At night the canal was quiet except for the water that lapped at the limestone walls. The birds were nesting. People dined and slept inside their homes. Occasionally the wind picked up into a howl.
Neither Delilah nor Jonnie spoke as they slinked along the water's edge.
The evening had taken such a turn that Delilah was too unsettled for any further discussion. She yearned for the confines of her room. The safety of her blankets. Away from the dangers that lurked outside her home.
Somehow her step-father had hidden the animosity of their people from her. Through numerous jobs and many visits, she had never heard a glimpse of protests, riots, or hate. Her chest constricted at the swell of emotions she was feeling. In a matter of days, she would be Baroness and she knew nothing. Absolutely nothing. She knew damn all about her people. Damn all about her Quarter.
And it was all because he hid it from her.
Her own step-father did not trust her enough to know.
Delilah thrust her head back to stare at the skies, passed the shedding trees, and up to the glowing orb lighting her path. Of all the lives Saol could give to her, Delilah did not understand why it was this one she possessed. If everyone around her did not trust her, did not...believe in her, why must she be a leader?
Why not a farmer? A carpenter? A servant even? Why did Saol not give her a burdenless life instead of all the pain and turmoil surrounding her own?
"Delilah?" Her eyes were puffy without her even realizing it. Water rushed down her cheeks like the stream through the canal. Ahead of her, Jonnie waited with concern. "Ah..." How her thoughts had drifted so quickly, Delilah could only blame it on the stress of the night. "My-my... leg, yes, my leg. It is, erm, it is hurting again. Do not mind me." It was a blatant lie, one she saw Jonnie did not believe but accepted anyway as he continued on.
"We better get back then. Baron Franklyn will kill me for not getting you back before last light."
"Yes, yes. Of course."
Delilah wiped at her face, pushed away from the downward sprawl she had trapped herself in, and joined her guard in their march back to her home. Unprepared for the days ahead.
YOU ARE READING
A Bullet Or Two
FantasyWhat would you do if everything you were destined to have was taken away? Delilah Franklyn, the dutiful step-daughter to the Baron of Farhilm, was raised to take his role. Moulded to lead the prosperous East Quarter. Yet when responsibility falls in...
