Click!

     "Oh shit!"

     The room was still for a moment. She knew that she needed to move forward very soon. Now caught in the middle of the room, her foot rested heavily on the trap's floor trigger.

     The only thing she could ask herself was, "how in the cankered sphincter of Hell did I get myself into this?"

* * *

     Damia Fellowes started life in a rain-soaked alley of the city. Daughter of one of the tavern wenches; she was the light of her mother's eye. Lillia could not make it through the alley to the midwifery only a few strides away. Damia's demand to enter the world was great and her mother's pain increased with every step. Finally, Lillia lay on the wet floor of the alleyway and brought her daughter into her life. When the ache of her body had calmed, the young wench made her way over to the midwifery.

      By the time Lillia walked through the door she was barely able to speak. Her legs buckled beneath her. Luckily, the senior midwife was there to catch her. She was older than most of the girls and she carried a healthy frame. The only other woman awake at this hour had been Josalynn Fellowes. "Quickly, my dear," said the older woman. "Take the wee babe and clean her up. I'll see what we can do for the mother." Josalynn nodded quickly and took the girl in her arms.

     At that moment, the spark of magic flew from one soul to the other. As Josalynn looked into the dark brown eyes of this little girl, she knew that this was Fate's hand around her heart. Almost immediately, Damia's mewling ceased and she peered up at the woman before her. A slight furrow crept across Damia's brow and she cooed softly. In that instant, the Great Tapestry woven by Fate herself seemed complete to both woman and baby. It was as if they'd both known that this meeting was destined. Born of a different mother, Josalynn Fellowes now held her own daughter.

     "Da-Damia..."

     Josalynn's eyes darted to the other room. She'd heard the woman calling out softly.

     "P-ple...please..."

     She'd heard the voice again. Still holding the baby in her arms, Josalynn made her way into the next room. Lillia lay dying on the table as the other women hustled about the room. Several phrases were bandied between the midwives. They were trying this and that to stop the young woman's bleeding. Anguished cries emitted from Lillia's throat and tears rolled down her cheeks. She mustered enough strength to utter a few more words. "Her name," she gasped, "is...Damia..." Josalynn nodded to the woman and smiled softly, trying to comfort her. Josalynn leaned over and moved in close enough to let Lillia stroke the baby's cheek. With that last action, Lillia drifted off into her final slumber.

     Josalynn leaned over the dead woman's body and whispered softly into her ear, "I will love her for us both. She will want for nothing. I promise you this."

* * *

     Damia stared at the end of the room. If she were to run, she might lose her footing. If she were to stay, she'd surely die. She searched the ground and didn't see much. The floor was covered with centuries of dust and dirt. The floor behind her began to give way. She gasped. "Oh god," she said. "What the hell do I do now?"

     She had no time to think. She broke into a dead run across the floor. Amazingly, her torch remained lit through the entire sprint. Nothing else existed in her world. She ran. Her eyes were locked on the door ahead of her. The sounds of the floor collapsing behind her didn't exist. The roaring of the torches within the room had died. There was no sound at all. As she closed on the door, she glanced down and noticed a small flash. Her eyes widened and she leapt into the air just feet from the door. She nearly tripped as her toe triggered that last trap and she breathed heavily as the thick, iron panel emerged from the floor. With a resounding crash, the curtain pounded against the stone ceiling. Damia clutched her chest and breathed heavily as she lay sprawled in front of the door.

     Her eyes, wet with tears of joy, glimpsed a small imperfection in the wall beside the door. A diamond shape had been cut into the bricks and rested approximately chest-high. After having narrowly avoided death just seconds before, she waited a few moments before examining this new-found curiosity. Her heart still raced with the waning excitement of her near-death experience. She needed to focus now. This was only the first room she'd traversed. She continued to sit on the ground and looked to the heavens. "I'm sorry, mama," she said. "I know you wanted me to follow in your work...but I couldn't. It just wasn't me."

* * *

     Josalynn Fellowes loved her daughter greatly. She'd acquired Damia in a most unusual fashion, and yet Damia was her daughter. It had been a full two years since Damia's birth and Josalynn's "adoption" of the girl. She was a bright girl and learned to communicate at an early age. Though she knew how to speak, and could do so very well, Damia much preferred the solace of silence. It was interesting what Damia could learn just by listening to the others around her. Some of the other girls in the midwifery thought it strange that she was able to start predicting just when a woman would be able to give birth. It was as though she was some sort of guardian angel and was able to help women who might not have made it to the house in time.

     Josalynn would smile to herself as she watched Damia. She knew that her daughter was smart; perhaps too smart for her own good. She tried to train Damia to be another of the midwives. Even at five years of age, Damia understood the differences in herbs and poultices. She knew the uses of Black and Blue Cohosh. She knew that the best thing for an expectant woman's sore breasts was a poultice made with Sage. Slippery Elm; Flaxseed; Fenugreek: all used in inflammation salves. Damia was a wonder at herb preparation and proved to be helpful to all of the women.

     "What are you doing there," Josalynn asked Damia.

     "What, Mommy?"

     "What are you doing with those?"

     "I learned to make it better."

     "What do you mean," Josalynn asked. She moved over to where Damia had been working and looked into the strange bowl of paste. "What is this?"
She smiled softly and stepped back. She looked at her mother lovingly. Damia's deep brown eyes shone in the candlelight. "Don't be scared, Mommy."
At those words, Josalynn furrowed her brow and stared at the wispy little girl. She sighed and nodded, sitting on the chair nearby. "What are you going to do," she asked curiously.

     Mere breaths after her mother's words emerged; Damia withdrew a small knife from her belt. She turned the bladed side towards her arm and drew the sharp metal along her skin. The thin flesh gave way under the pressure and angular edge of the blade. A thin stream of blood began to flow to the floor. Josalynn gasped and nearly flew from her chair until she was stopped by Damia's motions. The small amount of paste in Damia's fingers was pulled over the deep gash on her arm.

     "What are you doing," Josalynn screamed!

     "All will be well, Mommy. Just watch."

     Damia spread the white poultice across her skin and something strange began to occur. The color began to change quickly. The poultice transformed into what looked to be an oily, black film. As it lie spread over the cut in her arm, Damia gave a slight grimace to the salve. It began to bubble slowly and appeared to be burning her flesh below. Josalynn gasped and ran towards her daughter, quickly grasping her cut arm. She rubbed frantically at the dark goop on Damia's arm. "Why did you do this," she asked through her tears. "What did you...?" She stopped in mid-sentence as she examined her daughter's arm. The spot where she'd been rubbing was now clear of the poultice and Josalynn covered her mouth. The only words to escape her at that moment were "what...how?"

     Damia smiled at her mother softly. "It worked, Mommy. It works every time now. You don't need to use a lot and it works every time. If I use this on any cut, or anywhere that bleeds, it seals it and it's like it never happened."

     "How did you discover this?"

     "I just used what you taught me, Mommy."

* * *

     "I used what you taught me, Mommy," Damia repeated to herself as her memory faded. She hoisted herself back to her feet and looked back into the room, certain to see the carnage and destruction of the floor having fallen. After a moment or two for her eyes to adjust, she blinked in surprise and stared, wide-eyed, at the ground. It hadn't moved. The floor was still intact and not even the dust had been disturbed. She sighed. Of course, she thought. This is only the first room and so the traps wouldn't be that bad. She looked about the frame of the door and then chuckled slightly as she remembered having found the diamond shape cut within the stone. She pressed it and the door whined and moaned as it moved for the first time in centuries. This is only the beginning, D.

     Greetings and salutations to those who find me. This is a brand new place for my insane ramblings and persona stuff for my SCA/Ren Faire bard. Currently I am unassociated yet I camp and have camped with the Barony of Dun Or (SCA), Lands of the Emerald Isle (Ren Faire), Dublin Sea Port (Ren Faire) and Cross and Dragon (SCA). I've worked the following Faires and had SUCH fun: Escondido, Ojai Shakespeare Festival, and the FIRST Big Bear Ren Faire. I've also been to the following SCA Wars: Highland, Great Western and Estrella.

     In my mundane world I am a writer, artist and Karaoke host/junkie! I'm interested in learning more about sewing so that I can make my own garb and I also know how to work butted maille.

     Soon, you'll be able to see bits of my writing as I post more and more here in my blog. I really love feedback and so please leave me some...be it good or bad.