Harrowed

Chapter Ten

"Must you go?"  Robert asked from the center of his bed. He was lying naked under the thin cotton sheet. I marveled at him and my cheeks filled with a rosy blush. He looked like he had been carved from marble to become a Greek Statute. I finished putting my dress on. It was a deep maroon made of brocade fabric. It wasn't the best out there and it felt thin in the winter. 

"You know my father will already be displeased I'm not home sooner. I was only supposed to go into town to get bread," I felt anxious already. My parents didn't approve of Robert, he wasn't well-known, which wasn't a good sign in Europe in 1348. I was seventeen, but unmarried, which was why my parents were so against my time with Robert.

It was all so eloquently complicated.

"Pssh, your father will never know," his ocean eyes reeled me in. My feet led me to his bedside once more. 

"We wouldn't have to sneak around if you would just ask my father to marry me," I traced my finger around his collar bone. There was something different about Robert, which was why I was so drawn to him. He wasn't like the other boys. That could have been why my father was so against the two of us being together.

"Why would I do that? So he can scoff and tell me no again? Plus, you know my own father is against marriage--

He stopped. What was he about to say? 

"How could your father be against marriage when he himself is in fact, married?"  Robert never shied away from my questions unless it was about his family. 

"It isn't that," he pushed a strand of blonde hair behind my ear. "Alice, you know I love you with every drop of blood that beats through my body," it was poetic. I smiled and laid on his chest. I could stay a few more minutes.

"And I the same, Robert." I listened to his heartbeat. It made my insides stir in triumph. "Can I ask you something?" I stayed lying on his chest. I felt warm and safe. He kissed the top of my head before responding.

"Always," he was so sure of himself.

"What will we do when my father finds a suitor for me to marry? I don't want anyone but you," it was the saddest truth my lips had ever spoken. If neither of our fathers was going to let us marry, then what did we do?

"We run away," I rolled onto my stomach to stare at him.

"Impossible," no one left England in ways of running away with no money. "Plus, the Black Death is spreading, England is our safest place." There was more and more news each day that the Plague was spreading. A fellow in town told me most of Europe is infected. It would only be a matter of time before it reached our little village. A cold shiver ran up and down my spine.

"I can get us out of here. Please, Alice Gilbert, run away with me! Make me the happiest man. We can run away and get married and have beautiful children that look just like you. Your golden hair and those mesmerizing emerald eyes mixed with drops of honey." He held my body in his soft hands staring down at me with his sweet eyes. It was enough for me to humor him and see this fantasy life he had conjured up.

I knew in my bones it was too good to be true.

His lips parted and he kissed me passionately. Our bodies intertwined as we held onto each other for what felt like dear life. If the Plague did come to our village, would we survive? If we left prior to the Plague arriving, what did that mean for my family? It would be no doubt, a death sentence either way. Did I stay here and do as I was told for the rest of my life, living a boring life? Or did I go with Robert and endure the risk of failure?