Here is a little teaser from my current project. Just to clarify I don't edit along the way, only when I am done so there might occur mistakes etc and the text might seem a bit rough around the edges.
They followed the overgrown path out of town as they had done so many
times before, walking in silence as the moon cast eerie shadows around them.
With every passing day they both felt an urgency to have these secret meetings
that neither of them could really explain. It was common knowledge that the two
young ones had a very special relationship and were rarely seen around town
without each other, so why this sudden need for secrecy Merija pondered on once
again. The path cleared ahead of them
and revealed a small meadow with a large tree in the middle. In front of the
tree a small plot had been dug and a small improvised wooden cross marked the
spot where they had laid to rest the dog that they had both cared for. The dog
had been a stray left by a knight at the baron’s last banquet almost 7 years
ago. These days the baron did not entertain much and it was rare that the local
town-folk saw anything of him or his family. The dog that they had lovingly
named Half-tail had not been popular with the trades-men always sniffing and
licking, sometimes even marking its territory, but it had not deserved the fate
it was given. Early one morning Merija had woken to find the whimpering dog
outside the bakery, seemingly it had been attacked by a larger animal and died
soon afterwards in her arms. It had licked her hand to the end and when it died
she felt a little part of her die with it. Even now tears came to her eyes by
the mere thought. Eigan shrugged impatiently when he followed her gaze and
started the journey up the tree. Something about the whole incident always
stirred weird reactions in Eigan that she could not quite understand. Sometimes
he seemed almost remorseful as if he had been the one who had killed the dog.
Almost concealed to the world
around them they both climbed the tree with ease having in-depth knowledge of
the nooks and holes best suited for such a thing. In the treetop they had hung
various instruments of entertainment; a book, a lantern, a pouch with some left
over dried fruit and a deck of cards. Sometimes Merija would bring some sweet
rolls from the bakery if she had made mistakes and they had to be thrown to the
pigs anyway, but lately she had been too good at following her father’s
instructions. Eigan motioned to turn on the lantern when they heard heavy
footsteps stepping through the canopy below them. He froze and drew the hood
over his head once again. Merija hoped that the thickness of the branches and
the fact that the moon was not partly concealed behind clouds would hide her
from view. The penalty for being outside the town after darkness was not harsh,
because the creatures that sometimes hunted in these parts would deal a harsher
punishment than anything you would experience in town. Shaking with fear she
reached out for Eigan’s hand and clung on to it as she found it, her heart
pounding so hard against her rib-cage that she was convinced whatever was down
there would hear her. There had been no reports of wild creatures taking any of
the villager’s live-stock so this would be the first anyone would hear of them
before the killings started again. Merija and Eigan had only been small
children when the last pack of rat-men had haunted the forests surrounding the
city. Further south it was normal to see these half-breeds among normal people,
but here north of the capitol the creatures had become feral with hunger and
the prosecuting that the King could do little to stop. The northerners had
traditions that meant more to them than some fancy high lord down south and the
division of normal humans from beastly half-breeds was one of them. This was
the unwritten laws of the north that they did best to follow even if they did
not agree with it completely. Merija allowed herself to glance at the movement
below them in hopes to catch a glimpse of what ever awaited them when they
descended from the tree. As the moonlight broke through the clouds it became
clear that these creatures moved too clumsily to be any form of beast and she
inhaled more freely again. Most likely it was just a pair of lovers looking for
a safe place outside the city walls to declare their love to each other and
whatever else people in love did. Merija had little knowledge of what went on
between a man and a woman, but she had heard her sister’s friends whispering
about the pains that a woman must endure when giving herself to her husband.
Judging by the sounds she had overheard between her parents she was inclined to
believe them. A head of blonde hair tied up with a ribbon finally emerged in
the clearing below them. A girl, not much older than herself but much nicer
dressed than she had ever been stomped through the thick canopy followed by a
gruff looking man wearing a suit of leather armor. She did not know either of
them, but she recognized the sigil that was carefully woven into the man’s
tabard. These people belonged to the Baron and judging by the elegant clothing
and blonde hair Merija guessed that this girl was related to the Baron himself.
Only Baron Eiekheart’s family had blonde hair around here. True northerners
like herself and Eigan had red or dark brown hair, but the Baron’s family was
not from around here. He had been appointed lord protector of their area for services
in the war against some island country to the east and had replaced the old
Duke who had resided in these parts for as long as people remembered but who
was no longer in the king’s favor. The
girl paused below them and looked around seemingly in an attempt to make sure
that they were alone.
“Are you sure this is where we are meeting them?” Judging by the sour
expression of the guard this was not the first time she had asked this question
tonight.
“I am sure Lady Elina. Only a handful of people know this path even
exists and I would like to keep it that way. “
