by Sammi Cox
*
She moved through the roofless ruins in silence, the winter winds the only accompaniment to her footsteps. Sometimes she would pause at a window, now no more than an empty hole in a wall, and look out across the moors, wondering to herself why it was to here she was called each winter.
Of course, she had known the priory in life. She had spent a number of years confined within its strict, safe borders. They had wanted her to take holy orders but she had refused, no matter how many times the nuns asked, no matter the threats her family made.
She hadn't been as ready to give up on a life outside of the priory as they had. Even when the child came, she clung to love and hope when all they ever spoke of was sin and dishonour.
Soon she was outside, walking through the snow-covered gardens. She stopped next to the herb bed and remembered all the plants that had grown where now only grass and weeds thrived come the warmer months.
Closing her eyes, she recalled memories from centuries past, as if they had happened only yesterday...
Petals, bark, roots...she had collected them all by moonlight, bringing them together for her charm, which she made from scratch each full moon. An old nurse had taught her such ways, a long time before she was brought here.
Of course, this had been her secret. She had kept it hidden away, next to her heart, so none would ever find it. They would have called it witchcraft. They would have called it magic. It wouldn't have been so much of a problem beyond the priory, but within it...
Her hand dipped within her cloak and pulled out a small pouch, which she duly opened. Out wafted the soft scent of flowers, mingled with the rich darkness of the earth, the fragrance just as strong as it had been that night she had gathered them last.
Clutching it to her, one small tear, as fragile as glass, slid down her cheek. They could have flogged the skin off her back, but she would not have been sorry, should they have found it – not that they did. It would have been worth it though, for the charm worked in the end.
'It brought you back to me...' she whispered. 'And we defied them all.'