

"Lynna!" she hissed, glancing around to make sure no one had seen them. She saw fear wash over the girl's face and tears well up in her eyes as she backed away.

"I - I'm sorry! I didn't mean to...I just wanted to help, and I need to...Please don't tell anyone yet. Please, I'm not ready...I don't --"

"Lynna, calm down. I'm not going to tell anyone." She had dropped the towel on the floor, and Mary leaned over and picked it up, setting it on the table next to her. "Let's just get these bandaged up and no one will ever know the difference." She picked up a fresh towel and dipped it into the water before holding it out to Lynna.

The girl wiped her eyes quickly with one edge of her apron, and nodded. She stepped forward and took the towel, finishing the cleaning of the wounds wordlessly. Mary watched, seeing that what had been a large gash would no longer need stitches, and might not even leave a scar. Lynna wound bandaging around each of Mary's forearms, loose enough to be comfortable but tight enough to keep the thin wounds pulled together. Once the bandages were pinned in place, Lynna paused uncertainly.

"Everyone's going to know soon," she said quietly. "This thing that's coming is -- I can already feel it."

Mary had something occur to her suddenly.

"Agmar's a wizard, isn't he?" she asked.

She gulped and nodded, and Mary wished she could just reassureLynna that she had already known about her abilities. She doubted that Avern even remembered how detailed the conversation had been that night, as he'd been drinking heavily before arriving on Mary's back step. He'd made it clear that he regretted that night, but he'd never mentioned how much of it he recalled, merely warning her that the entire evening was never to be spoken of.

Lynna had been avoiding conversation by tidying up the towels and remaining bandages. Mary looked over at her and suddenly realized that she'd also been peeking into Mary's thoughts. The girl stood frozen, a bloody towel in one hand and the pitcher in the other as she stared at Mary with flushed cheeks and a gaping mouth. Mary winced, wondering how many details the girl now knew.

"You?...and... Pa?"

"Lynna..."

"But he..." she trailed off, shaking her head.

"He didn't mean to, Lynna. He is very lonely without your mother, and he had too much to drink one night. He didn't want anyone to know it happened, you most of all I expect."

"But you're a..." she snapped her mouth closed and swallowed the word before it could escape her lips.

"A whore?" Mary finished for her, leaving the word dangling in the space between them.

"I didn't..."

"You didn't need to, Lynna. I know what I am." Lynna was staring guiltily at her feet as Mary stood up, brushing dust off her skirts as she did.

"Don't blame your father, girl. He went a long time alone before he found comfort in another woman's arms than your mother's. And I'm pretty sure he's been alone again ever since. He's a strong man, that one. Don't condemn him for one moment of weakness derived from the bottom of a whiskey bottle. Feel free to condemn me, however." Mary threw her arms wide. "Everyone else does." She sighed, and turned to head for the door.

"I don't," Lynna said quietly.

Mary stopped, her back to Lynna.

"I was just surprised. I didn't mean to see. But it's getting easier to do. This thing that's coming is making things like that come easier, and I'm trying not to..."

Without any magic abilities at all, Mary could tell the girl was wishing for her mother right then. She'd seen the same thing in the girls she employed, most of whom were orphans themselves or might as well be. She turned back, and was not suprised to see Lynna's tears had started again. She had her arms wrapped around herself and her head down. Despite her better judgement telling her to leave, her heart won over and she found herself moving to the girl and hugging her.

"There now, you'll get through this. You've got your father's strength you know."

It took a few minutes for Lynna to regain her composure. There was still a lot of fear in the girl, but Mary thought she could understand why. Lynna was going to need help and support though this, that at least was clear.

"How many know about Agmar?" Mary asked after Lynna looked more composed.

"I don't know for sure. Me, Father, Elsa and Margaret. Probably some others by now. Maybe they told Bruckert, although he'd probably not be too happy about it."

There were more sounds of commotion outside. Mary and Lynna both looked towards the door and sighed. They looked at each other, both having noticed their shared reaction. They smiled at each other and almost laughed, before exchanging the same raised eyebrow.

"I guess we better go see what's going on," Mary suggested. Lynna nodded, slightly frowning.

A few more injured people had been brought in. Most looked like light wounds, probably comparable to Mary's. Here we go.... Probably more stories like mine now.

"Outside in the foyer," Elsa was insisting to no one in particular. "We need one room for birthing, and one for hurts."

"Lynna," Mary suggested, "why don't you go find Allek and let him know what's going on. Maybe he can help set up another spot just for the hurt folk."

Lynna nodded and jogged off, disappearing into the kitchen first. Mary watched her leave before turning to the new arrivals. Elsa started to usher everyone out of the room. People were trying to tell stories that they weren't quite ready to believe themselves, and Mary heard other stories similar to her own. Mary helped get everyone out. She more than understood that pregnant girls did not want to hear these stories right now. Maybe they hadn't even been told what was coming yet.

They told stories of a litter of puppies born with scales and hooked claws and a baby cow that was birthed, looked up, bared fangs and spread giant bat wings. Apparently it had taken four arrows to take down the baby cow, which had swooped and bitten three people. The puppies had given cuts to a mother and her nine-year-old boy.

During those stories others came in. A baby sheep that had breathed fire, a two-headed pig, and a few others that were simply born dead and already decaying. Some were demanding to know where Avern was. Mary was glad no one was trying to blame anything on Agmar.

"How can I help, Elsa?" she asked when she had the chance to interrupt.

"Have you helped birth a baby before?" Elsa asked.

"Once or twice, and I'm usually there when your mother has helped girls I employ." Mary nodded.

"Good." Elsa looked relieved to hear it. "Myrah Allder is getting closer, if you could sit with her and keep an eye on her progress it would free me up to deal with the injuries. Myrah is especially worried as her husband is off with Captain Allder, taking care of things for Mayor Avern. Try to keep her calm. She's had two miscarriages already, so if there's the slightest problem or sign of blood, come get me immediately."

Mary realized she'd just heard Elsa say more in one moment than she'd ever heard out of the girl's mouth prior to that point. She was amazed that the girl sounded almost exactly like her mother, especially in tone of voice, and didn't seem to hesitate at all in taking charge. She really blossoms when she's not in her mother's shadow.

"What about the others?" Mary asked, nodding that she understood about Myrah.

"The others..." Elsa paused and leaned closer to Mary, speaking more quietly. "Just keep them calm for now. Mother will take care of them after Myrah has given birth."

Mary nodded, and Elsa turned and hurried to the other group, where Lynna was already directing them to another room in the inn. As she turned and surveyed the women remaining, she realized that the 'others' were nowhere near ready to give birth yet. Her heart dropped as she realized that Margaret would most likely be helping them abort. Mary tried to keep the sadness she felt from showing on her face as she headed over to sit with Myrah.

Myrah Allder had an exotic beauty that no one in town had been able to specifically place. Captain Syred Allder had arrived by boat one day with his two-year-old daughter in tow, and never mentioned the girl's mother to anyone. Though she did resemble her father in many ways, her dark eyes and hair were a distinct contrast to the Captain's now-graying blonde hair and always-observant blue eyes. Syred had told many a tale of his past adventures, but never a clue on who the girl's mother had been or how he had met her. Syred himself was the only member of town that was known for frequenting Mary's inn, although she'd never taken a personal interest in providing services for him. He seemed to prefer the slimmer, more delicate of her girls. To the rest of the town he passed his activities off with a wave of a hand and mention that he was just "making sure all parts of town are secure." He had always been kind to Mary though. She suspected he'd been quite a handful in his younger years.

Myrah smiled when Mary came over. She was tucked under a large blanket and propped up against the wall with pillows behind her back, her hands folded daintily over her swollen belly.

"I see you've been given the task of babysitting me," she said cheerfully, although Mary could see that her folded hands were twitching and twisting one another nervously. Mary sat down beside her on the floor next to the mattress, and put her own hand over Myrah's sympathetically.

"In manner of speaking, yes. But I could use a moment to sit and rest, so I'm greatful for it." She hadn't realized it until she'd said it, but she was quite worn out from recent events.

"What's happening out there Mary? No one will tell me what's really going on." Myrah looked at her, eyes wide and chin defiant, as if trying to will Mary to tell her the truth. Mary sighed.

"And do try and give me any more of this crap about how I need to focus on my baby right now. My husband and my father are out there, Mary. People are coming in here wounded." She pointed at Mary's bandaged arms for emphasis. "What the hell is going on?"

Mary sat down on the mattress next to her, and Lynna was quick to follow suit. She looked around nervously, expecting half the room to be looking at her for her answer.

Strangely enough, no one was. Myrah had not been speaking quietly, yet it was as if no one had heard her. The other girls were minding their own business quietly. Some were resting, saving their strength. Some were sweating and focused, clearly not comfortable. Some were nervous about having their babies early. She wondered who knew what.

"There is trouble coming," Mary said, holding her voice low and soft. She put her hand on Myrah's knee. "It is some dark, evil force. It is why the babies are at risk if they aren't born soon. It is also affecting animals. Some of the animals about town are acting strangely, and a few have been attacking people," she said, glancing at her bandages for additional explanation. Never mind about what else is going on with them just now, Myrah....

"Are my baby and I going to be all right?"

"You'll be fine," Mary said in her most reassuring voice. She patted Myrah's belly tenderly, "Look at this, you're ready enough. Before you know it you'll be smiling down at little eyes."

Myrah looked reassured, and she relaxed visibly. "I can't wait," she said.

"Just a little bit more," Mary said. "Now get some rest. The next few hours are going to be...well they won't be easy. But you're in capable hands, so don't you fret about it now, you hear?"

Myrah nodded.

"I'm trying to stay calm, but sometimes it's as if waves of tension wash over everyone. I can feel my baby moving inside me as if it's apparent in there as well."

Lynna had remained quiet since joining them, and Mary had noticed her looking off in the distance, obviously focused on something other than the wall her eyes were pointed at. She smiled a moment before turning her attention to Myrah.

"Elsa seems to think your baby is doing just fine, Myrah," she said.

"Yes, she's said that," Myrah replied.

"Well, I'll be keeping vigil until either Elsa or Margaret are free to tend to you again." Mary gave her a grin.

"And I'm to assist," Lynna added, causing a chuckle out of Myrah.

"I see it takes two people to keep an eye on me! Am I that much trouble then?"

Mary was relieved to see her laughing, and smiled back in response.

Lynna stood up and moved to peer out the window.

"I think my father's going to give his speech soon. He and Agmar are on the porch, although it looks like Agmar's coming inside." She said it with some relief, and Mary briefly wondered what all Agmar was doing to help Lynna through this. She stood up as the man entered the room, at the same time wondering why she felt the need to make the gesture of respect. He headed directly to them, glancing over at Aleena and her new daughter with a nod of approval as he crossed the room.

"It appears things have been going well here," he commented as he arrived at Myrah's mattress. "Lynna, I need to borrow you for a moment. We are going to be moving as many people into the inns as we can, and there are arrangements that need to be made with Master Gannen. Do you know where he is at?"

"He's been helping move beds and other furniture around to make room for more people to sleep in each of the inn rooms," Lynna said.

"Could you show me to him please?"

"Of course." Lynna nodded and turned back to Myrah and Mary. "I'll be back when I can."

Mary gave her a nod and she hurried off with Agmar right behind her.

"Perhaps you could open the windows so we could hear what Avern has to say as well?" Myrah suggested.

It occurred to Mary that it might not be best, especially if Avern was going to address the reason that the women needed to have their children today. She though about it a moment before coming up with an alternate solution.

"Actually, I'd imagine he'd come in here afterwards to fill in those here who couldn't attend the meeting. That way you could ask questions of him. But I'll go make sure of it." She rose to her feet, noting skepticism in Myrah's eyes behind her smile and nod.

"Very well," Myrah said.

"I'll be right back," Mary said. She hurried across the room and through the hallway to the front porch. She pushed her way through the growing crowd that flocked in and around the porch and Avern. Voices overlapped each other in a dull roar of questions and concerns as people both shared stories of things they'd seen or heard, and tried to ask questions of Avern. She weaved her way through, ignoring them as much as she could, concentrating more on not bumping her bandaged arms too much. She realized that her dress was still covered in blood as a few people willingly stepped out of her way when they got a look at her. Avern looked startled by it when she reached him, which at least saved her the trouble of getting the man's attention. After the way he'd treated her earlier though, she was not happy about the prospect of speaking to him at all.

"The women inside want to know what's going on as well, Avern. I've suggested you might be willing to speak to them separately after you speak here. Would you do that?" She pulled her chin up as she spoke, readying herself for any criticism he might decide to throw at her this time. After his initial reaction to seeing her arms and dress, he'd stopped looking at her, and went back to surveying the crowd.

"Yes, of course."

She was taken aback by his simple answer, and looked at him more closely. He's alone in this crowd, she realized. She moved back, to head back into the inn wishing she could do something to help him, and chiding herself for even considering it at the same time. She turned her back on the crowd and headed inside again, back to the dining hall.

Someone had brought in bowls of soup for everyone. Myrah was working on hers with an apetite, which was a good thing. Build that strength, there's something of an ordeal coming....

"Mmmm, that soup smells good from here," Mary said.

"There's a tray with a few extra bowls over there," Myrah said helpfully, pointing out the tray on an empty mattress. Outside was a murmur of voices, but Mary could not make out what was being said. Voices in the gathered crowd rose, but were still mostly unintelligible.

Good thing the town likes him. I hope it's enough.

Mary moved over and picked up a bowl. It already had a spoon in it, and she carried it back over by Myrah. She sat next to the girl again before eating. The soup was heavy on potatoes and carrots, but had some herbs in it. She supposed that if the herbs were medicinal the bowls would not have simply been left unattended.

She could catch words here and there from outside, but not enough to put together. What were clear were the tones. Anger. Suspicion. Fear. She expected a lot of "why is this happening" and "what can we do." All things considered those were probably fair questions. She wondered what Avern's answers would be. She wished she was outside. She felt for poor Avern, and silently forgave him for the exchange earlier.