Angel Food. Ambrosia. Sprinkles.
AUTHOR: Shrimp
CHALLENGE: Angel Food 2. false idols; Summer Challenge Flavor: Ambrosia 15. " The cults of the famous and the dead."; sprinkles
WORD COUNT: 609
RATING: PG
NOTES: More of Reynard and Addison's first knighthood adventure. Amelia (the girl who has a crush on Reynard in this arc) and her Mother watching Addison and Reynard enter the town for the first time. Emma winds up being sort of an important character in Addison's development. I'm not too happy with how this came out but I'm trying to get back into the habit of posting more often.
Emma watched through her window as the two young men entered the town on horseback. At first they walked unhindered, but as more people caught glimpses of the insignia on their chests they were swarmed. Men and women of all ages gathered around them eagerly speaking and calling, not bothering to hide their excitement. The street became so packed that the men had to ease their horses to a stop lest they trampled innocent bystanders.
“Mother! Come look! Knights!” Amelia called breathlessly as she stood in the doorway of their house. With a small smile Emma joined her daughter and they walked hand in hand to the street. They stood slightly back from the throng and simply stared at the young men. “Can you believe it, mother?” Amelia whispered. All around them people were asking similar questions. Knights of the Order of the Hound had been sent to their backwater town. Maybe things weren’t so bad after all. If anyone could help them it would be such honored and famous knights as these.
But Emma didn’t see honored and famous knights. The two that had entered the town were nothing more than boys. They had smooth cheeks and hairless faces. Emma didn’t think they could be any older than Amelia. At the thought she squeezed her daughter’s hand. Their poor mothers, she thought. What must it feel like to have your child taken from you and to be sent to investigate the whims of the queen? No one else seemed to feel the grimness that accompanied the idea of young knights. Emma frowned a little. Women were crying in joy and relief. Men were standing in slack jawed awe. Children danced around the feet of their horses with dreams in their eyes. Just boys and already heroes.
As she watched them converse with the people who could stand to speak she began to see them in a different light. They were Knights of the Order of the Hound, and wasn’t it appropriate? One was handsome and bright. He seemed to glow with the energy of the crowd. He was like a puppy, eager to please and grateful for attention. He smiled and laughed and begged for more. The other was somber and looked uncomfortable with the adulation they were receiving. He was like a stray that had been kicked too often. Even now that he had a better life he sat in constant readiness for everything to return to how it was. She glanced over at Amelia knowingly following her daughter’s glance to the stern and hesitant face of the stray. She was young enough to find romance in broken men. It was the puppy Amelia should slather her affections on. She wouldn’t though, Emma knew her daughter well enough to know that. It would be this other one, this man without a smile.
Unconsciously Emma’s eyes returned to the golden knight. He brought his eyes up from the people pulling at him. They were deep and blue and sparkling. Their gazes met and held. For a brief moment Emma felt young again, her heart beating in her chest and heat flushing her cheeks. The young knight waved at her and her daughter and the other people around them who had opted to stand back from the chaos. Emma closed her eyes and steadied herself. How long had her husband been dead now? Twelve years. Was that long enough to grieve? She opened her eyes again with a sigh. “Come, Amelia. Let’s offer the work shed to them. We can place cots in it and that way they’ll have a roof over their heads and some degree of privacy.”
CHALLENGE: Angel Food 2. false idols; Summer Challenge Flavor: Ambrosia 15. " The cults of the famous and the dead."; sprinkles
WORD COUNT: 609
RATING: PG
NOTES: More of Reynard and Addison's first knighthood adventure. Amelia (the girl who has a crush on Reynard in this arc) and her Mother watching Addison and Reynard enter the town for the first time. Emma winds up being sort of an important character in Addison's development. I'm not too happy with how this came out but I'm trying to get back into the habit of posting more often.
Emma watched through her window as the two young men entered the town on horseback. At first they walked unhindered, but as more people caught glimpses of the insignia on their chests they were swarmed. Men and women of all ages gathered around them eagerly speaking and calling, not bothering to hide their excitement. The street became so packed that the men had to ease their horses to a stop lest they trampled innocent bystanders.
“Mother! Come look! Knights!” Amelia called breathlessly as she stood in the doorway of their house. With a small smile Emma joined her daughter and they walked hand in hand to the street. They stood slightly back from the throng and simply stared at the young men. “Can you believe it, mother?” Amelia whispered. All around them people were asking similar questions. Knights of the Order of the Hound had been sent to their backwater town. Maybe things weren’t so bad after all. If anyone could help them it would be such honored and famous knights as these.
But Emma didn’t see honored and famous knights. The two that had entered the town were nothing more than boys. They had smooth cheeks and hairless faces. Emma didn’t think they could be any older than Amelia. At the thought she squeezed her daughter’s hand. Their poor mothers, she thought. What must it feel like to have your child taken from you and to be sent to investigate the whims of the queen? No one else seemed to feel the grimness that accompanied the idea of young knights. Emma frowned a little. Women were crying in joy and relief. Men were standing in slack jawed awe. Children danced around the feet of their horses with dreams in their eyes. Just boys and already heroes.
As she watched them converse with the people who could stand to speak she began to see them in a different light. They were Knights of the Order of the Hound, and wasn’t it appropriate? One was handsome and bright. He seemed to glow with the energy of the crowd. He was like a puppy, eager to please and grateful for attention. He smiled and laughed and begged for more. The other was somber and looked uncomfortable with the adulation they were receiving. He was like a stray that had been kicked too often. Even now that he had a better life he sat in constant readiness for everything to return to how it was. She glanced over at Amelia knowingly following her daughter’s glance to the stern and hesitant face of the stray. She was young enough to find romance in broken men. It was the puppy Amelia should slather her affections on. She wouldn’t though, Emma knew her daughter well enough to know that. It would be this other one, this man without a smile.
Unconsciously Emma’s eyes returned to the golden knight. He brought his eyes up from the people pulling at him. They were deep and blue and sparkling. Their gazes met and held. For a brief moment Emma felt young again, her heart beating in her chest and heat flushing her cheeks. The young knight waved at her and her daughter and the other people around them who had opted to stand back from the chaos. Emma closed her eyes and steadied herself. How long had her husband been dead now? Twelve years. Was that long enough to grieve? She opened her eyes again with a sigh. “Come, Amelia. Let’s offer the work shed to them. We can place cots in it and that way they’ll have a roof over their heads and some degree of privacy.”