Skip to main content

An Arranged Marriage - 22


     The night was a long one for Detlef.  His only companions were the rats and beetles, and the hard stone floor amplified the aches and wounds from the fight the day before.  Sleep came and went and finally disappeared altogether just before dawn.

     Detlef propped himself against the iron bars and watched as a gray light softened a barred window high above him.  A guard came with some foul-smelling sop in a bowl for him, and then stalked away without a word.

     Detlef watched in silence as the guard disappeared.  Then he sighed and rubbed his stiff shoulder.  “I haven’t given up yet, Ilona.”

     But what else could he try?  He had thrown his weight against every bar of his cell yesterday without success.  The guards were numerous.  The viscount made it clear that the only way out was to testify falsely against an innocent man who had dared to speak out against the viscount’s injustices.  And that was one thing Detlef would never do.

     Despite his best efforts, he caught an image of himself in twenty years -- with long hair and beard -- escaping this dungeon by some miracle and making his feeble way to the castle to find Ilona married to Emil.  He grimaced.  He’d have to find a way out sooner than that.

      The tiniest noise caught his ear – so small it could have been made by a mouse – and he turned to see a woman standing by a door opposite the steps.  She wore a pink-striped apron over her faded blue dress.  Detlef stared in amazement as she pulled keys from her apron and hurried to open his cell.

     She swung the door open, and the metallic squeak echoed in the stillness.  “Come on, then,” she whispered impatiently.  “You’ve got five minutes before the guard finishes the pie I made him.”

     Detlef jumped to his feet, hoping he wasn’t dreaming.  “How can I ever thank you!”

     She brushed him away.  “No thanks needed.  You’ll find your horse behind the barn.”

     “Will you be safe?” Detlef paused, looking down at her.  “…If the viscount discovers what you have done?”

     “I won’t suffer.  The Derwalds will make sure of that.”

     The Derwalds?  Detlef grasped her shoulders, searching the round, honest face.  “I need to talk to the Derwalds.  Can you tell me where to find them?”

      She smiled up at him with a snaggle-tooth grin, almost incredulous at his question.  “Lands, child!  You don’t find Derwalds.  They find you.”

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Helena GeorgeMay 29, 2018 at 3:23 PM

    You don’t find Derwalds....they find you.

    Sounds like the ending line for an epic movie trailer or something!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Skye HoffertMay 30, 2018 at 6:58 PM

    I'm intrigued! Love that she made the guard a pie, that would distract me.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye and God Be With You

It's rather fitting that some things come to a close on this day -- the last day of the year. I submitted my last entry into the Rooglewood contest this morning.  I can hardly believe it took me until the day of the deadline to send it in because I'm usually earlier than that.  And, even with the extra time I took, I still felt a little bit like maybe I could have done better if I had more time. But there was no feeling of regret when I hit "send."  Mostly it was just a prayer that Rooglewood would hear the heart of the message when they read it and that maybe, if I win, they could help me bring the full potential out of my little story.  And there was also a feeling, after working on these stories for more than six months, that it felt good to close that chapter and move on to the next one. I did it.  I wrote them.  And I'm really proud of them. Last year, the act of hitting "send" on my contest entry catapulted me into an anticipatory state....
18 comments
Read more

The Countdown: Eight Days

Eight days.  Do you know what that means?  Barely over a week.  Tomorrow will be one week from the announcement date. Are you excited? I am. So, today, I want to talk to those who wrote something for the contest, whether or not you entered it in the end. What made you start writing your story?  What was the first inkling of an idea that tickled your brain?  What was it that you liked about your premise?  As you wrote, did you have a favorite character or a favorite scene?  And are you glad you wrote it down?  Do you feel like you learned and grew in your ability as a writer as you tried out things for this contest? And, if your story isn't included in this year's Rooglewood anthology (either because you didn't submit it or because it didn't fit with the other four stories selected), what will you do with it?  Will you market it elsewhere?  Or will you lock it away in a drawer?
20 comments
Read more

Rooglewood Countdown: 12 days

     For the next 12 1/2 days, as we do our final countdown until March 31st, I'm going to do 4 posts asking about something you would like to see in the Snow White collection.      There are so many ways all of us, writers and readers alike, can win in this contest.  Maybe a familiar name makes it into the final five -- hurray!  Maybe a story in your favorite genre ended up in the collection this year -- woohoo!  Maybe you finally get to read a winning story about an evil king and his Snow White son -- how awesome!      So, in celebration of all the many things we can root for, I want to know some of the things that you think would be cool to find in this year's set of winners.      Without further ado, here is my question for the day: What is a point of view you would like to see in this collection?  Would you like a story written from the prince's perspective?  A story from Snow White's p...
9 comments
Read more