Chapter 740: The Earth Wept (Part One)
Cold rain poured down on Ashlynn, pattering off the wide brim of her sturdy War Hat before running down to splatter against the metal of her chain armor. The thick gambeson she wore underneath the coat of mail kept the water from reaching her skin, but even the layers of tightly woven fabric could do nothing to warm her shivering soul.
She didn’t know how long she’d been moving through the forest, only that the sun had set a number of hours ago and she had moved beyond the walls of the Vale of Mists as she headed in the direction of Lothian March, drawing closer to it than she had been in more than half a year since her infiltration of the Summer Villa.
Her eyes barely noticed the forest around her while her mind sank deep into contemplation, replaying years of conversations and shared moments with her sister as though they were the tails of an instrument of penance that she used to savagely beat her own soul.
"Father thinks I should marry into the Wayfinders Guild, but I hate the idea of turning into some kind of trophy for a wealthy trader..." -WHIP-
"I just got home from Lady Nessa’s birthday party, and I brought you a..." -WHIP-
"I overheard Mother and Father talking last night, and you have to promise not to tell them I told you, but..." -WHIP-
Each memory cut deeper and deeper until tears flowed down Ashlynn’s cheeks like rain, as if her wide-brimmed hat could do nothing to keep the storm from reaching her.
"Why?" Ashlynn sobbed as she staggered through the darkness, stumbling over loose stones and slipping on the damp earth as she pushed herself to move ever closer to Lothian territory. "Why couldn’t you just tell me that you wanted him? I would have stepped aside for you," she said, stumbling to the ground as tears blurred her vision.
She’d pleaded with her parents to stop trying to force Jocelynn into a marriage she didn’t want, but she’d never imagined her sister would decide that the marriage she truly wanted was the one that Ashlynn had only reluctantly accepted. Their father saw her marriage to Owain as the answer to their prayers, but in reality, Owain was the furthest thing from a blessing from the Heavenly Shores.
"You can’t even protect yourself from him," she said as she slumped to the earth, allowing the rain to pour over her as her head hung low. "I would have helped you to find someone better than Owain, someone like Ollie if you needed a brave and gentle knight, or someone like Thane if you wanted a real hero, or... Or anyone who would make you happy."