Chapter 3 Part 19

Marlena awoke to find herself propped up on a bed of cushions and rich satin sheets. She was draped in silk and wore flowers in her hair. At the foot of the bed stood a humanoid draped in black robes and a hood, which covered its face.

She tried to rise but found she couldn't move. Then she tried to speak, but no words came out. So, paralyzed and mute, she lay in comfort awaiting whatever fate her captors had planned for her. Finally after what seemed like hours, her body began to move--not of its own accord--like a marionette, she stood and walked through a door that had been hidden by the being who had stood before her. Her companion walked beside her, and again she tried to speak without success.

Slowly, they walked down a dark and damp corridor. Like a scene from a child's nightmare, their path contained cobwebs and scurrying creatures. The smell of decay assaulted her senses and the sound of screaming could barely be made out in the distance. Marlena's pulse raced. It occurred to her that she could be in for a bout of torture.

On they walked. The coldness of her surroundings was beginning to penetrate into her own body as it sapped the heat from her and left her feeling cold and clammy. There was moisture dripping from the roof and soon the flowers that had been in her hair lay soaked on the floor. The screams grew closer.

Still onward they walked in the dark. Marlena wanted to cry out, then turn and run. But whatever power drove her onward had complete control of her body. Louder the pain-filled screams grew as they walked onward.

Finally their journey came to an end. The screaming alternated with sobbing. It was coming from somewhere near. Marlena drove the fear from her mind. She tried to concentrate on breaking the grip of whatever force had control of her muscles.

Unexpectedly, a door opened in front of her, and she was momentarily blinded by the light, which spilled from the room beyond. Then as her eyes adjusted, she walked forward again and approached a bed with an old woman seated near the foot. On it lay a woman stripped of her clothes. She had her legs spread apart, for she was heavy with child and was in the pain of birth. That explained the screaming.

Her companion stood beside her, and for a moment they watched in silence as the girl sobbed and the midwife attended. Then a voice spoke from the recesses of the hood. "The pregnancy is only three months old," it said.

Marlena had no choice but to stare. The woman's abdomen was swollen like a nine month set of twins. The face of the woman was hidden by her swollen belly, and now for some reason Marlena wanted to see the woman's face. Immediately, there was a spasm in the body upon the bed and another scream followed.

"The mother will not survive this," the voice said. Marlena could not even tell if her companion was a male or female.

The screaming took on a sense of desperation as the woman labored to pass the child. The midwife, oblivious to her audience, put her bowl on the floor and drew from its contents a sharp knife and a rag. These she lay on a small table next to one side of the bed. Another spasm rocked the woman, and there was movement within her womb that was visible from the outside. "The time draws near," her companion said.

Suddenly, the woman's body arched as it was rocked with a contraction of great power. The woman screamed, but it was cut short by the gurgling of liquid. Without seeing, Marlena knew the woman had bitten through her tongue and was choking on her own blood. She wanted to scream herself for the lack of compassion those around her had for this woman in pain. Why would no one help her?

Finally the woman let out a sigh and her body went limp. The midwife immediately grabbed the knife and opened the woman's womb. A moment later and the child was free. Marlena was startled. It must have weighed fifteen pounds.

The midwife cleaned it off and then brought it to the robed figure. Marlena felt pity for the child. It would have a hard time growing up without a mother. She felt a sudden maternal desire to hold the infant and keep it warm herself.

Then she noticed the fingers. They ended in claws instead of nails. Looking closely at the infant, Marlena could see distinct feline features in the child body. She wondered what could cause such a mutation. Then, the child opened its eyes and looked at her with the vertical slit-like pupiled eyes of a cat.

Just then, Marlena found herself in control of her limbs again. She stepped back and started to look around for a weapon she could use to defend herself should the need arise. Her eyes fell on the knife the midwife has used and she reached for it.

As her hand was about to close on the weapon, her eyes glanced toward the head of the bed. Her blood ran cold and she froze. Her hand never closed on the weapon and her knees buckled under her. The dead mother's face was her own.

Now, it was her turn to scream. But the scream died in her throat. And it suddenly dawned on her that the screaming that she had heard before had been her voice then too. Why hadn't she noticed then? The horror of what she had witnessed flooded over her, and in defense of her sanity, her mind shut down into blissful unconsciousness.

When she awoke, Marlena found herself again on the bed where the whole nightmare had started, but this time she was dressed in her traveling clothes. Instead of the robed humanoid, which had accompanied her, there stood a young girl of perhaps thirteen years or less.

"You have entered the halls of an oracle, Marlena. What you have just witnessed is the most probable of your many possible futures." The girl moved over to the side of the bed and Marlena found she could turn her head and watch the girl.

"The oracle does not mean to frighten you," she said. "In fact, your plight has generated great sympathy here." She opened a cabinet and took two bottles from a shelf. She poured some of the contents of each bottle into a separate glass, then put the glasses on the table.

"When I leave," she explained, "you will be freed. But to regain your freedom, you must make a choice." She indicated the glasses of liquid. "As I have told you, what you saw was the most probable of your many possible futures. This is because of the child you are carrying now. If the child is born, then it will attain great power. Whether good or evil, we will not say. There is no guarantee you will survive the birth nor can we say that you will perish. The odds are, however, against you."

Marlena tried to speak, but she still had no control of her speech.

The girl continued her lecture using an air of confidence that was not normal in one so young. "This potion on the left is sweet water and will do no more than to nourish you. The potion on the right, however, will destroy that which is within you. That which has been started will pass within a few days and you will live out the rest of your life as you see fit."

The girl walked back toward the door. She stopped just short of it and turned around. "The oracle understands the druidic ceremony of the Bonding," she said. "It is only by an unfortunate coincidence that your maternal cycle was active at that time."

The girl smiled. "You are offered the chance to rid yourself of a child you did not want to begin with, and at the same time secure your health from a probable fatal birth. Or, you can accept the consequences of your actions and take the chance that you may die for the possibility of bringing into this world one who may save it or damn it. The choice is yours."

Marlena watched the girl leave. As soon as the door closed, she regained control of her limbs again.

Immediately, she reached for the glass on the right and brought it to her lips. But something would not let her drink. She had the means to rid herself of a child she really did not want. Yet, she could not forget the maternal urge she had experienced in the other room. Then, she thought of the screaming and the pain the woman, whom she would become, would go through. Finally, she remembered watching with horror as the midwife had cut the baby out of its dead mother. Then, there was the baby's face as it laid in the stranger's arms.

Slowly, she lowered the glass to the table. What right did she have to destroy that life, which she had started. True, it wasn't intentional. She had known the risk and still had gone ahead with the Bonding ceremony. But she had a right to determine what happened to her own body. No one, not even the unborn, had a right to dispute that.

Yet a life had been started. Life was life, no matter what form it took. Did she have the right to destroy that life? She argued with herself that as it was, the unborn was hardly human. Even as she thought it, she couldn't be sure of the argument's validity. Just where did one draw the line as to what was human and what was not?

Ultrecht would give her definitions and technical views. But definitions were words and technicalities were views of people who could only guess as to when an unborn could think or feel pain or remember things. No one remembered the day she or he was born, yet the person was certainly human.

It was Norwind who would have given her the best advice. Norwind, always the philosopher, had once said that a non-human entity became human when you could not tell the difference. Marlena knew where that was leading. She could not--nor could anyone short of the Creator himself--say when an unborn child was human and when it was not. Then, could she risk murder?

In the end, it was her own druidic beliefs that finally made the decision for her. She had long ago devoted herself to the laws of nature. The laws of all nature governed all living things. The child growing inside her was alive; of this there was no doubt. Not even the lowliest animal killed for the sake of convenience.

With her mind made up, she took the glass on the left and drank the sweet water. She felt better almost instantly. With that done, Marlena walked over to the door and opened it. There stood the girl outside.

"Well done Marlena, Mother and Preserver of Life," she said. "Your heart is wise. I will take you to the oracle and your friends."

"Wait," Marlena said. "You mean this was all a test?"

"No," the girl stopped and replied. "Everything was real except for the potions."

"What would have happened had I chosen the other glass?"

The girl turned and started walking again. "You would have been damned," she said.