War

Hello readers,
*clears throat* or I guess rather, reader (so sad). One person wants me to continue, and maybe the first chapter alone wasn't enough to get anyone interested...or my story is crap...one of those reasons is right. Anyway, here the next chapter, early as can be. I hope this gets ppl goin a little more. If not, then I stop here. All those pretty hits and only 3 rates and one review *sigh* (so so sad). Anyway, this isn't edited so sry if my fingers did a booboo. And hopefully someone will enjoy this. =(



2
A thin sliver of light reached Catherine's face buried in her woolen covers. She sighed and rose out of her bed, slipping off her nightgown and walking over to her stove for the warm pot of water to wash in. She bathed quickly and tied back her long chestnut hair into a thick braid that reached down to her hips. She lightly powdered her face, she didn't use too much, the powder was expensive and hard to find anymore. Ever since the rebel up-rise against the tyrant king, many things were hard to find at a decent price. Taxes were soaring, and starving out the poor. She slipped a clean linen dress on and gathered her baskets of damp laundry into her arms, wrestling them outside into the morning air. The sun was just peaking over the hills to the north, shedding little light onto the town and sending the morning mists into the air. Her mother would be following her shortly to the work, but she was older, and was slower to rise in the morning that she used to.

"Cat, oh Cat dear!"

She looked up to see her neighbor Aldeen waving to her excitedly, crossing the yard to meet her.

"Good morning Aldeen, what's the matter?"

The woman was towards the middle of her life, but with a very full house occupied by her and her husband and their five children.

"I wanted to ask you a favor Cat, would you mind washing my laundry by the river this morning? I have to feed the children yet and I forgot all about my morning work. I'll tell your mother where you've gone when she gets up and I'll pay you."

She drew Catherine in closely and pressed a cold hard disk of metal into her palm. She gazed at the silver coin in her hand, used to only ever seeing a few coppers there.

"Aldeen I can't take this." The woman smiled.

"Yes you can, now please do this for me, and save that. Use it to buy your maiden dress when you find a good man. You're almost to that age now you know. Suitors will be knocking at your door."

Catherine blushed, the woman was right; she was nearing her 17th summer. She was almost old to be without a husband in her town, she would have to find a husband soon. Hopefully one that could take her away from the boundaries of the war.

"Thank you."

Aldeen nodded to her and handed her the basket of laundry. She placed it surely on her hip and walked towards the outside of town and the river. She sighed once out of earshot and sight of her neighbors, she hated laundry. She rounded a curve into the trees and followed the worn path of dirt to her regular washing place. It wasn't far, just a few more yards and a sharp left into the trees. The sound of hooves on the dirt seemed to come out of nowhere; sounds could sometimes play tricks on people in the woods, the way they reverberated off the trees. She dared a glance from the ground to catch the king's colors, red and yellow. They were soldiers of the king, probably riding into town from the nearest city of Alabaster. They talked amongst themselves as Catherine pushed to the edge of the road to let them pass, her eyes plastered to the ground before her. They rode past and she relaxed a little.

"Go ahead Micah, I'll be behind you."

Catherine wanted to scream as a horse came up beside her again.

"Where are you headed?"

She remained silent and walked a little faster. She listened as he dismounted and began to walk beside her. He was tall, much taller than she was, and carried the heavy musk of a man.

"Please, let me help you with that, it looks heavy."

He reached for her basket but she jerked it away and dared a look at his face.

"I can handle it thank you."

Her face reddened with blush as she quickly looked away again. It was the tall soldier from the day before that had stared at her. She felt a cold stone of fear in the pit of her stomach; the situation wasn't going to end well.
She looked ahead of herself, it seemed like the spot for her to turn onto the river was moving away from her instead of getting closer.

"You look thin, if you aren't eating well I can lend you and your mother some coin."

She turned on him fiercely, dropping her basket onto the ground.

"I don’t want the kings charity from the kings play thing. You would give me a silver and expect a gold in return. A tax you would call it. I call it stealing!"

She snatched up her basket and marched away from the stunned soldier. She was shaking now, from anger and from fear of him calling his friends back to kill her. She listened as he remounted and began to ride away from her. It didn't lessen the tension in her shoulders. She jumped and whirled around as she heard the sound of a loud thud onto the ground. She was sure she would see the man right behind her but he was several yards away, lying strangely on the ground. His once calm and sturdy stallion was now whinnying loudly and throwing his head about as he pranced near his fallen master. She sighed her relief and decided that he must have been drunk and had fallen off his horse. She set her basket down again and walked towards him.

"Sir."

No response. She reached him and grabbed the reins of his horse, calming him a little as she knelt down by the soldier.

"Sir."

She placed a light hand on his shoulder and turned him over to see his face. She gasped and stumbled backwards. His eyes were wide open in fear, blood running gently from his lips and the white bristles of an arrow standing from his chest. She swallowed hard and looked to the forest to either side of her. She could see nothing, no movement, no faces, no anything. Her body was shaking now; a commoner wouldn't kill a soldier of the king for fear of the punishment. The rebels had reached her town. Her body shaking, she threw herself up onto the saddle of the stallion and pressed him into a hard gallop towards the town. It wasn't far from her, she could reach it easily.

An arrow whistled past her face and landed deep in the dirt before her. They were shooting from behind her, directly behind her. She wanted to risk a glance over her shoulder but she held steady to the road before her. She didn't dare look back for fear of seeing the faces of hundreds of monsters ready to consume her. She was nearing the turn in the trees; if she could make it the town's people would be able to see her and her pursuers. Four leather-clad horsemen leapt from the forests edge, seeming to emerge from the trees themselves. They stood in her path, weapons drawn and ready to stab and kill her. A glint of movement to her right drew her gaze; a spear flew from the forest and stabbed the ground before her. Before she could draw the reins the stallion screamed and fell over the weapon onto the ground, taking her with him. The dirt and rock of the road dug in deep into her left shoulder as she slid to a halt, the stallion stumbling to stand, his broken leg preventing him from doing so. Catherine winced but barely felt the pain as she pushed herself to her hands and knees. The horsemen had dismounted, and were approaching to trap their prize. She tried to scramble away into the ditch but a boot caught her foot and sent her to the ground again. She couldn’t help it, the scream slid from her throat without her thinking it.

"Mother!"

The thin, lanky man fell down upon her, placing his hand firmly over her mouth, cutting her call for help short. She kicked helplessly, tried to thrash her way away from him, but he was heavier than she was, and had help from his comrades. She was short work for them; they tied her hands and gagged her to keep her silent. But in this struggle she decided who was the leader of the five men before her. He was the only one who had done nothing. The others had tied her, placed her on a horse, and kept a close tab on her as they road back out, away from the town and road. He was tall, but not strangely, somewhere around six feet she would judge. His hair was a dark brown almost black color and his eyes a light cloudy gray. He wasn't built like most of the other men; the only way she could think to describe his physique was wolfish.

"Send word to the men to the north, we attack when the area is secure."

"Yes sir, what is the plan for the towns people?"

"Kill the guards, kill the men who oppose, capture the women and children. Give them to Wallace, he will deal with them as he always does."

"Yes sir. I'll send word to the north."

"What of the archers sir?"

"Prepare them, we release on the town before the mounted arrive. Tell them to await my signal from the north."

"And what of her sir?"

A short, portly man pointed at her, drawing the gaze of 'sir' to her. She swallowed hard and stared back at his gaze like a mouse stunned by the stare of a python.

"Take her to a safe distance, we'll take all the captured there. Pick someplace near the river for water when they're thirsty."

"Yes sir."

Two of the men, the portly one and the lanky one, mounted and began to take her further from her home and into the woods. They only road a short distance and stopped near the river. They dismounted and tied her to the branch of a tree. A bit of rope was left lax so she could reach the water if she leaned down as low as she could. Her gag was removed and the lanky man knelt near her for a brief moment.

"Stay quiet and hidden. If you try to run you'll be killed, because once you go into the town from this point on you're considered an enemy and will be killed."

Tears welled up in her eyes, her mouth was dry but she gasped out her concerns.

"My mother, she's in town."

"If she resists we'll kill her."

He began to move away from her and she fell forward onto her knees.

"No, please, I'll give you a silver just please let me go, let us go." He turned towards her again and smiled kindly.

"I can't do that miss, Azel has spoken."




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