The Maiden Who Fell Through Time

CHAPTER 16: "A Moonlit Gambit"

I managed to somehow drunkenly figure out how to make a small little fire out of scraps of kindling and flint that I had miraculously stashed in my pocket; and then used that small fire subsequently to light a small torch. I used that small torch to help light my way to the small pond/lake that was seated off a ways within the town itself. I figured that the last thing I needed was to stumble over drunk into a cold pond in the middle of the night and end up drowning...so the torch served as a precautionary tool to prevent any drunken mishaps.

(Also, I figured that I'd already got myself into enough shit tonight without adding accidental death to the list.)

The benefit of the small light was that it offered me a semblance of some kind of vision...I mean most things in my line of sight were blurry and kind of wobbling all over the place given my inebriated state but at least I could see somewhat now in the dark. The moon shone bright, but it was still pitch-black outside. The small town of Cookham sat still and quiet. I wasn't sure how many hours had passed exactly but I wagered that it had to be rather late because not a soul walked the street or could be found outside save me holding my small torch.

I made my way to the pond, and was overjoyed to find it quiet, still, and abandoned. I needed the privacy that this body of water offered to decompress, to blow off steam...to vent my frustrations out without anyone seeing me and taking me for a complete madwoman...and in all honesty I needed the alone time to just sober up some and deal with everything that had just transpired between Uhtred and myself. I had been fortunate enough that the encounter with Uhtred had ended in a somewhat sobering way in itself (basically it was the equivalent of having ice cold water thrown over your head); this encounter had allowed me enough clarity and steadiness to somehow manage lighting the torch I had procured and make my way over to the secluded body of water that I now found myself standing in front of. Like I said I somehow managed to noodle-legmy drunk ass over to the seclusion and tranquility of this here pond, where I now stood kicking up dirt and unleashing streams of frustrated groans and bilingual profanities.

High tensioned emotional confusion paired with sexual frustration and intoxication made for a complete mess of a human being...a sloppy, ungraceful...mess of a human being- that had been me. I had been kicking up random bits of dirt and stone on the ground, and had stumbled forward on a rather large (I say large to save face...but in all honesty people it was basically the equivalent of a large pebble) so...like I said there had been this large...and I mean huge protruding stone sticking out of the ground, which I hadn't been expecting at all and which caused me to lose my balance and sent my drunk ass spiraling forward onto my face.

"Owwhh...fuck." I say, lifting my face out of the dirt and spitting up bits of grass and leaves.

My torch went flying out of my hand and had luckily somehow managed to land in front of me and stay lit without setting the ground aflame. Which was a blessing because the last thing I needed for this night was to set the whole of Cookham accidentally ablaze.

I stared at the torch lying in front of me on the ground. "Well, thank fuck for small miracles..."

I got up to my feet and began to wipe myself down, brushing dirt and leaves from myself and fixing my disheveled attire and hair.

"I don't know why I even fucking try." I say, externally while trying to fix my braided updo.

I sigh heavily. "Ugh, just fuck it." I end up unpinning my hair and just leave it a mess of loose hanging braids and disheveled strands.

I brush off my dress and jacket, and when I do so I feel a small lump inside one of my pockets. My eyes went wide when I felt it (the lump that is), and my face breaks into a wide grin.