Bella2 (7/22/01 1:03:55 pm) The Santuary was finally clean

The Sanctuary was finally clean. Stitch, wiping some sweat from her brow, looked about the
house pleased with her job well done. Since most of the guild had been absent in the lands of
Trammel, she had to busy herself by doing small tasks about the Maiden’s wood, cleaning the
settled dust, planting small plants for beautification purposes, or what ever could take up a days
time.
But tonight, Stitch knew The Sanctuary would be alive again with the happy and excited voices of
those who would come to gaze upon her, The Mother Superior, BellaDonna. Roku had come
silently during the night, his party of monks carrying the Prophetess atop a skiff, which was
covered in sweet smelling roses. When she had greeted the monk at the door, and even in
torches light, the pain and profound love for her was evident in his tear-swollen eyes. Few words
were spoken; they quickly carried her up the stairs and laid her to rest in the bed in her
bedroom/study. “There,” Roku said. “Lay in your bed, among your books, in her Sanctuary, your
home. I will leave you now my love. I hope they will know what to do, and someday, healed, you
will return to me.” The departure was as rapid as a trip back down the stairs.
“Mother?” Stitch whispered in her ear. I am here, you are home, and your children will be here to
see you soon…BellaDonna never stirred, never spoke, just slept. Now Stitch began to cry quietly,
the Great Prophetess of the Maiden, the woman who with her words had touched so many - now
lay silent, breathing evenly lost in some endless sleep.
Fraught with worry, Stitch began clean that which was already clean, keeping her mind away from
that thinking what was so painfully obvious now. Mother BellaDonna can no longer preach, teach
or guide her children, her time in that role was done in this world. She was in the Maiden’s arms
now, and the Sanctuary must be readied for it’s new Mother’s……