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Eclyse Christian · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:39 pm Post subject: An Honest Heart

“Dream, Eclyse. Listen to the whispers of your soul.
Remember your lesson in Valor.
Be prepared to face whatever is shown you.
Listen without fear. See with Strength.
Search for the single lie that burns deep within your essence.
Bring it to the surface and destroy it with honesty.”

Eclyse contemplated Sir Kaylor’s instructions for her quest as she rose from her meditations at the Shine of Honesty. Her cup filled, her heart overflowing, she pressed a kiss to the cold stone ankh and pressed her palm against it in humble thanks.

She stepped back and unbuckled her sandals, slipping them off and wiggling her toes in the cool, damp grass. She placed the them into her nearly empty leather satchel and checked the pocket of her skirt to ensure the mandrake root was still safely stowed there. Birds in the distance cried out for the dawn as the aurora softened the hem of the sky with pale lavender. Now barefoot, her skirts aswirl around her ankles, she set her course for the one place which had always been sacred to her above all else.

Per Kaylor’s instructions, she had not eaten nor drunk in over twelve hours. Nearly twenty, to be exact, but she was far too headstrong to have been held up by a meal, only to fast again. Her stomach cramped and complained so noisily that she feared she’d attract a predator’s attention along the way, but as chance would have it, she found none.

What she did find, however, were rocks, sticks, and branches, brambles and thorns that tore at her flesh and her skirts. “Ahhh…” She sucked air in through her gritted teeth as she paused to wipe the blood from her left foot with her now tattered skirt. “Guess I had that comin’.”

Eclyse Christian · Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:40 pm Post subject:

After a hours of walking, Eclyse had met up with and followed the wild, overgrown green of the riverbank until she was within a mile of her destination. The cool clay soothed her feet, still stinging and aching from thorns and nettles. It was here where she would depart the river and travel north; therefore, it was here that she must cleanse. She pulled a thin azure silk tunic from her pack and laid it out carefully, then began to discard the tattered clothing she wore, piece by piece, folding each carefully atop the last.

When at last Eclyse stood bare at the water's edge, the crispness of the fall breeze pricked at her skin and raised goosebumps. She waded into the gentle current, waist-deep, every scratch and tear stinging in protest as she immersed herself. In reverent silence, she observed the same ritual she had performed with Sir Kaylor the night before the King's Joust. Hands and water only, she cleansed herself in the cool, clear water. Lastly, she submerged herself, emerging reborn from the surface, ebony hair slicked back, rivulets glistening in the late morning sun as they trailed down over pale skin still pricked by the chill.

Shivering, Eclyse patted herself dry with a clean white cloth and folded it neatly atop her clothes. She donned the pale blue tunic, uncomfortable with how scarcely it covered her as she tugged and adjusted it. Then she took the mandrake root from the pocket of the skirt she had shed and left all other worldly belongings behind her.

Eclyse Christian · Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:50 pm Post subject:

The ordeal had begun to take its toll on her body. She had not eaten nor drunk in a day and a half. She had traversed miles of rocky and rugged terrain, barefoot and cold. What body heat she had left had been diminished, stolen away by the greedy and unending pull of the river's current. The final mile to her destination passed dully, silently, but for the occasional birdsong and the ringing in her ears. Her mouth was dry, her throat parched. Her stomach had surpassed hunger and progressed to waves of nausea and pain. The cold numbed her, despite the fact that she had become accustomed to the bitter cold of Stonegate Valley; the thin silk tunic afforded little protection from the elements. In short, she was wearing down.

She walked steadily, with determination, through the darkened wood. Then suddenly, without fanfare or ceremony, the meadow opened up before her. Bereft of the forest canopy which filtered the sun in hues of emerald, the meadow glowed almost gold. Here, there was light and beauty. Here, flowers bloomed with rapt abandon, and gave their gladness to the sky. Here, as so very many times before, she found peace.

Eclyse Christian · Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 6:58 am Post subject:

The sounds of the forest were soft and muffled around her. The wind in the leaves made such a soothing whir that Eclyse feared she might be lulled to sleep, so comforting was the sound. She took the mandrake root given to her by Kaylor before her departure and broke off a section. When she had found a place to sit, surrounded by the royal beauty of the endless field of flowers, she held the root and chewed it tentatively. The acrid taste was objectionable, but it was earthy and pure. Something that only seemed too natural here, in this setting. Her thoughts were cast wide as a fishing net, covering all, encompassing every tiny thing that crept within the blooms of this place - her place. They were hers, and she felt immense responsibility for each minuscule life around her. Though she could not begin to say why.

"Have you slept all of this time?" The voice was familiar. It woke her with a start. The root was still in her hand, but she was lying on her back, her ebony waves splayed across the flowers.

"I - I don't know. I din't mean t' fall asleep." She shielded her eyes from the glare that shone down from directly overhead. An intimidating figure silhouetted itself against midday and darkened the sun. "Do I...know y--"

"Do you know what you've done?" The figure moved to one side. It was nothing more than a tree, its limbs gnarled and warped. It was stock still now, and immovable. Had she only imagined the voice? Eclyse sat up quickly and looked around her, but she found herself quite alone. Time crept by as she kept vigilant watch over the meadow, determined not to fall victim to slumber.

"ANSWER ME!" Eclyse opened her eyes. How could she have fallen asleep again? Without warning, the huge, deadly blade of an executioner's axe fell to the side of her head, severing her hair and burying itself in the soft ground. Eclyse rolled away from the blade and pushed herself into a backward crawl. The imposing shadow was not a tree at all. She must have been mistaken. An exquisite specimen of a man stood before her, black tresses spilling over his shoulders. He wore a black mask, and a sardonic sneer. "What..have you done?"

"I've done nothin'!" She tried to scream, but found her voice silenced. Eclyse scrambled, trying to stand, but was unable pull herself to her feet. The axe rose high in the air, and the masked one brought it down again with full force to the left of her shoulder. Then he grabbed her arm and what was left of her hair, and dragged her back to where the tree had stood just hours before. All that was left was a stump. He shoved her down against the stump, his strength far beyond her own. He bound her wrists to stakes in the ground on either side of her, holding her torso firmly in place, her cheek resting against the rough, flat surface of the stump. Only then did he release her.

"What have I done?" Eclyse managed to squeak as she pulled in futility against the stakes that held her wrists firmly to the ground.

The masked one laughed a familiar laugh as he ran his thumb along the edge of his axe. "That -is- the question of the day, is it not?"

Eclyse Christian · Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 12:05 am Post subject:

Eclyse gritted her teeth and pulled against the stakes with all her strength. They didn't budge, but the mere effort began to infuriate her. Suddenly, she found her voice and cut her eyes back up to look at her executioner, her tone bitter. "Why is it always somethin' -I've- done? Wot makes ye think I've done anythin' at all?"

She felt the cold sharp blade of the axe as the masked one caressed her cheek with its edge. "Because, dear Eclyse, you've said so yourself."

Eclyse flinched away from the blade. "I've said NOTHIN' o' the sort."

"Oh really?" He laughed. "'Guess I 'ad that comin'...'" He imitated her mockingly.

Inexplicably, guilt weighed her heart down, seeming to moor her tighter against the stump. She spoke softly. "I din't do anythin' to deserve death."

"And what did you to deserve the rest?"

Eclyse fell silent. She'd spent half her life being told that she deserved every ill that befell her. She'd spent the other half believing it herself. The question begged and burned away at her. What had she -ever- done?

"Nothin'..." she answered softly, thoughtfully, answering both her own question and his. "I din't do anythin' Sir."

The executioner's voice grew softer and more sincere as he pulled the axe away from her cheek. "It's time you knew that."

Leaving her no time to react, he lifted the axe and let it fall. A sound like soul shattering blazed through her mind, and all that was remained was darkness and silence. With all her strength, she raised herself from the shattered fragments around her. She broke the dark surface of the water with a deep gasp, slinging her wet tresses back over her head in a spray of droplets that crowned her momentarily in the moonlight. The drenched blue tunic clung to her skin. She had come full circle. Her clothing still neatly folded by the waterside, she was reborn with a spirit of honesty: pure, unassuming, innocent, and thankfully, as intact as the long dark tresses she had thought lost. She emerged anew from the water, doffed the soaked tunic, and wrapped herself in warm blue robes and a black velvet cloak. She wondered, as she made the journey home, what part of this she could tell Sir Kaylor. She wondered, as well, how much of it he already knew.