Fallow Field (Blogohphilia 18.13)

I stop at the edge of the fallow field and close my eyes. It had been a very long night. Eleanor's last breaths had been painful to watch. Scarlet blood on her white dress was still vivid in my memory. She richly deserved her fate.  A wicked deed, Salome personified, beguiling me into dropping my guard. It had to be done. When the sword was raised there was no begging and my grudging respect. I understood what the King saw in her. The sword in her belly would play in my mind everyday for eternity. 

I must move on. I open my eyes and trod further up the hill. 

Traveling all night, I needed to find shelter. The morning fog hung close. A hard pack trail lined with flowering bushes wound before me, rising toward a copse of trees before the top of the ridge. It should provide good shelter from view. I would spend the day in the shade, plotting my course and watching for the King’s men. 

I made cover as the smoke left the hill. Sweat rose up from the exertion. The thicket was uninviting, but it would do. I found an opening and went in. I was greeted with a flat area to rest. I could hear water toward the cliffside, a good omen. Water meant if the weather changed, I could stay and conserve supplies. I hung my sack on a low branch and sat to assess the situation.

The battle and its aftermath were regrettable. But a small price to pay to show the King the error his ways. Besides the traitor Eleanor, a few soldiers had fallen before me. It was over so quickly, I had not even realized I had made it into the woods. 

I gathered straw and prepared a bed as best I could over the sharp pebbles. but sleep wouldn’t come. Had they realized Dark Wing left the nest? The body should have been discovered by now and a search party sent. Rolling over, I crawl to the edge of the wood to see if anyone had left.

The castle lay on the far side of the valley, glowing in the midday sun. The path was fully visible. A lone horseman was a short distance from the gate going at a slow lope. Too far off to be certain, but it looked Galwain’s horse. Not exactly who I would have chosen to find me. He couldn’t find a bear in a cave. If the planets align, he’d take the left fork at the stream and I’d be home free. 

Everything began to darken to black. I looked up. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. There was a rumor an eclipse was coming. What that was or meant I didn’t know. It wasn’t going to matter whether the horse went left or right. I wasn’t going anywhere. 

I would just have to wait.  

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Topic-Jay Sole

Pic-Dahlia Ramone

Pic guesses: fog (in blog), smoke on the hill (in blog), Fairie land, Obscured, Quiet,