Adina's punishment and Ceinwen's pain

In my Beauty and the Beast retelling, Ceinwen - my Beauty - is not beautiful after an event that carries her and her family far from their home.

A small whimper to her left drew her attention to the stairs. The light from the flickering candle fell on a bloody, mangled body lying on the steps. For a moment, Adina was reminded of a doll lying broken and discarded on the nursery floor. She let out a strangled cry and knelt at Ceinwen's side.

“Mother?” Baldric called.

“Stay with the others,” Adina said again. She pulled her scarf off and carefully wiped the blood off Ceinwen's face. Ceinwen whimpered again. “It's all right, kitten. Mama's here.”

The entire right side of Ceinwen's upper body and face were torn, like she'd been raked by the claws of a wild beast. Her eyes were open but her pupils were mere pinpricks in a sea of green. Adina reached again for her magic. It refused to come. There was nothing left.

Adina lifted her injured daughter into her arms. She carried her into the room where the other children were waiting. “What's happened?” Baldric asked.

“The gods have abandoned me,” Adina said. “My magic is spent and Ceinwen – Ceinwen is hurt.”

Baldric winced as he saw the blood. Ronen stumbled over to his mother. He tugged on his sister's uninjured hand but she didn't respond. “Ronen, leave her be,” Baldric said. “Mother, what are we going to do now?”

“I've got what I need to tend to Ceinwen for now,” Adina said. “I brought supplies to last us a week. That's how long the spells preventing the detection of our presence will last.”

“I can slip out and see where we are,” Baldric said. “Maybe see if what happened in the valley has made it this far south."

Adina nodded. “I'll have you go out tomorrow. Today, I need you to help me with the others.”

 Baldric kept the other three from disturbing Ceinwen while Adina made up a potion for pain. She made Ceinwen drink the medicine first. She cleaned the wounds with water from a hand pump in the kitchen. Clean strips of linen were wrapped around Ceinwen's head, neck, and arm, leaving only her nose and mouth free.

Tuesday Teaser - Birth of the Silver Lady

This is kind of a prequel to Marked. This is the background and the origin of the woman who eventually becomes the goddess known as the Silver Lady. Here's just a snippet of what she was like as a mortal child.

Liadran went to bed still thinking about it. She couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning as she continued her persistent self analysis. Finally just past midnight, Liadran closed her eyes and the answer came to her.

The next morning she barely managed to wake herself up in time. She got up, bathed, dressed, and ate breakfast. Awnan ignored her yawns and her obviously sleep deprived eyes. “Well? Do you have an answer?” he asked when she returned from taking care of their dishes.

“I think so,” Liadran said. “I think it’s because I don’t want things to change. While I didn’t practice magic, I could pretend I was just here to read books and learn that way. I was still Artan’s younger sister and his ward, and I could go home someday. But I can’t go home because I’m not just that little girl anymore. I’m going to be a mage. I’m going to be somebody important and I don’t want to be somebody important.”

“Let’s take that and break it down then,” Awnan said. “First, you are here to learn what I have to teach you. Some of that will be from books. The rest will be from practical application of what you learn from those books and other lessons I teach you. There is nothing stopping you from going home once you’re fully trained. You could easily return and be your brother’s house mage, though I would recommend highly against it. People would think you’d weigh in more favorably in his direction if something came up that you had to arbitrate. As to being important, you don’t have to be important to be a mage.”

“I thought mages were the most important people in the empire, except for the High Lords and the Imperial family,” Liadran said.

“We hold a great deal of power, but there are far more of us who prefer to keep to the background and focus our attentions on our studies rather than do anything to draw unwanted notice,” Awnan said. “I’m a mage and a spell weaver, and that’s enough notoriety for me. I study, I take the occasional apprentice, and when something is needed that fits my specific abilities I take care of it and go back to my preferred obscurity.”

“So I can read and study if I want when I’m trained?” Liadran asked.

“There is a great deal of material to study in this coven house, and even more in Lythan if you are good enough to go there to continue your studies,” Awnan said. “You will find much to keep yourself busy with if you choose to go that route.”

“But I’m still going to be someone different. I’m not going to be me anymore,” Liadran said.

“Who are you? You’re a child yet. You haven’t discovered who you are. You have preconceived notions of who you think you should be, perhaps some idea of who you wanted to be, but you are still discovering yourself. Don’t set your life in stone so early, Liadran. No one knows what the gods have in store for them,” Awnan said. “Now, come with me to the work room.”