1001

Summer Solstice

Anna stared into the bonfire. Red flames danced with the revelers, to the maddening rhythm of the drums. She waited for that precise moment when they'd break the rhythm and take a life of their own. She took a sip of ale from the pewter cup and relaxed her stance. The fire threw its shadows over the score or so of cloaked figures who enjoyed the food and ale on a warm solstice day.

She knew better. At dusk, at the end of its longest run in the skies, the sun would gift a few of them a glimpse of the future. Chaste or sinner, old or young, rich or poor, the sun chose them as it pleased. Only a threadbare cloak in the secluded area southwest of the fire helped. The revelers danced in the northeast, and the others took the space in between to eat and drink the rich fare of the feast.

Anna lowered the pewter slowly to the ground and peered into the fire in disbelief. Dan smiled back at her, and her heart skipped a bit at the familiar dimples in his cheeks. She frowned. The sun tired after its longest run should give them the gift of the future. Yet Dan looked a child of eight, the same he was on their last outing, ten years ago. She sighed; part miffed and mostly grateful for the vision. He might as well be dead. Anna closed her eyes, and a tear slid down her cheek. Perhaps he was by now. Her eyes fluttered back open with worry, and she breathed a relieved sigh when Dan's image smiled at her from the fire.

She gasped when she saw herself, at six, burrowing her head in his shoulder and crying. She remembered the chase the rabid dog gave her and how Dan dispatched him with his first real sword. His last sword also, hidden in a corner of his parents' hut. More tears dropped down her cheeks. However, she forced her eyes to remain open. She heard his soothing whisper again.

"Trust me, I will always protect you."

Two days later he had disappeared, taken in the middle of the night as peace ransom for the all-powerful Sultan.

She closed her eyes and lifted the pewter cup to her lips. When she opened them, the flames danced again in the rhythm of the drums. Anna lowered her head in acceptance. This year, again the sun chose someone else for its revelations.

Ale, food, and the memory of a day long gone would take her through the night as it did before. After all, the drums could beat a faster rhythm, the rhythm of Sultan's rage at the land's refusal to pay the ransom in children and gold.

Anna's eyes opened in horror. The drums!

Pewter cans rolled down the hill amid villager's cries and hooves beats. Discarded cloaks lay on the ground as their owners ran for their lives.

Ana stood and swayed on the empty grounds, the fire still roaring in the middle, one with the orange sky of the sunset.

Her cloak dropped to the ground, and her sword caught, for an instant the last of the sunlight.

"She's mine!" she heard a booming voice over the cacophony of hooves.

He had the strength and the horse, and she had the bow and the sword. He spared her life, she'd spare his. This time only, the arrow knocked his turban instead of piercing his skull. Brown hair fell on his shoulders, and she gasped. It was true then. Young children forget their families to become devoid of feelings, like this warrior speeding on a warhorse against a woman.

She smiled her mischief smile, the one on her face when she chased the dog without knowing it was rabid. She'd be dead as soon as her sword met his, so she rolled on the ground, under the horse's hooves. Her much smaller sword cut the harness, leaving a long scratch on the stallion's skin. It reared in pain and threw its rider to the ground.

By the time she stood, he had waited for her, sword drawn. A puzzled frown greeted her instead of rage, and she took full advantage. Pain replaced puzzlement as she grazed his arm, and her mischief smile lighted her face.

It was her turn to frown, puzzled, as two dimples formed at the end of a smile. He took advantage of her distraction and knocked her sword from her hand. He caught her, and she found her forehead burrowed in his shoulder.

"Trust me, I will always protect you!" he whispered.

She raised her head in recognition however the dimples had disappeared. She found worry etched on a face marked of early wrinkles.

"They're back, when I push you, fall to the ground, play dead."

He winced, and Anna understood the dampness on the back of her shirt.

"It's but a scratch." then he pushed her to the ground.

She fell and burrowed her head into the grass as the sound of hooves grew louder.

"Right through her heart." one of the raiders guffawed when his horse ran by her.

"We'll not be far. Take her sword!" another yelled as the Sultan's raiding party passed by them.

Anna heard him bend to pick up her sword and whisper.
"Not all of us forgot, Anna."

She could not look at Dan again, she could not risk her life. She could not risk his life if one of his parties stayed behind. She hoped he heard her muffled voice.

"What shall become of us?"

"I don't know, Anna." he answered then he laid her sword at her side.

As the sound of hooves died in the distance, Ana stared into the dwindling fire.
The sun rested beyond the horizon, and she strived to replace the longing with gratitude.

She'd know of Dan's plans. The Sun would grace her with a vision of the future in times of need.

She only had to listen.