Prudence's story

Winlay and Sister Margaret walked in silence for several minutes before Winlay finally asked the question that they carried unspoken between them.

"Who is she?" The question was awkward, but it was enough of a prompt for Margaret to begin.

"She is an initiate just like you, she arrived last year about this time from a small town East of here, nice girl." Margaret paused for a while in thought and then continued "She was a quiet one, very devoted and eager. Prudence came from one of the more conservative diocese, I guess you can tell by the name. Most times if a initiate is named something like 'Honor', 'Chastity', or 'Purity' you can be pretty sure she's from the East." Winlay wondered if Sister Margaret was deliberately stalling, but waited patiently suppressing the questions that were churning in he gut.

"Two weeks after her arrival, Sister Prudence didn't return from her assigned duties in the Holy Palace. Some initiates just pack up and leave." Noticing Winlay's shocked look Margaret explained. "Not all initiates have longed to serve Xelta all their lives like you have my dear. Some are sent to the church so their fathers don't have to pay a dowry, others are fleeing a life of drudgery, it's not uncommon to have them find that the church life is not what they expected." Winlay nodded wide eyed, still not sure why you would want to leave the Church of Xelta.

"But Prudence wasn't one of the initiates who we thought might disappear. The Mother Abbess immediately sent word to the Holy Palace who reported that Sister Prudence had left the Palace at noon not feeling well. The entire city was searched, but no one knew what happened to her, Prudence disappeared for nearly a week." Margaret took a deep breath and then continued on, clearly this was not an easy story to tell. "A teamster found her not far outside of the city walls a week later. She had been ****, beaten and **** horrifically. When she was first found she had no memory of what had happened to her. Over time she recovered physically, but her mind has not recovered and I doubt it ever will."

"Poor dear!" Winlay's exclamation of horror and sympathy escaped her despite her best effort to listen. Margaret smiled at Winlay and squeezed her shoulder in a gesture that made her feel much better.

"Prudence never speaks at all anymore, except when she has her fits." The pair had circled through the entire garden and were once again approaching Margaret's little workshop. "Sometimes she attacks the brothers for no reason, screaming at them and striking them with whatever makeshift weapon she can find. Other times her fits were like the one you witnessed."

"Can't anything be done for her?" Asked Winlay. Margaret sighed as she opened the door to her little workshop. "We've all tried. Soon after she was found High Priest Beldan himself visited her hospital room in an attempt to break through her memory block. He prayed by her bedside all night long, but in the morning Prudence was no better." She shook her head sadly "Maybe even worse."

"I wonder if she might respond better to you." Winlay could see Sister Margaret was hesitant to involve her but her heart was already deeply troubled by Prudence's story.

"I'd like to help, Sister, if I can.". She was immediately rewarded with one of Margaret's warm smiles.

"I was hoping you would be willing to try."

"Well dear, there is nothing you can do for now. Sister Prudence will be sleeping soundly at least until morning, but meanwhile I will think about how to introduce you to her."

"Can't I see her anyways?" Winlay asked, and Sister Margaret nodded slowly after a second or two of thought.

"Why not, Dear." She agrees and rises to her feet. "We can go check on her, it's still a couple hours before the evening meal, and I don't feel like weeding."

Sister Prudence's room was a small private room in the lower hall not far from the laundry and the steam from the wash rooms warmed the simply decorated room. Sister Prudence was sleeping soundly under a thin blanket on the narrow bed; next to the bed sat an empty chair and a small round table with a wilted flower and a well-worn copy of the writings of Xelta. While Sister Margaret gently stroked Prudence's pale hair, Winlay sat in the surprisingly comfortable chair and thumbed through the dog-eared book, over a dozen pages were marked and if the passages had been chosen by Sister Prudence Winlay felt a growing affinity for the poor girl. Many of the marked passages were her favorites as well and she read aloud from a message of faith written by Xelta in response to a query from a doubtful critic.

"She likes that." The grey-haired healer told her when she paused, "If you want to you can stay here and read to her, I'll let them know in the dining hall." Winlay hesitated, she wanted to help this troubled young initiate, but she really wanted to talk to Mika as well. Margaret sensed her confusion and tried to send her back to see Mika.

"Go eat with your friends, Sister Winlay, Sister Prudence isn't going anywhere." Margaret shooed Winlay out of her seat and towards the door.