Tags
discovery, exchange, Fantasy, prisoner, scriptic, short story, sunrise, Writing, writing prompt
The first rays of light crept over the distant horizon as she watched him while he slept, her mind wandering. She had chased after him across the entire continent, relentless in her pursuit. He had somehow managed to elude her for months. But in the weeks since his capture she had started to question her mission.
He thrashed against the ropes that bound him as he dreamed, his flush face covered in a cold sweat. The fever within him was winning the battle, sending pain coursing through his body. She watched him, as she had all night, feeling sympathy for him. But why should she care? It was made it clear to her that she could not return without him. But something had changed since she captured him, and it all started with how she captured him.
She had been ambushed by a band of thieves. They dispatched her final two guards before she had a chance to react. She was outnumbered and overpowered by the thieves when he came to her rescue. Afterwards, when she told him that she was going to have to take him with her, he surprised her even more. He smiled at her and said, “I know.” He went without a struggle and hasn’t made any attempt to escape. It is almost as though he wanted to be captured.
His convulsions grew stronger as the terrors of the fever-induced nightmares raged on in his mind. He cried out a name – the same name he called out every night since he came down with this fever. Her name. She moved across the camp to where he lay and sat down beside him, running her fingers through his hair to comfort him. And then it dawned on her: she loved him and she would defy orders to save his life. Even if it meant losing her own.
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For the Scriptic.org prompt exchange this week, Trencher at http://prosetrench.blogspot.com gave me this prompt: Write about a discovery during an unguarded moment at sunrise.
I gave Christine at http://trudgingthroughfog.wordpress.com this prompt: He believed that magic wasn’t real until the day…
Author David Wiley 