They made their way through the gates of Nor, exhausted and spent.
It had been a long and emotional journey and now they were finally here, the enormity of what they had achieved becoming apparent.
Micheál felt he could sleep for a week.
The town was quietening down for the night, the distant sound of laughter and merriment emanating from the local ale house making its way across the cobble stone road., the last of the children running home to their mothers before the scolding would start.
But it was straight to the temple for these weary travellers.
The temple was not far from the castle walls, it was one of the only buildings that was allowed to be in the vicinity. The other town folk had to keep their distance.
The king didn’t want to rub shoulders with the lowly peasants below and wanted to be far away from the noise and mischief of the commoners and gypsy’s, but he took comfort the medicine woman and the High Priestess were close by, should he need either quickly.
It was at the Temple of Nor, Inanna would stay for the foreseeable future. It would take that long for her to regain her strength and confidence, after all she had been through.
Lilith welcomed them in.
She’d already prepared a bed for Inanna – in a private space so she could recover in peace.
Lilith looked at her grimly.
It had been days of travel and at least another three days she had been laying in the dirt. The injuries she sustained were numerous and they were the ones on the surface.
Lilith hadn’t even fully checked her yet.
She had a fire burning and a broth on the hob.
Ren and Micheál laid her down and filled Lilith in on the last few days.
Ren insisted on staying. The two, she was sure, were soul sisters and she wanted to be with Inanna while she healed.
It was late.
Lilith made Inanna clean and comfortable, bade farewell to Micheál and went to bed for the night. She woke on occasion to check Inanna who lay still and silent.
She wondered whether she would ever regain her strength.
A part of her, she thought, may have given up.