Chapter 2
The woman was back the next day, sitting next to the heater where Ardala desperately needed to be. So Ardala took every bit of courage she could muster and went back to the warmth. She didn't know when she lost the ability to shiver, but it came back full force as she sat there under the heater. The other woman, Francis, looked at her with pity and confusion.
"Maybe I came on too strong last time." She settled herself under the heater and smiled over at Ardala. "I'm Francis, I'm a social worker here. What's your name?"
Ardala hesitated, names had power, but hers didn't. She was no longer the daughter of the First. She was nobody and that meant that this woman could not draw on the magic of the Sea Court through Ardala. So, there was really no harm in giving this woman her name.
"My name is Ardala and while it is no pleasure to be in your presence you have done me no harm and I thank you for that."
"No one in Sarah's Point is going to hurt you." Francis opened her box again and took out that folder. "How long have you been in town?"
"I have not been in your town; I have kept to the beach." Ardala shifted, getting her injured foot closer to the heat. It was healing well, the guard had bitten deep, but had not torn so the wound was very nearly closed now. "I have been here for perhaps a fortnight as you reckon time."
The woman's eyes got wide, and she flipped through the file for a moment. "Where did you come from dear?"
"I came from the sea." Ardala couldn't lie, she had never lied. Neither could she tell the truth of where she'd come from. "I was cast out and cannot return."
"So someone just dumped you on the beach with nothing?" There was a faint anger in Francis' voice. "You don't even have shoes."
"It is hard to swim with shoes." Ardala said quietly. "And I must swim if I am to eat."
"So you were injured, dumped here, and left with no recourse but to swim in order to catch fish to eat?" Francis was rapidly writing on the file. "Small wonder you're so scared of me. Let's get you something to eat and I'll help you get off the beach and out of the weather. It's supposed to snow tonight." Francis stood up and offered Ardala a hand.
Ardala desperately wanted to reach back, she was so cold and so hungry, but the terror of men lived in her like breath and it was clotting her lungs. "What will you do to me? What is the price of your help?"
Francis looked startled. "I'm not going to do anything to you, Sarah's point has a robust program for unhoused residents. You might end up in a shelter for a couple of days, but I know one of the places in the tiny village is about to open up if you want to live by yourself for a while."
"I would prefer to be further away from men." Ardala closed her eyes and breathed away the panic as she stood up. Her injured foot was bleeding again, and she had to sit back down to tear another strip from her gown to bandage it. "Forgiveness, I do not wish to give hunters the ability to track my movements."
"You didn't tell me you were hurt." Francis stooped over Ardala to look at the wound. "That looks awful, what happened to you?
"I tried to flee and was wounded for it." Ardala tied off the makeshift bandage and stood up. "Fleeing was an act of cowardice, and I was punished appropriately."
"Where did you come from, dear, that you think this is remotely ok?" Francis pulled a flat rectangle out of her pocket and pressed it to the side of her head after poking at it for a moment. "Good afternoon, this is Francis, I have a woman that probably needs stitches in her foot. When can I bring her in?" There was a pause like the woman was hearing something. "Yes, I'll see if I can get her over there, she's terrified of everything, poor dear. Yes, with good cause." There were a few more words exchanged before Francis put the rectangle away and looked back at Ardala. "I'd like to take you to have that looked at by Doctor Stevens, if that's alright?"
She had two options, she could flee, or she could try and string out just enough trust that she could go with this woman. Fleeing was what her body desperately wanted to do, but her foot was bleeding, and she was tired and hungry, she didn't know how far she was going to be able to get before her body simply quit on her. She had one choice and that was no choice at all. She had to put herself in a human's hands at least long enough to sustain herself and get her foot to stop bleeding, so she didn't attract hunters.
"Very well," Ardala tried to hide just how terrified she was as she followed Francis to a large vehicle where she was helped in. When the door shut the terrified tears started and the urge to flee grew to unmanageable proportions. She couldn't figure out how to get the door back open, there were buttons and levers, but the door wouldn't open.
Francis slid in on the other side and reached out to rub her shoulder. "It's alright, dear. I know you're scared, and I know you don't trust me or anyone. That's ok, you've clearly been through a lot. Just try and relax. I only want to help."
Ardala flinched away from the touch but tried to breathe. There had been no evidence of foul play and there was heat blowing through strange holes in the vehicle. If this woman tried to- well, Ardala was far from defenseless even though her senses weren't as acute in this form. She would be warm for a time and if there was a confrontation or if things started to become overwhelming, she could still flee. She would not wound these people unless forced. She didn't like violence in any capacity and would prefer to simply flee.
She looked out the window as the scenery went by, dazed and unable to make any connections about where she was or where she was being taken. That she was allowing herself to be taken anywhere was bad, that she was unable to keep track of where she was going was worse. She could find her way back to the sea by scent, but where was she being taken? Was a doctor like a healer? And what were stitches?
Before she could ask any of these questions, before she could panic again, the vehicle slowed and pulled into a space with many other vehicles. The tenement that they stopped at was massive, story upon story and it seemed as though it encompassed the same area as the Sea Court palace. Ardala scrabbled at the door, trying to figure out which latch or button would set her free. She wouldn't run yet; the sea wasn't far and the scent of salt was the only thing keeping her from panicking.
Francis opened the door and gave her an odd look. "Is this your first time in a car dear?"
"There was no need for vehicles in the sea." Ardala stepped out and forced herself not to react when her wounded foot touched the ground. "It is much like shoes; they were not needed."
"At some point, I'm going to figure out what cult you came from." Francis came over and walked by her side. "I'm going to get you a wheelchair, so you don't have to walk on that foot."
Ardala watched Francis walk away. If she was going to run, now was the time. It would be best to run, to flee this woman and her confusing care and whoever this 'Doctor' was. But she didn't, she was tired and weak and hungry and needed to conserve her strength. Francis had yet done nothing so she would watch and wait and conserve what strength remained to her in case she did need to flee.
Francis came back a minute later with an odd chair that was being pushed by yet another human. This one was male and had all the hair on her body up and bristling with nerves. She turned and tried to flee only for her injured foot to give out and her to fall to her knees. Francis came to her and helped her up. "This is Devon, dear. He's Doctor Steven's nurse. We're going to get your foot taken care of and bandaged properly and then I'll get you some dinner."
Devon smiled, but all Ardala saw were teeth as Francis helped her into the odd chair. "Off we go then." Devon started pushing the chair and thankfully Francis kept pace right by her side. If she hadn't, Ardala would have fled and be damned to her weakness. But she was so weak, she only wanted rest, and food, and home. She damned the tears, but she couldn't stop them, couldn't stop them from advertising how weak she actually was. She tried to hide, to cry into her sealskin so they wouldn't see. Francis just laid a hand on her shoulder and as much as she knew she shouldn't trust this human, as much as she knew she should flee back to the beach, she gingerly leaned her head on Francis' hand and tried to stop crying instead.