Finished with her duties towards Naomi, Mayra went back to the Bridal Hut to look after the new arrivals.
Peter's face flooded with relief when she came into view, which caused her some anxiety over what she had to look forward to inside.
"What's going on?" She began, before the noise reached her. Some manner of altercation was going on inside.
"I don't know, but please don't make me pull apart screaming girls. I didn't sign up for that. They don't fight fair like men do," Peter's look of actual fear and concern would have been highly comical if not for the rising volume inside the hut.
Mayra burst in to find a group of four women screaming incoherently at one who curled up on the floor.
The names they were calling her weren't ones ladies, or anyone kind, normally used to describe another woman.
"Let's all take a breath for a moment," Mayra cut in, placing a calming hand on the arm of the loudest. "I would love to find out what's going on and what I can do to help, but the noise is disturbing the settlement. We wouldn't want to discourage any potential suitors, so why don't you all take turns telling me what the problem is in here?"
Loudmouth spoke first.
"We don't want that… woman… here with us," She paused and changed her word choice at Mayra's scolding look. "She's evil, and a traitor."
"Can you expand on that for me a little bit? What gives you the impression she is evil?" Mayra asked in a soothing voice.
"My father served with King Duncan, before the war. He told me about a vile minx that was under Titania's thumb and learned her magic. She even tried to seduce Prince Derek as part of Titania's schemes! Brenna. That's her." She pointed an accusatory finger at the woman sitting on the floor.
Mayra's brow furrowed as she tried to recall a long-ago conversation she'd eavesdropped on in a jail cell. Roland and Finn were confessing their love for each other, and it was VERY hard not to overhear everything in the confined space.
He'd mentioned a young woman that Titania had tried to fix him up with that used some sort of magical perfume or something. The name Brenna sounded right to her as she tested it against her memory. Finn had brushed it off with a laugh, knowing that Roland was loyal to only her.
Mayra turned to the woman on the ground and knelt beside her.
"What's your name?" She asked kindly.
"Brenna," Responded the girl, a bit wretchedly.
"And what would you like me to know?" Mayra tried a soft tactic in the face of the other Rhone girls' aggression.
"It's mostly like she said." Brenna turned green eyes towards her. "The old Queen taught me a little bit of work with herbs, and I served her. I didn't know what she was! I swear I didn't!" Tears began to streak down her face. "When I found out, everyone hated me, because they assumed I knew. I ran away, far away, where no one would know me. When I heard about the call for brides, I thought it was my chance for a new life."
"Do you renounce the Void and all its evils?" Mayra asked carefully.
"Openly! Profusely! Wholeheartedly! It caused our people misery for generations, how could I have knowingly served the being that cursed us to that awful life?" Brenna's voice was clear and firm, and Mayra turned back to the loud girl.
"Do you condemn her solely based on her former actions, or do you have some new evidence of ongoing treachery?" She asked. The woman seemed perplexed by the question.
"Is that not enough? She served our enemy."
"Did you know Titania was your enemy?" Mayra asked, and when the other girl shook her head, continued. "Then how was Brenna to know?"
She wasn't fully convinced of Brenna's innocence, but she couldn't have the girls attacking one another in the Bridal Hut. The question seemed to diffuse the open hostility, but it was clear that there was still discomfort having Brenna amongst them.
Mayra chewed the inside of her cheek with thought. Perhaps having Brenna stay somewhere else would be a good idea, for everyone's contentment. She also wanted to keep the woman under muted surveillance.
If Brenna was innocent, she didn't want to victimize the girl. If she was guilty, Mayra definitely wanted to know.
"Come with me, Brenna," Mayra offered her a hand, and Brenna took it.
She hated to bother Cora at a time like this, but she couldn't see much of a way around it. Leading Brenna along, she raised her eyebrows at Peter and made a face expressing her exasperation.
He must have overheard at least a fair amount of what went on, based on his 'don't ask me' shrug and half grimace.
"Coming, Peter?" She asked, and he sighed and followed, gesturing for a couple of the guards that had accompanied the women from Klain to take his post at the door. Now that there were over a hundred women, he wouldn't be able to do an adequate job of guarding them all.
He shook his head at Mayra as if he had no idea that so much drama could be contained in one place.
The trio made their way to Cora's hut, where activity bustled. Mayra felt some hesitation, not wanting to interrupt at all when Haf's condition was so delicate.
She stood outside, frozen with indecision, and looked to Peter for advice. He just raised his eyebrows, putting the question back to her, and she sighed.
"What's wrong?" Brenna asked softly, gesturing to the people coming and going from the hut.
Just then, Gordon came out and spotted Mayra. She waved at him, and he jogged over.
"Hello, Mayra. Have you come to check on Haf? They said he hit his head really hard the day the ship left and has barely woken a handful of times."
"Thank you, Gordon. Are your doctors hopeful that they can help?" Mayra had been wanting to learn more about the medicine used here, but had been so busy with other tasks and getting the brides settled that she hadn't had the chance.
"They said we just have to wait, mostly." Gordon made a face of disapproval.
"I can help," Brenna tugged at Mayra's hand.
"What's that?" Mayra blinked at the girl who was her problem, but offering to solve someone else's problem.
"I told you, Titania taught me some things with herbs. I think I can heal him." Brenna insisted.
Mayra blinked at her, expressionless. Though Finn had shared her magical healing tea recipe with her, she'd never been able to get it quite right. She had to stick to non-magical recipes for her healing. If Brenna had the skills—but could she be trusted?
Sensing Mayra's hestitation, she said, "Titania didn't teach me much, only what I absolutely needed to know to serve her. However, I watched carefully when I could and learned more than that. I have herbs in my bag and can go get them and make something to help. I'm willing to put it on myself first to prove it's not harmful."
Mayra sighed. Haf's wife should be the one to make that decision. Pulling Peter aside, she whispered to him, "Can you take her back to the tent to get whatever herbs she wants from her bag? I'll explain the situation to Cora and let her decide how to proceed, but either way, we probably want to confiscate any extra plants that Brenna has for the time being."
Peter clasped her shoulder briefly in agreement before jerking his head to direct Brenna back toward the hut. The Rhone woman went quickly on her way, and Mayra cringed at the thought of having so little time to explain everything to Cora.
Moving past the sentry at the door, Mayra slipped inside and observed the scene. Haf was laid out in the main room to give the doctors more room to work around him, but the man was unconscious. He looked thin and dehydrated, and Mayra pursed her lips.
If the head injury didn't kill him, dehydration could. Someone must have been getting water into him somehow or he would have perished already.
Cora sat stoically beside the bed in a chair, clasping his hand and looking into his face. Mayra cleared her throat lightly, hating to pull the woman's attention away from her husband. Glassy-eyed, she blinked and gestured Mayra closer.
"One of the brides says she can cure Haf," Mayra didn't beat around the bush. "She learned some magic and herbs serving under the Void creature when it masqueraded as queen of the Rhone. The other girls don't trust her, and call her a traitor, but she insists she means no harm and is willing to take the medicine herself to prove it is safe."
Cora's face clouded in thought and emotion as she turned back to her husband. "Bring her to me."