The Acolyte
Chapter 3
Anabel stared at the page in front of her, not really seeing the words anymore. She had been trying to read this same page for hours now, but her mind kept wandering. Concentrating was becoming more difficult. She sighed and returned to the top of the page again, determined to get through at least one page tonight.
It had been two months since her audience with The Matron, and it seemed that every Sister in the temple knew exactly what she needed to do in order to fully unlock her gifts. She had been poked, prodded, examined, and questioned by half a dozen Sisters almost daily. There was a running joke among the Novices and Acolytes that Anabel had become the most interesting thing to happen there in the past thousand years, the way she captured the Sister's attention. It was probably true, the way they had been behaving. Most of the Novices and other Acolytes didn't seem to begrudge Anabel her newfound fame though. It took the focus off of them, at least for a little bit.
With a start, Anabel realized that she hadn't been reading again. She practically memorized that first sentence by now.
"This is hopeless," Anabel sighed, letting her head thump down on the book.
She was far too tired and distracted to try reading anymore tonight. Sister Glenn had given her this book in hopes that learning about herbs would spark something inside her. So far it hadn't been working. Oh, it had been interesting at the start, Anabel did enjoy learning new things, but the book itself was dry and boring. She had learned more about herb-lore in the past few days than she ever really cared to know.
Anabel stood up and closed the book with sigh. She needed to go to bed. It was late, and despite being the Sisters new pet, she was still expected to be up before the dawn for the morning prayers.
She blew out a small lantern on the little wooden desk and crawled into bed. She didn't bother trying to brush her hair or make her other normal bedtime preparations. She almost skipped her nighttime prayers but thought better of it and quickly recited the liturgy before closing her eyes.
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Anabel was awakened by the morning bell. She felt like she hadn't slept at all and had just closed her eyes. With a groan, she dragged herself from her blankets and stumbled over to the wash basin in the corner of her room. The cold water she splashed on her face helped wake her up a little bit, but not nearly enough. Yawning, she dragged her brush through her hair and pulled a fresh set of robes off the hooks nearby. She almost felt as if in a trance as she dressed and made her way to the chapel, fighting yawns the whole way.
She didn't remember the service at all. She knew she didn't fall asleep, at least she thought she didn't, but everything just seemed to be a blur. She sat staring at her breakfast, not even sure how she got there. Her thoughts seemed to be drifting through jelly and everything seemed to have slowed down. She watched impassively as a cup of tea was slid in front of her. It took her a moment to realize what it even was. She glanced up and saw Madeline's smiling face.
Madeline was another Acolyte, and one Anabel considered a friend. A short woman, with large brown eyes, and long brown hair. Anabel had always thought that had a look of constant surprise on her face. Still, Anabel thought she was pretty, but Madeline had always insisted that she was quite plain, and hardly could be called pretty. Nonetheless, Madeline was a good friend. Smart, loyal, and always ready to help in any way that she could.
"Thank you," Anabel muttered, and took a sip of the hot tea.