Milk from a Maiden's Breast
A Short Story by Elizabeth Scarborough
Edition Used for Analysis:
[Tales of the Witch World 1] (1989) Published by TOR, PB, 0-812-54757-8, 978-0-812-54757-3, $3.95, 343pg ~ cover by Victoria Poyser
Synopsis:
General Trugemma and her warriors are trapped by the wolves and face certain death. Out from the woods springs Freyti - Mosswife, Mother and Healer – who whistles to get the wolves’ attention and yells “Come play with me”. Misjudging how far away her escape route is, she gets caught by the wolves and is mortally wounded. When Trugemma reaches her and tries to comfort her in her last minutes Trugemma is sworn to take care of Fiibs the Mossdotter. Trugemma then travels deeper into the woods to return Freyti’s body and little Fiibs to the moss people. Only to get a lesson in humanity by the Bush-Grandmother and the history of the Moss Wives.
Timeline Points:
- p251. Story set in Escore after opening with Estcarp.
- p255. "…campaigning for three years solid…"
- p256. Escore's best hope since the Tregarths - Trugemma sat with Kyllan in council.
Sorcerer's Notes:
Trugemma mentions she's been fighting the Dark for the last 3 years, so this takes place 3 years after the Tregarth triplets entered Escore. (see: Three Against the Witch World) That would probably also place this sometime shortly before the conclusion of The Gate of the Cat where the Dark has been mostly cleansed from Escore.
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