Chapter Four -- The Penitent
The road re-entered the forest, so for the next hour Danka continued walking in darkness. She had to go slowly to avoid tripping and to avoid wandering off the road. However, the birds were singing, so the spooky silence of the deepest part of night had passed.
When Danka emerged into another cleared area, the sky was already bright. She crossed another sheep meadow and passed an inn. Several men were outside, getting their horses and mules ready for the day's travel. They all stared at her and several made admiring comments:
"It's a pity all the lasses don't run around like that one."
"It's an even greater pity all the lasses don't look like that one."
Not knowing what else to do, Danka picked up her pace and moved away from the inn as quickly as she could.
That morning she passed many men and boys on the road. They were from all sectors of Danubian society: farmers, squads of the Duke's soldiers, trading caravans, vagabonds, stage coaches, and the occasional noble. There were a few women and girls on the road as well, but they were always accompanied by at least one man carrying a weapon. All the men and boys stared at her with unabashed lust; all the women and girls stared at her with blatant curiosity. At first Danka was terrified by all the staring, then she merely found it irritating. By mid-day she began to enjoy the attention. She had been almost invisible at home, but here, in this strange province, everyone seemed interested in her, or at least in looking at her.
A Priest and Priestess approached Danka. She remembered to kneel, placing her hands in front and touching her forehead to the ground. The Priest blessed her and handed her a piece of bread. Free bread...hmmm...that was one benefit of Public Penance that Farmer Orsktackt had neglected to tell her about.
By midday her arms became sore from carrying the bucket and she was hungry. She realized that she had forgotten to eat. She ate some of her apples and continued; her bucket now somewhat lighter. Throughout the afternoon she continued to eat apples as she walked. She passed through several villages, looking around at all the new buildings and people with fascination. In one peasant's farm she saw goats for the first time in her life and wasted half an hour staring at them. As the sun started to get low in the horizon she witnessed a stage coach accident; a wheel from an overloaded stage coach collapsed, causing the vehicle to fall sideways and spill its load of passengers and cargo. She watched the ensuing fight between the driver and several passengers, which came to an abrupt end when one of the horses ran off and everyone set out to capture the animal. It was a fascinating spectacle for a young person who had spent her life just working in her family's garden and doing odd jobs.
As sunset approached she entered another large village. She realized that she had wasted too much of her day looking at all the new sights and that nighttime had caught up with her. She was about to panic about that when she noted the steeple of a church. She remembered her collar and Farmer Orsktackt's promise of a free night's bed wherever there were clergy members. She approached the church, located the Priest, and remembered to kneel. Sure enough, after glancing at her letter the Priest took her to a cottage inhabited by three apprentices, a young man and two women who were only slightly older than Danka. The trio tasked the visitor with cleaning the kitchen and handed her a bowl of stew and a loaf of bread. She cleaned her teeth at the well before going to sleep.
Danka stayed at the village for three days. The apprentices offered her free lodging and food in exchange for cleaning up and washing clothing and bed linens. In the afternoons they helped her practice drawing alphabet letters. At the end of the third day she spelled out her first word: "A-P-P-L-E".
On the fourth day she continued walking east, with her supply of apples greatly diminished. The next large provincial town was about three days' walk past the first village. Danka knew exactly what she needed to do before sunset: go to the next village and report to the local Priest. She was in no hurry, so she could take her time looking at all the new and fascinating sights along the road. To most travelers, the road was no different than any other stretch of the western half of the Duchy, but for Danka, who was seeing everything for the first time; the trip was one of wonders and surprises. She passed an orchard with strange orange fruit and for the first time in her life tasted a peach.
She took a ferry across the Rika Chorna River and spent a pleasant morning bathing and napping on the northern shore, feeling the warm breeze on her naked body as she ate a couple more apples. The bucket was much lighter when she finished her break. She only had six apples remaining, which meant that she would not be able to continue past her next stop without having the money to buy some food. She was not particularly worried, however. She figured the Clergy members at the Church would help her, and possibly assist her in finding employment. She spent the rest of the day walking to the next town, the provincial center Starívktaki Móskt, which in Danubian meant "City of the Ancients." The town received its name from a pre-Christian temple, which looked like the Temple of the Ancients in the capitol but was much smaller. The local temple was a favorite pilgrimage site for people who did not want to go all the way Danúbikt Móskt to visit the main one. There were a couple of cathedrals in the town as well, so Starívktaki Móskt was an important center of the Danubian Church, second only to Danúbikt Móskt.
The town was attractive, but in a way totally different from Rika Héckt-nemát. The architecture in Danka's hometown mostly consisted of multi-storied brick and stone buildings, typical of what would be seen in other Christian countries at the time. Many of Starívktaki Móskt's buildings were pre-Christian, and many of the newer ones copied the style of the older structures. Rika Héckt-nemát was much more enclosed than its neighbor to the east. Starívktaki Móskt had wider streets and the fronts of most of the houses had pillared entrances and large windows. The houses in Rika Héckt-nemát were grey, brown, and blue; while the structures in Starívktaki Móskt were mostly white and bright yellow. Danka wandered around the town with a bewildered expression as she took in all the new sights.
The day was drawing to a close, so Danka made her way to the Temple to see about a place to sleep. She knelt before an old Priest and Priestess, who immediately complained that her kneeling posture was incorrect. She needed to stretch her hands out in front and keep her forehead to the ground. More importantly, she needed to arch her back and spread her knees.
"You've been dishonoring your duty to the collar by not presenting yourself properly. You will understand that your duty to the collar is total submission, and your posture must be one of complete humility and the abandonment of all modesty and pride."
To drive home the lesson, the Priest left Danka in her corrected kneeling position while he attended other duties. Several people walked in and out of the temple while the Priest was absent. The men always walked behind Danka and studied her exposed bottom-hole and vagina at their leisure. Yes indeed, the corrected kneeling position was one of absolute exposure and submission.
Finally the Priest and his partner returned.
"Now speak. What do you need from us?"
"I'm traveling and I request a place to sleep, Priest."
"What else do you want from us, Penitent?"
"I'd appreciate a meal, Priest."
"Yes, and what else do you want from us?"
"I...I'd like to know if there's work for me, Priest."
"...and what else, Penitent?"
What else? What else could there be? Well...Danka wouldn't mind a husband, preferably one with a nice house in the city, but she knew better than to say that to Clergy members. She thought about her efforts to learn the alphabet...maybe that's what they meant. She decided to try "learning" as an answer, but needed to phrase her request with as much humility as possible, since it seemed that was what those two were after.
"I'm ignorant...I don't know very much, Priest, and I need to learn...what...what the Church has to teach me."
