The sun had just barely set. Hues of blue green and orange hovered
over the horizon and a figure was perched upon the porch of the small hut by
the sea. Between his lips was a hollowed pipe filled with tobacco to smoke and
in his eyes a look of despair and guilt. He inhaled a breath of smoke and exhaled
slowly allowing it to swirl around his head. Thoughts of women and children
swirled through his head, those he left fatherless and widowed. He was an assassin
dammit. It was a part of the job description. All the thoughts and emotions he
had kept back for so long were now beginning to surface. A tear slipped down
his cheek as he imagined his son, his infant son growing up without a father. Why
had the gods spared him when he spared none? Why had they blessed him with a
son of his own and taken away his wife? It should have been him that was
murdered instead of his beloved Maelynda. He wiped his topaz eyes of the tears
threatening to spill and flinched slightly when he felt a hand squeeze his
shoulder.
Catrain.
Only her touch could be so gentle and comforting. Violet
eyes filled with love and concern for him bore deep into his mind as she took
her place at his side.
“Your mind speaks troubled thoughts, does it not?” She spoke
softly to him her hand now reaching up to stroke the wavy black hair out of his
face, trailing to the dark beard he sported. He took her hand in his own,
giving it a gentle squeeze.
“You should be inside watching Sebastian…” he muttered.
“He is slumbering peacefully.” She retorted. “I worry for
his father. You have been troubled as of late.”
At this he turned his eyes away. How could a woman, as kind
and giving as she was have the patience and the heart to house a murderer like
him? Her amethyst eyes twinkled in the moonlight, showing honesty and worry for
the man. That is what pierced Archer. She seemed so naïve of who he was and the
blood he spilt and yet here she was, checking up on him to ensure he was
alright.
“You shouldn’t have to worry for a person like me.”
“And why shouldn’t I?” It was if she were daring him to
prove her wrong. Daring him to make her hate him. Placing her slender hand back
in her lap he rose to his feet watching the waves from the sea crash onto the
shore. Over and over they rolled into the sand and waned away, it was as if he
were mesmerized by them but the truth was, he didn’t know the first thing to
say to Catrain. She stayed firmly rooted to her place as she watched him. A gentle
breeze began to dance in her black curls as well as his dark hair.
“How is it that such a kind spirit can still give me food
and shelter after what I have done…after how many women I widowed and children I
orphaned.” Archer turned to the woman, tears shimmering in his onyx eyes. “Tell
me Catrain. How is it that a woman like you can bear to put up with the shit of
the earth like me.”
He was not referring to his profession with his last statement…but
more of his bloodline. Gracefully she glided towards the man and grasped his
large calloused hands in her smooth slender ones and locked her violet eyes with
his dark topaz ones.
“Just because you are of the dragon’s brood does not mean
you are the shit of the earth, as you put it. Your race is far nobler than any
other, and yet many envy your kind for it.” Pale rose lips curved into a smile.
“Do not be ashamed of who you are or what you have done Archer. The gods are
not cruel beings.”
Her hand cupped his cheek, a thumb brushing away a tear that
had threatened to spill. The man swallowed hard leaning into her touch. So soft
and warm. It felt like home.
“I am not ashamed that I have the blood of the dragon
flowing through my veins. I do not want you to be ashamed either.”
He hadn’t known that Catrain was one of his own. A half
breed of his kind but that didn’t make her any less of a person in his eyes. The
kindness she displayed towards him and his infant son shone through more than
where she came from. She showed nothing but unconditional love for the two of
them since they had arrived. The smile on her plump lips was painted perfectly
upon her pale features. There was such a beauty surrounding her that he couldn’t
describe and before he could control himself he wrapped his muscled arms around
her slender frame and crushed her in an embrace, brying his face in her
shoulder.
And there he wept. He wept freely. He wept for the families
he had broken. He wept for the dead mother of his son. He wept in sheer joy
that Catrain held no grudge against him for his sins. She in turn circled her
arms around him; a hand pressed to his head and stroked his soft hair lightly,
in a soothing manner. Her lips parted as she softly crooned a draconic lullaby
to him. Her voice danced upon the breeze as if it were made of magic and
floated around the both of them. There was something enchanting about her.
Archer knew that when he had first happened upon her, that she knew of magic
and medicine. His embrace around her grew tighter as his weeping died down and not
once did Catrain release him or loosen her grip upon him. Soon she concluded
her melody and drew away slighty cupping his face in her hand a smile still
upon her lips.
“We must retire to bed. You need rest.” She said softly
before she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his bearded cheek. They lingered there
for a moment before she pulled away. The place where she had kissed felt warm
on his skin and her lips as smooth as silk. This made Archer smile the first
true smiled in days. With his arm around her waist he walked with her, slowly,
back to her hut. She had given him hope in his heart and deep down he was
beginning to hope that maybe he could start anew, and give his son a childhood
that every youngling deserves.
No comments:
Post a Comment