A future so bleak
1018 Words
Lady Eldora Riona Aethelgard
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Lady Eldora Riona Aethelgard
I don’t know how long I have been standing here, but I am sure it is long enough for my leg to be this sore.
Since I laid my mother on the ground and covered her with earth, I had been standing in the same position, staring at her tomb. I couldn’t even give her a proper goodbye. Not even a decent place to bury her.
I stared long and hard; perhaps I was waiting for her to jump out of the earth and tell me it was not true, that it was all a bad dream.
But after long hours of standing here, it finally sank in that this bad dream was my reality. I expected tears, but I felt no urge to cry. I was just numb, too numb that I felt guilty for not mourning my mother the way I should.
Morgaine was a good woman, a good mother. And without doubt, I know she would burn down the world for me. I might have despised her for keeping me away from the world, but I know I love my mother too—so much.
Yet it is an irony that I can’t shed a single tear for her, even when I know I will never see her face again. I wanted the tears to come, but they didn’t. So I stopped trying.
“I’ll miss you, Mother,” my voice was barely above a whisper. “I love you.”
I might be acting out of character by not shedding a tear, but I am sure I am not ready to say the word. Saying goodbye feels like letting go of all memories of her, which I am not ready for. She is my mother, and even if she is lying lifeless beneath the earth now, I still believe her spirit will always stay with me.
Like I said, my mother loves me too much.
After one last lingering look at her shabby tomb, I spun on my heels and headed back to our home.
“I’ll be back, Mother.”
I walked gently and cautiously through the woods, avoiding sharp debris that could injure me. My heart felt like a laden weight so heavy.
I was alone now. How could Morgaine die so easily? How could she die so easily and abandon the daughter she claimed to love so much?
I stepped into our home. Standing at the center of the room, my eyes wandered, reliving memories of my mother. It stung deeply, but still, I didn’t cry.
After one final look at her favorite chair, I walked to my room and started packing my things.
From my clothes to treasures and accessories, I made sure to pack everything in a single load, not wanting to slow my journey with too many burdens.
Moreover, I wouldn’t be gone forever just a little while, perhaps a month and then I would be back. I couldn’t leave my mother all alone here, not when I knew I was all she had lived for.
Grabbing my last possession, I tied the load tightly, making sure it was well-compacted and not too heavy to carry.
I stood, giving my room of many years one last look. My eyes raked every corner, engraving the image into memory.
I finally stepped out of my room, but instead of heading straight out, I turned left and entered my mother’s room. It was still the same as when she was alive.
She was alive this morning.
The reality of speaking to my mother just this morning and having to lay her beneath the earth punched me in the gut. My eyes lowered to the floor where I had found her lifeless, unbreathing body earlier.
She was so full of life this morning, how could she have died? My mind drifted back to the voices I heard just before her scream. Was someone here?
I had too many questions running through my mind, but I wasn’t ready to dwell on them yet. My mother’s death was suspicious—very suspicious. But for now, I could do nothing.
Morgaine had many secrets, ones she had never spoken to me about. Secrets I knew were closely tied to me. But how could I unravel them? I was just a clueless witch who had been locked away all her life.
My eyes settled on the silky-furred lynx curled in the corner of her bed.
I stared at it for a while, deciding what to do. Finally, I walked up to it and picked it up. Instinctively, my hand stroked its soft fur, and I smiled.
It was so beautiful. Mother had always loved beautiful things.
“Don’t be scared,” I murmured softly, a tight knot in my chest. “I won’t leave you here.”
As if it understood me, it pressed closer to my body, clinging to me.
Maybe it did. I had once seen my mother speak to a deer. She understood the language of animals. Maybe I did too. I wasn’t sure.
I headed toward the door with the lynx wrapped gently and protectively against my chest. I stopped abruptly as my eyes caught something familiar on the floor.
I frowned. Wasn’t that Mother’s necklace? I picked it up immediately, confirming it was the same. My frown deepened. She always wore it. Never once had I seen her without it.
So why was it here?
That meant only one thing.
I had buried my mother without her most cherished possession.
I swallowed tightly, my grip firm around the necklace. I gently placed the lynx back on the bed, then wrapped the necklace around my neck. Its ashen pendant glimmered against my snow-white skin.
I picked up the lynx again and headed out of the room, locking the door behind me.
I set out on my journey to the world I had been kept away from. A world I knew nothing about.
If my mother’s death truly wasn’t natural, as I suspected, then her killer would return.
But he would never find me.
- Writer
