Hi this is my first ever story that I've written, any constructive criticism is helpful just try not to be too brutal =)
Chapter 1
Olya looked up with her hand shading her eyes from the afternoon sun. It was a beautiful day but she had spent it inside the academy library. Visiting the library was the highlight of her week, it was quiet and she could covertly read the kind of books they would frown on back at the nunnery. Whilst she was meant to be reading books on medicine to continue her training as a healer. She often would slyly read books on philosophy, history and science all subjects that would cause a questioning mind to doubt scripture. Hence her concealment of said guilty pleasure.
Whilst walking back to the nunnery through town she casually watched the townsfolk going about their day. She heard an irritated sigh, it was the baker's daughter dealing with more feeble yet unwanted amorous advances from the butcher's son.
Olya mused to herself 'at least my nuns habit and veil removes that kind of irritation from my day' most men wouldn't dare to openly flirt with her in broad daylight. Which she appreciated, as none of the men in the town held any appeal for her. Whilst she did not truly believe the scripture of the nunnery she was raised in, abandoning the habit at this stage would have seen her descended upon by ambitious suitors. All looking to bind her in marriage and plant their child in her, trapping her in this town forever.
She had no experience of anything outside of Wollingden; it was where she had always lived, she just wished to see some of the world she knew was out there for herself. She was only 19 and felt like she hadn't seen anything special yet.
Her walk was soon to end as the Abbey where the nunnery was came into view. As soon as she walked in the front hall one of the other novices blurted out.
"Abbess wants to see you Olya"
"Did she say what about?" She replied
"Nope, just said to tell you to come to her office when you got back" Olya thanked her and headed to the office, proceeding to knock three times before a mature, croaky voice deemed her to enter. Olya poked her head round the door and smiled at the Abbess "I was told you wanted to see me"
"Ah yes come in sit down, I wanted to have a chat" the Abbess responded with a warm open smile on her aged and lined face. "I was just wondering if you had given any serious thoughts about finally taking your vows" Her voice took on a slightly sharper edge.
Olya pondered her answer for a moment and sighed "I think on it regularly, but it is a serious lifelong commitment and...I have my doubts" Olya's gaze sank to her lap. She didn't want to disappoint the Abbess but she could not lie to her. The old nun was the closest thing she had to family, she had raised her, she was practically her mother after Olya was abandoned at the Abbey as a newborn. "Ah I see... a lot of young novices do, normally for the same reason...has a handsome young man caught your eye... causing you to wonder what you might be missing maybe?" She smirked and added a cheeky wink at the end. "Absolutely not Abbess" Olya responded with tinge of mortified horror
"No judgement from me child, I was young once and not always a nun" the Abbess chuckled. Olya tried to gauge what she meant by that, but the thought of the Abbess as a lusty young woman, was one she purged from her mind immediately. Instead she honestly voiced her concerns to her mentor.
"It's just that I wonder at all the things I haven't seen that lie beyond the edges of this town, things that I may miss entirely if I stay here forever"
The Abbess sighed almost deflated "I see, it's still lust, just of the wandering variety instead of carnal. I understand the urge, girl, but trust me when I say it can be brutal out there. So many dangers, not just people, but all kinds of nasties that creep through the night feasting on young naive things like yourself. That habit won't discourage the worst of the worst my dear. I hope you think on that"
Olya sounding disappointed " You make it sound like it's some of of nightmarish dark fairytale, this can't be the only safe place in the world"
The Abbess curtly responded "Maybe, maybe not, but it's where I know you are safe and I can keep an eye on you"
Olya starting to lose her patience with how this conversation was going " I could always just leave, pack up my things abandon my habit and see the world...you cannot actually stop me if that was my choice"
The Abbess took a deep breath and glared at Olya with frustration " I can stop you Olya, if you do leave the Abbey without my blessing I can legally have you dragged back kicking and screaming by the town guards. Which will be really bloody easy for them if you leave your veil behind since your hair is that dark copper colour it's really sodding noticeable. How many other people have you ever seen around here with that hair? Zero is what. So when I find out you've run off I just tell them, look for the ginger idiot with no idea where she is going or how bad it can get out there!" By the end of the tirade the Abbess was shaking with rage. Olya looked coldly at the Abbess and quietly said "May I now please be excused" struggling not to start yelling at the Abbess and make this interaction worse.
" I'm sorry Olya" The Abbess slackened and cradled her face in her hands " I am just terrified that you will leave and never come back, not because you have found somewhere to be safe and happy, but because you never made it there." Olya's gaze softened at these words. "Just promise me" the Abbess continued " That you won't just storm off, that we talk about this some more, maybe find you somewhere that's still safe but gives you the change of scenery you so desperately crave... please just think on it" Olya her stare directed towards her own lap not sure how to continue this conversation "I promise...now may I please be excused Abbess"
"You may, please go and help with the dinner preparations then help the other healers in the medical hall" Olya stood and gave a customary nod to the Abbess on the way out and headed to her duties.
Chapter 2
After spending most of the evening in the medical hall Olya finally made it back to her cell late that night, keen to curl up on her bed and sleep. Her thoughts still kept returning back to the conversation with the Abbess 'what arrangements would she actually make?' Another Abbey where she could be just as bored and trapped? Most likely. Absent mindedly she seemed to have left one of the medical knives in her habit pocket. 'I'll just have to return that tomorrow, the price of being distracted I guess' she placed it on her desk and began to undress for bed removing her veil and habit. As she made it down to her undergarments she took a moment to take stock of herself, admiring her hair. The Abbess was right; it was a most distinctive dark copper with highlights of gold running through it, though most would never know. The Abbess had made her wear the veil for as long as she could remember. Even as a small child, the reasoning the Abbess gave was 'in order not to attract unnecessary attention' whatever that truly meant. Olya's inspection of herself continued, long toned legs, slender waist, generous hips, sizeable pert posterior and equally proportional breasts would probably be overly tempting to any man outside of her shapeless habit especially with her smooth skin, like cream and her eyes which she had been told were a warm purple. While vanity was considered a sin in the scriptures and no mirrors were allowed, she saw no issues with being proud of the features she had. Alas there was no one she had any desire to share her body with; it was no sacrifice to maintain the chastity the scripture demanded. It made her wonder if perhaps that particular part of her was non-existent or maybe she just hadn't met a man who might stir that feeling, probably never would, trapped as she was in Wollingden Abbey. With a sigh she poured some water into her wash bowl and began cleaning herself. Whilst rinsing her face in the bowl she heard screams from her fellow nuns, male shouts and the aggressive opening and slamming of doors. Hearing masculine voices "Not this one, right-ish age but wrong hair,". It sounded like they were making their way up through the cells, opening the doors until they reached... her door. It swung open and a dirty thuggish looking man was the one who opened it. His sudden presence and the realisation of her state of undress in front of him filled Olya with horror. "Well well well, right age, right hair, right eyes and a lovely figure without much to cover it, seems like it's my lucky day." He said with a lascivious grin on his face. "LADS I FOUND HER!" He bellowed down the hallway. Next he stepped inside her cell and pushed her back against the wall next to her desk. His hand grasped tightly around her throat. Olya was taller than average but this man leered above her, he was broad, doughy and smelled awful, stinking of body odour and horse. He whispered in her ear "Ya gonna be a good gal fer me aintcha now, we's gonna go on a journey, deliver ya where ya we need to and ya ain't gonna put up a fuss or else I'll have to hurt ya" Olya whimpered in fear. The man continued "Good, glad ya understand... now" he paused to place his other hand on her waist and trail it up towards her breast "I don't hafta deliver you 'intact' so me and yous are gonna have a little fun before we hit the road, must be gaggin' for it stuck in this place" the hand on her throat was removed began to make its way towards the space between her legs and Olya began to panic desperately looking for any way out of this. The thug buried his face against Olga's neck, inhaled, sighed then began kissing her skin. Instinctively keeping her face as far away from him as she could, her eyes turned towards her desk and the misplaced medical knife. It was within reach and slowly she moved her arm towards it so as not to disturb her attacker, upon grasping her hand around the handle the thug grabbed her face. Forcing it forward to face him Olga silently prayed he hadn't seen her reaching for the knife, instead he smashed his greasy lips against hers and forced her mouth open to accept his tongue. His breath was foul, Olya struggled not to gag, but it was now or never, she reaffirmed her grip on the knife and jammed it into his neck. The thug stumbled back surprised, Olya pulled out the knife and stabbed it in again, in the process unleashing a spray of blood and the man retreated from her, desperately clasping at his neck, making it three steps before collapsing just outside her cell door. Olya let out a sigh of relief, before realising she was covered in blood. Two sets of heavy footsteps thundered down the corridor finishing in front of her cell door, two armed men as thuggish and dirty as the one bleeding out on the floor stared at Olga. Seeing the corpse, bloodstained Olga and the knife in her hand, the connection was quickly made. "YA FUCKIN' BITCH, YA GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" Olga was filled with terror and struggled to think, 'can't run, they're blocking the exit, can't fight, there are two of them with swords and I have a tiny knife, shit what do I do?' Unable to prevent her impending doom she took a shaky breath before a high speed crackling flash of light flew into her vision hitting one of the men and then another flash hitting the other. She saw both men now had massive burning holes in their torsos and they collapsed on the floor dead. 'What the almighty fuck was that?' Olga stood there shell shocked just trying to comprehend what happened, when another pair of smaller familiar footsteps made their way up to her cell door. The face that peered round was the Abbess "By the divine you're bleeding!" The Abbess cried. Staring straight ahead virtually unblinking Ohya responded in a weak voice "It's not mine" before pointing at the corresponding corpse on the floor, then gesturing at the other two. "Abbess, was that you?"
"Yes dear"
Ohya stared at her with a bewildered face. "How?"
The Abbess walked towards her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and began escorting her out of the cell.
