Captured [The Patriot Fanfic] ON HOLD

Chapter 24: Sobriety

   "Blythe..." Gabriel's voice sounded faintly, yet muffled as if he were underwater. "Blythe..." He repeated again a tad more clearly, shaking her to alertness. Blythe panted only a moment as she opened her eyes to a blur of light.

  "Good Jesus, what had happened?" She inhaled deeply, collecting herself together, until she could feel within her the subtle pastiness that intensified with each labored breath; realizing her alcoholic consumption was more than she had ever intended it to be. She painfully lurched forward, as all the meager contents in her stomach spewed along the soil.

 "You had been drunk since dusk."

Blythe choked in utter disgust at the sourness the bile left in her throat. She reached for the small canteen close to the straw-filled cot, intaking a few swishes of water. "Well damnit that's rather obvious." She muttered.

  Just then Benjamin stormed in through the flaps of the tent with a slip of paper in hand. Gabriel shuddered at the mere thud of his footsteps.

  "Blythe, haven't I warned you not to be in the midst of the populace?" Benjamin held out the delicate crinkled slip to her azure eyes, and before she could even blink stood the bold onyx letters of the word  "WANTED". As her eyes wheeled down, was a clear depiction of the cape she wore, yet her face could not be seen.

  "Father-" Gabriel attempted to interject his father's stern manner. His sandy flaxen hair protruded on both sides of his face, forming a curl at each tip, and his hazel eyes grew deep with worry.

  "Gabriel, do not become involved in this."

  "But Father, her identity is bound to show some day, she can't stay behind a tent this entire while. She is of importance to this militia, she was held captive by the enemy-"

 "Gabriel, if they capture her, they will hang her."

 Both voices raised in young Blythe's ears, her eyes clenched shut; her brain unable to process both arguments at once with the each screech ringing through her ear like the tornado warning sirens that blared back in the heart of Waynesboro.

  "Listen!" Blythe exclaimed, silencing both men. "I understand my identity will be a giveaway, but I won't stop fighting for what is right. However, fighting back doesn't happen from behind a tent.I understand I am a dame or a woman or whatever be in your terms. But sometimes, even us women must retaliate when needed. " Blythe turned to Gabriel whose jaw plunged but yet turned into a subtle smile. Both then turned to Benjamin who stood in awe, completely aghast by the eighteen-year old's words. Blythe could only stare down at the frizzy braid hanging over her shoulder, needing to be re-done.

  "You have a point Blythe. Alright, you can remain visible to the populace. Just never around that tavern. Am I clear?" Benjamin stated.

 Blythe only nodded as he turned to exit, undoing her braid and allowing her auburn waves to freely flow over her shoulders, over the thin cotton of the long sleeved poet shirt she wore.

  "That was... amazing what you had said." Gabriel's voice sounded softer in praise.

  "Some things just need to be said." She chuckled a tad as she rose up, instantly feeling weak in lieu that she was now sober.

  "Blythe you must rest." Gabriel eased her back down atop the cot gently, as he stood over her protectively.

  "Well, lesson learned." She muttered to herself knowing getting inebriated was out of the picture.