Chapter Two: Strange Welcomes
The next thing I do remember is stone, the feeling of cold stone against my face and straw underneath my weary body. A small trickle of water passed over my lips so I shut them tight to keep the seawater out. A single drop got past my dry lips however, when I realized that this was fresh water my eyes shot open. I saw an angelic face smiling back at me and I thought I had surely died and was at pearly gates, her beauty was so great.
"He's awake! Praise the Lord he's awake!" The young woman said as she sat next to me and held the wet rag in her delicate hand.
"So he is dear. C'mon, lets have a look at him." Came a response from another woman who sounded older than the one I could see.
"It's a miracle isn't it?" The younger woman exclaimed with joy and relief.
"He's awake but he isn't out of the woods yet! Lets just look at him and see just what kind of shape he's in." The older one said as she approached the two of us.
"Yes Herulia." The first one said with a bowed head and a subdued voice.
"How do you feel then?" An older woman asked while leaning over me. She was poking and prodding me here and there, generally making me feel like a prized beast. "Seems healthy enough." She said to the younger one without taking her eyes off me or stopping her examination of me. "Can you speak dear?" The older woman whom I assumed was Herulia asked me as she sat back on her haunches.
"I'd like some water." I croaked out with a sore, dry throat. "Besides that, I feel half-dead and sore all over." I replied with a voice that was still rough. Almost instantly I saw the younger one disappear from sight for a moment and then return.
"Oh he can talk." Herulia added with a hint of mock surprise. "There's hope for you yet." Herulia added with a bit of a chuckle. "It's a miracle you're in as good a shape as you are. Tell me lad, what happened to you?" Herulia, the healer inquired with an inquisitive, yet pleasant smile.
"Here you go. " The younger one said as she handed me a flask that I hoped contained water. I sat up and took a long drink and relished in the sensation as the long missed liquid flowed down my gracious throat. A small prayer of thanks went up as I gave her the flask back and they looked at me expectantly.
"Ah, that hit the spot, thank you." I said with great gratitude to the young one before continuing. "My ship sank, I was the only one that survived, I was adrift for days." I spoke to nobody in particular as I rested my head against the wall. "Where am I?" I asked as I looked back and forth between the two women.
"You're in the main barracks in Teroncia." Herulia said plainly but her words did little to explain my predicament.
"Excuse me?" I asked not understanding what she was saying. For the moment I thought I was back in England, though that did not seem possible. "Some fools didn't recognize you and thought you were an outsider so you were brought here to be safe." Herulia said with a dismissive chuckle and shake of the head. "So what exactly happened to you again, out fishing too far from Sailorsreach eh?" Herulia asked with a comforting manner and understanding tone.
"Sailors-what?" I asked, again confused as to what they were talking about.
I was getting the feeling that I was not in London anymore and began to wonder just where I was. I thanked the Lord that I was alive and on dry land; I seemed to be in friendly and capable hands. I hoped and thought that if I talked politely to these two I might find out just where I was.
"You were found on the north shore, not far from Sailorsreach. That is where you were sailing from isn't it?" Herulia asked with an uneasy tone. "You were fishing a little too far from shore when your ship sunk right?" Herulia asked with a twinge of a dark tone to her voice.
Her manner was almost as if she were suggesting that I go along with her story. At the time I didn't understand what she was talking about, I didn't understand the trouble that the truth would get me in. In retrospect it would have been easier to simply lie and go my way, trying to blend in. At the time I didn't understand the ways of this strange land as I do now. At the time and still to this day, I hate lying and I have no time for liars so I guess I would have told the truth at any rate.
"No, I've never heard of the places you have mentioned. I was part of an expedition to sail to far off lands." I said and paused with a heavy sigh. "We hit a storm and the ship sunk, killing everyone else on board." I finished as the dark pawl fell over me as I remembered the men in knew on that ship.
"You're not from Tania?" The younger one asked curiously with a sense of wonder.
She got a stern look from the older one and the mood turned darker and more ominous. Both ladies stepped back from me and looked at me differently for the moment not saying a word. I felt that I had said something terribly wrong, something that I shouldn't have. I started to regret what I had said, feeling that I had stepped in it.
"No, I'm from England." I said with a nervous, almost regretful look. "Is that where I am? Tania is it? Am I on Tania?" I asked with genuine curiosity. I wanted to know where I was, if I was not in England. I looked at both women wanting to get some hint, some confirmation of what I already suspected to be true.
"You're an Outsider?" The young one asked with a pained look, almost as if I had betrayed her somehow.
"You're in isolation my dear." Herulia said with a cold tone and expression. "Are you hungry?" She said as she stood and turned to leave.
"FAMISHED!" I shouted in reply. "I could use some more water as well." I added politely and she nodded agreeably with an expressionless face and left with the younger one in tow still looking at me with a hurt tone.
I looked around at where I found myself and found that 'isolation' was a polite way to say 'dungeon'. It was a cold, dark stone cell with all the comforts you can imagine I would have. The pile of straw that I was sitting on was my bed and was not bound together in any way; it was simply a pile of straw against the wall. I found that my hands and feet were chained to the wall each with their own chain. I found that my clothes were replaced with a single white robe that looked dangerously like a dress. It hung loosely on me and I guessed that the thin fabric was the only thing I had on.
The only light was the light that streamed in from the high window in one sidewall. The only exit was across from where I lay; a solid looking wooden door with a small opening with bars in it. I had just finished surveying my surroundings when the young looking assistant entered my cell. She carried a tray of food and a flask that I presumed contained more water and approached me cautiously. She stopped a short distance away from me looking me over, trying to make her mind up about me, I guessed.
"Can you feed yourself?" She asked and I looked her over briefly.
