HOWL

27

Respect is earned.
Honesty is appreciated.
Trust is gained.
Loyalty is returned.
And Lust....

Lust is certain

Dust motes swirled around as the sunlight flooded down in slanting shafts from the high windows above. The tapestry fluttered as light gusts of wind swept through it, it was of a dark shade and woven by the first monks who had walked the Abbey a century ago.

Antonio stood in front of the tapestry, his hands were interlocked in front and his gaze never left the fabric that hung on the wall. His hair ruffled as the wind's light gusts suddenly turned heavier. His eyes flickered to the open window and back to the tapestry, he seemed present but he wasn't for his mind had wandered far probably to a certain girl who used to walk and run in the same room he currently stood in.

The Sacred hall

It was in this same place that they held their prayers.
Cyane was young then barely five years old, she was filled with strength and had a child like spirit. Sometimes when she knew that she was in trouble she would come to the sacred hall to hide behind one of the doors there.
She would pretend not to hear him call out to her and when she thought that he was gone then she would make her appearance out of the door only to be seen by him.

She had stopped writing like she had promised to, had only written for three times and that was the end of it.
In her last letter, she had written to him about a tournament and how she was going to register for it, she had showed interest to work during the tournament and had also talked about getting paid too.

He couldn't tell her not to do anything since he wasn't present with her even if he did tell her not to, the letter would take time to get to her and he was sure that by then she would have been registered.

Whenever he received a letter from her, he would picture her sitting down at a table to draft it and then he would smile at that thought and each time he caught a whiff of her scent on the it.

In those moments he wondered how she fared and how his sister was too.
Cyane had told him about his nephew Boris and he was overjoyed to have learned about the boy.

It had been years since he had gotten any word from Rane and when an opportunity finally came, the letter was directed towards Cyane's departure from the village.

He missed yelling Cyane's name in the east house and he couldn't deny that he was fond of her after all they had spent twenty one years together.

He turned once he realized that he wasn't alone anymore in the sacred hall, that someone else had joined him there.

"Has she written again?"

Antonio shook his head and Seden patted him at the back, "She would write soon, don't worry"

"I know"

"Well, it's almost time for prayers and brother Ardal may or may not have plucked pomegranates this morning" Seden opted to lighten the mood.