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THE WIND CHANGED DIRECTION and my nose was assaulted with the smell of something burning. I sniffed at the air trying to hone in on where it was coming from. I thought someone might be burning firewood or something and continued home.
When I finally got close enough, I saw where the smell was coming from. The walls of my cottage were charred heavily and when I walked to my window, the shutters were completely cooked. Stepping back away from it, I walked around to the front door.
I stood outside, unable to bring myself to go in. Maybe Mother wasn’t home when this happened. Maybe she was out in the fields fetching water.... Maybe.
I stood there staring at the torched door for half an eternity. The door was hanging—held up only by its bottom hinge. I inhaled deeply and then forced my foot to take a step. I paused, inhaled again and took another one. When I reached the entrance I pushed the half open, half hanging door aside and walked in. The baked room was dark, lit solely by the night sky peeking in through the incinerated roof.
The fire must’ve died down before it could turn everything to ashes. The outside definitely took the brunt of it. Whoever set the fire, didn’t seem to do it correctly. Taking a few more steps I saw her. She was by the window, hunched over, on the ground. I ran to her side. “Mother!”
No response.
My hands took hold of her shoulders and in one strenuous pull, I lifted my mothers body and turned her over. Her skin was black and her clothes were fused to her body. I couldn’t tell where she began and her clothing ended. I knelt by her side unsure of what to do.
Then I remembered what I saw the blacksmith do once when a boy had fallen in the river. I moved the hand that clutched her chest out of the way and then pounded on her chest and slapped her across the face. “Mother! Wake up! Mother!” I tried again and again, but there was no sign of life. She was gone.
“I shouldn’t have left you. I’m sorry.” My breath became shallow and rapid. Breathing was becoming difficult and the room still smelled of smoke. My mother always wore a necklace around her neck—a single emerald. A piece of burnt ribbon was sticking out of the hand that had laid on her chest. The one I moved out of the way to pound on her. I pried her fingers apart and there it was, her emerald.
I took it and placed it in my pocket for safekeeping. I leaned forward, placed a kiss on Mother’s forehead and then it occurred to me. Where was Biron? Did he make it out alive?
I went to their bedroom to see if he was there. The door wouldn’t open easily. I pushed on it, but it wouldn’t give. I braced myself against the door and slowly, inch by inch I pushed and it crept open. A thud came from behind and it swung open half way. I slid in between the door and the jamb and to my horror, there was Biron with an arrow through his chest.
This wasn’t an accidental fire like I had initially thought. He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t have to take care of me, but he always did. I wasn’t born his daughter. He wasn’t my blood, but he never acted that way. I should’ve been nicer to him. He took care of me, loved me and I never really gave him a chance. I wished I could apologize to him. I wished I could thank him, but it was too late. He was gone. Everything I had, my family, my life—it was all gone.
In my bedroom not much had survived the fire. In my closet, all my clothing was toast. My bed, toast. The space under the window, against the wall where I usually leaned my practice sword, stood empty. The only thing remaining of my father was now gone too—taken from me.
My only possessions were the clothes I was wearing and Mother’s emerald. Oddly, my emotions switched from sadness to anger and back to sadness. I didn’t know what to feel anymore. Wait. If he was killed, does that mean...
I ran back over to my mother and looked her over. Unfortunately her skin was too burnt for me to tell if she had died another way and there wasn’t anything obvious like an arrow. I stood, took one more look at Mother’s body, the image burned into my memory and ran outside. A sudden numbness possessed me. I couldn’t feel anything anymore. I wondered what I was going to do.
One final thought popped into my head. “Mata!” I yelled. Sprinting over to the stable, I held onto the hope that she was still there. The stable was untouched, but Mata was no where to be found. Stolen. She had to be.
I tried to stay strong. I tried not to let it affect me, but I couldn’t help it. The tears flowed without my say so. Then I couldn’t catch my breath. I felt like a child. What was I going to do now? There was only one person that I knew would care. At least he used to care. Now, he seemed to hate me. I wiped my eyes and looked around. My life here was over. I inhaled deeply, let it out in a rush and started on the trail that had formed from walking to Lucah’s house so many times.
When I arrived at his family’s house, I raised my hand to knock and stopped just before my knuckles hit the door. What if Lucah turned me away? What if he said there was no place for me here? What if...? I had no where else to go, so I knocked.
Lucah’s mother, Joselyn, answered the door. “Hello Alora. Lucah told us you were both chosen to join the king’s army...” She stopped talking when I started to cry. “Oh dear.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house. “What’s the matter dear?”
Choking on my words I explained. “My cottage, um... um, my mother... father... they’re gone.”
“What do you mean gone?”
“Dead.”
“Dead?”
I still couldn’t speak coherently. “House burned... no where to go.”
“You can stay here with us until we figure something out. You could be the daughter I never had. In a house full of boys, you’d be a welcome change.”
I threw myself at her and wrapped my arms around her body.
“There, there dear,” she said, patting my back and stroking my hair. “A terrible thing has happened, but we’ll help you get through it.”
“Lucah! Alora is here!” she shouted over her shoulder.
Lucah emerged from his room. “What was that Mother?”
I looked up still sobbing on his mother’s shoulder. I was expecting him to look at me with hate in his eyes, but I could see they were filled with concern.
“What’s happened?” he asked, rushing over to me.
I released his mother and using the backs of my hands, wiped my eyes. “Something terrible,” I said.
Before I could explain any further, the front door flew open. His father, Tybus, rushed in holding an axe covered in blood. Lucah’s two brothers were on his heels carrying bows. The door slammed shut. “Smother the candles,” he told his sons. “Lucah, arm yourself, boy.” They made quick work of blowing the candles out. Lucah ran to his room and then quickly returned with a sword. “Father, what’s wrong?” Lucah asked.
“Shhh.” His father was looking out the window while holding the curtain slightly to the side. “Lucah take the other window. Jonah take the back window and Ethan take the one in my room. If you see any movement, inform me quickly.”
They all did as they were told and Lucah didn’t ask anything else while he focused his attention into the night.
“What should I do, Tybus?” I asked him.
“Grab a dagger from the kitchen and protect yourself.”
“I’m a knight... or going to be,” I said. “I can do more than that.”
“Shhh,” his father shushed and waved me off.
When Tybus was content no one was coming for us, he requested we stay in the darkness just in case. We all gathered around the dining table with Tybus sitting at the head and Joselyn to his left. I sat by Lucah’s side and his brothers decided to stand.
“Tybus, what’s happening?” Joselyn asked her husband.
Tybus took her hands in his and searched for the right words. “We were out hunting in the area around the lake, when we heard screaming. We went to investigate and see if we could lend a hand. Homes were on fire and... dead... so many dead...
“I killed one man who was trying to hurt a young lady. She couldn’t have been much older than Alora. I wasn’t about to stand by while that happened. When all was said and done, one got away. For all we know he went to get reinforcements.” He finally noticed that I was alone. “Alora, where are your folks?”
I looked down at the floor.
Lucah’s mother placed her hand on his shoulder and answered for me. “They were killed Tybus. Her home... burned.”
“I’m so sorry....” He didn’t know what else to say.
The next morning Lucah’s father and brothers left at dawn to finish the hunt they had started. With an extra mouth to feed, they needed to restock their meat supply. Joselyn had finished washing clothes and was out back hanging them up to dry, which left me and Lucah alone in the house.
If I didn’t know any better, I would think I imagined the way he was treating me yesterday. This morning he was just as friendly as ever. I dug in to the plate of pork ribs he placed in front of me.
“What do you want to do?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I answered.
“Do you want to go look for your father’s practice sword?”
“It’s gone. I don’t ever want to go back there.” I tried not to think about home. The pain would swell, my heart felt like it would stop, tremble and then explode from my chest. The thought of being a knight was the only thing keeping the explosion contained and the tears in my eyes.
“But, aren’t you going to give them a proper send off?”
I hadn’t even thought about that. He was right of course, I couldn’t just leave them like that. I had to send them off the right way. “Will you help me?”
“Of course,” Lucah said, and then he looked around the room.
He scooted his chair closer to mine until he was right there, merely inches from me. I sucked the grease off my fingers and wondered why he was so close. He leaned in, bringing his face closer and closer. I closed my eyes, not sure what to do.
His lips gently pressed against my greasy ones. It was my first kiss and as quickly as it started, it was over. The door flung open, hitting the wall with a thud and Lucah’s brothers stormed in. They had gone hunting and by the looks of it were successful.
“You know I could’ve made the shot. My bow was lined up perfectly,” his younger brother Ethan whined.
“Well you were too slow, because I shot ‘em.”
His brothers stopped talking and fixated on the two of us. They held their gaze for what seemed like half an eternity. Lucah looked embarrassed, his face turning strawberry red. They flung their spoils onto the table. Two squirrels each. “Mother,” Jonah called out, “we caught four in total.”
“She’s not here,” I informed him.
He looked at me and then his gaze paused on Lucah. Lucah sat still, simply staring into space. His eyes returned to me and he asked, “Do you know when she’ll be back?”
“Oh, she didn’t go far. She’s out back hanging up the laundry.”
He elbowed his youngest brother. “Go tell mom what we caught.”
He nodded.
Jonah laid his bow on the table by the squirrels and went to his room. Lucah turned around when he heard his door shut. He stood, said, “I need some air,” and left. Was he embarrassed that we were almost caught kissing? Or was he simply embarrassed of me?
The breeze from him leaving stirred my hair and I wanted to brush it back into place, but my fingers were still greasy. I never understood the whole boy-girl dynamic. The way boys would act around girls and the way girls would act around boys. Like flicking their hair. What is that about? Do boys really like that?
I finished eating the tasty ribs Lucah had served me and washed my dish, along with all the others that needed washing. The last thing I wanted was for Joselyn to become upset with me. I needed to earn my keep while they were nice enough to put up with me.
After drying the last dish, I was placing it into the cupboard with the others, when the door swung open and Lucah charged straight for me with a crazed look in his eyes. My first thought was that he was about to hurt me, but when he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close, I learned what that look really meant. Our lips touched again. This time when he pulled away, he smiled. He reached for my hand and I willingly accepted. “Where are we going?” I asked, as he led me outside.
I didn’t feel like running, but Lucah urged me on. I liked to be chased, but wasn’t feeling up to it right now. Something just didn’t feel right. I didn’t want to be happy at the moment. It felt as if I was disrespecting my family. I shouldn’t be laughing, I should be crying—mourning them. Lucah waved for me to follow him up the hill and I dragged my way to him. At the top, he opened his arms wide. “Look, your meadow’s untouched. Come on,” he said smiling from ear to ear, “try and catch me.”
I shook my head and crossed my arms, but he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Standing right in front of me, he waved his hand and asked for my foot. “What?” I asked. “That’s an odd request.”
He motioned with his hand for it. “Just give me your foot.”
“Nay. Have you gone crazy?”
He shook his head and dropped down to his knees. He took hold of the back of my ankle. I tried to break free of his grip, but almost fell in the process. He undid the laces and yanked it off. “You want it, come and get it.” He waved it in the air and took off running into the meadow.
I undid the laces and removed my other shoe and started after him. With his long legs there was no way I was going to catch him, but I didn’t care. For now I was happy just trying.
When he finally stopped, I reached for my shoe and he quickly shifted it out of my grasp. I reached again and he ducked out of arms reach. I stood cross armed glaring at him.
“Fine. Here take it,” he said, holding it out for me.
I reached for it and he pulled his arm back. I stepped forward and reached again, but he stepped back out of my reach. I understood he was trying to play around and make me feel better, but this was just annoying me. I threw my other shoe at him. When he moved his arms to block it, I tackled him to the ground.
I lay on top of him gazing into his eyes. I brushed his hair out of his face and ran my fingers through that spot on his temple.
“I’m going to send a falcon to the king with my parents permission later.”
“I completely forgot about that,” I said, still focused on the depth of his sky blue eyes.
“What are you going to do?”
“Do about what?”
“About your parents permission.”
Breaking out of the fog I was currently in, I thought about it. Would the king allow me to go even without their permission? Lucah didn’t think he would.
“Maybe I could send a letter with yours telling the king what happened. Surely he would make an exception for me. Wouldn’t he?”
“I’m not so sure. But if you want to send him a letter, we better do it now.”
After I had my fill of the grass, trees and the sunflowers, we returned to Lucah’s home.
“Lucah,” his father called stumbling in with a message. “Falcon came for you. It’s a letter from the castle.”
“What does it say?” Lucah asked.
“Here take it. It’s your message,” Tybus said, and then handed it to him.
“What does it say?” I asked, watching him intently as he read it to himself.
Lucah had sent his permission letter back to King Remi yesterday. I also sent a letter asking what I should do. I was hoping my answer was included with Lucah’s response.
“It says a carriage will be waiting for me at Caskars Bridge at dawn tomorrow, and it will take me directly to the castle.” I waited patiently. “It says to bring nothing, everything will be provided for.”
I couldn’t wait any longer. “What does it say about me?” I asked, eagerly awaiting his answer.
“Nothing. It doesn’t mention you.”
“What?” I ripped the message from his hands and read it out loud. He was right. I wasn’t mentioned at all.
Lucah’s family celebrated his final evening with them. Joselyn made a great feast consisting of baked pig, potatoes, carrots, broth, sweet bread and roasted squirrel brains.
Her sweet bread was fantastic, but I always had to be careful—too much and my stomach would ache for hours. Tybus told tales of Lucah’s childhood, including the times he would remove his clothing and run around, how did he put it, stark naked. Everyone was having a good time and all I could think about was what I should do.
“I’m going to go for a walk,” I whispered into Lucah’s ear.
“Want me to come with?”
“Nay, I need to think.”
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t received anything from the king. At the very least he could’ve turned me down instead of leaving me in limbo. If I couldn’t join the king’s army, then what would I do? Would Joselyn and Tybus let me stay with them? And for how long?
I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and didn’t realize where I was until I lifted my head. A dark flood of ashes stood where my home used to be. Lucah’s family had helped me set the fire and make sure everything was incinerated. Tybus said the land was mine and I could rebuild if I chose to and that he would help. I thanked him and said I wasn’t going to rebuild at the moment since I was going away. That was of course when I thought I was still going away.
I decided to leave the stable intact. Biron had done a great job building it, pleased with himself saying that it could withstand the strongest of storms. And it had. Inside was Mata’s bridle and saddle. Whoever took her apparently didn’t need or want them. I missed her and I missed my family. I stared at the ground trying to figure things out when I heard a falcon’s cry. I lifted my head and saw a falcon circling overhead. It landed on the falcons perch just outside the stable and cried out. I untied the letter from its leg and read it.
Dearest Alora. I am sorry to hear what has happened to your family. Due to this unfortunate event, I realize they cannot give their permission. If you so choose, your position in my army will be waiting for you. There will be a carriage waiting at Caskars Bridge at dawn tomorrow. I have instructed the driver to wait for your arrival. If by some chance, you choose not to join my army, please return this falcon with your decision.
And it was signed by the king himself.
A smile ran across my face and I clutched the letter to my chest. While I was reading the letter, the falcon had taken off and it let out a cry overhead. I looked up at the sky and mouthed a thank you. The news was too exciting to wait. I ran towards Lucah’s house hard and fast, but I had to slow down. The shoes Joselyn lent me were slowing me down so I slowed even more and — hopping on one leg at a time — took them off.
Now barefoot, my stride improved. I was running so fast my feet barely grazed the ground. They only touched for a split second allowing the forest floor to be bearable underneath my soles. It felt like I was almost flying.
This time it was me who burst through the door. “My dear, what’s the matter,” Joselyn said after I had startled everyone. I couldn’t speak just yet. I needed to catch my breath so I held out the letter. Joselyn read it out loud and everyone except Lucah cheered. “Turns out we have two young ones to celebrate,” Tybus said.
“Lucah, what’s wrong?” I asked puzzled by his response to my good news.
“Nothing,” he answered, and then went to his room.
I followed him and shut the door behind us.
“Are you upset about something?”
“Nay. I think I ate too much sweet bread,” he answered, and then plopped down on his bed face down.
“Would you like me to rub your stomach? Mother always did that for me and it helps.”
“Nay. I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Um... fine then. Good night.” I kissed him on the cheek and left him alone.