Elsewhere

Gwaynn slept through the entire night, all the next morning and into the afternoon. While he slept, Samantha helped Cobb out to the north side of town to see Doctor Linkler. Cobb was cut badly but he was far from murdered and required thirty-three stitches across his large chest and a cool rag for the knot on his head. Once he was patched up Samantha enlisted the help of the townsfolk and they all buried Emm, Adna and Raisa Botnick in the light cool mist that hung over the land. It felt strange to Samantha that the Botnick’s should be dead, that they were gone the previous night even as she and Gwaynn slept in their home. She’d slept well, comforted by the warm presence of her lover and even now, as she and Cobb left the cemetery with the Botnick’s safely resting under fresh dirt; she felt a guilty pleasure at the idea of returning to their home to be with Gwaynn once more.

Samantha was thankful that Cobb remained quiet on the walk back home. She didn’t want to talk; she felt as if she might never want to talk again. She waddled a bit now…growing heavy with child, and walked with one hand on her growing abdomen.

          ‘Emm was dead.  The Botnick’s were dead.’ She should feel something for them but all she felt was her own living body. They were dead, but she was oddly conscious of her own breathing, the comfortable feel of her chest as it rose and fell in time with her steps. The Botnick’s were no longer breathing and they couldn’t feel the fine mist as it collected on their cheeks and ran in droplets under their collars. But their home was still here; filled with the many things the couple collected over the years together. It was strange that somehow these things, the home itself, were somehow more permanent and lasting than the inhabitants themselves.

‘Why should that be?’ Samantha thought to herself. ‘And why, with the Botnick’s so recently dead, should I feel not sadness…instead I’m happy and excited to be going home to Gwaynn.’

She did not have the answers, and she found that as she drew closer to the fine house of the late town magistrate she didn’t need an answer. She was both happy and relieved to be alive…overjoyed that Gwaynn was likewise alive. It was a blessing.

“Emm’s with Krys now,” Cobb finally said walking slowly by her side, his head hanging low.

“Yes,” Samantha confirmed in response. Emm had taken the poison knife meant for her own chest.

‘Why would that happen? Why had Emm even come to the Botnick’s?’ Again the answers were not forthcoming, but as they walked up the front porch Samantha felt emboldened by her own good fortune. The Black Horseman did not want her; in fact he was blatantly ignoring her. He could have taken her so many times, from the time she’d fallen from Sunshine, her first pony; to the time Navarra tied her to the block and especially when she lost her arm in battle. In war, death was all around, sowing so many young men and women… harvest time. Looking back she realized that there were countless moments in her life when death was nearby, so very close. It would have been so easy for the Black Horseman to reach out and snatch her up, take her on, take her elsewhere. But to this very day, death had always passed her by.

‘I’m meant to live!’ Samantha thought happily as she entered the front door and bounced through the parlor and into the kitchen. Gwaynn was there, awake and eating. The house was still in disarray, there were large bloodstains at the foot of the stairs and crusty pools of it in the room off the kitchen. But Samantha found she didn’t really mind. Gwaynn smiled at her and before she knew it she was crying and running, and when she was in his arms she found she was happier than she’d ever been. They held each other for several long minutes then Gwaynn broke away, taking a piece of her heart as he went, but he did not go far, just returned to the table to continue with his meal.

“Hungry?” She asked with a slight laugh, looking at the enormous spread of bread, fruit and cheese splashed over the table.

Gwaynn only nodded his mouth full of food. He offered some to Cobb, but the big man just shook his head and sat down opposite him. Samantha however, found herself reaching out and taking a bit of apple and a slice of cheese.

‘Food…the Botnick’s food,’ she thought with another feeling of wonder. They sat silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts until Samantha noticed that Gwaynn was no longer eating. She glanced up to find him sleeping, chin on his chest, sitting upright in his chair.

She smiled and scooted her chair back. Instantly he was awake and clamoring unsteadily to his feet. Samantha put out her handless arm to steady him and he took it, looking at her with confusion, then love.

“Come,” she said and led him back upstairs and put him into bed.

“Shouldn’t,” Gwaynn protested weakly, but was soon sleeping once again. The early afternoon was dark and a steady rain began to fall, pattering softly on the roof of the porch just outside their open window. Samantha thought about going back downstairs to Cobb, who was taking Emm’s death hard, but instead she found herself pulling off her clothes and climbing under the covers next to Gwaynn. He didn’t move as she turned and pressed her naked backside to him.

She rested quietly for a time, watching the rain through the open window and thoroughly enjoying the breeze that occasionally pushed into the room bringing the sweet smell of clean, moist air. It was growing colder and she wondered vaguely if the rain would turn to snow that night. She smiled and then the baby kicked her…hard. She gasped and her hand went to her belly. Moments later the kick returned, softer this time but the pressure continued, and to her surprise, Samantha found that through the womb, her belly and skin, she could feel a foot, perfectly formed beneath her hand. She rubbed the bulge softly for a few seconds then all at once it was gone. The lace curtains billowed inward and smell of rain filled the room and the cold air caressed her face as far off a soft clap of thunder sounded and rolled away.

“I love you,” Samantha whispered to the baby. “I can’t wait to be with you. Life is sweet…life is so sweet.”

She lay awake for a long time before the rain and the dark of the day finally lulled her to sleep.

?

Gwaynn woke the next morning to the sound of muffled voices coming from the kitchen below and to the smell of eggs frying. His stomach growled loudly and he sat up with a smile…feeling shaky and very, very hungry. He pulled back the covers and found to his surprise that he was naked. He did not remember removing his clothes the night before…no, the day before. Actually, he had no earthly idea what day it truly was, nor did he really care. The smell of food was becoming intoxicating, driving all other thoughts from his mind, so he dressed quickly and headed down the stairs to satisfy his stomach.

He descended the stairs as he always moved…on the balls of his feet, his step light.

“….ourse the Temple Knights still pose a problem, but Mastoc as High King is finished.”

              Gwaynn heard a voice say and instantly froze three steps from the bottom.

              “The Knights are laying siege to Manse. What if they attack again?” He heard Samantha say. There was a pause, then…

              “If they do, Grace believes they will succeed,” came the reply, “the city cannot hold with its present defenders alone.”

              “Well then I’d call that a big problem,” Samantha shot back.

              A chuckle sounded…a feminine chuckle and Gwaynn finally placed the first voice…the Solitary Tarina re N’dori.

              “Yes…the Knights pose a problem and they may take Manse, but with the Deutzani and Palmerrio destroyed and King Weldon prisoner, the Temple Knights will have a very hard time holding onto the country.”

              There was another pause and Gwaynn nearly continued down the stairs.

              “Gwaynn is the only logical choice now for the next High King,” N’dori said brazenly and Gwaynn was frozen once again. “Caiman’s forfeited his family’s claim to the position. The Families will never trust him again nor Prince Nigel, his eldest. He’ll also be stigmatized by his father’s actions, but he has little ambition in any case. He’s soft and only cares about his music. Still, something will have to be done about him if Gwaynn is to be elevated to the position.”

              “High King!” Samantha exclaimed loudly.

              N’dori laughed again. “Yes…unless the Families would be willing to accept Audra’s son Aiden as heir…but then Gwaynn would have to be willing to allow a Deutzani to rule over the Inland Sea.”

              Suddenly Gwaynn was moving again. “That will not happen,” he said gruffly moving quickly into the