The next day, Kaneez was tasked with helping Audrey and she seemed to shudder every time she saw Edward or Hild carrying water or doing other new theow work.
"What's wrong?" Audrey whispered, when they had a few moments without any churls nearby.
"Nothing. This just reminds me… reminds me of my husband. I wonder if he even misses me. I can go weeks without even thinking about him, but when I do…"
Audrey wanted to give her a hug, but she knew that would look too familiar. Kaneez was still in restraints, with leg chains, but her hands were free when she was working. Audrey did go closer and patted her back though, in an attempt to show sympathy.
That turned out to be a mistake. Before she even knew what had happened, Kaneez had tackled her to the ground, grabbed the seax Audrey still had in her belt and started running as fast as she could towards Morcefres, who stood with his back turned a few feet away. It surprised Audrey that Kaneez could even run that fast with chained legs. As Audrey fell on the ground, she didn't see exactly what happened, but she heard Kaneez scream and saw several churls running towards her. Audrey tried to get back on her feet, but she was too dizzy. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was one of the other theows standing over her looking alarmed.
When she woke up, she had a terrible headache and there was a bright light overhead. She groaned and tried to shield her eyes from the light. It was dimmed immediately.
"You're awake! How do you feel?" a man's voice asked. Audrey could only groan in reply.
"Sorry. Here, drink this, you'll feel better." Audrey managed to gulp down a few gulps of water. After about 5 minutes, she did feel better. Enough to look at her surroundings, now that the bright light was gone. She was in a room that was very different from what she had expected. What had she been expecting?
"Where am I? What happened?"
"You are in the infirmary. You were attacked by the slave girl and got a nasty bump on the head. Can you remember anything?"
Slave girl? That didn't seem like the correct word to her.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, right, you might not have seen me yet. I am not often down in the general area. I'm Edmund. You may have heard of me as the wizard."
Wizard? That gave a faint spark of recognition.
"Now, can you tell me, what is your name? And what is the last thing you remember?"
Her name? Why was that a completely impossible question to answer?
"I… I don't remember my name. All I remember is that I was feeding the chickens, and there was a lot of shouting and then I woke up here."
"Hmm, it sounds like you might have amnesia. You need a lot of rest and quiet, then we'll see if you recover."
Amnesia? Was that why she couldn't remember anything? She felt really confused and soon fell asleep again. In her dreams, she thought she heard the tail end of an argument.
"…How will you be able to keep that up indefinitely? She will realize the truth, sooner or later."
"We'll just keep her at the castle until we're more certain it's permanent. It's none of your concern anyway."
"You're right. I just hope you're prepared for what happens if she does remember."
"She's still a theow. That won't change. We just won't need to worry about her running away. She'll be an example for others."
"Whatever. You do what you want, as always."
"You know I always value your input, Edmund. What is the status on the search for the missing couple?"
"They're coming closer. I don't think we can risk waiting much longer."
The dream ended there.
When she woke up a second time, it wasn't the wizard that was sitting next to her, it was the scop. Audrey remembered her, she told wonderful stories.
"Ah, you're awake. How is your head?"
"Much better. Though I still don't remember much."
"I suspected you wouldn't. But don't worry, that is what I am here for. To help you fill in the holes in your memory. Do you remember your name? Or where you come from?"
"No. I remember that my job is to take care of the animals. And something about a train."
"Allow me to help fill it in then. Your name is Audrey, and you are among the many theows of the Lady of Bamburgh. Your job is indeed to care for the animals, and you are doing a great job of it."
The scop spent the rest of the day explaining to Audrey many things that she had forgotten. Occasionally, when her head hurt again, the scop gave her some medicine that helped with the pain. Audrey remembered parts of what the scop said, and most of it sounded correct. The scop tested it once, by saying something that was not true, and Audrey knew right away that it was not. She had never been cursed by the wizard. She had hardly even seen him, until he was present when she woke up the first time. Yet she felt that there was something she was missing, something important.
The scop seemed pleased by their progress by the end of the day and said so.
"You are doing remarkably well, for how big of a knock you got. I have full confidence that you will be fully recovered before long. Now, please rest some more. Don't worry about the animals, there are others who can do the basic care for them as you recover."
"What happened to the theow that attacked me, Kaneez?"
"Oh, she's being punished. She's currently being strapped to the wooden horse and for each day you are out of service, she gets 20 lashes. She spends the night out in the jougs, even when it rains. She is feeling very sorry about her actions."
"What was she trying to do? She must have known she wouldn't get far."
"She tried to get us to kill her. And maybe kill some of us too. She will spend the rest of her days regretting it. I have hardly ever seen the Lady be so furious."
"Is the Lady angry with me? For letting Kaneez get to my seax?"
"No. Some of the others saw what happened, and it was obvious that she took you by surprise. She won't get another chance like that again."
Audrey was relieved by that. She didn't remember all the details, but she knew that the Lady could be vicious to the ones who displeased her. She felt reassured as she once again drifted off to sleep. She thought she could hear the sound of a woman crying out in pain below her.