[Mkguild] Story: William and Emily, Part 3 - In From the Rain

[Shazer Fox]

William and Emily

Part 3: In From the
Rain 

 

                Winter
kept her icy grip on the land well into the year 706 CR, and the summer rains
rarely came.  The Blackhams’ potato crop
was sparse, at best.  There were no plans
to sell in Metamor’s market.

                Emily
hoped her father would take her anyway, but money was tight, and it was not to
be.  Plans were made for the following
summer, regardless of crop yields, but word came from the north of a terrible
assault on the Keep in December of that year. 

                William
wrote to say he and his family were fine, but Douglas cancelled the planned
visit.

                In
March of 708 CR, Emily’s mother, Tamera, became pregnant.  She had a difficult time with it, and Emily
was forced to take on the role of woman of the house, as well as continue to
help her father with the crops.  Those
were long and tiring months, and she hardly found time to write to William.

                William
was busy with his schooling at the Keep. 
He had decided to study civil engineering, or “road and bridge building”,
as he described it to Emily.  He wrote to
her about all the mathematics he was forced to learned, but Emily understood none
of it.  Her days now were filled with
cleaning, cooking, tending her little brother Bobby, and gardening.

                Winter
came and little Garrett Rex Blackham was born. 
Tamera was bed-ridden for weeks, but eventually pulled through.

                In 709
CR, another drought came.  This time it
was much worse, and the delicate potatoes did not survive the strain.  Emily spent most of her days in Leilwahl
cleaning house and tending to the elderly for some extra money.  Tamera spent her time with the baby, and
Douglas paced the house in frustration day-in and day-out.

                Emily
turned seventeen on August 9th. 
The only recognition of her birthday was a short letter from William.  He wished her a happy birthday, and lamented
that he rarely sculpted anymore.  His
studies were becoming exceedingly difficult and time-consuming, but he was
nearly finished.

                The new
year came and went without another letter from him.  Emily, herself, had not written in months.

                She had
hopes for the crop in 710 CR, but more for the financial relief than the chance
to return to Metamor Keep.  For yet
another year, it was not to be.  Douglas
planted corn late in the spring in hopes to get some extra money from his land
that year.  The crop was decent, and
could be sold easily in Leilwahl and Komley, but there was little profit in it.

                He hurt
his back just before harvest, saddling Tamera and the children with even more
work.  

                William’s
next letter arrived a week after Emily’s eighteenth birthday.  She savored his gorgeous script hand and the
few red hairs he had included in the envelope. 
William turned twenty that year, and it had completely slipped Emily’s
mind.

 

                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                

                                                Sweet
Emily,

 

I know things have changed for
both of us, and it seems we have drifted apart and moved on with our
lives.  I want you to know that not a day
goes by I don’t think of you, but I worry our separate circumstances will keep
us apart forever.

 

So, perhaps it is best we end our
friendship with a warm farewell, in lieu of letting it whither on the vine and
die.

 

When I was younger, I always
thought I would marry you someday, but I think I’ve grown out of that fantasy
and accepted reality.  I could never ask
you to live in Metamor and risk what the Curse may do to you.  It’s very possible it would force us apart forever
and ruin your life.  I cannot be that
selfish.

 

We are adults now, and I believe
it is time we began planning for our respective futures.  You are eighteen years now, and probably the
most beautiful woman in the midlands. 
Any man would be lucky to have you. 
I want you to be happy and have those children you have written to me
about.  I am sorry I cannot give you
those things.  I wish it was
different.  I wish there was a place we
could be together, but I fear it does not exist.

 

I’ve started seeing someone.  Her name is Melissa.  We met at school.

 

I feel at a loss for words now.  I regret that things did not work out for us,
but then again, I never really expected they would.  It’s almost as if we live in two completely
different worlds, though only a short road separates us.  

 

I am sorry, Emily.  I will miss you.  If ever you come my way again, please stop
by.  I love you and wish you the best.

 

-Love, William

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

                The
letter fell from Emily’s hands, stained with not a few of her tears.  She knew every word of it was true, however.  She had to move on and not cling to a hope
for him.

                Her
heart shriveled at the thought.  Despite
all the years since their last meeting, she still desperately wanted to be with
him.  She went quickly to her room, letting
her emotions spill out once she had closed the door.

                Douglas
found the dropped letter later that day and tried to speak with his daughter
about it, but she would not hear it. 
Like a little girl, she kept the door to her room shut for the remainder
of the evening.  He relented, and gave
her the time she needed.  Hopefully by
tomorrow she would be feeling better.

                When he
went to check on her that next morning, he found her room empty and some of her
clothes missing.  Suspecting the worst,
he rushed to the stable as fast as his sore back would let him.  A horse was missing.

                Douglas
looked up the road north, praying she would be safe.

 

*             *             *

 

                William
barely heard the knocking on the door through the pounding rain and thunder
outside.  He wondered if it was one of
his brothers, returning late from the woodshop in the Keep and locked out.  The fox set his steaming mug of tea down on
the kitchen table as he walked past, unbolting the door and opening it to the storm
outside.

                He
squinted through the late-night darkness, seeing only a silhouette.  “Can I help you?” he said.  The figure said nothing, but stepped forward
into the light spilling through the open door.

                It took
him a moment to recognize her.  It had
been five years, after all.  “Emily!?  By Eli! What are you doing here?”  He was stunned to see her, and momentarily
forgot to invite her in out of the rain.

                She was
drenched from head to toe, and stood shivering in the entryway.  William ran to fetch a blanket, throwing it
over her shoulders.  He bent down,
looking her straight in the eye and pushing her matted hair away from her
face.  Her skin was pale, and she looked
exhausted from the long journey.

                But,
oh, how she was beautiful!  His heart
raced upon seeing her again.  She had
grown from a precocious young girl to an angelic young woman.  He led her to the hearth and stoked the fire.

                “Emily,
what are you doing here?” he asked, satisfied the chill would leave her.  “How did you even find this place?”

                “I…I
asked at the tavern.  I got lost in the
dark, but….”

                “Why
are you here?” he asked again, helping her sit near the fire.

                “I had
to come.  I couldn’t stay away any
longer.  Your letter…I…I had to do
something.”

                “You
could have been hurt traveling the road by yourself,” William said.

                Emily
thought then that he sounded much like her father.  She said nothing.

                William
sighed, seeing the blanket and fire were doing little to warm her from the cold
rain.  “Here, let me get you some dry
clothes.”  He rushed back to a bedroom
and returned with some linens and a long dress.

                “This
was my father’s, well, mother’s…er…you know what I mean.”  He smiled at her, and she laughed a little in
return.

                Though
he was now far from the boy he used to be, that smile of his had not
changed.  She thanked him, standing to
change.  Forgetting for a moment, William
turned, embarrassed, and went to retrieve his tea and make a cup for
Emily.  When he returned, she was placing
her own wet clothes before the fire to dry.

                William
hesitated a moment, watching her from across the room.  Her figure captivated him, stirring feelings
inside he had never felt for anyone else before.  She noticed him, smiling and standing
straight.

                “How do
I look?” she asked.  Her hair was still
wet and beginning to tangle, but William never noticed.

                “The
dress is an antique, but you…”  He couldn’t
finish.  He was afraid of the
implications of what he would say.  “I
made you some tea!  It might warm you
up.  Even summer storms here in Ellingham
can be quite chilly.”

                “Thank
you, William,” she said, gracefully accepting the cup and taking a sip.  They sat on the sofa, saying nothing for a
long moment.  Color returned to Emily’s
cheeks.

                “Is no
one else home?” she asked him, wanting to break the awkward silence and delay
the inevitable topic of her reason for coming.

                “No,
they’re all at the woodshop.  I’ve been
staying here most nights to keep up with my studies.  By horse, it’s not even two hours from here
to the Keep.”

                Emily
nodded.  She set her teacup down,
wringing her hands together nervously.  “To
be honest, I’m not sure why I came.  I
received your letter and I…well, I didn’t want to believe it.  I think I needed to hear it from your own
lips.”

                “Hear
what?” he asked her.  His arm was slowly
reaching its way around her delicate shoulders, and he did nothing to stop it.

                “That
we can’t be together.”

                William
sighed.  He had almost regretted sending
that letter, but at the time, it was the right thing to do.  It made perfect sense, really.  But now that she was here; now that he could
see her beauty, touch her hair, breathe in her aroma….

                It all
changed in an instant.

                He
leaned forward, staring into her eyes the entire way, looking for some hint of confirmation
or denial.  Emily’s soft brown eyes only
drew him in.

                Their
lips met.  Hers were still cold; his
whiskers were ticklish and his wet nose pressed against hers.  It was a strange feeling, they both admitted,
but not out-of-place in the least.  When
William finally pulled back, Emily had her answer.

                “I
loved you from the day I first saw you, and I’ve never wanted anyone else,” he
said, taking both her hands in his.

                “I’ve
wanted so much to see you these past years. 
It’s been painful staying away for so long.”

                “I am
happy to see you, even if you had to ride three days in the sun and rain to get
here.”

                Emily
giggled, looking away out the window.  “That
was rather foolish of me, wasn’t it?”

                William
laughed and pulled her into a tight embrace. 
“I’m sorry to say, dear, but it certainly was!”

                Emily
relished the firm pull of his arms and the feel of his strong back.  She rested her head in the nape of his neck,
taking in the scent of his fur.  After
all these years, she had never forgot how he smelled.  “Do you think we can make it work?” she asked
him.  She worried about what his answer
would be.

                William
sighed, holding her close and running his fingers through her hair.  “I most certainly will try, but I think this
means I must leave Metamor.”

                Emily
pulled away.  “Is that even possible?”

                William
shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I’ve never heard of anyone like me trying to
make a living outside the valley.  It’s
been eleven years since the Curse….”

                “Yes,
but people where I live still do not accept what has happened here.  It wouldn’t matter where you went.  Farming folk are superstitious, and too many
people from further south live in the cities that have never even heard of the
Curse.  Even the merchants who come here
to trade speak ill of the cursed Keepers.”

                William
nodded.  “I will not stand to see you
cursed.  You know what could happen.”  His stare was firm and unwavering.

                Emily
hung her head.  “What, then, shall we do?”

                William
smiled his most infectious smile and kissed her again.  Minutes passed before they parted.  “I don’t yet know, but I will marry you
nonetheless.”

                “I like
that idea.”

                “But
first, I must speak with your father.” 
Emily suddenly looked disappointed. 
“I must ask for his blessing. 
This will be difficult for them, as well.”

                “I had
hoped you would simply sweep me off my feet and carry me off to the church!”

                William
simply grinned and shook his head.  “I’ll
take you home tomorrow and speak with him.”

                “Can we
wait a bit?  Even if only a day?”

                William
smiled.  “Alright. Tomorrow shall be our
day.”


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