Chapter 11

Aco woke up the following morning, then she quickly wished she had not. Her head hurt, her body did not want to move. She tried to lift her arms and the muscles all objected and the joints felt locked in place. She did finally manage to roll on her left side where she felt somebody in the bed with her. She saw it was Robin in the faint light coming from the window slit. She tried to say something, but her voice didn’t want to work either. She managed to clear her throat and tried again.

“Robin?” she whispered.

Robin’s eyes popped open and quickly focused on Aco. She smiled and said, “I see you’re still with us. Whatever that nightmare you were having had me worried.”

Aco thought about it, trying to remember her dreams, the meeting with them, a god and two others came rushing back to her. She remembered what the Judge of Souls had said, that she wouldn’t remember this. ‘Uh Oh. This can’t be good if the power of a goddess failed in what it had wanted to happen.’

“Robin?”

“Yes, Aco?”

“I hope that you never, ever have the misfortune of sitting in on a meeting between gods.” She winced at the memory. “It hurts.” She managed to reach up and rub her temples. “I need something to eat. So do we have anything left I can nibble on until I can get up and move again?”

“Only a few of the uncooked bricks,” said Robin.

“Pass,” replied Aco.

There was a light knocking on the door, causing both women to jump. They looked at each other and laughed, “Who is it,” called Robin.

“It’s Betty. I have some breakfast for both of you,” was the reply.

Robin opened the door enough to see out, then opened it all the way when she saw it was only Betty with a large tray with steaming plates of meat, fresh bread, cooked eggs, and bowls of boiled oats. She was holding this large tray up on one arm and a pitcher that turned out to have fresh milk in the other. She strode in, set the tray on the bed, and pulled two large mugs from her sash. “Enjoy ladies. You will find that your stay has been paid for until the first caravan rolls outcome after First Thaw.”

Aco asked, “Who paid for this?”

Betty pulled out a note and read it, “To the woman that saved us from a dark time, saved my wife and me from worse, I am covering your stay until you can continue on your journey. I am well aware of my wife’s dalliances with that cad. I can’t complain as I have a few ladies on the side as well. Damned rules about only one wife allowed always getting in the way all the time. Enjoy your stay in Terin’s Crossing.

Baron Sternoff, head of the Eastern Realm Banking Group, former paymaster of Merc’s Company.

Aco sat, refusing to comment. She looked at the tray and decided food was of greater import at the moment. Robin joined her in eating. Betty sat with them and nibbled a Bapple she had brought along for herself. “So, what do you two have planned for the winter months?” asked Betty.

Aco shifted a little to take some of the pressure off her right hip and groaned in discomfort. She didn’t have a mask on so the look her face took on was not a pleasant thing to look at for too long. “I plan to try and heal and get back in shape. I also have a bone to pick with Ambrosa Jorda for what he has done to, not so much for me in giving me these.” She picked up the vial and scale, showing them to the other two.

Robin reached to take them, then jerked her hands back, shaking them as if they had been smacked. “Aco, what are those? It felt like a knife was jabbed into the back of my hands.”

Aco looked sadly at Robin and Betty. She asked for a small pouch and once she had one, she put the vial and scale in it, sealed the top with a drawstring, then tied the pouch around her neck. “That lady’s, that is one of the reasons I am on the road now.” She sat back and picked up another slice of bread and ate it in silence.

“But what is it,” asked Robin.

Betty leaned back against the door and listened for a minute. She nodded to Aco that it seemed clear, “This is a scale from the Dragon, with a sealed drop of its blood in the vial. The Dragon has died in its realm but is somehow bound to these bits of itself. I may be seeing it more now in my dreams than I have been.”

“I for one am glad I am staying here,” said Betty. “Jessa has hired me to see to the daily operations of the Inn. She will handle the Tavern portion.” She looked at Aco, “Your contacts in the Thieves sent a dozen boys, girls, and women to work here. None have aspirations to being bed warmers, so they will work out fine.” She settled back and took another bite of her fruit, waiting for either of them to speak.

Robin sighed and smiled, “Betty, this is good news to us. We know that you are not cut out for being an adventurer on the road.” She sipped the water, “At least here you should be safe.”

“I am employed in a job I am quite good at. The public will be ready for use in a few hours. The showers will need a few days. The molds are putting up a fair amount of resistance to being cleaned out. The laundry is clean so you can at least wash all your stuff now.”

“Good,” said Aco. “Not that I can walk yet.” She shifted so her legs hung over the edge of the bed and tried to lift her legs. She was able to pull the knees in, but she wasn’t able to lift at the hips yet. Aco tried to lift with her left arm, but it was weak from the damage as well. “I think it will be a few days at least. If I could have a washbasin and chamber pot, I will at least be able to get myself cleaned up.”

Robin reached over and gently stroked Aco’s chin, “I will help you, my friend and lover. You saved a lot of lives with that one missed bolt last night.” She helped Aco get her legs back on the bed and soon had her laid out so the legs were straight. When she finished, she gave Aco a soft kiss then sat back to see what Betty would do.

Betty sat back and didn’t make any move to join them on the bed. She sat deep in thought for a few minutes, then stood up. She gathered the dishes and paused at the door, “I enjoyed our times on the road, but to be honest, I am not into girls. I am finding a man for my own already, at least I hope I am.”

“Really?” said Robin.

“Remember the hunters that followed us, well I spent quite a while talking with the smaller man. He is called, believe it or not, Big John.”

Aco choked at the name, Robin just looked at her in disbelief. “I know, I know,” said Betty. “He is a member of the Brotherhood so money isn’t the issue. He is tired of being on the road all the time.”

“So he is going to join with you?” asked Aco.

“Not sure yet, he has to close out a contract he has outstanding. Not on you Robin, that is on the Bards. Turned out, several of the coup leaders had contracts out on them already. He has to bring in one more and he is done with this part of his life.”

Robin suddenly had an evil grin, “Did you ask why he is called Big John?”

Betty blushed and said, “Well, he wasn’t sure he wanted me to know. He was afraid I would go running in terror. He showed me, and I am still a touch sore from the stretching.” She grinned at Robin, “A mare would look at that thing and say, ‘Not a chance buster’. I took it and loved it.”

Both Aco and Robin just shook their heads and smiled. “Well Betty,” said Aco, “I hope you are going to be happy with him. What did they do with the Bard by the way?”

“The big guy is holding him for trial when he gets him back to Fairham’s Cove. Turns out that ass didn’t have a warrant, just a grudge.” She looked at Robin, “It would seem you de-balled his brother and killed him.”

“Girl, that was the bastard that rendered me sterile. I think I was more than a little justified in killing the bastard,” snarled Robin. She glared around, then sagged down saying. “I just don’t have it in me to kill this idiot though. He actually hasn’t caused me any harm, yet.”

Aco reached over and pulled Robin down to her to hold and comfort her even though this caused her even greater pain in her legs and back. “Don’t worry my little songbird. Someday you may have to deal with him, but not today, maybe not this year even.” She kissed Robin’s forehead and held her as Robin cried. Aco could tell that Robin was holding in a lot of pain from everything that had happened to her throughout her life. She suspected the village gang-raping was still causing her both emotional and some internal pain. She was lucky a boy felt bad enough to get her out of that hellhole.

Betty took the tray and left Aco to care for Robin. Downstairs Betty returned to the kitchen and was happy to see everything was cleaned and put away for the afternoon. Betty checked the Ale barrel and saw the bad ale barrel had been moved to the back of the storeroom and had a warning marker on it. That was one problem she wouldn’t need to worry about for the moment. She went and checked on the progress of the public’s cleaning and the shower room. The public’s was done and she actually able to breathe without choking now. Buckets with clean water and sponge’s on sticks were set next to each seat. The only thing missing was the partitions, the old ones couldn’t be saved. The showers, on the other hand, were still a moldy war-zone. The cleaning ale was slowly killing the molds, but they would spit out spores that would begin growing in a few minutes. If any got on your skin, well, amputation was the best outcome if you couldn’t remove them in time. She left the stable boys to the job of clearing the deadly stuff out.

She checked with Jessa and found her talking with the big guy. The bard was sitting on another stool nearby, glaring at everybody in the room. He still couldn’t talk with his jaw held closed. He had a wood tube he was able to suck up some soup and drink through, so wasn’t in danger of starving yet.

Jessa noticed her and asked, “How are they doing, Betty?”

“Robin is fine, just tired from the traveling. Aco though, she will be weeks before she is healed enough to do much of anything.” She looked at the Bard, “At least you can walk, she can’t even move her legs much right now.”

“Well I hope she recovers soon,” said Jessa.

“She will. She just did more than her body could safely handle as I understand it.” She shivered at thinking about what Aco had done to escape the cell she was being held in. “She had to dislocate both hips and left shoulder. That had to hurt.”

Jessa shivered at the thought. “Ok, she can take her time to heal. Not that I can toss her now that both their stays have been covered until after First Thaw.

“Unless somebody comes looking to make trouble for them, I don’t see anything wrong with their staying here,” said Betty.

“Let’s hope it stays that way Betty, let’s hope.” Betty nodded in agreement, but she wasn’t so sure that things would stay calm all winter.

The next time Betty went upstairs to check on Aco, she found Robin bending Aco’s legs. She was helping Aco move the muscles and joints so she would be able to move better the next day. Aco was in tears and Robin kept begging her to stop this torture, but Aco told her to keep flexing her hips. “It is the only way I will regain my flexibility. So keep bending them up and back like I want you to.” Aco saw the door close and knew Betty had seen what was happening. Now Robin, fold my legs up, pushing my knees down to my chest, then roll my back up. Yes, this will hurt me like all hells.”

Robin bent Aco’s hips up, then pushed the legs down so her knees pressed into her breasts. After holding her in that position for a count of ten, she began to roll Aco back, lifting her hips from the bed, pulling and stretching them. Aco’s face was a mask of pain. She fought to not struggle against what was being done to her. She was losing the fight though. Robin lowered her hips, then slowly straightened out her legs.

“Let’s see if you can move them now Aco,” Robin said. Aco fought and won this fight. She was able to pull both legs up and rotate the hips a little now. She lowered them then tried to pull her legs up a second time. The numbness faded and the fire of the torn tissues in her legs sent her into screaming agony. Robin held her down to try and prevent further injury. She was able to keep Aco down and soon had her calmed. “Stay still Aco. You will need several days or more before you will be able to get up and walk again.” Aco nodded and remained silent. Her eyes closed and she was asleep. Robin covered her injured friend and made sure she had water and a bedpan in easy reach should Aco wake while she was out.

An old woman in archaic black robes left the Temple of the Brotherhood with great reluctance. By her clock, this would be the first time she had left the temple in twenty years. By the clock of the temple, she had not seen the outside in over a century. The events that created the distortion in time at this temple went all the way back to the calamity. A device that could speed and slow time had been corrupted when the weave had been severed. The severing though only cut the line of the instant in time, leaving the links to the future and past functional. The Brotherhood had found this location during the earliest days of Terin’s Crossing and built the temple around the area of the time distortion effect. They could send messages back and forth in time but had discovered that causing changes in the past tended to warp the present and prevent the future from happening. They could prevent a bad event, but the repercussions tended to be worse than the problem they wanted to solve. The last message sent back downstream involved this moment in time. It had come from a full century in the future of this timeline.

The old woman wasn’t happy about this at all. She would be exposing herself to a world she knew nothing about, as well as the ravages of time. Her mission though, that confused her. She was to go to an Inn and partially heal a young woman with an artifact that predated the temple but still worked to some degree. The small box could see what was broken and fix some types of bodily damage. She knew the limits of the device so she wouldn’t be upset when it didn’t fix everything. She followed the instructions for reaching the Inn. It had a rusty looking shovel over the door.

“What an odd name for an Inn,” she said. Nobody even glanced at her. She pulled her hood over her head and opened the door enough to slip inside and closed it quickly behind her to reduce the chance of being noticed. She moved to the side and a shadow hid her black cloak. She saw one head, a girl maybe, looked her way for a second, then turned back to what it was she was working on. The target was in the first room on the right of the second floor, or so she was told. Upstairs, she found the door and opened it, and peeked inside. She saw a young woman lying nude on the bed. She was trying to pull one of her legs up to flex it, but the pain kept stopping her before she could get the joint halfway bent.

She slipped in and closed the door without a sound and waited. Aco had seen her enter but didn’t want to trigger an attack. She was in no condition to defend herself right then. The old woman finally broke the silence.

“Girl, I don’t know how you did what you did to get in this condition, but try to avoid doing it again.” Aco just nodded in agreement. “Now, I have been sent, at great expense to see to you.” She pulled out the box and held it out for Aco to look at. “This is from the before times. It seems to have been a first-aid device. I have been sent to see how much I can repair on you tonight, and only tonight.”

“Then proceed. The pain is at the point I am wishing I could stay asleep all the time to escape it.”

With the push of several buttons, the device lit up and Aco felt a tingling run up and down her spine. The woman slowly ran it across each cut and scrape. They began to burn worse, then the pain faded as they closed up with new skin and were quickly healed. Next, she held it over Aco’s left shoulder and in a minute it felt better too. When she ran it over Aco’s face, it felt like fire was being applied to her skin. The hips seemed better, but not fully healed when the box made a strange sound like a bird chirp, then shut off. The pain from her face rendered Aco senseless for a few minutes. It also rendered the memory of the old woman a dream that would fade quickly when she woke.

“That is all it can do girl. You should be able to get up and move around a bit better now.” She slipped the healer into the inner pocket and left as quietly as she had come. She made her way back to the temple and stepped back inside, feeling the passage of time slip away from her once more. She made her way down to the lower level and sat in the center of a raised platform and she slowed in everyone else’s view. She was once more no longer in step with the flow of time outside the temple. She would wait for the next time they needed her, however long that may be. She hoped it would be a very long time before they needed her again. She had aged those twenty years in the short time she had been out of the temple, and it had hurt. She knew if she ever left the temple again, she would not live to return.

Robin returned to the room she was going to be sharing with Aco several hours later. She had been helping with the cleaning and ordering of the tavern. The lights in the room were low so she didn’t see anything different right away. She did notice that Aco was no longer under the covers as she had left her and went to pull them up again. That was when the changes caught her attention. Aco no longer had any cuts and scrapes on her stomach, breast, and chest. Her legs were free of the outer damage as well. Robin studied Aco more carefully now. Her left shoulder was no longer swollen and bruised. The swelling in her hips was mostly gone, and much of the bruising had vanished as well. They looked half-healed like whatever had worked on her ran out of power or time.

The real change was Aco’s face. The general look was the same, but the skin no longer had the shiny, smooth look to it. Now she looked as if she had been born this way rather than burned in some horrible manner. Her lips had been restored and looked normal now. Her nose though was still as it had been, mostly gone. Robin was able to make out faintly what Aco would have looked like had she not been burned as a child. ‘She would have had men dueling over her wherever she went for her attention.’ She touched Aco’s right shoulder and shook it gently, “Aco? Wake up Aco, something’s happened.” Aco groaned a little, not in pain, but of somebody being woken too early. “What is it, Robin?” “Did somebody come in here earlier?”

Now Aco started to wake more fully. “Why, is something missing?” She rolled up without thinking about it, pushing with her left arm. She froze and looked at it, wonderingly. “My arm is healed?”

“More than that, look down at your chest and legs.”

Aco looked and ran her hands down her front. All the cuts were gone, as was the pain. The only things hurting were the hips, and that was just an ache that would be gone in a few days. “You’re looking at me funny, what else has changed?” she asked, a touch of unease creeping into her voice.

Robin looked around the room and saw what she wanted, a silver mirror. It had seen better days, but it would work for what was needed. She held it up to Aco to look into. “I know you hate looking at yourself, but you really should now.

Aco took it and held it before her face. At first, she didn’t see the change until she pursed her lips and the reflection did the same, and it didn’t hurt and strain as it should have. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She looked at Robin, “How? How did this happen?” She stopped and began to remember what seemed like a dream. “An old woman stopped by today and did something to me with a strange hand box. It felt like a dream. I thought it was a dream.” She brought a hand up and touched the new looking skin. She felt the touch of her fingers. ‘I feel it,’ she thought. She spun to face Robin, smiling broadly, and it didn’t hurt! She pulled Robin to her and kissed her hard on the lips. “I can feel it, Robin,” she said once they broke the lip lock. “I can feel my face again.” She fell back on the bed and began to sob. She laid back and cried, all the while saying, “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Robin looked on in amazement. ‘Whoever it was that did this,’ she thought, ‘they have great power.’ She only had to think about it for a minute before she felt she had it worked out. ‘The Brotherhood is said to have a few ancient devices from the ages before that still worked a little bit. Maybe they had one here that could heal some injuries. They paid Aco for her service by healing her as far as they could.’ She joined Aco on the bed and stroked her face, enjoying the feeling of the living skin instead of the stiff scar tissue it had been earlier that same day. She leaned over and kissed Aco and found herself in a tight grasp, her lips being smashed into Aco’s. Aco held her until they both needed a break to breathe.

Aco wasted no time in trying to strip Robin. She was fully nude in a minute and they spent the next hour at least pleasuring one another. Something else Aco discovered, her sense of taste and smell had been damaged and now was healed. She couldn’t get enough of the taste and smell of her friend and lover. When they were both sexually sated, Aco rolled over and tried to stand.