Pure

Maigred pulled her daughter, Sinead, close and the girl buried her face in her shoulder, light sobs shaking her body. Maigred’s other hand was inside her cloak clutching her dagger. Even from the very back corner of the square, as far as Maigred could get from the wyrm, Soleil’s distress was clear.

If she didn’t fear for what could happen to her daughter, Maigred would have already been up on the platform burying her knife in the wyrm’s throat. The blade had been bathed in her lady’s blood when had been used to kill her. Maigred suspected that might give the blade extra powers against the wyrm, but she wasn’t sure. She did know that an ordinary knife to the throat wouldn’t be enough to kill the wyrm. He healed too fast. Almost as fast as a tarasque.

Healing was the one thing that tarasque excelled at more than the wyrms. They were notoriously difficult to kill and this gave them an edge in battle. They could be poisoned, slashed open, broken, crushed, and they would still keep fighting.

At least most tarasque.

Maigred’s glare switched to Finten as he half stumbled down the platform steps to fetch his next victim. He had given up on fighting years ago. He was probably already drunk this morning.

She remember the smell of alcohol on his breath, the redness in his eyes and the way his hands had shook on the day she had been dragged to the wyrm’s manor twelve years ago.

Maigred’s fingers tightened around the grip of her dagger.

Finten had become a shadow of the man she’d seen before the wyrm had taken their town.

Her lady Caevah had always spoken highly of Finten. Her lady had loved him. She had trusted him implicitly. Maigred hadn’t had much personal experience with Finten before her lady had died. She had only started as an acolyte a few months before, and at that time Finten was busy planning, and then carrying out his campaign against the wyrm.

Maigred remembered Finten sweeping into the room during lessons a few times, full of exuberance and chaos, smelling of fresh air and grass. He would wrap Caevah in his big arms and kiss her tenderly while all the acolytes giggled. Caevah would laugh and half-heartedly swat him away, demanding that he leave her to her students.

Finten almost always brought Caevah little presents whenever he interrupted class, and they were usually the reason for the interruption. He couldn’t wait to give them to her. Sometimes it was an especially pretty flower, or a handful of berries. Sometimes he brought her a little pouch filled with a rare herb. Once he’d brought a little finch with a broken wing, cupped gently in his big hands, an anxious expression on his face.

That little finch had become the lesson for the day. Caevah had taught her acolytes how to channel their hearth magic into the tiny body in small enough amounts that it didn’t overwhelm its delicate constitution. It took a couple of days, but the little finch had healed nicely and was released back into the wild. It didn’t go far from it’s saviors. Maigred had seen the little bird perched on Finten’s shoulder, or in his wild black hair several times after that.

Back in those days Maigred thought that she was in love with Finten. She couldn’t wait to find her own tarasque to bring home and love with all her heart.

The second girl stumbled out of the pavilion up on the platform, her white dress stained with a red smear, and was attended to by Alvie, that traitorous bitch, and Finten brought the last girl up to the wyrm. She knelt before the wyrm and offered him her gifts, then was led into the pavilion. She endured the ordeal as compliantly and quietly as the other girls, just as Finten had probably told them to.

That was the one thing he had stressed above all else to Maigred the year she had turned sixteen. He had come to her mother’s home a month before the presentation ceremony to tell her what to expect. He told Maigred she needed to be compliant and as non-emotional as possible. It hadn’t been what she needed to hear, not even if she had been planning to attend the presentation ceremony.

She had expected to be long gone by the time the ceremony took place. Maigred and her little brother, Cathal had been planning her escape since the previous year, when the town had experienced the first presentation ceremony. He swore to her that she would not be given to the wyrm, no matter what agreements they had made with the monster.

Their plan had worked. Maigred had gotten out of the town, past the guards and into the wilds. She was traveling towards a free settlement far to the north when the wyrm’s men had overtaken her. She had fought them, but she never had a chance and she knew it. There were too many of them, and she was far from her home land so her already tenuous connection to the land was stretched thin. When she called for her hearth magic to help her, the wyrm’s men couldn’t even feel it.

The last girl stumbled out of the pavilion and Alvie poured her potion down her throat. She, too, was allowed to return to her parents and then Finten knelt to the wyrm again.

Hadeaon smirked at the townspeople then down at Finten. “Your offering was acceptable, I grant you your lives for another year.” He tossed his robe at Finten, who scooped it up in his arms. It was the symbol of the town’s agreement with him. They would survive another year.

The crowed gave a collective breath of relief. Somewhere a woman began crying quietly. There were a few weak cheers.

The wyrm laughed and clapped his hands. “Let the celebrations commence!”

The crowed moved out of the square sluggishly, like people who had been given a sleeping draught and hadn’t quite woken up yet. Most of them headed for the taverns.

Maigred remained where she was for another minute, though she should be hurrying back to open the inn. Sinead was still clinging to her.

People brushed against them, where they stood leaning against the corner of a building. Sinead finally stood and wiped at her damp face with her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m ready to go now, mama.”

“You don’t need to be sorry.” Maigred gently brushed a thumb over her daughter’s cheek. “No one should be able to stand here and watch this horror unfold without crying.”

Sinead looked up at her. “You didn’t cry.”

Maigred smiled half heartedly. “I’m too angry to cry right now. I’ll cry later. Come on, let’s get to work.” She took Sinead’s hand and they hurried towards the inn.

There were several people waiting outside when she and Sinead arrived. Aoibh was waiting there with them, there was no sign of of the boys. Aoibh was pale, her eyes looked hollow and haunted.

Maigred unhooked her bundle of keys from her belt and unlocked the front door, pushing it wide to let everyone in. “Come on in everyone, just please be patient while we get ourselves situated.”

There were nods and grunts of assent as people passed into the inn. Maigred took hold of Aoibh’s arm as she passed. “You can take all the time you need upstairs before you come down.” She said quietly.

Aoibh smiled wanly. “I’d rather keep busy, Maigred. Thank you, though.”

Maigred nodded. “I understand. I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a minute then.”

Sinead went to join Aoibh in the kitchen while Maigred quickly went upstairs. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the door at the end of the hallway. It was shut and a brass key was laying on the floor a few feet away. Maigred let out a breath and pressed her lips together as she walked down the hall to scoop up the key. She put the key in her pocket. If he’s here, then where…? She stopped at another door, closer to the head of the stairs and knocked softly.

“Yes?” A frail voice answered.

Maigred pushed the door open and stepped inside. It was a small neat room. Sunshine poured in at the window where the simple white curtains were tied back. A small fail looking elderly woman was sitting up in the single bed, she was still in her nightgown, a yellow knitted blanket over her legs. She looked up at Maigred with bright blue eyes. “How did it go?”

Maigred smiled tightly. “He didn’t take you, then?”

“I wan’t feeling up to it.”

Maigred let out an amused breath. “You don’t have to cover for him, Cara.”

“No, I really didn’t feel up to it, Maig.”

“Do you need to use the chamber pot?”

“Oh, no. He took care of me already. Now, tell me how it went and get back downstairs. I hear the people down there and there will be more soon.”

Maigred let out a breath as the events of the presentation ceremony filled her mind again. “It went as usual. The wyrm gave us another year.”

Cara gave a nod, but the concerned expression on her face didn’t change.

“I’ll send Sinead up with food as soon as I can get it ready, do you need anything else before I go down?”

Cara gave her a sad little smile. “Thank you Maigred. I’m fine.”