From: "Probus"
To: "Scribe"
Subject: Nightshade to Lord Wolf (3of3)
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997
((This is the last of the 3 and continues NS's letter to Lord Wolf... I am
really giving in to the melodrama. I hope not to make a habit of it. I sure as
hell milked this one for all it's worth though. -Diana ))
M'Lord Wolf,
You may yet be unsure of what the Lady speaks if she has not mentioned it to you, so, reluctantly I shall expound. I have seen much in my years and yet this stays with me.
Some eight years past, I happened upon a lass who turned out to be about five years my junior. She was in dire straits, alone and weeping, her dress and cloak disheveled and torn, even bloodied. She was wild to me at first, still weakly fighting someone already gone, the one who had left her in that state. When I got her settled or at least enough to speak, she told a tale that chilled me through and that took some doing, even then.
She was but fifteen and had been accosted by a demon on the road, not a demon in fact, but a man who behaved as one, for he beat her and tried to take from her that pouch of stones which I assume she still carries. I forget the details of the pouch, but I know it is enchanted and that even after some abuse, the cur was unable to wrest it from her.
M'lord, I do hope I am not the first to tell this tale. I hope the Lady herself has broken this news to you. If not, again, I do apologize.
Since this evil character could not get the bounty he originally wanted from her... he extracted from her what else he could take. Oh, I dread this, just thinking of it, even more in having to impart such woeful news to you. But I feel that you must know... that he took her, there upon the road and none too gently, m'lord, then left her in some haste. I must have come upon her shortly after, though she never was able to recall how long between the two.
She was a slight thing and I was more than I am now but still it was a struggle to get her from the road and to a nearby stream where I could bathe her, clean her wounds and apply my healing. I tell you I have seen much injury in my time, for thousands have been brought to me for healing. But few... few have touched my
heart as deeply as your Lady's sad condition. Besides the marks and cuts one would expect from a thief's brutality, he did leave his rough traces on her and I tell you I was near sickened by what act she had endured. And one more thing. There was a stabbing wound, left by one who knows his business.
I tended to her and, as is my gift or curse. I worked to heal her body but m'lord, this devil's anger was great having been cheated of what he was sure was a healthy purse. He defiled her, yes, but more than that... he meant to see that she would die there in the road or live to never bear a child. This is what the Lady wanted to know about from me. This is why I came here to speak with her... alas, too late.
I have faith though, faith that she will be returned safely. In that event, what I know may be important to both of you. What I could do for her at the time, all I could do, was mend her so she would not die there by the stream and later tend to the lessor injuries sustained. At the time, I knew less about my gift than now and less about her specific injuries. M'lord, I think that at the time and still today, I left her with a system less than perfect. I could seal the injury and heal the outer flesh in such a way as to give no hint of a wound having been there. But... it pains me to say that I know not if all beneath the surface was repaired properly.
This is to say, I know not if she could bear for you a child. That is no doubt why she summoned me, to find out if I could clear up that one point, which til now may have given her little concern. What she says of you in her missive speaks volumes to me. She would give you anything you ask and more. She wants to know if she can bear you sons and daughters. And to that question, I fear I have no answer. My only thought is that mayhap, if I can put my touch to her again... but I don't know.
I am sorry for you to hear these things concerning one you obviously love so much. I am sorry to have been the bearer of such tidings... but mind you, I do it out of concern for the Lady, for my friend. I intend to stay til the Lady is found and appreciate the hospitality at your Keep though I would not feel put out if you or your Chamberlain had wish for me to make other arrangements. If you would speak with me further on this matter, you need but ask.
Good health and long life,
Nightshade
(..)
