The midnight castle
By
Samuel J Macvicar.
Sophie slept calmly, her head resting on Sami's outstretched legs. The ebb and flow of her breath was like the tides of the sea, relaxing Sami as he day dreamed in the back of the old wagon. They had been on the road for days with nothing to do but reminisce on times past. Sami's thoughts drifted into that of his child hood. He never knew his parents, his earliest memories where that of the streets he lived in and the dark alleys where he slept. He had to steal for a living; there was nothing else he could do. It was on those streets that he met Sophie.
Sami could remember that day well, he had been beaten by an angry shop owner, left to die in the alley where he had been cornered. Sophie found him, gave him food and water and treated his wounds with almost expert ability. When he asked her where she learned her talent for medicine, she couldn't remember. She was a child without a past, left to the streets just like him and since that day, they never left each other's side.
"Daydreaming Sami?" Alec was hanging off the back of the wagon, leaning in to the back through the canvas flaps. Sunlight flooded through the gap above him.
"No." Sami said quietly. "Thinking about how I got here, how much my life has changed." Alec gave him a concerned look, his narrow eyes shrinking even more than usual. "That's not like you, Sami. Far too serious!" Alec peered out the back of the wagon, the sun dancing on his face through the leaves of the forest they were traveling through. Sami pulled on the sleeve of Alec's leather armor.
"How much longer do we have before we arrive at the castle?"
"Not that long, really, it can be seen up ahead, Beautiful sight." He looked down at Sophie. "Might want to wake her up soon, you know how long it takes her to get in gear and John will be wanting us to get straight to work as soon as were in."
"Yea..." Sami sighed. He could see her smile when she slept. It was such a pretty smile but it was something Sami rarely got to see anymore.
