Challenge #164
Option #1: Creative Anachronism
Note: I never knew that NaNo would take so much out of me. This is the first I've wanted to write since then really. What happened to Fianne? Well, it's not looking good. I was planning another Alice chapter when this popped up wanting to be written, and there's not a better word for Vincent...
Peeping Alice pt.15 - Interlude 3
He did eventually find her again. Just like he promised her he would. Unfortunately, by the time he found her again, five years had passed. Fianne had rode as long as fast and as hard as she could that night. And her journey carried her further than she would've ever thought possible. In fact, it was how she came to be so far from that large island where she was born. She rode the horse to the coast, as far west as possible, just like he'd told her too. There, she found her way onto a cargo ship and manage to remain undetected on the large ship as she made her way to the mainland. She didn't stop running when she hit land again however.
It took her a year to finally settle down. When she found this little town, she knew she was done running. Knew she could stay here and wait for Vincent, determined as she was that he would find her easily. After the second year passed and she had not yet been found by anyone she relaxed. She gained employment in a local tavern waiting on the local folk day in and day out. It was there that she caught the eye of Andre, a local man that became extremely interested in spending time with her.
He was kind and pleasant to look at and by the time the third year passed they were married. She'd begun to forget all about Vincent, about the horrors of the prison she's been kept in, and about her abilities. There were wise women in town, or directly out of the town that dealt with the births and deaths of the people here. After nearly three years she had begun to forget what she could do...or why he told her she needed to do it. She often thought that this was the first time in such a long time that she'd been truely happy and that she deserved it unabashedly.
Year four found her pregnant and glowing and happy. She needn't work at all for the care that Andre took of her. He lavished her with gifts and food she craved and more love than she sometimes thought she could need. And when the little girl finally came into the world all blue eyes and giggles, Fianne knew she was done with everything from her past. It couldn't come back to her now, Vincent was gone - found some other girl, perhaps. They named thier little girl Aliza for all the joy she brought to their lives, and they carried on blissfully ignorant of everything but their own happy lives.
It was in the fifth year that he finally found her or she thought, deemed it was time to ruin everything she worked for. He showed up at their front gate while Fianne sat outside watching little Aliza play in the yard. He didn't speak, just stood outside the yard watching her little girl, a look of fear and anger marring the usual stoic look on his face. She took her time crossing the yard to meet him at the gate, taking her time to look him over. His pale hair had grown out considerably, now it was tied back from his face and trailing down passed his shoulders. He looked tired and worn as if he may have been travelling all this time. As she approached the gate to let him in, he sighed heavily and she could feel the disappointment as if it flowed from him in waves.
Aside from the longer hair he looked as though he'd walked straight from that night so many years ago to her front yard with not so much as a thought, he'd changed so little. She invited him inside as she opened the front gate, greeting him as Anakhronizesthai as he walked passed her. At the word of her native language he shot her an angry look before striding over to where Aliza still played unaware of the visitor.
His shadow loomed over her as she played, finally catching her attention. True to her nature she glanced up at him and giggled, hands outstretched. He frowned and waited for Fianne to take her instead. At the questioning glance he gave her as she picked Aliza from the ground, she shook her head.
"Five years," she said to him bitterly, "it's been five years Vincent".