Veiled in Smoke

* And we are back. Technology issues have really gotten in the way, but I have a shiny new computer, so everything will resume from now on. I hope it is as good as every. * 

She was a vision–beauty of the highest caliber. He had watched her from afar for so long–yet it felt like only a moment. He knew he would never match her status, but his heart longed to beat beside hers. 

He could hide his feelings in the crowded marketplace, but once night fell and he saw the light shining from her window he wanted nothing more than to scale the stone walls and climb through her window. 

Never would he be foolish enough to try such a thing, but the urge was so strong. But, he knew he would never be welcomed with open arms. Rotting in the dungeon would only pull him further away from her, and the pain would be too much to bear. 

He hoped to ease his lonesome heart in the peaceful meadow. The rising sun bathed everything in a rosy glow,  and the sleepy birds sang their greeting as he walked slowly through the dappled heather. He stopped for a moment to listen to the beat of approaching hooves. 

Suddenly, a scream split the morning air. He saw her clinging to the neck of her horse as it carreened into the field wild-eyed and panicked. The gleaming stallion was beyond her control,  and he could see her grip was beginning to slip. 

Without a thought for his own safety he charged through the meadow, holding his hands up to not fighten the animal more. Her cries grew desperate as her grip began to fail. So he leaped–time slowed to a crawl.

He caught her as the horse bolted and took the weight of the impact with his back against the ground to sheild her as well as he could. 

Bruises he could handle, but his head cracked against a large rock, and he felt his hair begin to mat with blood. She screamed once more and squirmed from his grasp. 

He often said he’d give his life for hers, but as his vision blurred the reality of the situation hammered home–he had done just that. 

Fear and pity painted her face. She stood for a moment in confusion before taking to her heels and running. Her savior was broken and bleeding, and she offered not one backwards glance. 

As his eyes began to flutter his heart shattered. He knew it was impossible to think she’d love him, but to abandon him was beyond cruel. It truly was a dream and not worth dying for, but it was a lesson learned too late.