When Sabit was strong enough to leave her healing bed, she sought out Meriama in the outer courtyard of the Sisterhood’s compound. The crack of splitting wood resounded in the air. In a far corner, the leader of the Sisterhood of the Lioness held a heavy axe in her one good hand. With a single swift stroke, she drove the axe through a log before her, the two pieces falling cleanly to the ground.
“You do not allow your wound to dictate your actions,” Sabit said, approaching from the side.
Meriama smiled. “Not when I can help it. Eltani’s sword has taken enough from me already. I won’t let it take the simple pleasures. You’ll be much the same once you’ve recovered, I think.”
The two women gathered the split logs onto a wooden sledge and pulled it across the compound to a cluster of tents. Sabit recognized the faces of many of those who had attacked her in the village. Freed of the sorcerer’s foul domination, the simple folk gratefully accepted the offerings. Not a one dared to meet Sabit’s gaze.
“Their shame causes them to shrink from you, Sabit,” Meriama said some time later as they made their way toward the now-abandoned village. “Shame that you did what they were not strong enough to do. Shame at what the sorcerer made them do. The sooner we cleanse this village of the sorcerer’s taint and get them back to their homes, the sooner they will be able to hold their heads up once more.”
“A better fate awaits them than you gave to the last three villages that the Sisterhood took over,” Sabit said.
Meriama looked at her, a scowl on her face. “What do you know of it?”
“I know what they say on the streets of Bahteel: That the Sisterhood of the Lioness tied the men of those villages to stakes as food for vultures,” Sabit replied. Her shoulder wound burned with searing pain as her body tensed, ready for battle.
Meriama looked away from the spear woman. “You know nothing.”
—–
Wayfarings of Sabit: Sisterhood of the Lioness is copyright (c) 2017 by Michael S. Miller. All rights reserved. New chapters post every weekday. You can support this and other stories on Patreon: https://patreon.com/michaelsmiller or http://ipressgames.com/fiction/