Morgan Rice - A Clash of Honor

“Don’t worry about it. They’re not worth the ground you walk on.”

O’Connor turned to him.

“Some people hate for no reason,” he added. “That’s just who they are.”

“Others are just filled with envy, for everyone and everything,” Elden added. “They need someone or something to blame, so they decide that you are the reason they don’t have what they want in life, and they hate you for their own failed lives. It is the easy way out for them-to blame you instead of being truthful and blaming themselves. It is just bullying-in another form.”

Thor understood. But it still stung him to the core. He did not know what he had done to deserve such animosity from his own family. Not just now, but his entire life. Why had he had to be born into this family? Why had they had to be there, always, at every turn, to ruin things for him at his happiest moments?

“My friend,” Reece said.

Thor looked up.

“There is something across the room that might cheer you up,” he laid a hand on Thor’s shoulder and turned him in the direction of the opposite side of the chamber.

There, standing in the doorway, smiling across the room at him, was Gwendolyn. Thor’s heart leapt.

“It seems she waits for you,” Reece said, smiling.

Thor had completely forgotten. With all the excitement, he had forgotten to meet her at the back door.

Thor hurried across the hall, whistling for Krohn, who raced to catch up. He saw Gwen smile wide, then duck out the back door, and Thor’s heart raced as he realized that finally, after everything, they could have time to be together.

Thor held Gwen’s hand with anticipation, as she led him through the moonlit night, down winding paths that turned through the gently rolling hills outside of King’s Court. Krohn walked at their side, and as they nearly crested a hilltop, Gwen came around behind Thor and smiling, placed her hands over his eyes and made him stop.

“Don’t look,” she said, leading him forward, one step at a time.

Thor smiled, holding his hands out in front of him.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“I want you to see something,” she said. “But wait until we reach the top of the hill. Just a few more steps. Don’t open your eyes until I tell you. Promise?”

Thor smiled wide. He loved Gwen’s playfulness; he always had.

“I promise,” he said.

Slowly, Gwen removed her hands. Thor waited, until finally she said: “Okay.”

Thor opened his eyes and was breathless at the site: stretched before him as far as the eye could see were rolling meadows, filled with the most beautiful and exotic night flowers he had ever seen. He had never even known that flowers like these existed. Under the moonlight, these flowers were alive, blooming, and even more so, they were actually glowing, lighting up the night. There were entire fields of glowing yellows and violets and whites, swaying in the nighttime breeze, making the fields look alive, as if they were holding thousands of swaying candles. It was the most breathtaking thing he had ever seen.

“Glow flowers,” she said, coming up beside. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

She took his hand, as they looked out at the fields and he learned in and kissed her.

They held the kiss for a long time, and finally they clasped hands, and continued on the trail, through the glowing field of flowers, side by side, Krohn leaping into the flowers beside them.

They had been walking for what felt like forever when Thor asked, with a smile: “Where are we going?”

She smiled back.

“Some place very special to me,” she replied. “It is a place I hold dear to my heart, a place that few people know about.”

They walked for a while in silence, with no sound but the whistling of the wind, and the occasional night bird’s song, along with Krohn’s breathing beside them as they went. Every now and again Krohn would bound into the flowers, pouncing on some animal they could not see, then come victoriously back to the trail, trotting along beside them.

“I prayed for you,” Gwen said, softly. “I thank god that you were delivered back safe to me. The thought of you being gone was too much for me to bear.”

“I’m sorry to have left you,” Thor said. “I wish I did not have to.”

“It’s funny,” Gwen said, “but ever since I met you, I’m finding it hard to think of anything else. You have a way of getting into my veins. It’s hard to concentrate when you’re gone. But it’s hard to concentrate when you’re near me.”

Thor’s squeezed her hand harder, overcome with love for her, amazed to hear that she felt the same way about him as he did her. He was burning with a desire to ask her to marry him. He was starting to wonder if now was the right time and place. He was about to, and cleared his throat, but then felt himself getting nervous, afraid she might say no.

He steeled himself. He opened his mouth to speak, and was about to ask her.

But suddenly they rounded a bend, and they stopped as there came into view a small but magnificent structure, built in the shape of a miniature castle, intimate and quaint. It was nestled in the hills, high up, with a commanding view of the meadows, surrounded by thousands of glowing night flowers.

“My mother’s house,” Gwen said.

“Your mother’s?” Thor asked.

“She and my father found it harder to take each other as they grew older. She had this place built for herself, mainly, to get away from him. From all of us. She liked to be alone. Not anymore. Now, ironically, she’s confined to the castle-at least until she is better. So this place sits empty. Few people know of it. I would come here, sometimes, when I was young, to get away from it all, when she was not here. I wanted to share it with you,” she said, squeezing his hand.

Thor was amazed this place existed. The site of it took his breath away, so quaint, the ancient stone nestled into the hills, its facade covered with clinging, glowing flowers. It looked magical.

Gwendolyn led him across the meadow, up to the structure and in through its small, arched door. She lit a torch as they entered, and used that to light others, lighting up room after room as they went. It was cozy in here, the stone rooms not too large. Gwen lit a fire in the fireplace, mounted the torch on the wall, and she and Thor lay on the pile of furs close to the flames. Krohn came up and sat a few feet away, near the fire. He faced the door, on guard, protecting them.

As Thor and Gwen sat beside each other, Gwen reached over, clasped his fingers between hers, and they leaned in and kissed. Thor felt her hand trembling, and he felt nervous himself. He caressed her cheek, and they held the kiss for a long time.

As Thor lay there with her, feeling overwhelmed with love for her, there were so many things he wanted to say. Most of all, there was something he wanted to ask. Something he needed to ask. He wanted to be with her forever, and he wanted her to know it.

“There is something I need to ask you,” he said, finally, his heart pounding.

But Gwen reached up, placed a single finger on his lips, and quieted him. She leaned in and kissed him.

“Now is not the time for words,” she said softly, smiling.

Thor did not resist as she kissed him again and again. Soon they were in each other’s arms, rolling in the furs, beside the crackling of the fire. It had already been a day beyond his wildest dreams, and being here, in Gwen’s arms, topped all of it. There was no place in the world he wanted to be more in this moment. He only prayed this night would never end.

*

Gwen swam in the Lake of Sorrows. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the water was clearer than she had ever seen it. As she swam she looked down, and beneath her there passed schools of fish, of the most brilliant colors she had ever seen-bright blue and pink and yellow-swimming all around her. They swam past, and she looked towards the bottom, and saw that the sands below were all lined with gold. Gold was everywhere, lining the lake floor, and it sparkled as she went, sending a million reflections of light through the water.