| Board : | |
| Author : | |
| Subject : | |
| Date : | |
|
He was a charmer, I must admit. I tried so hard to resist it, but we were drawn together like magnets; inevitable in the end, I was drawn like a moth to a flame. We married in the spring of my seventeenth year, both dapper in pale blue garb. We always agreed, it was our favorite color, so eager for our daily walks to the market to pass the field of waving hydrangeas time and time again. Often, we would stop, the soft floral scent swirling in our nostrils; he would turn, take my face between his hands, his eyes dancing across my palid skin before our gaze would meet. That soft curl of his lips - it would send goosebumps down my arms, each downy hair springing straight up; my knees would shake, my stomach taking flight. "So lost...those soft blue pools. I get so lost in your eyes..." He was a charmer. I must admit. We spent a few years in our wedded bliss; as time would pass, his sweet sentiments never faltered. Oft times I questioned if I deserved such adoration; like a speeding horse that one could not stop, I wondered when the impact would hit...but day by day, it remained the same. In time, my worries disipated. As everyone around me was convinced, I, too, decided that perhaps I was just the luckiest girl around. In the third year of our union, in the spring, we received a parchment; as a tailor by trade, a colleague in a neighboring kingdom had told him of a new tincture of dye that a travelling merchant had brought them. "The most lovely shade of blue, you simply must see it." "No, no..." he insisted, waving his hands dismissively, "I couldn't possibly. I would miss you too dearly. Besides, you are with child, and I have too many obligations here." His grimace softened into a sorrowful smile as he looked upon me. "I have everything I need right here." As much as it pained me, I insist in return! "Dear, you must. You have been looking for a way to make your mark in your field; this might be it! It is not too far. You will not be gone long. I will be right here, waiting for you..." I rubbed my belly. "And so will he." With a heavy sigh, he relented; he would leave the following morning, borrowing a reliable steed from our neighbor, and would return post haste! I kissed him lightly and wished him well; he lingered on my eyes for a moment more before nudging the horse onward, towards the horizon. That night, the bed we shared feels so empty without him there beside me; I am plagued by horrible dreams. Clattering strikes against stone in the darkness, black fabric sweeping towards a body, crumpled on a path. A single emaciated hand extending from a tattered sleeve; shadows decend, obscuring the vision, and only darkness remains. I shock to wakening, my heart pounding in my chest. Oh no, oh dear...a terrible omen. A heavy dread coalesces in the deep recesses of my mind, I spend the following days in worry, waiting...waiting...to see his face again. Each night, as I slumber, the same horrible dreams would greet me with sharp teeth, burrowing themselves deeper and deeper... Deeper and deeper. Those long, bony fingers curling about my throat, snatching the air from my lungs... On the fifth day, I hear the shuffling of hooves against dirt. A wave of relief washing over me; he has returned! Safe and sound, the tears welling in my eyes as I watch him dismount the steed. Safe and sound. He turns to me, his face radiant, the sun after a long period of rain; his smile so broad I fear his face might crack entirely. He hurries toward me, his arms wrapping about me, snug and tight; safe and sound. The both of us. Safe and sound. Frantic hands find their way to my face, holding it firmly; those eyes, dancing about, memorizing my visage again at long last. Our gaze meets yet again. Safe and sound, yet again. Sobbing still, I smile at him; this time, however, his lips curl down, his brow knitting in confusion and fear. "...your eyes...have changed..." A ghostly sharp finger grazes the nape of my neck... Alys | |