Ravenna woke in the morning, finding herself on the bed in the infirmary. She stretched, her muscles aching after sleeping in such a strange manner; she had allowed herself to feel the grief she had suppressed, and had slipped into sleep as she ran out of tears. Picking up the small knitted angel toy, Ravenna gently returned it to its home in the drawer. She left the infirmary room, opening the door to her home. The rain still fell, but the violence of the storm had passed.
Ravenna quickly dressed in one of the few dresses she had left, the ones from Nerium that had travelled the journey with her. She pulled her hair back into a thick braid, and prepared to make a journey into the village. With the rain still falling steadily, she doubted many villagers would be around, and this would give her the opportunity she hoped for. She tied her simple shoes, and left her small cottage home.
Along the worn path to Canden, Ravenna tread silently. She did not have any music left in her heart to sing, as she normally did on her walks. She fidgeted with the skirt of her ebony dress, the damp fabric sticking to her skin. The village soon became visible over the horizon, and the young healer's pulse quickened; she was not sure she was ready to face the villagers after being missing for so long. –These are good people, and they are my friends, but I just cannot face their questions yet. Eventually the truth will come out, but I am just not ready to tell them yet.–
Ravenna approached the small home near the village center, stepping onto the porch and out of the rain. She took a deep breath, and then hesitated. –This is stupid. Teresa is my friend. She isn't going to hurt me. Stop being so anxious!– Her thoughts were her courage, and she raised her fist to knock on the wooden door. Teresa soon opened the door, gasping and jumping forward to embrace Ravenna.
"Ravenna! I was starting to think you were gone for good! Where have you been? We've all been worried sick about you!" In her friend's warm and safe embrace, Ravenna felt a weight lift from her soul. Teresa was here, and Teresa was understanding.
Ravenna stepped back from Teresa's grasp. "I'm so glad to see you, Teresa! I've missed you so much! Is…is there a way you can come back to my home with me? I need to get back home, but I need someone to talk to. I just…I can't tell you here." She looked at the ground, fidgeting again with her damp skirt.
Teresa bit her lower lip, thinking about her family. "My husband is at work, but little Thomas can possibly visit the Quills next door. I will need to bring Annie with me, though."
"...Annie?" Ravenna looked at her friend, confusion across her face.
"My daughter. You haven't had a chance to meet her yet, since…well, you promised to tell me what happened to you. We thought naming her Annie would be a way to help carry on your grandmother's memory; after all Anne had done for our family, we wanted to honor her as best as we could." Teresa smiled, her expression full of hope.
Ravenna teared up, hearing her friend's sentiments toward her grandmother was incredibly touching. "I would love to meet little Annie, Teresa. And I think Grandmother would have loved and approved of your choice. Please, if you are able to come back to my home with me, I just…I need the company."
"Yes, let me go speak to the Quills and see if they are willing to take Thomas for the day. Would you like to join me?"
Ravenna looked down again, continuing to fidget with her skirt. "I…I would like to stay here for the moment. I'm not quite ready to see other people I know just yet. "
Teresa grabbed her friend's hand. "I understand. I will be back soon. Please, feel free to come inside while I go to Audrey and Oliver and ask."
Ravenna waited for Teresa, sitting on a chair in the kitchen, tracing little circles onto the table with her fingertips. Part of her expected Edward to appear behind her, waiting for his snakelike voice to ask her if she wanted anything. Ravenna shook her head; she had gotten used to life in the UnderKingdom, and neither Edward nor Lucifer were coming to speak with her, to keep away her miserable thoughts.
Teresa entered the kitchen, her daughter in her arms. "Give me a moment to leave a note for my husband, and to gather up supplies for Annie here, and we can go."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The women made their way to the Hawthorne cottage, Ravenna keeping their conversations focused on Teresa. She was thrilled to learn that Thomas had been a wonderful big brother to Annie, and that Teresa's recovery had gone well. Halfway to her home, Ravenna took Annie from Teresa, allowing the young mother to have a break from carrying her daughter.
Once they reached the Hawthorne home, Ravenna brought Annie into the infirmary room and Teresa prepared her daughter for her afternoon nap. As Teresa fed her daughter, Ravenna went to the kitchen to prepare tea that her friend had taken from her home. Annie, having been fed and swaddled, drifted into a sound sleep, and the women made their way to the parlor to allow the child to sleep comfortably.
Ravenna sat on a wooden chair that had been left when her home was repaired. She took a sip of her tea, and sighed, knowing it was time to tell her friend the truth.
"I'm sorry, Teresa. I was gone for so long. I didn't have a choice. Peter Jones came back for me after I refused him on the road. He wouldn't take no for an answer. He grabbed me and shoved me into the carriage. He…he tied me up and blindfolded me. He made me spend the night tied to his ankles at the end of his bed in the Graenwood Inn. He was going to take me to Nerium, saying he knew a priest that would marry us whether I agreed or not."
Teresa, having suspected Peter Jones in Ravenna's disappearance, frowned at her friend's story. "Dear Ruler, what an awful man! How did you manage to get away from him?!"
Ravenna's face became more serious as she looked at her friend. "Teresa, I trust you with my life. Can I trust you with someone else's?"
"O-oh, o-of course. What happened?" Teresa was caught off-guard by her friend's sudden severity, but she needed to know what had happened to her.
"Peter had taken me to a meadow outside Nerium. He said we were going to consummate our marriage early. I know you know what he meant by that. He pinned me down, he cut my bodice and my undergarments. He nearly succeeded. But I prayed as hard as I could for help. Teresa…the Ruler doesn't care about us. But Michael did."
"Ravenna? What are you talking about? What do you mean, that the Ruler doesn't care about us? Who is Michael?"
"You promise I can trust you with him? I need to know." Ravenna wrung her hands together, worried she was making the wrong choice telling Teresa about Michael.
"You're my dearest friend, of course you can."
The young healer took a deep breath, and prepared herself for the barrage of questions that Teresa was bound to have. "I prayed for help. And he heard it, Teresa. Michael came to me, and pulled Peter off of me. He…he killed Peter instantly. Michael helped me travel to Nerium to get new clothes after Peter ruined them, and he was helping me get home. We always traveled at night because he couldn't be seen by humans. I was saved by a Seraphim…it feels…unreal to say."
"Seraphim?" Teresa put her teacup aside, leaning forward. "But that…those are angels, aren't they?"
"He is. That's why I needed to be able to trust his life with you as well. They're forbidden from interacting with us, and he…Michael broke the rules of the Kingdom to save me. He admitted he had been watching me from a distance, he had accidentally found me while he was in the forest where I gather my plants."
Teresa's eyes narrowed. "He was watching you? That's a little…unnerving, isn't it?"
Ravenna smiled, looking down at her teacup. "It was a little, at first. But I know he meant no harm. If it wasn't for Michael watching over me, he wouldn't have been able to save me from Peter. And I don't know where I would be now if it was not for him...the way he always made me feel so safe…"
"You sound like you…Ravenna! Did you…do you have feelings for him?!" Teresa moved from her place across the small table to sit beside her friend, Ravenna's story intriguing her.
Ravenna turned bright pink, her freckles disappearing under her blush.