Otter Creek among the chestnut trees of Mamre

not long after she settled physically, hosannah began to feel a more immediate stress upon her system - it was likely the poison, she thought. but her body was strong, even with a piece missing. she was forged out of the light of the lord, and though she had tarnished herself with her folly, he would not abandon his child to such a wretched demise. still, her chest began to ache, and she felt the budding of fire in her veins; it was not so uncomfortable that she feared it outright, yet it was a strange sensation that the girl had never felt before. the poison was in her blood - her circulatory system - and her body fought it as best it could while weakened by blood loss.

and as she sat there, presumably dying, a voice called out to her. she was weary and growing despondent; the voice offered her a reprieve from all the terrors of a painful, slow death. fear and cowardice were both a sin to her people. she had fallen prey to fear already, but she would not be so cowardly now. death was not the end -- and after a lengthy pause, she shook her head. hosannah knew she could not die here. raas would not allow a servant to rot away to nothing like this, not unless the daystar wished to punish her.

i have done wrong, but nothing so wrong to... to accept this. she poke openly, the poison in her system and the blood loss working in tandem to shift her belief; she thought she was talking to a manifestation of her beloved god. upon turning to regard the voice, she saw a blurry, light-crowned figure and the breath hitched in her throat. had he come to take her? i do not want to die. i.. will not. but she was afraid.