Blacksmiths daughter

Arranged Marriage

For the previous few days, Gwendolyn had barely been spending any time with her father, trying to avoid him. She was terribly angry against him, and nothing felt like it could make it right. He had betrayed her.
Instead, the young woman had spent more time with Ethan. He was an extremely interesting and fun person, always ready with witty remarks or deep questions.
But despite the happiness she felt when being with Ethan, Gwendolyn was morose. Slowly, like the doomsday, the date of her meeting with Alric was approaching. She hadn't told Ethan about it, even if he knew a lot about her now. And her father still hadn't talked to her about it. Gwendolyn wondered when he was going to do it, if at all.
And still, deep down, despite being angry, she felt a little sorry for him. What he was doing was not correct, but it was, in his view, probably the best way of ensuring a safe future for her. Even if it meant betraying her.

The meeting day is tomorrow. Was all Gwendolyn could think of as she tried to read a book, alone in her room on the Saturday evening. "Gwen? Can you come? I need to talk to you." Gwendolyn felt her heart stop. Her father was calling. And with the voice he had, it could only be about one thing. "Coming!" she replied, putting down her book. He would finally talk to her about his reckless idea, and she would tell him that there was no way she would ever marry Alric. Her father would understand, he would call off the meeting and all would be well again.
"I'm here." Gwendolyn said, coming into the kitchen. Her father was sitting at the table, fiddling with a spoon. He looked anxious. When Gwendolyn came in, he smiled at her. "Oh, good. Well, I just wanted to.. To tell you about tomorrow." Gwendolyn felt her heart speed up. "Yes?" the blacksmith hesitated. "Well, I just thought.. I just thought it'd be nice to go on a picnic. Tomorrow. At the meadow next to the river, on the north side."
Gwendolyn was frozen for a second, her heart suddenly stopping. He hadn't.. He wouldn't.. Her face had gone white, and her father looked concerned. "Gwen, are you alright?" he asked. Gwendolyn didn't reply immediately. He kept lying! He hadn't told her! She frowned. "Yes, I'm alright." and with those words, Gwendolyn turned on her heels and went to her room.
Once alone, Gwendolyn threw herself on her bed, then curled up. She was horrified at her father's actions. She had never believed him capable of lying like that. "I used to trust you." she muttered in between gritted teeth. "Now I don't anymore." and with that feeling of anger and betrayal still strong in her head, Gwendolyn fell asleep.

The next morning, Gwendolyn woke up early, yet tried to sleep some more. She didn't want to have to face what was coming today. Gwendolyn still didn't really know how she was supposed to behave, and honestly, she just didn't want to have to deal with it.
However, it was her father who got her out of bed. "Gwen! I know you're awake, get out of bed!" he called with a falsely cheerful voice. After reluctantly leaving her bed, Gwendolyn took a quick breakfast with her father, during wich she was tense and unpleasant. After breakfast, she watched her father pack a bag with waterskins, bread and- surprisingly - meat, then decided she had enough and gone outside, to wander in the village.

Once she was out of her house, Gwendolyn sighed and ran her hand over her face. "What's wrong with me?" she mumbled. Of course, she knew what was wrong with her. But it didn't seem to be possible, so she tried to forget about it.
"Why, nothing's wrong with you!" Gwendolyn jumped as a voice tore her from her thoughts. "Ethan, don't scare me like that!" she exclaimed, his familiar grin bringing a smile to her face despite her tension. The boy smiled, shrugging. "you shouldn't have let me creep up on you like that." he replied. He continued. "Nothing's wrong with you, but something is wrong with things around you. What's the matter?"
Gwendolyn sighed, and started walking in direction of the village edge. "I probably should have told you before... My father organised a meeting between Alric and me. I know he wants me to marry him, but I don't want to. I'll never marry." Ethan's face had become darker as she progressed in her story. At the end, he grimaced briefly. "What a snob. What are you going to do about it?" They had arrived by the edge of the village, near where they had first met.
"I don't know." Gwendolyn admitted. "I've known for a week, but I never said anything to my dad about it. And he neither. I suppose he hopes I'll think it's a coincidence we met or something." Gwendolyn shook her head violently. Talking about it, she felt a lump form in her throat and tear rose to her eyes. Tears of helplessness and anger. Next to her, Ethan was watching carefully, a worried frown on his face.
Gwendolyn turned away. She knew he had seen her tears. "I can't believe he did it." she murmured, stopping to lean against a tree. The tears were threatening to spill over, and Gwendolyn had to blink hard to keep them in. She didn't want Ethan seeing her like that. Then, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about that, Gwen. I don't know what you can do, I've never had to deal with something like that before. But I can promise you that whatever happens, you can count on me to support you." Strangely, the tears weren't too hard to keep back now. Gwendolyn straightened up and took a deep breath. She didn't turn around just yet, but she felt better. "Thanks Ethan." she murmured. Behind her, Ethan smiled. "No problem."

An hour later, Gwendolyn was forced to say goodbye to Ethan. Spending time with him had done her a lot of good, but she knew she had to meet her father now. As she arrived at her house, she saw her father close the door behind him. Once he had locked it, he turned and saw her. She was close enough to see the light of guilt in his eyes before it was replaced by false joy. "Gwendolyn, perfectly on time ! Let's go." he smiled at her. Gwendolyn forced a smile in return and walked to stand by him. Together, they started towards the meadow.

They walked silently. The young woman kept her eyes down, not wanting to look around her as they got closer to the meadow. She felt helpless, and it made her mad at the same time too. "So, are you happy to have a picnic? It's not often we do that." her father tried to make conversation.
Something in the question made Gwendolyn stop abruptly. She stayed silent for a second, then looked up slowly at her father. "Me, happy?" she asked incredulously. "Me, happy, knowing you are going to marry me off against my will to someone I don't love?" her voice rose to a yell. "How should I be happy knowing that you betrayed me?!" her fathers face had gone very pale, and he stepped back. "Gwen, I'm really sorry, I just wanted the best for you-" "The best for me would have been allowing me to live my own life and not marry! I told you before. But oh no, you thought you knew best and you did this without my consent." Gwendolyn knew inside that she was being unfair, that in most families the daughter would never be allowed to choose if she wanted to marry or not. But she couldn't stop now, it was too late. "I'm telling you anyway. This will not happen. You could threaten me, trick me all you like, I will not marry Alric. And I will never trust you again." With those stinging words Gwendolyn turned away and stormed off.

She was walking fast, trying to ignore her father calling for her behind her back. She knew she shouldn't have said that, but she couldn't bring herself to completely regret her words. It somehow felt satisfying to have told him what had been on her mind all these days.

"Gwendolyn, are you alright?" the voice said, interrupting her thoughts. She turned quickly and saw Ethan, whose voice she had recognised. "Good enough." she shrugged. Her voice wasn't very convincing. Without waiting for an answer, Gwendolyn kept walking away. She had a specific destination in mind, a tree which had long, broad branches with a sort of hole in the center. It had always been her go-to hiding spot. It was settled on a ridge above the village. As she walked, Gwendolyn could hear Ethan walking silently behind her, but she neither slowed down nor talked. She needed to be alone.

There she was. In front of her, the tree stood, tall and bare. It was summer, but the leaf was leafless: it had been dead for as long as she could remember. For any other person, the tree might look scary and evil, but for Gwendolyn it was a haven of safety and quiet.
Still without a word or a glance back, the girl climbed up on her tree and settled into the hole, clean and smooth from the years of usage. She fitted perfectly inside, though it was a little tighter than when she had first found it. The opening on the hole was just low enough so she could see a bit of outside, and now she saw the top of Ethan's head. He didn't move much, just shifted from side to side as if he was changing foot. He didn't say a word, nor did Gwendolyn. After a minute, Ethan turned around, and slowly walked off, his head down. Gwendolyn listened to him until his footsteps faded in the distance.
And then, only then, she started to cry.

It was dark now. Gwendolyn had fallen asleep a little earlier, but she was awoken by the sound of someone calling her name and running towards her. It was Ethan. "Gwendolyn!" Ethan was terribly pale as he ran to her. Gwendolyn had a terrible sense of foreboding. "What is it?" she asked when he was closer. "Come, you have to see for yourself..." his voice was worryingly weak. Her heart beating faster and faster, Gwendolyn climbed down and ran after Ethan, towards the mound that hid her village from view. A gust of wind brought over the smell of burning, the noise of screams. The sky shimmered red. Gwendolyn finally arrived at the top and her heart stopped.

Her village was burning.