Origins Of The Bellmaker: Chapter 9 - Dark Secrets Are Revealed
Joseph and Celaena took approximately an entire month to consummate their marriage that spring, and they began the day after their wedding. Celaena's body and mind had undergone the necessary changes for motherhood, but she secretly worried that her age and treatment from her slave days might prevent her from even conceiving a baby. She hadn't talked to Joseph about it since she was scared he would leave her if she couldn't bear him a child.
Early one morning Celaena went by torch light to the grave of Rose, hoping to get some sort of guidance about what she should do. It was four hours until dawn as Celaena sat down under a nearby alder tree and began talking, hoping she would be heard. "I don't know if you can hear me Rose, but I could really use some help. I'm unsure if I'll be able to have any children with Joseph, and I worry that he'll lose favor with me if I can't. What if Rosemary is right? What if I'm barren? I don't want to lose Joseph... We've been through so much together... I can't lose him."
A few tears began to fall, and Celaena finally broke down, crying into her cloak. A gentle breeze stirred, and Rose's voice was heard. "Dear Celaena, why do you constantly worry about Joseph leaving you?"
Celaena sniffled. "My treatment as a slave was worse than that of the others... I can't see inside myself to make sure I can even have children you know."
Rose finally appeared in front of her, taking a few steps before sitting down on the grass. "Do you see Joseph worrying about having children?"
Celaena wipes her eyes. "No, but he's said he wants at least one."
Rose nodded. "Exactly. Celaena, he married you because he loves you, not because he feels sorry for you. You need to stop worrying so much about something so trivial."
Celaena sighed. "But look at you, Rose. You and Martin were well on your way to having children."
Rose crossed her arms. "Yes, but Martin never had children out of respect for me. You, however, have a chance to raise a family, so please stop worrying and love Joseph the way a wife should love her husband. You may want to explain all this to Joseph though, just so he knows what to expect."
Rose vanished, leaving Celaena alone to gather her thoughts. Her paws wandered to the dark purple cloth wrapped around her shoulders, her symbol of marriage to Joseph. Fresh tears filled her eyes and Celaena looked up to the stars that sparkled in the dark sky. "Why does this have to be so hard?!"
Her voice echoed into the night, giving no reply to the female mouse's question. Slowly Celaena made her way back to her hut, pondering how she was going to tell Joseph about her past.
In their room Joseph was stirring, and he rubbed his eyes as Celaena came back in. "Celaena? What's wrong?"
Celaena climbed into bed, pulling her husband to her. "I have to talk to you about my past, but I don't know how to go about it."
Joseph nodded, cuddling his wife to him. "When you feel ready, you can tell me. However, we need to get ready to head to my home."
Celaena snuggled up to him, smiling a little. "Yeah, let's get some rest."
The mice went back to sleep, even though dawn was three hours away. They spent the rest of the week packing rations for their journey, and at the end of the week they headed to the cove to get their boat. Late evening found them there, and Joseph looked everything over. "The boat is still there, but something doesn't feel right."
Celaena tackled him. "Get down!"
The two mice rolled behind a small hill as a huge ship sailed by. Joseph whispered as he peeked out of cover. "A searat galley... They're sailing north, and we want to go south."
Celaena nodded. "Let's camp here tonight, but no fires. We don't want to be seen."
Joseph smiles. "Great idea."
Camp is made, with their evening meal being some nettle beer and turnip flans. Throughout the night Joseph and Celaena took turns watching for any searats. The following morning showed no sign of searats, so the two mice set sail an hour after dawn and ate along the way.
Three weeks later the two mice found themselves beginning the two-day sail toward the island in the inland sea. Celaena had been amazed by all the various vegetation and life forms she had never seen anyplace else. Out on the open water in the boat Joseph had given to Log-a-Log, Celaena let one paw trail in the water as the boat sailed eastward.
Joseph chuckled. "I would keep all my limbs in the boat, Celaena. The last time I sailed these waters, they were infested with pike."
Celaena sat up. "What's a pike?"
The sturdy Bellmaker described it, and he shook his head. "Let's hope one doesn't try to attack the boat."
As they approached the island on the second day, Joseph's keen eyes saw something on the shore. "Someone's here... Be ready."
The sun was two hours past noon as Joseph and Celaena came ashore, and Joseph looked around. "Mother? Father? Anyone?"
Joseph turned to his left as a slim figure dashed into the woods. "Hey! Wait!"
Celaena gives Joseph his staff, but he gives it back, stroking his newly grown beard. "Hide here on the shore near the boats. If anyone tries to escape, hit them."
Celaena hid as Joseph chased after the figure he saw. Slowly the minutes passed, with Celaena crouched and ready to strike. A full hour later a mouse came darting toward the boats. Celaena struck out with the staff, catching the runner in the belly with a hard swing. The mouse gasped and then hit the ground as Celaena smashed the heavy staff across their shoulders.
Joseph arrives as Celaena pins the runner down. "Hold still or I'll belt you again!"
Joseph gently takes the staff, panting from chasing the creature. "Nice job. Now, let's see who this is."
Joseph flips the mouse onto their back. "It's a mouse, a female... Wait a minute."
He kneels, pulling back the hood. "I recognize this face... Why are you here?"
The female in question reached up and touched his face. "It can't be... How are you back?"
Celaena frowns. "Who is it dear?"
Joseph stands up, helping the other mouse to their paws. "It's been a long time... hasn't it Syra?"
Syra looked over the Bellmaker. "Joseph? Is that really you?"
He nods. "The one and only. Again, why are you here Syra?"
She sighed. "We have a lot to talk about. Come on. Bring your wife too."
Syra led the way to the island's interior, telling her side of the story. "I watched you leave all those seasons ago Joseph... I also left, the season after you did in fact, the seventh season of the famine. I got here three days ago, hoping to find any sign of life... but I found only death, and silence."
Syra led Joseph and Celaena into a large hut, sitting on a chair. "In those cabinets you'll find a list and some journals describing what happened. I can't bear to tell you what they say, but they paint a horrifying picture."
Joseph fetches the parchments and sits down. "From the journals of Councilmouse Jeremiah, eventual last mouse... on the island."
He looks at Syra, who has a paw to her mouth. Joseph keeps reading. "The famine has been going on for twenty seasons... The island's residents have been on strict rations since the famine began. No rain falls, no clouds, unbearable heat, warm winds... Even during the winters it is hot and dry... The oldest mice have started dying of dehydration and starvation, just so the younger mice can keep living... Syra left one season after Joseph, and it's looking more and more like a smart decision on her part."
Joseph has to stop, as it was getting hard to read the journals. Celaena was crying and Syra wipes her eyes. "Keep reading Joseph... There's more."
Joseph skips to the final entry in the journal, written in a barely legible scrawl as compared to the earlier writings. "It's the twenty-fourth season of the famine... Anything that grows on the blighted trees turns to dust when plucked... Only me left now... I miss my son Joseph immensely... Just had to bury my wife last week... If anyone finds this... Bury me... with... Periwinkle..."
A few tear drops stain the writing, and Joseph, trying not to cry, asks Syra one question. "Syra... W-Where are m-my mother and f-f-father?"
Syra gets up and leads the married mice to a nearby waterfall that had long since dried up. "I found Jeremiah at his desk, the quill still in his hand. I had just finished burying him when you arrived."
Joseph finally broke down when he saw the final resting place of his mother and father. Celaena went to comfort him, but Syra stopped her. "No, he needs to be alone for this. Come with me, he'll find us once he's done mourning."
The two females leave Joseph to mourn and they go back to the boats, talking about their lives. It had been dark for an hour before Joseph finally returned to the shore, his eyes red from crying for almost six hours. Syra and Celaena were still talking, and Celaena embraced Joseph tightly. "Joseph... Are you okay?"
Joseph hugged his wife. "A little better, but I wish I had been here sooner. My island needed me, and I wasn't here."
Syra came over. "Seriously? Joseph had you come back you would have died! Where would that have left your wife? She'd be a widow right now, or possibly worse, so it seems to me that staying away was the right decision."
Joseph hated to admit it, but Syra was right. "Yeah... you're right Syra. It wouldn't have worked out if I had returned."
Celaena took Joseph's paws. "What will we do?"
Joseph sighed as he thought up a plan. "You and I will stay here tonight, Celaena. In the morning we'll sail to Salamandastron. Brother Bartholomew needs to know I completed my task."
Syra nods. "Good plan. I will also be leaving at dawn to return to my own family. There is nothing here to make me stay."
The three mice talked well into the night, and the next day they went their separate ways. Syra sailed north toward Mossflower country, and Joseph sailed with Celaena back to the mountain fortress. Upon arrival, two weeks after they had left the island, Joseph banged on the gates with his staff. "Hello in there! Celaena and Joseph the Bellmaker have returned!"
The gates opened after a short silence, and the mice found Sergeant Willoughby staring at them. "Joseph and Celaena. Welcome back."
He saluted them with his lance, and Joseph returned it with his staff. "Morning Sergeant. Is Brother Bartholomew still here?"
The hare nodded. "Yes, but hurry. He has little time."
The Sergeant escorts the two mice to the Infirmary, where Lord Rawnblade Widestripe meets them. "Welcome back you two. Joseph, the Brother wishes to speak with you alone."
Joseph nods, goes into the room, and sits by the mouse's bed. "Brother Bartholomew? It's Joseph. I have completed the task you gave me. The residents of Noonvale have a new bell, which they rang at my wedding. I married Celaena, but I guess you may have figured that out on your own."
The old mouse smiles. "Then I'm proud to name you official Bellmaker to Lord Rawnblade once I am gone."
Outside the door, Celaena was whispering to Springbrooke about her fertility issues. Spring nodded. "Well, 47 seasons is far beyond any birthing age I know of, but my guess is the fates may bless you soon enough if you keep your head up."
Joseph came out and closed the door behind him, a few tear stains on his face. "Brother Bartholomew has gone to the quiet pastures."
Lord Rawnblade nodded, hiding his own grief. "Did he name a successor to him as Bellmaker?"
Joseph nods. "He did… I am to be his successor."
The badger puts a massive paw on Joseph's shoulder. "After his burial, we'll make it official. I'll show you to the bellfounder's quarters to use while you stay here. I won't make you live here permanently, but when I need a bell made, I'll need you to be here."
Joseph looks at Celaena, and then nods to the Badger Lord. "Alright, but my wife and I have to have a talk about something serious. We'll do that after the burial is over."
A few hours later, after Bartholomew's body was prepared, Joseph carried him between two rows of hares dressed to the nines with weapons raised down to the shore. A single stone was waiting, and Joseph laid the body in the hole in front of it. "Say hello to the Bellmakers gone on before you, Brother. I wish I had been able to get to know you better, but in the time I knew you, I learned more than I ever expected to. I'll uphold the title and duty of Bellmaker to the best of my ability, for as long as I'm able to serve as Bellmaker to anyone who has need of a bell."
With this short speech, Joseph threw the first pawful of sand into the grave, and the hares began filling in the grave. That night, after the memorial dinner was eaten, Lord Rawnblade led Joseph and Celaena to their quarters. Once unpacked, Celaena willed herself to talk to Joseph. "I know I told you I was a slave, but I never went into detail about it. Now I shall, and hopefully it'll explain why I haven't had children yet."
They sat down on the bed, and Celaena explained as best she could about her treatment as a slave. "As you know, I was taken from Noonvale at a young age, but the real horrors began when I was only eleven seasons old. My first love was killed in front of me to quell an uprising I led to try and help the other slaves escape... My punishment was a severe beating, first at the paws of my slavemaster, and then I was flogged by his whip. If I lost consciousness, I was brought back with salty water from the sea and flogged some more until they felt I had been beaten enough... It got worse when I turned sixteen seasons old."
Her voice broke, and Joseph held her. "If you can't tell me then I won't make you."
Celaena shook her head. "No, you need to know."
Joseph nodded, and Celaena continued. "The searats forced me to provide certain... services to them, claiming they were lonely and needed a female to ease their... needs."
Joseph was horrified. "You don't mean..."
Celaena nodded. "Sometimes it was the Captain, sometimes the slavemaster AND the Captain... and sometimes it was the entire crew at once."
She paused, wiped her eyes, and continued again. "I was violated in some of the worst ways possible for five full seasons. Then they decided I was used up, and it was back to the slave lines."
Joseph shook his head in utter disbelief. "Celaena... Is this why you've been worrying so much about me leaving?"
Celaena nodded, tears flowing from her hazel eyes. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me Joseph. I can't lose you, even if I am barren and unable to have children."
Joseph hugged his wife tightly as she cried on his chest. "I'd never leave you Celaena, especially knowing what I know now. If we have a child, then wonderful, but if we don't, then it won't change my feelings toward you."
Celaena looks at her husband, the tears flowing freely. "Do you mean that Joseph? Every word?"
Joseph nods to his wife. "Every word, Celaena. I promise."
Eventually Celaena fell asleep in Joseph's arms, and he tucked her in their bed before seeking out Springbrooke. "Hey Spring? Has Celaena ever expressed any concern over her fertility to you?"
The healer-hare nodded. "Earlier today in fact, while you were visiting with Brother Bartholomew. She didn't really go into detail though."
Joseph sighed. "She just told me why, but don't tell anyone."
Springbrooke agreed, and Joseph explained the reasons Celaena gave him. Springbrooke had to sit down to keep from falling in shock. "You can't be serious."
Joseph frowned. "Does it sound like I'm joking? These are her words, not mine."
Spring held her belly subconsciously, shaking her head slowly. "If Celaena ever has a child, it'll be a miracle, though the stress of childbirth may kill her. Should she survive, then the chances of having a second child are next to zero."
It wasn't what Joseph wanted to hear, but he thanked Springbrooke anyway and went back to his quarters, his chances of finally having a family seemingly getting lower with each passing day.
