Brenna grimaced as a sheep bumped into her roughly. She was not good at this.
"Why did we claim to be shepherds when the Captain asked us our profession?" She whispered furiously at Edmar.
"Because neither of us are farmers, and it looked like all the sheep already had owners," He reminded her. "I didn't think they would put us to work without real shepherds watching their own sheep."
"This is horrible," She said between gritted teeth. A sheepdog huffed beside her as if exasperated with her inexperience.
As they had moved higher into the mountains, the grazing had become less in the high passes. The shepherds advised that only half of the sheep be brought at a time. The rest should graze on this grassy hill until it could be confirmed that the destination had ample feed for all of the flocks.
Brenna and Edmar were then assigned the task of caring for the sheep here, with a set of trained dogs and soldiers to aid them in protecting the source of food and clothing. Everyone seemed to think it was a very fine arrangement such that Brenna and Edmar found no way to talk themselves out of the assignment.
"Do you think they're suspicious?" Edmar glanced at the soldiers.
Brenna sighed and shrugged. She had no idea. They seemed more concerned with the sheep than with the couple, but she couldn't be certain of anything. This whole situation was odd. On the one hand, they wanted to keep their distance from people as best they could so that they wouldn't be recognized.
On the other hand, none of these soldiers were people either of them knew, or remembered knowing. Perhaps this was a good opportunity to try to find out more about what was happening in this world.
So far, she had gathered that there was an evacuation after a very great illness that had killed most of the town. They were headed to meet up with people who had fled Klain, and were now somewhere in the mountains, led by Roland.
They'd called him King Roland. That had interested her greatly.
Was King Duncan dead?
She'd also heard references to some manner of 'beast', that they were running from. As Edmar and herself had been able to come to this world through a portal, it made sense that other worlds may have been experiencing the same thing. Monsters could be here now.
The Void could be here now.
Should she and Edmar re-evaluate what to do if the Void showed up? For now their goal was survival… well, that had always been the goal. Hers, anyway. In Rhone, in the wilderness, in Ceto, in jail, in the grey world…
What was the point? Why was her heart that set on survival?
The thought bothered her. What was it she had worth living for?
Edmar smiled at her and reached for her hand. She allowed him to hold it, knowing that they were meant to be madly in love newlyweds.
For him, it was an easy thing to pretend. Brenna found it to be far simpler and also far more complicated than she had predicted. To smile back at him was a simple thing. To endure the euphoria in his eyes when she did was more difficult. It stirred her feelings.
Many of her objections to being with him were gone. It seemed the spell she'd cast on him would indeed hold forever. They were married now, despite using false names. Edmar certainly celebrated as if it were a real marriage.
She wouldn't have to worry about any children being alone forever in an abandoned world. Since they had chosen not to serve the Void, her children would not be subjected to its service…
Brenna frowned. They needed to get through today's troubles before she made a decision that would affect her entire future. Their future.
The bothersome ram butted her with its hard head, and she kicked at the animal to make it stop. What were the dogs' commands again?
Edmar whistled, and a dog standing several feet away approached and moved the sheep back in with the ewes, keeping the flock cohesive.
"This isn't so bad," Edmar whispered. "We can do this."
Brenna smiled at him again, wondering whether he was right. The rest of the day passed with unseasonable heat and ornery sheep, but it was a day spent without wondering what they would eat or wear, and they even chatted a bit with the soldiers.
She had learned more about Beast, asking roundabout questions to elicit more information. None of the men here had seen it, only heard stories about how it could enthrall people and make them worship it. Rumor was it had a Master that directed its actions.
That made her heart clench.
The Void had no reason to disguise itself that way, she reasoned… did it? Titania's plans were always intricate and well thought out. Nothing was done without a reason. But if the Beast was in service to the Void…
"Should we try to run away?" Edmar asked that night as they lay in a tent someone had left for them. "You looked nervous a few times."
"I'm not sure." She admitted. "Once or twice it seemed like the soldiers were guarding us, not the sheep. I can't tell… I was so scared Naomi would recognize me, but in the end I don't think she did. We were only around each other a short time all those years ago."
"Caspian is more likely to know either of us," Edmar pursed his lips. "I saw him from afar the day before we were given this assignment. I kept my hat pulled low, but I am concerned that maybe this is related."
Brenna turned this over in her mind as she drifted to sleep, not knowing how worried she should be over their present circumstances.
When she opened her eyes, she screamed. Titania's black eyes were staring at her.
"My sweet little Brenna, you found your way home," The Void's lips curled into a haunting smile. "But why aren't you happy to see me?"
Brenna tried to back away, but the ground crumbled under her feet. She fell into darkness, landing hard on her stomach.
"Little Brenna, why aren't you loyal to me?" Titania's voice warbled. "The human race betrayed you, and you vowed your eternal loyalty to me. Ah! I know. You were trying to find Roland's secret camp to show me, weren't you?"
The woman kept her mouth shut, despite the bile at the back of her throat. Say nothing. Do nothing. Just wait. This was a dream, like so many others she'd had. She would wake up eventually. Edmar would be there.
"WEREN'T YOU?" The Void's voice turned from honeysweet tones to a booming voice that hurt Brenna's ears. She covered them and curled up on the ground, willing the dream to end.
"Answer me, Brenna," The words were soft again, in Tamas's soothing tone of voice. "Did I treat you ill? Did I not take care of you when no one else did?"
Brenna's determination wavered. She knew the Void was evil, but perhaps service was her best way of survival. Maybe…
"No." She squeaked out.
"No, what, my child?" A finger came below Brenna's chin, tilting her face up so that she was forced to look into the dark eyes of the Void.
"I won't serve you. I want to be free."
"You cannot. You pledged yourself to me. You are mine, forever." Tamas tilted his head, apparently pleased she was speaking, even if her words were disrespectful.
Brenna burst into tears. She didn't want this. "No," She wept.
"I own you, Brenna. You are mine."
"No," Her voice was weaker now.
Suddenly a vicious pain gripped her middle. She screamed and clawed at it, willing to tear herself open with her fingernails if that would get the pain to stop.
"You need some new words, Brenna," The Void's voice circled around her as she screamed on the ground. "You're getting repetitive, and no one likes a dull conversationalist. But for a vermin like you, perhaps your words cannot help but be uninteresting and disgusting."
Brenna's scream was choked off, and she vomited on the ground. Pain racked her body as she watched the contents of her stomach splash… and begin moving. She recoiled from the cascade of beetles pouring out of herself.
"See what your words amount to?" The Void said. "Serve me once more. Isn't life so much better when you are provided for, and taken care of?"
"Help," Brenna whimpered. "Please, somebody help me."
"There is no one. No one can help you. You are worthless without me. Nothing. Hated. Used, and discarded. Condemned to die."
Brenna's eyes were stinging with hot tears, and a deep and overwhelming fear encompassed her being. Would she die, right now? If so, she were ready. She'd been fighting for survival for so long, perhaps… perhaps it was time to give up.
She hung her head in defeat just as a bright light cut into the Darkness.