The Baby and the Battlefield

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Betrayal

When he was finally dragged blinking into the light, Marcus was surprised. Mulberry, weeping, was being restrained just as he was - two burly men, one on each side, grasping their arms, which were tied behind their backs anyhow. To his left stood a man who was still cradling Aurelia gently. She was fast asleep. Marcus wasn't sure if this pleased him, or added to his chagrin.

The room, he was surprised to see, was very tall, the ceiling at least three stories above him. A warm draft blew on them from somewhere, dry air that smelled of dust and age and long years of musty closure. The beige, plastered walls seemed to extend forever. A tall woman with angular features stood in front of them, dressed in the now-familiar black trousers and cape of the Order of the Blossom. With her stood a familiar, similarly dressed figure, a plump young woman with copper-coloured curls and a sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose.

"Salix!" Marcus spat, jumping immediately to the dreadfully obvious conclusion "You betrayed us!"

Marcus' reward was a hard slap across his face from one of his captors. He heard Mulberry gasp, but his head was spinning and he could spare very little attention for the world around him.

Salix looked shocked. “Mistress Cicuta - ” she began.

“Silence!” The tall woman glared at Salix. Then she made a gesture, and the man with the baby stepped forward. He held it out to the woman, but she directed him towards Salix, who took Aurelia in her arms. Salix took the baby, her expression still one of utter confusion.

Marcus and Mulberry both turned to look at the tall woman. Cicuta, Marcus thought, an ugly name, but one he had heard before.

The tall woman caught their expressions, and laughed.

"Flora Cicuta,” She explained, “Head of the Order of the Blossom."