Brightening White Flowers

9. Wellsgrove

Miss Hammon's voice trembles with an emotion I cannot identify, "Are you alright, Revered Miss?"

I sigh but smile a little, "Yes. I will be just fine. I only need to rest for a little." Her lips purse but she nods a little. "I can stay and watch over your sick," I cannot just leave the ones I helped. I need to make sure they live through the night.

Instead of answering, she looks back at Themis as she guides me into a chair placed up against the wall. I sink into it gratefully. She curtsies a little, "Before you decide to do that I will get Headman Colm for you to talk with."

As she walks away my inner monster stirs as my hearing centers on her strong beating heart. Immediately I scold myself as it takes me a second to pull back from it's influence. My eyes open as shuffling to my right draws my attention. It is Themis. He smiles largely at me, showing off his perfectly normal flat and rounded teeth, common to non-major predator species.

"Do you have anything to do with the new name people are referring to me?" My head lulls to the side a little as I watch him.

He clasps his hands behind his back, "Yes." At my questioning look his smile widens, "I told them that you were the one I Saw."

I start as I realize why these people gave him a berth and why his eyes appear pale even though they are brown. He is a Dreamer. He is one of the few who can see the future with his Sight. I look at him more intensely now, "Can you tell me what you Saw?"

"You are the one bathed in light with a train of blood." I stiffen but before I can ask more two sets of footsteps are heard coming back. He leans closer to me and drops his voice to a whisper, "If you want to know more come meet me by the apple grove." He then lessens his smile and drops his hands from behind his back.

When I look in the direction of the footsteps I see Miss Hammon with an older man whose hair has just started to gray from it's oak brown shade. He bows to me, "Revered Miss, I am Headman Colm. Lord Commander Togin informed me of ya special condition and needs. I expect ya'll need to feed after all ya've done for us."

"I could not-" I find the rest of my sentence interrupted by Headman Colm, but I feel my hesitance has raised Themis' suspicions who tilts his head.

"Please. Let us feed you. It's the least we can do for all the lives ya've saved today."

My whole body stiffens as a voice echoes in my head, 'Just accept it. You would not want to be rude now, would you?' Hana's voice is... undesirable and hearing it in my head causes my anger to bloom.

I try to make my smile welcoming by softening the muscles around my face but I can do nothing for my closed fists, "Very well. I reserve the right to refuse the donor if they are not healthy enough." Headman Colm bows to my stipulation then nods at Mistress Hammon.

As she leaves Themis pulls up a chair for the elder man. The headman slowly sits in the provided chair, groaning as some of his bones grind against each other at his knees. My fingers twitch with the need to ease his pain but with how my inner monster is fighting against its chains even healing a simple cold could be detrimental to the health of everybody else. I sigh as I force myself to relax against the back of the chair.

Headman Colm's voice is welcoming every time he speaks, "Do you want to hear a story, Revered Miss?"

My eyes snap open as I am startled by the suddenness of his question. I think it over for all of a second before nodding.

He hums thoughtfully then leans back in his own seat, "I will tell you the story of why our village looks kindly on vampires."

The elderly man's voice changes as he settles into the beginning of his story and I find myself smiling without knowing as he adopts that tone all storytellers have, "Long ago, long before the creation of the Blessed families, there was Hania. She came to our village with three other vampire women attending her as she was taking a break from her Master."