Beyond the King's Gate

Chapter Seventeen

All night she heard rustling here and there, keeping her awake. The fire had long gone out, and she had not the courage to relight it, so she stayed in.

Soon as the sun began to appear, the shadows disappeared. And she felt safer. The eyelids drooped, and Bethany's tense body relaxed. Falling into a deep slumber.

She dreamed of the castle, of mother, of prince Ronald. Then the yells of Lady of Ascott's, the rage of the King. She heard his yelling as though he were right there.

Startling awake, she sat up rather quickly before coming to her senses, and hit her head rather hard on the tree that surrounded her.

"Ouch." She held her head, willing the pain to go away, she hunkered down for a moment. Looking outside. It was well past morning. She had slept in longer than she wanted to. That meant less daylight hours.

Crawling out of the tree, she gathered her things, ate a small half slice of rye bread, and gulped down a few swigs of water. Packing her things, she carried on.

By afternoon her feet ached, and unable to walk another step she rested by the stream. Looking around, she wondered for a moment if she was going the right direction. But then she remembered his description, that the creek would flow right two the beginning of that village. So long as she followed it, she shouldn't get lost.

This night was no better than the last. When the sun set, it was as though the forest came alive with unknown creatures lurking in the dark. Eyes that followed her. Watching her every move.

Bethany was sure they could smell the fear off of her.

She decided she didn't want to sleep in trees, and made a makeshift tent out of her cloak. Just outside she made another fire for the night. To ward off the animals. Using her other dress as a pillow, she lay down to sleep. Tossing and turning, but still sleep eluded her.

Bethany's stomach was rumbling with complaints at her. She hadn't rationed her food well, and was now stuck without dinner and breakfast for the morrow.

The next morning came and went. She couldn't wait for this trip to be over.

After much traveling, taking some wrong turns at the fork of the streams, she had finally reached her destination. Her heart soared when she saw the village in view. She burst out with excitement, jumping up and down. A villager family walking past, gave a confounded look.

She wanted to laugh. She couldn't imagine what her family would say if she told them that she survived this trip alone. A sense of accomplishment made her lift her chin up higher.

The village looked somewhat the same as back home, but there were no large castles looming in the distance. Instead country homes, scattered across the midlands. It was a pleasant change of scenery.

Walking up to a stand at the fair she showed them the description of the house, hoping someone would know.

A woman at the meat stand crinkled her eyebrows in concentration. "Oh why yes I know that ol' house. It's down that way," she pointed to the left of the village, "take the winding path towards the hill it will be to your left. Quite a nice cruck I'll say." She raised an eyebrow and made a quick assessment of Bethany. "You own that house?"

Bethany shook her head no. "It was given to my mother by my father."

"Must've been a wealthy one, that one." She waved Bethany on. "Get, I got customers." She jutted her chin behind Bethany, and Bethany walked off. She didn't take any offense, she had to make a living, and Bethany was taking up her time.

Taking the directions the woman gave she walked past the main part of the village, on the way stopping to get salted meat. She was ravenous. Scarfing down the stick of meat, she passed the last of the village. She now walked in lush green pastures. Taking in the scenery as she went.

A long walk later, she came to the land on which the house sat, the place that Bethany would call home.

Bethany's eyes widened. It was nicer than most homes out in the midlands.  Why in the world did her mother leave? She had enough land to grow her own food, support herself and her daughters.

It was a rather large house. And there were even glass window panes. Amazement filled Bethany.

Walking to the house she found it to be in somewhat good condition except the lawn. After years of no weeding and caring for the lawn, ivy grew up the walls and nature took its course. She walked into the house, further amazed.

All her life she grew up in one single room that belonged to them, here she had a whole house. Bethany's eyes searched every corner of the house with amazement.

There was a lot of cleaning to be done before it was liveable. So she got to work immediately. Storing her clothing away, she dressed in a simple smock, an apron and got straight to work.

While she scrubbed the stone tiles, her mind wandered to a few nights ago. When she discovered the letter.

It must've been from her father, but there was no name. It simply wrote that she could come back and live there if her heart so desired, that no matter what his wife said she was welcome.

Then the slip of paper she had, with the location.

After her mother told her of her past, she grew curious about her past, and dug through her belongings to find out more. Guilt had pursued her ever since. But she had no choice, besides she reasoned, this house wasn't in use. She would do them all a favor.

Opening one of the rooms, her eyes scanned the perimeter. A grand bed swallowed up the room, leading the eye to the four pillars with sheer curtains on each side. At the foot of the bed, a long bench served as a place to sit and get ready.

Bethany chided herself for getting distracted. For ogling over the house. She got to work immediately. For the first time, she wasn't cleaning for anyone but herself. Bethany felt the freedom. Though there wasn't much time, daylight hours were vanishing fast.

Bethany scoured the house for any candles, coming up with none. After the sun had set, the fireplace was the only light streaming in the common area.

The work was finished, and she sat down on the living room bench, staring into the fire. Images of her mother filled her head. The confusion on her face when Bethany announced she was leaving for good. The desperation in her voice while she tried to no avail, to convince Bethany to stay.

Her thoughts were interrupted. There had been movement just outside the window, or so she thought. Bethany's ears perked, listening for anything out of the ordinary, instead silence was all she heard.

And the silence was deafening. A moment passed and the fear settled. In the many miles surrounding her, it was just land, with a few houses.

In the silence, Bethany grew discomforted, she had grown rather accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the servants quarters. Here she was all alone.  The silence was all she heard. It unnerved her, and for a moment she wondered if she made a huge mistake.