80, Protection

“I am not letting you inside. These children are innocent and they are under the protection of the church,” Sister Loise said in a loud and clear voice. As Ayya and Tenac came closer to the door, Ayya looked past the sister and could see a group of people shouting at her. 

“What is going on?” Tenac asked. 

“These good people think the children are dangerous. They think the children will give them the sickness. So they have come to deal with the issue,” sister Loise told them without taking her eyes off the crowd of people. Ayya was stunned. 

“Let me go out there,” she told the nun.

“Ayya,” Tenac objected. 

“Tenac, we need to keep the children safe,” she said. He grunted and walked up to the door. Sister Loise let the two of them out. Ayya saw a small group of men standing on the steps to the orphanage, the leaders of the crowd, she guessed. 

“Let us in. We will make sure our women and children are safe,” one of them bellowed. The sizeable crowd, Ayya could now see the extent of it, cheered. 

“The sickness isn’t contagious between humans. You get sick from drinking water out of the tainted wells. Your king has told you this,” Ayya told them. The men looked at her and smirked. 

“Our king hasn’t told us anything,” another man said. It took Ayya by surprise, and she looked at Tenac. He looked angry, but shrugged. He was right, they could look into that later. 

“Well, I’m telling you now. Harming these children will accomplish nothing,” she told the crowd. The men in front laughed.

“And we should just believe a woman?” one of them sneered. Tenac took a step forward, but Ayya placed a hand on his arm and took a step around him.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked them. 

“Should we?” the same man said. The other men looked nervous, as was the rest of the crowd. She could hear whispers in the crowd, nervous stares and shuffling feet. They weren’t as sure as they had been when they came. 

“I am Ayyanapia Teeran, protector of the white rose of Treenia, candidate of the aari and deputy of the Lady,” Ayya said, slowly moving forward, letting magic seep into her voice, making it ring out over the area, a wind ruffled her dress and hair. She was going to show these people a show, making them think twice before they tried to hurt the children again. “This place is under my protection and anyone who lays a hand on it or its occupants will have to face my wrath,” she declared in a booming voice. At the same time, she used light to create a pattern of rose wines that covered the orphanage. The crowd drew in a collective breath and Ayya could see them start to disperse. It started slowly, but once the first one left, the rest left quickly. 

“Very dramatic,” Tenac said and gave her a kiss on the cheek. 

“It worked,” she told him. 

“It did, but you look tired.”

“It did take some energy. I have been wearing myself a little thin,” she admitted and got a look from him that said ‘told you so,’ which she ignored. 

“Thank you,” sister Loise said as she walked up to them. 

“I’m happy we could help. I’m sorry if I took freedoms I shouldn’t have,” Ayya told her. She didn’t know if she had crossed some lines when declaring the orphanage under her protection.

“Not at all. We need to keep the children safe,” the sister said. Ayya nodded. 

“Oh dear,” Sister Loise said and looked over Ayya’s shoulder. Ayya turned around to look. There was an orange glow over a part of the city and smoke rose up towards the sky. 

“That’s the centre for the sick,” Tenac said and they looked at each other. 

“Get the horses,” I will talk to the others,” Ayya told him and turned around to run inside. 

“We need at least one more rider,” Tenac shouted after her. Ayya came running into the dining hall, all the children were sitting on the floor with the adults standing guard. 

“Hinat, Firlea, stay here and make sure the children are safe, the city is in unrest,” Ayya said. “Jakobi, ride to the castle, let them know a mob tried to break into this place and that it’s now under my protection but they need to get soldiers out on the streets. If they don’t know, you can also tell them there is a fire at the clinic. Roan, follow me. The rest stay with Hinat and Firlea,” Ayya continued. The two riders followed her as she turned around and hurried towards the door. 

“Ayya!” she heard Jason call and turned around. He came running up to her. “Please be safe,” he said. Ayya smiled at him.

“I will. I’m a lot stronger than I look and Tenac will be with me to protect me. Okay?” 

“Okay.”

“Go back to your friends and I will come back when I can,” she said. She hurried out to where Tenac stood holding Addon and Estrela. They set off, with Roan close behind. Ayya could hear the sound of the fire and people shouting before they saw the building. As they rounded the corner that would bring them to the clinic, the heat radiated onto them from the burning building. Ayya dismounted and tried to take in the scene. The clinic was on fire, the flames licked at the sky. The screaming told her there were still people inside and her heart stopped beating for a moment. She saw one of the nuns who worked there and she hurried up to her, followed by Tenac and Roan.

“Sister, what has happened?” Ayya asked the panicked nun. 

“Oh, your grace. It was horrible. A crowd of people came and demanded that we let them in. They were going to hurt the patients. While we tried to stop them, some of them sneaked around back and threw oil lamps through the windows. When we noticed, it was already too late,” the sister told them. Ayya paled when she realised this probably would have happened at the orphanage if they hadn’t been there. She sent a quick prayer of thank you to whatever god was listening. She saw some soldiers and other people form a water chain. They passed buckets of water to toss on the fire. She saw they would never make it in time to get the ones inside out safely. Ayya walked forward. She needed to help. 

“Ayya, you are already drained as it is,” Tenac told her. 

“I can’t just stand by and do nothing,” she told him. He swore in a low voice.

“You do not go beyond your limit, is that clear? I will make you regret ever learning magic if you do,” he told her. She kissed him. 

“Thank you,” she said. Ayya focused on the fire. When she had put out the fire in the inn over a year prior, she had sucked the air out of the building. She couldn’t do that this time. There were too many people around. She needed to remove too much air. She would kill more than she saved. Ayya needed to take control of the fire itself. It should be a much harder and more energy consuming task. As she got to work, she felt Tenac on her right side and Roan on her left. They were making sure she could work without people running in to her or asking questions. As she felt her control of the fire solidify, she started raining it back. She concentrated on the flames around the entrance, trying to clear a way to the people inside. She heard Tenac and Roan shout out orders. People started moving. Ayya felt her energy drain for every minute she was holding the fire back. The fire was too massive to put out. The best she could do was to suppress parts of it. When she felt her vision blur, she closed her eyes and clenched her hands into fists. The sweat was dripping down her face, but she didn’t know if it was from the heat or from the concentration. Time moved slowly, or it moved fast. Ayya had a hard time telling which. It felt like hours had passe when Tenac put a hand on her back and leaned closer. 

“It’s okay, everyone is out,” he told her. With a sigh, she released the magic and with a loud roar, the fire came back to full life. Tenac had wrapped an arm around Ayya’s waist, and Ayya leaned against him. Roan held out a water skin towards her. She looked at it.

“It’s safe,” he reassured her. She nodded and tried to drink, but her arm felt too heavy. Tenac frowned at her and took the skin from her and raised it to her lips and helped her drink. 

“Thank you,” she said. Her voice sounded weak, and she had problems with focusing her eyes. 

“Ayya?” Tenac asked. 

“It’s okay,” she said as she felt her knees give way. Tenac’s arm held her up as he passed the water skin back to Roan. 

“It’s okay, sweetheart, I got you,” Tenac said as he lifted her into his arms. Ayya was about to tell him she knew, but the blackness creeped into the edge of her field of view. Then the world became entirely black and Ayya lost conscience.