The cold bit at the exposed skin of my face, flushing my cheeks and nose with the color of the strawberries dying in our small garden at home.
The village common was bustling with townsfolk doing their last shopping of the day as I hurriedly walked towards the apothecary, praying to the Gods that Thomas had not left. Candles lit the windows of the small shops that lined the streets and I peered inside each one as I passed.
My family had never been able to afford luxuries, each and every copper piece my father earned with his blacksmithing being put towards the prevention of starvation. Most days we ate only once, in the morning to fuel us for the days ahead, but on some winter days when money was scarce and food was short, my family and I ate nothing at all, resorting to melted snow to keep us upright.
My three brothers, all older than me, did little to support our family, but the blame did not fall on them.
Julius, the oldest, sold his services through music. He played the fiddle at parties the wealthy threw, only earning about three silver pieces per function. He had been playing since he was little but he still scored only a few gigs every moon, the wealthy preferring cleaner, more put together fiddlers, a luxury which Julius could not afford.
Andreas, the second eldest, was gone, and had been for quite a bit of time. On the night of his eighteenth name day, Andreas had announced he was going to volunteer to join the king's guard. Our mother had supported him, telling him she was glad to see him follow his passion, but my father had gotten angry and left, shouting about how it was in no way going to help our family. By the time my father returned, Andreas was gone. We have not seen nor heard from him in the four years he has been gone.
The youngest of the three, Edric, was currently an apprentice to my father, studying the art of blacksmith so he could sell weapons to the Kings Guard stationed here. Weapons used to punish and invoke fear in the poor folk, like my family.
All three boys were older than me, but my sister, Saige, was twenty-six moons younger. She was still too little to work, so she stayed at home helping my mother around our small cottage whenever she could. Saige took over my mother's duties at home when she fell ill. I hadn't seen the first symptoms my mother exhibited when the ailment struck her. I hadn't even noticed she was sick until she passed out one night sewing a new cloak for me. When she awoke, she could no longer stand. That was one moon ago. Since then, it had only gotten worse.
When I turned the corner onto the street that led to Thomas' father's shop, I saw him standing right outside his building, locking up the shop. I called after him, holding up my hand. "Thomas!"
He turned, brown eyes meeting mine and halted. "Revelynn?" Thomas was tall and lean, little muscle on his body from the absence of physical labor. His hair was the brown that the leaves turned to signal the upcoming winter and his eyes matched it perfectly.
"Yes, hello," my eyes flicked to the setting sun, then back to him, "Good evening."
He smiled, warmly. "I must say, I am surprised to see you."
I did not need to force a smile in return to the kind boy in front of me. "I know, and it is getting dark and the forest between the village and my house is quite dangerous at night so I must hurry. I require a few things from your shop."
Thomas' smile disappeared. "Revelyn, you know I can't give you herbs more than once a moon, my father would notice the missing money and-"
"No, I know," I interrupted him. "I have some coins. Julius brought some home today, and my mother, she is getting worse and requires more and more. I am sorry to keep you from getting home, but just quickly, can you let me in?"
He hesitated and I smiled again, putting every ounce of charm into it. His sigh told me I had won him over. "Yes, but only quickly, my father will not be happy I am selling to you at all, money or not."
"Thank you, Thomas, thank you so much." He briskly unlocked the door and opened it, stepping in. The apothecary shop had a small front room, the walls lined with shelves and filled with herbs, teas, and tools used for healing, and a back room that could be accessed through a wooden door. That was where he kept all the hard herbs, the ones used for decimating pain caused from injury or major illnesses, but had the tendency to get a user hooked, unable to stop taking them even after any and all pain was gone. I knew because these were what I had started giving my mom when teas and antibiotics stopped working, when the pain of coughing up blood and never sleeping became too much. Luckily, Thomas had given me a quick lesson in doses and the correct amount so my mother would not become reliant on the drugs - not that she would live long enough to do so though.
I walked quickly towards the wooden door, but Thomas grabbed my wrist turning my attention on him. "I can't stay, my father is expecting me home for dinner and if I am late... well you know how he is and," he trailed off and an image of the sweet boy with a black, bruised eye invaded my thoughts. Rage boiled up inside me and I gritted my teeth. Thomas' father was a horrible man. A horrible, abusive man to both Thomas and his mother.
I let the rage float away and brought a small smile to my mouth, "I know where the spare keys are Thomas," I winked, "I won't forget to lock up."
I hadn't realized how close Thomas and I had been standing until his eyes flicked down to my full lips. It wasn't that Thomas was unattractive, don't get me wrong he was certainly appealing to the eye, and his personality was great too, but Thomas' family was world wealthier than mine and we would never work. His father viewed us as lesser people because of our funds, or lack thereof, and wouldn't even sell to me when he was the one working the shop.
I pulled away abruptly and something like sadness flashed across Thomas' face. "We can't, Thomas."
"I know," he sighed. "I know, Revelynn, but it doesn't change the fact that I want to."
"Thomas-" I started before he interrupted me.
"I would trade all of this, you know. I would trade all of my money, my wealth, to be with you, forever, if you would just let me," His head hung as he spoke, staring at something on the floor.
I grabbed his chin, forcing his eyes to meet mine. "It would never sit right with me if you did that. I live this life, this life of poverty and hunger. Some days my sixteen year old sister wakes up and doesn't get to eat at all. Some days I hunt in the woods for food all day and night, frostbite as threatening as a dagger to your throat, and still come home with nothing. How could I subject you, someone who has lived comfortably their entire life, to suffer through that? I would protect anyone from falling into that life, especially you."
His hand raised to cup my cheek, and he spoke softly, "But then who is there to protect you, Revelynn?"
I stilled, ice shooting through my veins. "Thom-"
This time I was not cut off by his words, but instead by his lips taking mine. The kiss was soft and hesitant at first but slowly grew more hungry and his hands snaked around my waist pulling me closer. We had kissed like this only once before, when I was teaching him how to make a bow and arrows about two years ago. I had pulled away immediately and slapped him, hard, across the face. We hadn't kissed since, but it didn't stop the longing glances he cast in my direction whenever he thought I was not looking.
I didn't love him, not like he loved me, but I cared enough to not let him sacrifice everything for us to be together.
I pushed away, bringing up a hand to cover my mouth.
"Revelynn, I'm sorry," he began, but I cut him off with a hand.
"I said no, Thomas," I sneered, meeting his eyes. "Thank you for the medicine, for everything you have done for me, but I don't love you, I don't want to be with you, and I certainly do not want to kiss you."
He looked as though I had punched him in the gut and he just stared at me for a moment, eyes searching my face for Gods know what. As quick as he had kissed me, Thomas turned and walked out the Apothecary Shop door, not turning back to wish me a good night.
Guilt and sadness struck me, hard, like a slap across the face, but I pushed it down and made my way to the back room. My mom was suffering and these herbs were the only thing that could help her, that was what mattered, not some love-sick boy, no matter how kind and generous he had been.
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The walkway up to our cottage was littered with decay; fallen leaves and twigs and flowers, dying slowly, letting off an earthy aroma that was both pleasant and dreadful. I had once heard stories from a bard passing through our small village of a land, far away, where autumns were a flurry of reds, yellows, and oranges, a time to celebrate togetherness and welcome the oncoming winter, no fear of death in sight.
I had always wondered what it might be like to experience such a thing, such a feeling. I had to hope that what I felt now as I looked at the rotting flora - dread our bodies would be taken to the gods by frigid cold or ravenous hunger during a particularly awful winter - was nothing like I would feel if I was in the vibrant, crisp autumn explained by the bard.
I opened the creaky front door of our cottage, bag of herbs in hand, and welcomed the heat so in contrast to the incredulous cold I had endured as I walked through the woods on the way back from the Village.
Per usual, Saige was in the kitchen baking bread with the small amount of ingredients left and preparing the meat from the rabbit I had snagged in the forest earlier in the day. It would feed us for the next week, or if we really savored it, two weeks. My father was still away at a neighboring town trying to barter off his metalwork goods, Edric with him. Julius, who had come home and thrust a handful of copper pieces into my palm, telling me we needed more medicine, was tending to my mother in the one bedroom the cottage held.
I gave Saige a grave smile and she returned it, though hers was bright and beautiful, a reflection of her appearance and personality.
From afar, Saige and I looked very similar, but up close Saige had a certain glow to her that held you captive. Her hair was a warm black, shinier and slightly more brown than my own, and her eyes were a gorgeous emerald green that I so wished my gray ones would reflect. Because her time was spent tending to the garden, washing clothes, upkeeping our ramshackle cottage, and preparing food - activities that were not particularly strenuous - she was filled out in the perfect places, which I could not say for myself. I had been secretly surrendering my meal to my frail mother every other day so she had a little extra sustenance to keep her fighting. In doing so, I had thinned out greatly, and I avoided looking at the walking skeleton I resembled whenever I passed a store window or iced-over lake.
"You got the medicine?" Saige asked, pushing a mug of steaming water my way.
I coughed, reliving the encounter with Thomas, before giving a short response indicating I had and moved on to the small bedroom. Julius was hunched over my mother, pressing a damp, threadbarren washcloth to her forehead. I took in my mothers appearance with no small amount of distaste. Her lips and skin were pale, no sign of the dusty pink that had been their before she grew ill. Her hair, which had once been a lively bundle of warm, brown curls, now hung limp and glued to her skin. Her arms, the only thing exposed from the bed sheets that covered her enfeebled body, were just skin and bone. Her chest rose and fell slowly, taking in shuttering, raspy breaths.
Julius spotted me entering and got up to leave, giving me a sympathetic smile. I knelt down beside my mother and took the fine powder the herbs had been ground into out of my satchel, pouring it into the mug of warm water. Sticking in a spoon and stirring, I lifted the cup to my mother's lips.
"Drink."
Her eyes fluttered open and she lifted her head ever so slightly while parting her lips. I poured the warm liquid down her throat and sent a silent prayer to the gods it would go down smoothly. As if they heard my plea, my mother gulped down the liquid smoothly and again laid her head back upon the pillow, breathing as though the activity had been difficult.
As I often did when I waited for the herbs to work and send my mother into deep sleep, I started talking to her.
"Thomas kissed me today," I huffed, turning away from my mother and sitting on the ground, turning towards the door leaning my back against the bed frame. My mother did not answer, but I knew it wasn't because she was not listening. "He kissed me when I went to get your medicine. I know it is wrong, but I liked it. It didn't take away the gaping hole in my chest as you said father had done to you when you first kissed him, but it filled it slightly, like it smoothed rough edges."
I continued on, explaining how I had pushed him away and told him I want nothing to do with him and how he had left without saying a word, when suddenly a boisterous knocking thundered through the house and I halted my story, standing. I quickly checked to see if my mother was asleep before heading into the main room.
Nobody, apart from Father or Edric, should be at the cottage, but there was no reason for them to knock.
I gave Julius, who was tending to the fire, an alarmed look, and he shrugged as if to say, I don't know who it is. When I turned to Saige, she shook her head and whispered that she didn't know either.
I took tentative steps toward the door, taking extra care to make sure none of the floorboards let out whines. Again, loud knocks shook the door on its hinges and Saige jumped in surprise, letting out a squeak. I grabbed a piece of firewood that rested against the wall by the door to use as a weapon if needed and swung open the door.
My breath left my body as I took in the scene in front of my eyes.
Eight, well built men in village guard uniforms stood at full, towering height, eyes trained on me.
The firewood rattled as it hit the ground.
"Revelynn Pierce?"
I nodded.
"You are under arrest for theft of medicinal goods."
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"Everyday we subside, is another day they strengthen their control."
"Do not question my choices."
"How are you sure he can even be killed?"
"We will find out, won't we?"
A/N: Chapter 2 will be out tomorrow, December 23, at 5:00 PM PST.
What happens to Revelynn when the quard comes to get her? How did the guard find out? Who is speaking at the end? Find out in the oncoming chapters of Dagger of Jade.
Do not be afraid to correct any errors I made, I will be happy to oblige :) I am using wattpad as not only a way to get my story out there but also as a platform of other young and experienced readers and writers that can help make my stories better!
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