Dusk is beginning to fall around me, the shadows are creeping ever closer. Long tendrils of darkness reach out and begin swallowing everything in their path. It had been her idea to meet at dusk. I hadn’t agreed entirely, but she’d been so adamant about it that I hadn’t had the heart to tell her otherwise, to tell her it might not be safe. But I made sure to get here early. I want to be here the entire time she is just in case something goes wrong.
I’m crouching behind a tree and if I lean slightly to the side I can see the bridge. I have an odd feeling like someone is watching me from behind, but every time I looked behind me I see nothing out of place. Wanting to blend into the shadows until she’s here, I pull the hood of my dark cloak over my head and wrap the rest of the fabric around myself.
I feel as if I’ve been waiting for ages. Each second passes with excruciating slowness. I tell myself it’s just the nerves of the escape and the excitement of seeing her. It’s been months since I last laid eyes on her; a week since I received her last concealed message. Soon we won’t have to sneak around anymore. Soon it’ll just be us and there will be no one telling us what to do. We’ll be free from our familial obligations and free from the realms’ expectations. I just need to have patience; it’ll all be over soon.
Around me, the forest is quieting down. The chirping birds have long since started settling in for the night. The daytime woodland creatures have found a bed for the night and the nighttime ones have not yet woken. It’s as if, just for the few moments that bridge the gap between day and night, the world has gone completely silent.
I close my eyes and take a deep calming breath. I remind myself that it will all be alright. It will all work out. We’ll escape and we’ll be free.
I hear footsteps.
My stomach clenches, but they’re too quiet to be behind me. Opening my eyes I peak around the tree truck. There’s a lone figure standing in the lengthening shadows across the river. My heart leaps into my throat; for a moment my mind goes blank. They’re wearing a cloak so I can’t see their face, but my instincts know.
It’s her. She’s made it.
I spring to my feet, throwback my hood and come out from behind the tree, hoping she can make me out in what little light remains. Maybe it was a good idea to meet at dusk, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to see each other. I take hurried steps towards the bridge. Straining my eyes I try desperately to make out the figure’s features, my brain wanting to confirm what my instincts already know.
My feet strike the wood of the bridge. In front of me, I see her moving too. I try to run on the bridge at silently as possible, not wanting my footsteps to give us away. I’m close enough now I can just make out her face in the remaining light. My heart flutters with happiness; it’s definitely her. Our gazes meet and a smile spreads across her face; I feel one appear on my own.
We slam together near the middle of the bridge. I wrap her in my arms and hold her tightly, feeling her warmth through my layers of clothing.
“I missed you,” I say into her hair.
She hugs back just as hard. “I missed you too.”
Stepping back and I take hold of her hands. “Are you ready to do this?” I ask, looking deeply into her eyes for any sign of uncertainty. I see none.
“Yes,” she says, an even larger smile spreading from ear to ear. There’s a pause in which her smiles falters even so slightly and then she says the words I’d hoped she wouldn’t. “We need to move quickly. I think they saw me on my way out.”
I turn back in the direction from which had I just come, still holding one of her hands in mine, and begin walking quickly. “How far behind do you think they are?”
“Can’t be too far, I heard the guards shout something to each other as I passed through the gate. Could have just been a coincidence though. It was busy this evening.”
My stomach clenches again and it feels as if all my senses become hyper-sensitive. “Let’s hope it’s just a coincidence,” I say even as I break into a run. Beside me, she starts running as well, easily keeping pace with me.
Dark has completely fallen now. There’s a sliver of a moon. We can see it through the trees, hovering above us. The stars are out, but wispy clouds keep drifting over them, blocking the light. I don’t mind much. We won’t be able to see well, but whoever is following us won’t be able to either.
I lead us to where I hid the horses. Getting out and passed the guards with two horses hadn’t been easy, but I’m dressed, just like she is, in the everyday plain clothes of a worker. No one had expected us to leave, neither of our families knew about our relationship. My heart lurches as I remember that I will most likely never see my family again. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I slow to a stop in the small clearing where our horses are waiting.
We are silent; there’s no need to talk. We’d gone over the plan a number of times the last time we’d met. I boost her into the second horse’s saddle, before swinging myself up onto mine. We pause for a moment, both breathing heavily both from our run and the adrenaline. She catches my gaze and holds it. I can barely see her in the dark.
“Ready?” she asks, echoing me.
“Yes,” I say, feeling excitement begin to mix with my nervousness. I desperately hope there’s no one behind us, but we’ll ride as if there is.
We both take one last look at the worlds we were leaving behind, before turning and venturing into the dark trees, heading toward our freedom and our future.
This was beautiful. For a moment I forgot it was a short story and didn’t expect it to just end!
Thank you so much!
You’re welcome ☺☺
I, too, did not want this to be the end. It totally held me within its grasp.
I might see about making this a series. I also had a hard time letting it go
Really like this writing. The atmosphere! Then, there’s this great image. “She catches my gaze and holds it. I can barely see her in the dark.” Yes, indeed.
Thank you so much!
Really beautifully written. As someone else mentioned, the atmosphere was well established.
Stu
Tale Spinning
https://stuartnager.wordpress.com/
Thank you so much!
I loved this! Cant wait to read more!
Thanks!
My good friend & sometimes collaborator, Will Deonne, has made me older at taking a happy, loving story into an abattoir. I’d love to see you step outside yourself and try that here.
You know my works and that I shy from such things. But, just to see what I could do led to a published novel, Cursed Hearts.
Writers, like weight lifters, must sometimes push into where it hurts.
All my best, A. ~ CB