#( iiiiiiii felt compelled to post smth from the novel !!

[m-bardbattled]

𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐒 : 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 .

context :  exiled from their province centuries before, the formerly noble scatterflow family  ( currently comprised of father edmund, mother ivory, and siblings ciar & flynn & elsie & gemma & ashea )  lives in hiding. there is always the threat that the tastoni family, who had been the cause of their fall all those years ago, will find them and slaughter them.

     The door to the farmhouse slamming open caught everyone’s attention, and the terrible words that Edmud spoke held it fast: “They’ve — I think they’ve burned the village.” 

     Ivory stood at the hearth, no longer stirring the still-cooking soup. The fire crackled and popped, breaking what would have otherwise been silence. Gemma was laying places at the table but she had frozen as well, with a plate still in her hand, lowered towards but now hovering over the table.  Flynn and Ciar looked at one another, and held each other’s dark gazes, appearing to communicate silently. Ashea appeared behind their father, her face ashen and her eyes slightly unfocused. 

     “I thought we would have more time,” Ivory said finally.

     First, Elsie felt relieved. For a moment, an irrational fear that they would all be frozen forever had begun to set in, but speech dispelled the notion. After that, there was pure terror. Her entire life, her parents had appeared as if they could carry the world on their shoulders without concern or complaint. Now, her mother’s strained expression and strangled words scared her; her father’s drawn face and tense shoulders scared her. In some ways, they scared her more than the smoke-smell in the air she now knew was not from their hearth or the knights she’d imagined riding towards Admira hours before. There had been fear concerning the comet but it wasn’t like this. 

     “They mustn’t catch all of us,” Edmund said. The words were always a little different, but the idea of it was the same. 

     For her whole life, there had been an unspoken uncertainty — a weight, like the blade of an axe hanging over their necks, simply waiting for them to stumble on a chopping block. Elsie had always meant to ask more questions. She felt certain her parents had always meant to give her answers. “Tomorrow” had always been a convenient excuse, too like smoke to firmly hold. 

     “There isn’t much time. There is none to argue,” Ivory said, fixing each of her children with a look that put to bed any notion of interruption. “Edmund, take Ashea and ride north. Ciar, you and Gemma will go west to your uncle. Elsie, Flynn, head south for the city. I will be right behind you.” She paused to catch her breath and share a look with her husband that none of their children fully understood. “I love you, all of you. We will see each other again. Now, grab only what you must and take to the winds.”

     It was chaos, or the closest thing to it any of them had ever seen. All the siblings’ belongings were practically turned out of the chest they were kept in, leaving them to sort through for the most important objects. Elsie struggled to pay attention to what was happening around her as much as she struggled to focus on what she herself was doing. For a second, when she began rolling up a map of the city, she forgot that her hands were her own and watched them move in fascination. It was only when she shoved the map into her satchel and the rough fabric brushed the back of her hand that she was able to connect back to her body again. 

     Only what you need, but what exactly was she going to need? She would have the clothes on her back and her cloak. The map already in her bag felt barely justifiable. The city would be the best place to buy or barter for whatever they wouldn’t bring with them. Her eyes fixed on a small, dark pouch filled with a few pieces of jewelry. They were old, passed down, and all that remained were the least attractive pieces. She’d never had a need for them now but they might make up for a lack of coin for a couple of days at the very least. She thought only a moment about taking her fiddle and when she decided against it, she could feel her heart crack just a little further. 

     Finally, Elsie stood, holding her satchel but not moving. She felt as if her feet were frozen to the floor. Was she supposed to be moving, running for the door now? She couldn’t even seem to see the door. A hand closed around her wrist and she swung her gaze to look up at her mother, who pressed her lips to her forehead. She was holding a wooden box in her other hand and slipped it into Elsie’s satchel. She was surprised at the weight of it compared to its size, but she never managed to ask what it contained. Ivory released her wrist and pushed her towards Flynn, who promptly seized her hand and pulled her outside. She could feel his fingers tremble against hers, and it was that which finally pulled her from backwards glances at the house as they made for the stables, giving his hand a comforting squeeze.

     “Mama can ride fast,” she said, reaching for her horse’s bridle. She could hardly hear herself talking but she prayed whatever she was saying would comfort her brother. Suddenly, that was the only thing that mattered; she’d stopped trying to mentally catch up with her situation. “And she’ll be taking Daisygirl. I’d like to see anyone’s tired, bogged-down steed outrun her. Don’t bother with a saddle, Falcon’s too uppity. This will do.” 

     “What if it’s us they come after?” Flynn looked like a newly made ghost, the pallor of his skin letting the darkness of his eyes and hair swallow all the usual life in his features.  The absence of fear was never a hallmark of bravery, which was fortunate, considering how scared they both were. However, fear and duty were stirring different reactions in them, leading Flynn to feel as if his feet were weighted to the ground while Elsie was already astride Falcon, her arm held out expectantly.

     “You’ve your sword, and I’ve no small amount of idiocy. We’ll think of something. Come on.” Her urging got the response she wanted, and he seized her arm with a twitch of the mouth that could almost have been a smile. She pulled him up behind her and dug her heels into Falcon’s sides. They flew from the stables, circled around the only place they’d ever fully known as home, and galloped to the south. 

     In the dim light, when Elsie glanced over her shoulder, she thought she could see five forms fleeing in different directions. She wondered if that would be the last she saw of any of them, or all of them. A lump formed in her throat and she forced herself to face ahead, cool night air drying tears as soon as they sprung up in the corners of her eyes. The wind itself knew there would be more than enough time for crying when distance had been placed between them and danger. She focused her mind on the feeling of her brother’s arms around her waist, reminding her that she wasn’t alone. Wherever they were headed, they were headed there together.

#♫ ooc ›› BEHIND THE DM’S SCREEN. #( iiiiiiii felt compelled to post smth from the novel !! #this is from the current draft actually )