“Madam Mari,” Gloria said, peeking her head into my door and inclining her head respectfully, “are you feeling well enough to take a meal?”

The girl had been keeping close tabs on me since I had arrived, though I couldn’t determine if it was due to being told she was to do so or if she was just genuinely a kind person. Despite my knee jerk reaction to everyone associated with the Church, not all of the members were inherently terrible people, though the chance of that seemed to have a very strong correlation to the higher up in the political hierarchy they were. The girl was certainly not even on the bottom rung of power, so perhaps she was legitimately a kind person that had seen a sickly woman in need of help and was doing so out of the goodness of her heart. I still had my wary doubts about it, but it was nice to have comfort in a place that was likely to make sure they afforded me none.

“Yes,” I replied, turning my head from the desk I was working at, “make it a regular meal. I am feeling much better and I think a heartier meal will help improve my strength further.”

Her face lit up in a wide smile, exposing her toothy grin with a big gap where one of her top front teeth should have been. She was a bit old to still be losing her baby teeth, therefore I assumed the gap would be permanent. A shame really, she was a rather pretty girl, as far as commoners go, with clear skin and bright green eyes that complimented the tawny color of her long, curly hair. The halo of fluff and around her voluminous head of curls would start out tamed in the early morning as I assumed she awoke early to manage it, but by mid afternoon it returned to it’s more wild state. I did not know exactly what duties she was assigned for the day, but I was willing to venture that it was something at least mildly physically strenuous.

“I will make your plate myself.” She nodded her head again in a sign of respect, then slipped back out the door, closing it softly behind her and clicking it back locked again.

I did not know why they felt the need to lock me in, I was not inclined to think it was a particularly good idea to start wandering around this damned place while still feeling weak. I was certain Aela knew this and felt that locking me into the room would somehow be a further dig at me, and make me feel distressed about the amount of control she currently held over me, but I actually felt a slight bit better about having an extra layer of protection between myself and anyone who might visit me. It took extra time to get the lock mechanism turned over and how it was accomplished would tell me a lot about the mood and temperament of whomever was on the other side. The girl was gentle and slow, like she was trying her hardest to make no sound at all when she opened it, Aela snapped it hard and swiftly, relishing the clinking sound it made.

It had initially taken me a day or so to recover and investigate the cell I found myself in. There was not much really to discover, it lacked much beyond the bed, desk, and minimalistic religious decor. Much to my surprise there had been a pen, ink, and blank paper left in the desk, though I wasn’t sure its purpose or if it had simply been put there and forgotten. Knowing how this organization liked to operate, it was likely meant to be a temptation for anyone being held to try to right for help or confess in secret then be confiscated later. I was far too old and close to death to really fear any judgment the Church would pass down upon me. While I certainly did not welcome death with open arms, there would be a sort of satisfaction in knowing they had failed in completing their mission until I was a frail old woman and I had been allowed a lifetime to actively work against them. I saw no harm in using the paper to record and organize my thoughts, if there was a way for me to work through whatever devious plans they had for me, it would be easier being able to look back and establish patterns or refer back to any conversation and interactions. I would not trust anything I experienced here and I would gladly take any little bit of control I could manage to scrounge up over my situation. If Aela caught wind that the paper and ink made any positive effect on me she would certainly snatch it away so I was very careful to be quick with returning it to the desk as soon as I heard anyone approaching the door or fiddling with the lock.

Aela had visited me twice in the few days I had been held captive, playing it off as if her intention had been merely to drop by and mock my situation, though it was obvious that she was waiting for my condition to improve. She had let slip more than once that there were plans for me, though was mum on what exactly they were and I did not give her the satisfaction of begging to know. I doubted I wanted to even know, I was certain that it would turn out to be very detrimental for me overall regardless of how they would try to swing their plans for my compliance, not that now I was in their clutches I would have much of a choice either way. Especially since Aela had shown me how developed her powers had become. A shiver ran through my magical core as I recalled the oppressive feeling of her magic washing over me. I had no idea that a human could gather that level of power and contain it within the fragile human body. A demon, sure, they could easily possess that level of power with training, but Aela could perhaps actually go toe-to-toe with one, that had some very upsetting implications for how prepared the Church was for an all out war on the demon realm.

The lock clicked over gently and the door pushed open almost soundlessly, revealing Gloria carrying a wooden tray laden with more food than I had been given in one sitting since arriving. There was half a loaf of crusty bread, a large bowl of thick vegetable stew, enough cheese for at least two people, and a thick slice of cake with cream on top.

“There is a bit of a celebration going on,” she explained as she set down the tray on the desk in front of me. “I was able to suggest that there was more than plenty of food to go around and it would go to waste if it wasn’t all used up. It is a sin to waste food that could nourish instead.”

“A celebration?” I asked as I picked up the spoon to stir the steaming bowl of stew to cool it a bit. “I thought you lot were all about austerity and that living simple and without frills is equated to being virtuous.”

“Well… yes…” Her lips curled up into a thoughtful frown. “Sometimes though I think it’s okay, especially when the Elders say it's time for a feast. There are lots of feast and celebration days when it’s a day of remembrance for a saint. Or it can be a fast day instead, it depends on the history of the saint I suppose.”

“Right,” I said with an annoyed sigh, I was in no mood at the moment to point out any of the logical inconsistencies about their practices, it would make no lasting difference anyway to someone already deeply indoctrinated, “well what is the celebration today then, some saint’s birthday?”

She paused and a look of concentration ran across her face, her eyes tracking back and forth like she was looking through a calendar in her mind. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted after a few seconds. “I hadn’t thought about it and didn’t ask, I was just excited there was cake! We never get cake… I guess that means it’s probably something really important.”

I nodded and tore the bread into chunks and placed them into the gravy of the stew. While I kept up a glamour with perfect, healthy teeth, the glamour did not change physical reality and it had become much harder and more painful to chew in the past few months.

“Find out for me when you come in later,” I requested.

“Yes madam, I will figure that out now and will tell you when I come back for your tray.”

She left, closing the door and re-locking it gently, leaving me to a meal I sorely needed. The past few days my body and magical conduit had been busy healing, but I still had a ways to go to be back to what I considered my normal. Whatever had happened to me when I was knocked out had felt like it had torn new, destructive paths through the route magic flowed through my body and my muscles ached like I had been riding a horse for much too long without a break. The meager meals provided thus far had barely been enough to consider it an adequate amount of food and my body and spirit had been crying out for sustenance. I hoped that with a large enough meal my body could do some rapid healing and make me feel at least a little more confident and prepared to deal with whatever they were planning for me.

I had just finished up with scraping the last of the cream that had fallen onto the plate when the lock in the door jiggled violently and the door swung open with authority. I was glad that I had put up my writing to eat, because I had been so engrossed in filling my belly that I had let my guard down from being vigilant about footsteps approaching my door. Aela’s eyes scanned over me and I could feel her magical senses peering into my core, assessing my healing progress for the day.

“It will not be long now,” she said aloud.

It was laughably obvious that she was expecting me to anxiously ask what she meant, but I refused to get her the satisfaction, instead I nibbled on the last bit of remaining cheese and did my best to look uninterested in her presence. She might have dangled more information to me to keep herself entertained if I begged enough to know, but I was not yet so desperate to discover what was going on to debase myself before her like that.

“You are such a fool and incredibly arrogant to not be clamoring to know why you are here. You think we will not break you and get what we want from you, that you will have the mental and physical fortitude to hold out and choose the pyre instead.” She stepped closer, making her steps intentionally heavy and imposing on the bare floor. “I have personally made much younger, stronger people kneel before me, sniveling for mercy and asking to be guided to turn towards the light. You are just an old, fragile woman, you will stand no chance and you will collapse before I even need to extend my full will against you.”

“What would you care if I chose the pyre?” I asked with a shrug of my shoulders. “Is that not what you have always wanted?”

“Difficult as this might be for you to believe, but you still have some use left in that shriveled body of yours.”

I didn’t reply any further and instead gave another shrug of my shoulders. I knew how to get under her skin without giving her cause to escalate to physical violence. I assumed that she had some sort of leash put on her against physically harming me just yet or she would have already beat out of me what she wanted to know. I assumed that all this defiance and disinterest would eventually come back to bite me when she was eventually let off the leash, but her frustration was worth the later consequences.

“Girl!” She bellowed, swinging around to face the door.

Gloria hesitated, then stepped into view of the open door, a terrified look on her face, skin pale. I could tell she at the very least had heard the horror stories about what Aela was capable of.

“You have been bringing this prisoner too much food, much beyond what you were instructed!” Aela snarled, rushing up on the girl and snatching her by the collar of her dress.

The servant girl let out a terrified squeak reminiscent of a rabbit getting caught in a hunter’s snare and put up her hands in a defensive position. “I’m sorry mistress Aela!” she groveled, “I just thought since she’s been ill and we had a lot of extra food that it would be a good idea. I had heard you were waiting for her to get healthier so eating more might help that along.”

Aela lifted the girl off her feet, the stitches in her dress snapping and the collar threatening to tear clean from the fabric. “So you were also eavesdropping? Do you know what I do to spies?”

“I didn’t spy on anyone! I only heard it from the kitchen maids, they were talking about what you were doing with the prisoner!” Her eyes desperately swept over to me, glassy with her fearful tears.

I didn’t know what she thought I could do or why I would even want to put myself in harm’s way to stop what was happening. Even if it was Toria herself in Aela’s clutches, I wouldn’t have been foolish enough to get myself caught in something when I could avoid harm.

“You lying little bitch.”

A heavy, wet smack exploded across the girls’ face, a spray of blood and saliva splattering onto the wall next to the door. Gloria let out a scream of pain as a tooth fell from her mouth and clattered to the ground at Aela’s feet. I suddenly had a very good idea of what had happened to the first missing tooth.

“I will show you, again, what happens when you defy the will of the Sun and the people who wield true divine glory.”

Aela dropped the girl to the ground and immediately snatched her by the wrist hard enough for the girl to cry out again. Gloria’s swelling face went red as she stopped her other hand short from reaching out to pry the hand from her wrist. Without looking back to me, Aela marched from the room, dragging the girl behind her and slammed the door shut. Sickly thuds faded away from my door and I shook my head at the situation. The girl was nice enough, but obviously too naive or dense to have a good sense of self-preservation for someone who lived in the heart of a wolf’s den.