The young woman awoke with a start, her eyes flashing open to stare at the white ceiling above her which was a cold comfort. Her lungs burned for air, as if she had been breathing heavy after running a long distance. With her body covered in sweat she was already beginning to chill, hair clung to her face, and the ache in her wrists and ankles meant she had been thrashing quite strongly once again.
Tilting her head to the side grey eyes glanced to the waif of a girl who had been assigned to her. She had been sitting there nervously waiting for Saedah to awaken. Saedah remembered that she was fairly new and she had yet to hold a firm grasp on the girls name. The previous tennants had probably asked to have a different duty as watching over Saedah during her night terrors was very unsettling. With Saedah's head tilting in her direction the girl stiffened and without a word as if given a cue by some invisible gesture shel took a damp cloth that was in a bucket beside her and began to carefully wipe the sweat away from Saedah's body.
Watching her silently for a moment, she returned her gaze up towards the ceiling. Pondering quietly if the previous tenant had become to scared to care for her anymore. Many people thought that demons came to possess the young priestess in the night, had the previous tenant thought the same? The ceiling above her was bland and ...cream in colour, the faint smell of incense filled her room. She hated the smell of it, when it was stronger it often made her feel like her lungs were on fire. Saedah gave another sigh more from exhaustion than anything else and the girl hesitated with her cloth, she could feel her stopping, somewhere down at her ankles. Saedah lifted her head slightly to look the girl over, what was she? Only a youngling? Perhaps just starting to bud into a young woman. Sinking her head back down on her pillow she blinked slowly.
"Was I speaking in my sleep?" Saedah inquired, trying to quell the awkward silence that hanging heavily between the two. Saedah knew however that speaking was a light way to put it. Often she was rambling, or screaming incomprehensible words over and over. Wildly thrashing to the point of injuring herself and others who attempted to restrain her. With so many repeated episodes she was now she was bound to her bed. Silk ropes attached to her wrists and ankles the gentlest and yet strongest material they could find to prevent her from getting up and slamming into walls in her wild flights in the night.
One may think at a glance she was being held against her will, but Saedah was use to this now. Ever since she could rememeber there had always been night terrors. These terrors ranged, from babbling in her sleep and often leading her to walk into her sleep. There had been numerous times where the girl was found wandering around outside their home, in the middle of the village, standing there like she was of the dead. For awhile people thought she was a ghost, a spirit until her mother and father finally admitted to the elders that it was their daughter causing all the trouble.
If it had only been once in while perhaps she wouldn't of been thought of as special or blessed, but because of its frequency and destructiveness her parents had begun to think their daughter was possessed. It was why the priests were called in, to see if they would exorcise the demon that seemed to be possessing their daughter nightly.
Saedah was by nature a timid girl, she sleep poorly due to her night terrors making her a fairly listless child. The priests who came, observed her during the day coming to the conclusion that perhaps she was sick in the spirit which was why her spirit was so lethargic and why she had no energy to act like a normal rambunctious child. When they stayed the night to observe they were shocked. Watching as the young girl was rise up from her bed like one waking from the dead and then without so much as a word, eyes wide open she was begin screaming before suddenly turning and slamming herself into a wall. How Saedah had managed to not break any bones or suffer any serious injuries before this was a blessing in itself.
Her parents had begged that the priests not wake her, for it only seemed to traumatize the girl more so. One of the priest's however couldn't stand to watch her anymore as she continued to through herself into the wall, sometimes taking a small moment to move to one side only to return to what she was doing. Grabbing hold of her, he had struggled to restrain her, much against her parents wishes. They had told him to let go, that it would only make things worse. They had tried similar tactics in the past only to have her wake up, disoriented and withdrawn. Like death itself had barely claimed her.
Unable to move, she had screamed, and screamed like someone possessed. The longer she was clutched to his chest the quieter she became until finally she had fallen silent. Her eyes still wide open but staring at nothing until even then the slowly closed. Saedah's breathing had slowed and become more regular for sleeping. Covered in bruises and having unnerved the other priests and priestess's she had taken away to the temple. The words of possession was whispered amongst them, but it was only Priest Carlden who had managed to convince them it wasn't demons but the gods trying to speak through her.
"Ah...n..noo.." The girls soft voice startled Saedah out of her thoughts, though it wasn't hard to scare the poor woman. Terrorized with nightmares on a frequent basis it left her exhausted and sleep deprived, everything managed to cause her to jump and whimper in fear. She felt some sort of relief, if nothing was spoken then it was less lightly she would be interrogated in the morning about her nightmare. The priests would surely ask her about it, but unless she was speaking whilst asleep, vague imagery she would timidly put together hardly interested them. It was only concrete images or words they tended to cling to. The only one who listened attentively was Priest Carlden, he was in all honestly her savior.
Saedah shivered, the girl had removed the blanket to wipe down her legs and she was too tired and used to this sort of treatment to be embarrassed.
"W...what ..were you dreaming?" The girl finally got the courage up to ask, it was obvious that she was curious, being told to watch Saedah while she slept and to take down any notes of interest it was obvious why a young girl would be interested. Though Saedah was more surprised that she wasn't afraid of her. Most of the younger people were. Whispers of her being possessed by demons or gods seemed to cause people to give her a wide berth.
Frowning Saedah thought long and hard, trying to sift through the shadowy nightmare, for anything concrete she could report. Most of the time she wouldn't answer, unless she was positive with what she had dreamed she didn't want to mislead the others, afraid of lying and perhaps creating a catastrophe biased on how they would interpreter what she said. The only person she felt she could confide in wholeheartedly was Carlden. He would listen to her without interrupting her, or manipulating what she said trying to twist her words into some sort of premonition.
"A tree....." She managed to reply quietly, "There....were flowers...and they were beautiful." Saedah managed with a soft whisper, it seemed an oddly normal for its to be considered a terror, to cause her to thrash and pull against her bonds, "They...began to be lit on fire...such...a terrible fire..." Saedah continued, the girl had gone to pick up her bucket of water only to drop it out of surprise with Saedah's words. Panic written across her face as if she had heard someone spell out her doom. The girl didn't even say anything as she then fled the room, the water seeping into her mattress and causing her to become quite chilled again.
"I...shouldn't of said anything..." Saedah sobbed, knowing that this meant the other priests and priestess's would be awoken she would be interrogated. Tired and cold, it didn't take long for the soft padding of numerous feet alerted to her their approaching presence. One of the male priests entered her room and then barked a yelp of surprise and quickly turned around. Saedah was hardly decent as the girl had been in the midst of cleaning her of sweat before fleeing the room.
One of the younger priestess ushered the males out of the room, before closing her door and them coming to her rescue. Undoing the bonds to allow Saedah to help in redressing herself and greatly speed up the process. Non one spoke and it wasn't until she was done that the others returned to the room.
The word fire had sparked quite the conversation, wither it spelt doom, or was the fire goddess herself trying to convey some sort of spiritual warning or prophecy. Tired Saedah would try to answer their questions but always felt that her responses were being thrown back in face, as if she couldn't interpret her own dreams and that she should leave it up to the older more qualified priests and priestess's to do it for her. The night waned into early morning, once satisfied with what they could glean from her they left her room. She could go back to sleep although was required to get up in a mere two hours to attend prayer and meditation.
Only Carlden lingered, he had gotten older, gray strands starting to streak through her hair. Saedah was running a finger along a fine ribbon that had been fashioned into a choker a habit she had developed when she was trying to concentrate. Moving over to her his hand came to her head, fingers running through her deep purple hair. Stiffening Saedah looked up to him with wide and pathetic eyes.
"I feel like I did something terrible Carlden...I don't know why I dream the things I do, but I don't think I should of spoken about this one.." Saedah murmured as she drew her legs up to her chest trying to warm herself as she was still chilled. His fingers a comfort, something that he had done since she had first come to the temple.
"Saedah, you act as if you have committed some terrible crime." Carlden spoke softly his deep voice causing her to shiver. Looking up to him she felt her eyes begin to tear up.
"But...but what if someone gets hurt because of something I said? What if the people hate me because I dream of something horrible?" Saedah felt her anxiety begin to ramp, but it was quickly quelled as the older man knelt and brought her into an embrace.
"Oh Saedah, you have a gift, a special gift and I know the gods choose you for a reason. Try not to think about it for now you should try and sleep." The priest continued to stroke her hair, rumors about them having an inappropriate relationship had caused the two distance themselves unconsciously, to try and prevent any new rumors to spring up. And although she was far too young to be anything more than an adoptive daughter to him, Saedah knew this but she couldn't help but feel more than daughterly love for him. Carlden cared for her in a way her parents never had. Rather than fear her terrors he had embraced them. Saedah secretly loved the man as was evidence by the ribbon turned into a necklace that she refused to remove even while bathing. It had been a gift when she was little, originally wrapped around her wrist to cover up a rather ugly bruise she had given herself during one fateful dash across the grounds and into the rock garden.
Saedah listened to his heart beat, tried to sync her breathing to his before allowing herself to close her eyes. It was only like this that she managed to get any real sleep at all. The nights that Carlden would comfort her and hold her she would sleep dreamlessly, it had been questionable at best when she was a child, but it was highly inappropriate now that she was a young woman to go crawl into his bed chambers. Besides she was often tethered to her own bed to stop her from wandering the temple grounds in her sleep.
"Caldren I am scared to sleep," Saedah murmured in a whimper her hand coming up to grasp at his robes. It was a childish gesture and certainly pitiful to listen to. Caldren knew however that there was a line he must not cross and carefully removed her hand from his robes.
"Lay down Saedah, I will stay until you fall asleep." He murmured moving to sit on the ground and beside her bed. Moving to lay on the mattress she felt her cheeks red from embarrassment. Her bed was the only one that was literally on the floor. As there had been too many instances of her dashing off her bed and crashing to the floor, they feared she'd break a bone and thus her strange bed had been constructed. Mattress on the floor with weird constructs that allowed her wrists tethered to the sides and her ankles at the bottom. It was rare she was allowed to sleep in any other position and right now she felt a small amount of happiness as she settled into her bed on her side.
Caldren took hold of her hand and stroked it with his thumb, the repeated motion causing Saedah to slowly fall asleep. Without her realizing she was asleep.
***
Eyes fluttered open as she heard the bells ring through the temple. It was dawn, disoriented she went to move and discovered she was tethered up again. A flurry of feet came to her side, the young woman who had been tending to her last night had come to her side and was quickly beginning to untie her. Saedah took a deep breath and sighed again, at what point Carlden had left her she was unsure but the fact she was tied up again probably meant he hadn't stayed long after she had fallen asleep.
Sitting up after her wrists had been free'd she rubbing them, her hands glancing at the strange birthmarks on her hands. Strange shapes that were oval in shape was lighter on her palms, Caldren had proclaimed that they were the 'eyes of the gods' and what allowed them to enter her body. She hated them, she didn't like to show her hands to anyone. Ankles free Saedah dragged herself to stand, her body was stiff and lethargic. She had managed perhaps two hours of real sleep and she was exhausted.
The routine was as always, a quick wash of her face, brush through her hair a small piece of bread to break her fast and water. Tired she would get help to dress before she would move sluggishly towards the prayer room. The problem with it being so early the morning was that they were forced to pray each morning and being her lack of sleep she was often chastised if she nodded off during prayer.
Her stomach rumbled wishing she could have more to eat, but actual breakfast came after prayer and it was meager as well. The term food for the soul was often laughed at, indulging was a sin. Morning prayer went as usual, though there was more whispers before the mass began and glances in her direction. Story about her dreaming of fire had turned to a burning tree. Which wasn't exactly accurate as it had only been the flowers that had been burning. Still she couldn't interpret what her dreams meant, maybe they were right. The ..tree would of caught fire eventually right?
Prayer starting she went through the motions with a preparedness that was drilled into her. She would be considered graceful and beautiful if people didn't fear her and her dreams. This was going to be her life, although she hadn't been accepted into priestess hood yet, Caldren had told her over and over that she was meant to be great and to speak for the gods was the best way to handle her dreams. She was born for this. His words, although trying to be encouraging were terrifying.
That meant every move and gesture would be judged and often she felt like a nervous wreck when trying to hold her sleep deprived self together. Hands shaking as she went to clasp them together she went through the motions until the service was finished. Getting up she felt herself wobble, a gentle hand on her elbow and she looked over to see Caldren there. As if her heart felt a heaviness lift from it she apologized as she was technically not suppose to touch the higher ups.
Caldren wasn't typically one for tradition but was quick to remove his hand once she had stabilized herself.
"Walk with me Saedah," Caldren spoke quietly as he moved forward, quick to fall in step with him although slightly behind her head bowed low so that she was watching his feet move forward as they headed towards the food hall.
"Saedah, I think your ready to become a Acolyte..you have trained her for many years...it is time you moved into a more concrete roll in the temple." The elder spoke and Saedah nearly tripped on her own two feet at his words.
"Wh...what? N..no no..noo Sir Caldren I...surely you jest." The young girl stammered a hand coming up the choker to rub the fabric between her fingers. Nervously she cast a look around, spotting others staring at them although trying not to be so obvious about it. Her eyes jerked back to the ground she had stopped moving though the Priest had continued onwards. Quickly she went to catch up to him,
"Do you not think you are ready? You have spent many years here, you know the routines by heart, the prayers the ceremonies. This is a good time for you to move up in the ranks." Caldren spoke as he nodded to another passing priest. Saedah was quick to copy Caldren although she felt that the world was spinning. Her a priestess? Wouldn't that mean her dreams would be getting more attention? That made her terribly nervous.
"I...but...my dreams...I ...don't think..." Saedah protested as she really didn't want to bring more attention to herself, or at least any more than she already did.
"Are you afraid of the Gods Saedah?"
The question caught her off guard. Was she afraid of them? Yes. Afraid she may interpret their messages wrong and they would smite not only her but those who had listened to her. The gods could be generous but also very unforgiving.
"..Y..es....I am ...quite scared of them." She managed in an embarrassed tone.
"Good, only a fool wouldn't hold some fear of them. Saedah you need more faith in yourself, I will arrange your test to be held in a fortnight. Please make sure you are prepared." Caldren managed warmly as he passed her gently towards to the food hall. He would be dining with others of his rank in the temple.
Moving slowly she went to gather her meager meal before finding an isolated table and started to eat. Her thoughts a jumble as she considered Caldren's words. He thought she was ready, but...she was terrified of disappointing him. The bread was tasteless on her tongue, the gruel thick and bland. Eating quietly she tried to mentally prepare herself for the task set before her. She couldn't let Caldren down. No matter the cost.
Finished: Word count - 3536
Points: 11
Reply
