The Wise Women

Chapter 32

Nesta and Theresa bounded excitedly up the wooden steps of the enormous stadium and weaved through the crowd until they got to their seats. Finn wagged his tail and nuzzled Nesta's hand as they squeezed in next to Mrs Crosby, Muriel Webb and her tall blue and now very pregnant daughter-in-law, Delphinia.

'So glad you could make it,' Mrs Crosby patted Nesta's knee. Mrs Webb leaned over.
'Have you closed the clinic for the day?' she asked.

'We have.' Nesta nodded. 'We couldn't miss the women's racquet ball final. Especially since we know the Skaliff finalists. They're friends of ours from the Wise Women's Village.'

'And the Frailing finalists are two of Leonia's nieces,' Tess chimed in.

'Ah, what a good soul Leonia is,' Mrs Crosby mused fondly. 'How kind of her to let you use the Miller's Cottage for your Wise Women's practice.'

'Well, she doesn't need it now she's living in the Castle,' Tess caressed Finn's neck as he stretched up and licked her neck.

On the court below them, the competitors were warming up. On one side of the net, Rosamund and Elaine, racquets in hand, bounced up and down on the spot in their blue tabards emblazoned with a white letter S, waiting to receive the ball from Leonia's nieces in their purple tabards with a silver letter F.

'And of course, you know the men's finalists too.' Mrs Webb puffed out her chest with pride. Mrs Crosby giggled and wriggled in her seat.

Ralph Crosby and Godfrey Webb sat on the benches nearest the court, waiting to go on against the other finalists - a serious looking, musclebound duo from Quain. Ralph ran his fingers through his messy fringe and Godfrey turned to wave up at his wife and mother. Smiling, Delphinia waved back, one indigo-nailed hand resting on her considerable bump.

'Those are our sons!' Mrs Crosby announced loudly to anyone who'd listen.

Nesta looked over to the opposite side of the stadium. In the royal box, the Tarthian monarchs were seated together. In the middle, both wearing deep purple velvet, sat Otto and Sapphira. Wolfgang's head rested in the Queen's lap.

'You never see the Queen without her wolfhound these days, do you?' Mrs Crosby scratched Finn behind his ears. He closed his eyes with pleasure.

'No, and with good reason, Nesta replied. 'Leonia told her that if she'd allowed Wolfgang in the castle, he may have been able to help protect her against Alaric's Shade.'

'True enough,' said Mrs C. 'And as I always say, there's no problem a snuggle with your favourite doggie can't fix.'

'Who are the other monarchs?' Mrs Webb asked her daughter in law.

'The dark skeen man with beeg hair and beeg beard, he King Osswald of Quain, Delphinia replied in her deep rich voice. 'The other two, I no know.'

'The tall woman with long white hair in the green robe is Queen Brigida of Moonrun,' Tess pointed across the stadium. 'And the stern-looking man with iron grey hair and a handle bar moustache is King Walter of Crosstain.'

'And that row of blue-cloaked women in front of them must be the Chief Wise Women to their courts,' Mrs Crosby commented. Amongst them, Nesta spotted the dark skin and long wavy hair of Leonia. She gave her a double handed wave.

'Now Nesta,' Mrs Crosby leaned in, eyebrows twitching. 'You never finished telling me the story. What happened to Lord Alaric?'

'No one's seen him since he left the castle. Rumour has it he rode to Quain and took a ship across the Shining Sea to Erith.'

At the mention of her home country, Delphinia turned towards them.

'There are bad magic men een the mountains. He weel go to be with them. Of zis I am sure.' She nodded knowingly.

'And what has the Burned One done with the Shade bottle?' Mrs Crosby asked.

'She's buried it beneath the foundations of the Temple.' Tess whispered loudly. 'She says it's the safest place to keep it to prevent it falling into the wrong hands.'

Finn was snuffling at the haversack on the ground between the girls' feet. Nesta grabbed it by the straps and hoisted it onto her lap. She rooted inside and extracted a paper bag. 'Chestnut buns for everyone from Agatha's Tea Rooms,' she said handing it around.

A hush fell over the stadium. All eyes turned to the royal box. Queen Sapphira stood, her diamond tiara glinted in the sun, a breeze lifted the long black hair which fell loose over her shoulders. She lifted her chin and spread her arms wide.

'Let the Games begin!'

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And that's the end of The Wise Women 😊

Thank you so much for coming on this journey with Nesta. If you've enjoyed this story, why not give the Annifer trilogy a try: Annifer, Plaguesbane and Sacred Mountain ☺️

One hundred years passes between now and the start of Annifer and a lot happens. There may be more books. I don't know yet. Follow my profile to get the latest updates from Nesta's world.

Watch this space 👀 ⭐️

Goddess protect you all ❤️

I'll leave you with one of my all-time favourite quotes:

'Every day there is only
One thing to learn:
How to be honestly
Happy.'

Sri Chinmoy

😊😊😊😊😊

✨🌿⭐️🌺💛🌺⭐️🌿✨