Parting

Parting

A snapshot

Companion piece to  "The Idle Maiden of Wealth"   I recommend that you read them both as together they form a clearer picture but they each can stand on their own. As always, feedback positive or negative is  welcome and appreciated.


Related Pieces: Needlework

A woman, dressed in fine green velvets and silks, held a small girl dressed in soft pinks by the shoulders. The road beyond the castle was unpaved and muddied by a recent rain that still clung to the air. The child struggled to free herself but her mother's grip was too strong.

Tears ran down the girl's pale cheeks and her face contorted in pain but she knew better than to call out. Her blue eyes shone with tears yet to fall as she watched the mud-splattered legs of the horses grow further and further away until she could no longer tell what was mud and what was horse. The cold glint of the knight's armor was the last thing she saw as the riders disappeared into the distance, her brother with them.

She broke free and tried to run after them only to slip and fall into the cold mud. The cold sunlight caught in her tears and shimmered on the cloth that remained unsoiled by the mud. A sob escaped her tiny form and then another. Soon, she could no longer contain the force of her emotions and she began to bawl.

Servants pulled the little girl out of the mud and led her to a bath. Their pitying looks, unlike those of the noble ladies, were blatant on their faces. The girl cast a glance at her mother only to be met with a scowl, a glare, and a face flushed red from embarrassment or anger. The girl fought a fresh wave of tears as she followed the servants to the bath. She didn't dare look up from staring at her soiled clothes for fear of the expressions she would find on the faces they passed.

Later, as she lay in bed, tears silently slid across her cheeks to collect and sink into the pillow her head rested upon. Her hand curled around the edge of her comforter and crushed it in her small fist. In the morning, no one came to wake her and no one had come to open her curtains. The half-light of her room and her emotional distress lulled her back to sleep.

Many days passed in much the same way for the girl, interrupted only by meals and other such necessities for life. She was young and eventually, her brother became a distant memory swallowed by the passing of long years.