Prompt: Retell your
day as an epic struggle between the forces of good and evil
Marguerite des Cygnes strode into the council chamber,
determined to prove her worth. As the newest council member, and the youngest
among them, she knew many questioned her position. She surrendered her staff to
the guards at the door, but did not volunteer the blades woven into her braided
hair. It was never wise to be completely unarmed.
“Marguerite! Welcome!” called Idris de la Chapelle, her
mentor and the council leader. She accepted his outstretched hands in greeting,
and he kept her close as the other council members arrived. He quietly offered
his assessment of each of the men and women she now joined.
John de Mierle, Chapelle’s strategic advisor, pounded the
table for silence and called the council to order. Marguerite struggled to keep
up with the fast paced discussion, names she did not recognize, and the
seemingly snap decisions of the council. There was good news from the
battlefield, but supplies were low. They needed the support of Robert of the
Briers. Marguerite was surprised when Mierle said she should be the one to go
to Robert’s hold at Brier Creek. She saw the disbelieving looks around the
council table, and then she saw Chapelle nodding and realized he knew of her
long friendship with Robert and his family.
When Mierle closed the council session, Marguerite quickly said
her goodbyes and made her way across the muddy keep yards to the stables. The
day had turned warm and glorious after a long bout of cold rain. Her gray mare
stood saddled and ready, and Marguerite quickly mounted and cantered out of the
keep’s gate and across the fallow fields towards Brier Creek.
Her mare made good time crossing the valley and the low
hills on the way to the Creek. Laborers in the fields stood and stretched their
backs, watching them race by. They reached the main road into Robert’s hold,
and there were plenty of small groups of travellers, merchants and families
alike, crowding the way. Marguerite was frustrated by their slow pace, until
she finally made her way around them and the road opened up again. Her mare
stretched into another fast canter and soon they approached Robert’s hold.
Marguerite pulled her signal handkerchief out of her sleeve
and waved it to the guards as she approached. They recognized her shield and
opened the gates without hesitation. Inside, she jumped down from her exhausted
mare and handed the reigns to a young boy. She fished a few coins out of one of
her skirt pockets, and his face lit up when she pressed them into his hand.
“Walk her around before you give her water and oats, do you
understand?”
“Yes, m’um. She’ll get sick if’n I give her water while she’s
so lathered.”
“Good boy. What’s your name?”
“Danny, m’um.”
“Danny, wait for me at Robert’s council chamber so you can
lead me to her when I’m done. Thank you.”
The boy grinned and bowed, then walked her mare away,
standing tall with self-importance at his task. She smiled briefly, then headed
into the familiar hold.
Dogs in house:
|
Houdini
|
Music:
|
Robert Sequoia, Bequest
|
February word count:
|
20424
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