Devil's Dominion Read Free

the cloister and out across the well-kept dirt of the gardens. The prioress’ accommodations were directly in front of them, a dark and loveless building, and they skirted the one-storied structure, heading for the rear of the priory and the open fields beyond. The moon, a silver sliver in the blackness of the sky, provided little light. Everyone was tripping and scuffling as they went.
    The smell of smoke was heavy as they moved and they could hear the shouts of men and the bray of animals coming from the east and south sides of the priory, the areas that were mostly exposed to the road and the world beyond. Although there were fifteen in their small group, there were at least thirty more nuns who were still unaccounted for, women who had either already fled or were foolishly hiding in the priory. At the moment, there was no way to hunt for all of them, so the Mother Prioress had gathered who she could. Fifteen out of a total of forty-five nuns was a dismal statistic but it was the best they could do under the frightening circumstances.
    Allaston was towards the rear of their group as they made their way around the prioress’ lodgings. She was helping Sister Mary Josepha with a young woman, not a particularly healthy young woman, who was having trouble running. The girl was wheezing and coughing with the exertion.
    “Please, Annie,” Allaston begged softly. “You must be brave. You must hurry. We must run!”
    Annie was having a great deal of difficulty. “I am trying!” she gasped, tears in her eyes. “But I am so frightened, Allie. Who would attack a priory? It is a house of God and meant to be safe from all!”
    Allaston shushed her because she knew the Mother Prioress would only yell at poor Annie for sounding so weak. The Mother Prioress did not like weak women. “Evil men have attacked us,” she said simply. “In the end, it does not matter who it is. All that matters is that we must get away from them.”
    Annie was bordering on sobs, made difficult by her heavy breathing. “What will become of us?” she wept. “Where will we be safe?”
    Allaston didn’t have an immediate answer for her friend, trying to think of something positive as the group came around the corner of the prioress’ lodgings. All that lay before them now was dark, open fields and the creek beyond with its copse of trees and heavy foliage. Before Allaston could speak a word, however, those in the front of the group came to an abrupt halt, causing those in the rear to crash into them. Allaston ended up on her behind as the group of hysterical women came to sudden stop.
    Allaston had very narrowly avoided hitting the wall of the structure with her head as she went down. Grunting, she picked herself up and her gaze happened to fall on the Mother Prioress and the fields beyond. She was looking to see what had caused everyone to come to a dead stop and as her eyes adjusted to the dark night, she realized that the fields normally filled with sheep were now filled with men. Hundreds of them.
    Terror filled her as she realized there would be no safety in the trees and rocks tonight. That which they had been attempting to flee was now surrounding them, like something dark and evil and smothering. Men with torches had been waiting for them, waiting for their quarry without effort, and if Allaston had been any wiser about warfare she would have realized that the commotion at the front of the priory had been designed to drive the inhabitants out of the back and right into a trap. The tactic had worked. They were all snared.
    Some of the young women broke into tears at the sight of all those soldiers. Allaston stood up, a big mud stain on her rump, holding on to Annie as more men on horseback began to surround them. They could hear crying and pleading in the distance as several other nuns were brought around from the front of the priory, now joining the group of fifteen. It was more terror than any of them could bear and they huddled together in a