11.
Gareth looked to the house
where the Princess had stayed for the last week; all alone in there, while he
took shelter beneath the stars. It was the same nightly when she would send him
off out there, while the pair of wolves stood guard at the doorway. He found
himself drawn to her but held back as she was the Princess. More to that, she
did not displayed any moves that would allowed him to expressed his feelings,
except for that one time, she had wept on his shoulder.
"Alas! Gareth muttered
to himself. "I would stick to my own Gwen of Steinheim." Gwen was his
close friend in the village prior to the war, and had lost touch with her since
then. He smiled at the thoughts of Gwen and how they used to run together in
the village. He smiled on and then walked to the nearby stream to wash up for
the morning meal. It was near there when he heard the voice calling him,
"Gareth?" The voice
was on the right side and he looked there.
"Gwen? Is that really
you?" Gareth saw the lady standing before him, dressed in her farm dress,
and holding the basket of fruits.
"Aye, it’s me. I missed
you." Gwen replied to him and ran over to hug him. He had hugged her
before; maybe twice but those were during greetings with the families. He had
never hugged her in other times, lest held her hands, although they had chatted
for hours.
"What are you doing
here?" Gareth asked of her.
"Aye, I lived over
yonder and heard from your ma'er that you are here." Gwen smiled at him.
"Look, I brought you some juicy apples."
Gareth looked at the apples
in the basket. They looked juicy and red with the freshness of just being
plucked. He was reach for one, when he heard the growl of the wolf.
"Wolf!" Gwen reacted
in fright, in which Gareth stepped forward to protect her. He rise up his arms
at the wolf, as he was unarmed, having left his sword at the campsite.
"Move, Michael. She is a
friend." Gareth told the wolf that remained there growling. Gwen held onto
his back and was sobbing.
"Move, Michael or I
shall call on your mistress." Gareth told the wolf once more and then it
turned to run back to the house. He then turned to look at Gwen and held her in
his arms. He soothed her down, and asked her to sit down.
"Nay, I can't. I got to
go. Ma'er waiting for me." Gwen handed over the basket of juicy red
apples. "Have this for yourself. Or share one with her in the house."
With that, Gwen ran off into
the forest despite his pleading to stay. Soon she was gone and he was holding
the basket of apples. He then heard the call of the Princess who was running
towards him with the wolf at her side.
"Gareth, what happened
here? Michael came growling to me." Princess Clarity asked. "Are you
in any pain?"
"Nay, I was with Gwen.
She brought me some apples." Gareth showed her the basket of apples.
"Gwen? Who's Gwen?"
Princess Clarity asked. She then looked at the apples. They looked juicy and
delicious. She had tasted apples before during the war, but there were hardly
any apple trees there in the forest.
"Gwen was my village
friend. We grew up together. She was staying over yonder with her ma'er."
The simple reply by Gareth was all convincing and then he handed over to the
Princess an apple.
"Here, have one. Gwen gave
me these." Gareth extended the apple to the Princess. She took it from his
hand and looked at it. It was then Michael growled again, and she looked at
Gareth.
"There are no houses
nearby when I was staying here before. More to that, there were no apple trees
here." Princess Clarity weighed the apple in her hand. "Are you sure
you met Gwen?"
"Yes, I am sure. I could
smell her...." Gareth looked down to his basket of apples with the
sheepish smile. He recalled holding her and the smell of the body on his. It
was so exhilarating. He then looked at the Princess.
"I knew Gwen. She won't
harm me. Or you too, Clare." It was the first time he called her by the
nickname. He then reached for an apple from the basket and took a bite. Next
thing he knew, he was not in the forest, but back at the village.
His own village with his
neighbors.
They were all rushing with
their weapons drawn, and looking to fight someone.
Or something.
"Grab a position,
Gareth." It was the Village Head, Luker Moran.
He recalled. It was then
before the attack by the army of King Bannion. Before he was to join the exodus
with the rest and found Clare. He was thrown back in time. He ran to the
barricade; shoddy piled up of overturned wagons and wooden crates. He joined
the blacksmith and the woodsman.
"Gareth, nice to have
you watching my back here?" Jones the Blacksmith told him while he weighed
the mallet on his hands. It was part of his trade tools, but in crisis like
these, he used the same tool to smash bones and skulls. Jones was previously a
pike man and found his mantle in the iron foundry.
"King Bannion had his
army assembled there. According to the shepherds, they saw Lord Cornell with
him." Gareth heard the update from the woodsman. He might have been in the
woods and knew the shepherds.
"It can't be. I knew
Lord Cornell was with the Queen." Gareth recalled the Lord was with Clare
then in the village. He did recall it was Lord Summer who invaded the village
then. The Lord was working on the orders of King Bannion. And his army was only
two hundred but the one that was assembled on the hill side was more than five
hundred strong.
"Gareth, move
over." He looked over and saw it was Gwen. She was carrying a farmer's hay
fork, with the long handle. And more to his knowledge if he was witnessing was
reality, Gwen was supposed to be in the temple with the other ladies of her
age. She was not supposed to be here.
"Ain't you supposed to
be in...?” Gareth did not complete his words. He saw the blacksmith's young boy
who was in still not in his puberty carrying a dagger and taking position by
the father. Gareth grabbed the kid, but the father stopped him.
"Leave my boy alone. He
would stand by me to fight. It’s our customs. Have you forgotten?" The
Blacksmith pulled his son back on the barricades. Gareth stepped back and
looked at them.
This was not how it happened
then.
It was all wrong.
All wrong.
"Funny how we could
witness something and when someone changed it, we get confused." The voice
moved Gareth to look to his left side. There was an older lady standing there
with a long staff in her right hand. She had gray streaks of hair on her long
hair locks, and was dressed in a red gown with a matching darker red cloak.
"Hello, Gareth. You may
not recognize me, but you may of her." The older lady became Gwen in her
farm dress. She then changed back to her older lady persona.
"I am Queen Morgana, the
grandmother of your Queen, or Clare as you wished to call her." The older
lady told him. "You are the simple one. The only one I could hit on with
my spells, and took my bait. Sadly, it was not her."
"You harmed Clare and I
would ...." Gareth threatened back.
"Kill me? Perhaps not.
Or shall I say, nay. You are too ...simple and yet not a murderous kind."
The older lady told him. "I did not expect you to be here. I was to trap
Clare, but you took the first bite."
Lady Morgana glared at him.
"You did not kiss her
yet? You liked her but yet you would not kiss her. You are so....simple. You
have not even kissed Gwen. You are pathetic, Gareth, for a man." Lady
Morgana taunted him. "However, I am not here to inquire on my
granddaughter. If she was here, she would be dead soon. Dead in my world and
dead in sleep in yours till her life get exhausted."
"Harm her and I would
really ...kill you." Gareth approached her but she waved her hand and he
was back at the stream.
"Gareth, are you
awake?" It was Clare talking to him. He nodded, and she leaned down to
kiss him on his lips. He returns her kiss, and later hugged her. He was thankful
for being alive.
Alive with Clare.
The one he had loved then.
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