The Harvest || h.s.

Chapter 31

XXXI. LOVERS OF THE PAST

Outside of the lavish castle walls, life was very boring for the dull, simple villagers. The unfortunate destitutes did not have many sources of entertainment besides the rumors and stories of the higher class men, delivered freshly by the sneaky tattletales who worked for the Prince whenever they had a day off their back breaking jobs.

One week, nonetheless, the word on the street was different. They involved the villagers, the ones who left their warm homes to go fight for the Kingdom and its allies down to the cold unforgiving battlefield. And as the herd of horses ridden by the survivors began to be seen on the horizon, the rumors were confirmed to be true.

The morning was full of emotions for the people of Adwick. Lovers being reunited sealing their love with a kiss, mothers hugging their sons, widows desperately looking for their husbands in the crowd, and not being able to find them. Each soldier had someone waiting for them, wailing happy tears for their longed for return, except for one.

Garrick Wilkins had been on his own since he was just seventeen. He lived off whatever he could sell down at the market. The only company he had was his lover, and it honestly did not surprise him that she hadn't shown up. She had broken all contact between them after he left. She was most likely already married or betrothed to another, as Garrick had left for the battlefield long ago and left her all alone in the village.

But he had hoped to at least see her face among the crowd, as he had not stopped thinking about her every night he was lucky enough to go to sleep. The black haired young man dismounted his horse and gave him a quick kiss on the nose as a thank you for his service to him on the field, before joining the other soldiers waiting to be instructed by the Generals for the ceremony held for them by the Prince.

Lena

"I still don't understand why you must work for me." Lena sighed, as she watched Lou struggle to carry over five dresses and laid them over Lena's bed.

"Because the universe works in very questionable ways. One day you have everything and then... Now come I want you to try this dress on."

With a silent huff, Lena approached her to try on yet another gown. She had no idea why the need for dress picking, but at this point she was already tired of questioning and just obeyed whatever was expected of her, as she was taught all her life. "What do you think, Clarissa?" Lou asked once the dress was adorning Lena's body.

Clarissa looked up from her spot on one corner of the room, folding the last piece of clothing and straightened her back, carefully examining the way the dress hugged her body. Lena spun around for them, she has finally begun to slowly enjoy all the luxuries that came with her stay at the palace. The clothes were her favorite part, but trying them on and picking one was a pain in the ass.

Clarissa shook her head. "Too light for her. Save the white dresses for her wedding day."

"What should we go for then?" Lou asked, opening her wardrobe again and skimming through the clothes. "I like the baby blue one, but you've been using too much baby blue lately.

"Lilac?" Lena asked. "I really like that dress and you haven't let me use it yet."

"What about the champagne dress with the three-quarter sleeves?" Clarissa asked, snatching a dress off the back of the wardrobe and positioning it over Lena's body.