To Save a Kingdom

Chapter 3

I threw open the door to my mothers room to find her looking out the window. Workers had arrived after Joseph left. They were taking advantage of the soaked soil to get rid of the weeds that had taken over.

She turned to look at me as I entered offering a small smile. For a moment I could see just how tired she looked. Her eyes had dark shadows underneath them. Her skin was pale and it lacked the glow that it had once had. The way her dress hung off of her already slim frame was proof that she had lost weight. For the first time I noticed that my mother looked old. 

"How could you let him do it?" I demanded feeling anger surge through me. It didn't matter how old she seemed. She had allowed my brother to throw away his life and all his chances at a future. I was the one who should have saved the kingdom. 

"It was his decision to make." Mother replied sadly turning to look down at the workers below.

"I made the decision. I was going to go. I was ready to go." I said quietly looking down at my hands.

"Eve you were miserable Joseph saw that and he wanted you to be happy." She said as she turned back to look at me. 

"What about his happiness?" I whispered. Mother stepped forward to put her thin hand on my shoulder.

"Your brother cares about you." She said. "Did you see the workers arrive? King Theo was good on his promise."

Already Joseph's sacrifice was making the much needed difference. The land was transforming from a wilted dead thing to a hopeful new beginning. I wondered how long it would last. We needed these crops to grow. Our lives depended on it. Standing in the bedroom looking at the scene below made me feel guilty. There were workers here and they were doing hard manual labor to save my home. I decided to leave mother and help the workers. 

Outside it was misty after the heavy rain. The air was thick with humidity making my skin feel sticky. Several of the men looked up in surprise as I walked out fully intending to do whatever needed to be done. I was angry. One of the ways I had learned to work over my anger in the past was to work. By working hard I could blow off steam and actually get something accomplished in the process. 

"What are you doing here?" Jared asked as he looked up from his shovel. I was surprised to see him out here. Even though it was a chilly morning his shirt was already soaked from his sweat and the humidity making it cling to his muscular form. He stabbed the point of the shovel into the dirt as he waited for my reply.

"I'm here to help" I said squaring my shoulders. I was ready for the task. Jared looked at me with his eyebrows raised sizing me up. I felt uneasy under his scrutiny. Finally he nodded as if to grant me permission. That was the way our relationship had always been he had always seemed like an older brother to me. 

"Good." He replied. "About time you showed up" he said with a teasing grin. "You can help me here." He said pointing to a large pile of weeds. He needed them to be moved out of the way. Eagerly I grabbed a bucket and started loading it with the weeds. I made trip after trip to dump the weeds into a large pile that would eventually be set on fire after the plants had time to dry out. After all the weeds had been moved into a pile I snatched up a shovel. Jared looked at me suspiciously probably worried that I would use the shovel to hit him with. I felt sorry for lashing out at him the way that I had. He didn't deserve that.

"Jared I'm sorry for the other day." I told him as I used the shovel head to stab at a gnarled root. 

He looked up in surprise wiping his sleeve across his forehead smearing a large black streak on his face. "You don't have to apologize." He said returning to shoveling.

"But I do. You didn't deserve that and I am sorry."

"You are forgiven." He said and the matter was forgotten. Instantly I felt a little better. Even though my brother was gone at least thing were good again between Jared and I. Just knowing that made a world of difference. I turned my back on him for a second to feel a large clod hit me in the back. I jerked around to glare at him. He was innocently shoveling as if nothing had happened. I picked up a stick and poked him in the back then returned to shoveling with a smirk on my face. What happened next was unexpected. I was in a cloud of black. Jared had thrown his entire shovel full of soil over my head. Dark dirt cascaded down over my shoulders. It was everywhere. Covering my face, down my shirt, as I moved around to assess the damage particles fell down the back of my pants. I gasped in hailing a huge lung full of the black powder causing me to double over coughing. Jared was also doubled over wheezing but for different reasons. My coughing and his laughter caused the workers around us to turn and stare.

The war was on. After I finally caught my breath I launched myself at him. He wasn't expecting it so he fell over onto his back. I landed on top of him and grabbed handfuls of the dirt. It smeared over his skin easily leaving behind trails of black sludge. I lathered it into his hair and across his chest. As could be expected Jared retaliated by rolling and shoving my face into a particularly wet spot. When I sat up there was mud dripping off of my face. I grabbed a handful to fling at him and let it fly. Except someone had come between us. A rather cantankerous looking old gentleman. He received a splatter of mud all over his clothing. 

In shock my hands flew to cover my mouth as I suppressed a gasp. Jared looked mortified and I was grateful for my dark face mask to conceal my embarrassment at what I had done. The old man practically growled at us but he didn't say anything.

He didn't need to. Instead he held up an old hand with a bony finger and pointed. He didn't say any words but his message was clear. Guiltily I stood mumbled a quick apology then marched straight to the river. After the heavy rains the water didn't look as if it would help to get me any cleaner. When I turned around Jared was standing behind me looking like a man shaped tree. Together we walked to the well on the grounds.

With Jared's help we hauled a bucket of water up the rope. He grabbed it and dumped it over the top of my head. The icy water caused me to gasp and I shivered. It was Jared's turn next. He even hauled up his own bucket then took a few steps back after handing it to me. He stood with his arms straight out at his sides and closed his eyes tight. I seized the bucket and flung its contents over him. With another bucket I scrubbed the mud from his hair sending dark rivers of mud to roll down his face and into his collar. 

"Thank you." I said through chattering teeth.

"For what?" He asked shaking his head throwing water droplets all over. 

"For making me feel normal again."