HeartBane - 4

[DoS Archive]

From: lrdarcanum@aol.com (LrdArcanum)
Date: 08 Jul 2000 22:26:48 EDT

Advancing past the sentinel had been much too easy he thought to himself. In the past entrance to this land had been....difficult. Perhaps the gods were warring amongst themselves again and were not watching the borders. Whatever the case he was glad he had not had to produce the sigil. Gently prodding the horse forward he continued on the winding trail, sun warm and golden on his back in this late morning.

After an hour or so he could hear in the distance a faint roar that became louder and louder as he approached the source. Another half-hour had him rounding a bend and suddeny he was there, upon the shore of RiverDrem. The vast sweep of it taking his breath away with the wild beauty and its untamed rages. For a minute he looked out at it, enjoying the smells of life and the greening of the land. As he shifted in the saddle his attention was
caught by a large piece of paper that was pinned to the branch of a river oak. Prodding the horse he moved over to the paper and plucked it from the branch, then noticing a pair of worn slippers and a golden shaded gown folded neatly and laying on a rock projecting over the riverbank.

He studied the words, reading them slowly trying to understand the meaning. At the top was a note reading. "Perhaps you will think better of me when you see this Father" The word "Father" heavily underscored. His eyes moved on to the body of the message which read.

"Sadness falls deep within me
drifting slowly towards center
Rose petals driven by my winters wind
sail tumbling by
Once beautiful, now withering
falling unnoticed to the ground
fading into the cold nothingness"

Amerlee of Greylin

For a long moment he studied the words, then dismounted to look at the neat pile of clothing. From the look of them they were highborn items. The gown having the opposed hourglass figure of a major house in Greylin. This would be a scandal and a sadness to all he thought. Frowning he carefully wrapped the gown and shoes along with the note around a boulder tieing the gown tight so that it would not loosen.

Smiling grimly he threw the bundle into the raging river watching it vanish. "Better to be lost, then to be a known suicide in this land" he spoke firmly to the surrounding silences.

Mounting his horse he continued his journey, the sun not so warm and the day no longer quite as bright as it was.