Ssh. Shhh. It's okay. It's okay now. Don't struggle. It's alright, you're safe. Don't be afraid. You're safe here, I promise. You're among friends.
The Lady found you... three nights ago, I think it was. Out in the Salt Marshes, raving with thirst and bright with fever. You probably would have died if not for her. But don't worry, the doctors treated your infected wounds with antibiotics and sewed you up, and you should be fine so long as you don't try to walk on that leg for another few days. Your fever broke this morning, and they don't expect it to return.
Oh yes. You heard me right. We have doctors here. And more than that. Look at the lights on the walls. That's not fire, my friend. It's not even gas. That's true electricity lighting those bulbs, same as it was in days gone by. We've got running water in every home, books to read and light to read by. This is what you were looking for, weren't you? It's okay to say yes. There aren't many reasons to go crossing the Salt Marshes in midwinter by yourself. You came looking for Haven. You came here to see if the stories were really true. Well, they are. Every last one of them.
Except for the lies. People like to spread lies about our Lady. You shouldn't put any stock in them.
I'm sorry, where are my graces? Here I am chattering, and you missing hot food for probably a dozen nights! Here. Please. Take tiny bites now, your stomach has probably squeezed tight for want of food to fill it. It's only mushroom stew, I'm afraid, but it'll do you a power of good. They grow well down here, and it's almost as filling as meat when you cook it proper. Our herds are small, so we save the beef for special occasions. You'll get used to the taste, I promise.
I suppose we've all had to get used to a few things, haven't we? Not so much the young ones-to them, the days gone by are just pictures in a book. But the rest of us remember what we lost. Oh, we've been working to get a computer back up and running, but nobody's quite sure what we'd do with it if we had it. There's no one to talk to and not much time for games, I'm afraid. The old entertainments just make your heart hurt anyway. Who wants to be reminded of the way things used to be when we can't bring them back?
But forgive me, I'm nattering on when I should be telling you the way of things now. You've got on a necklace, same as mine. You'll want to wear it at all times, from the moment you wake in the evening to the time you go to bed. It's your mark of citizenship, see. It tells everyone who sees you that you're with the Lady, that you're under her protection and serve her purpose. That doesn't mean all that much anymore, mind you; we haven't seen any raiders or press-gangs around here in a month of Sundays. But if someone does come upon you, you may be glad you have it.
Right now, your necklace has thirty beads. Every evening, you'll remove one of those beads and bring it down to the commissary to get your rations for the night. You're not to use more than one bead every twenty-four hours, and it's against the rules to ask for someone else's beads or give yours to another. That's for your safety and theirs. You'll get plenty to eat, believe me. The Lady wants us all well-fed and well looked after, and the doctors know full well how much food you need to keep you hale and hearty. You'll also get vitamin supplements, as well. Mushrooms and potatoes keep you fed, but they don't give your body everything it needs.
Oh, it has been a long time for you, hasn't it? Let me guess, you've maybe spent a little while here and there with some other nomads like yourself, banded together for a few weeks at a time until raiders came and you scattered like pigeons. No, no, it's okay. I understand. It's been a hard few years for most of us. But... the problem was never a lack of knowledge. It was a lack of sanctuary to apply that knowledge. How do you rebuild civilization from the ground up when there's always someone ready to tear out the roots of what you've made?
Everyone's in it for themselves out there. Everyone wants to be the king or the emperor or the czar, and nobody can trust each other. But in here it's different. The Lady saw to that.
What I'm trying to say is, we know how to make vitamins. We know how to make medicines and tools and clothing, to write and to till fields and to tend cattle for food. But none of that is what makes us special. What makes us special is that we have the time to do those things without fear, and we have a safe place to make progress without some would-be King of New America coming along to seize it. That's all down to the Lady. She is literally our light in the darkness. We'd just be a group of strangers huddling in caves without her.
Oh, she also helps us with our studies. She knows more languages than most of us have forgotten, and she's learned from physicists and philosophers alike in her years. There's not a one of us that hasn't gone to her for help with a vexsome problem, from astronomy to zoology and everything in between. But if all we needed was an expert, we've got some olders here who remember plenty from days gone by. No, our Lady keeps us safe from harm at night, and guards us while we sleep. There's not a one within a hundred miles who would even try to raid here anymore, not with the Lady on duty. She's made it clear to any who'd try the cost they'll pay for such an act. She's fierce in her loving protection, and-
