Unbreakable Vow

Ro was a special girl, with black hair and dark eyes that stood out from her pale complexion. Not only was she clever, but she was gifted. Though her parents thought of her as extraordinary, society thought otherwise. Ro was living in a time where being special meant death, hence, her parents constantly reminded her to never use her gift in public.

Because of Ro’s condition, she and her parents moved around a lot. Her parents were looking for a place where they would be accepted and that Ro could grow up without living in fear. But finding such a peace haven was becoming more impossible as the years went by.

Ro once thought that there were many others like her, and that when they found those people, she wouldn’t have to lie her way in life. But when she saw her parents losing hope, Ro was losing hers too. Maybe she was alone and there was no one like her, or worse, the king had killed all those who were like her already.

Sometimes, Ro would feel a tear rolling down her cheek, and when she realized her sadness had made her cheeks wet, she would pull her hood over and keep her head down. Loneliness was something she hated and yet it was starting to be the only thing she understood.

Ro thought her future was as straight forward as surviving day to day, but it was on one fine night that things changed. When her parents decided to stay a night at a town they were passing through, Ro discovered she was not so alone anymore.

Ro was having a hard time falling asleep that night, and she decided to sneak out when her parents had fallen asleep. She had learned how to sneak around that even old floorboards could not betray her. Once she was in the clear of any humans, Ro walked towards an empty field behind the inn. She heard the town’s people talking about an upcoming tourney, and Ro secretly hoped they could stay long enough to see it. Though she was certain they wouldn’t.

Closing her eyes briefly, Ro imagined the field being set up with tents and benches. She saw knights, horses, swords and a loud and excited crowd. When she opened her eyes, the field lay quietly under the dark sky. Ro felt the same sadness within her and she knew a tear would soon be coming. Thankfully, someone stopped her.

“Lovely isn’t it?” a girl asked.

Turning around, Ro saw a girl around her age with red hair and blue eyes, and with skin almost as pale as hers.

“It would be, when the tourney starts,” Ro said, forcing a smile.

“Well, that depends. But I prefer it quiet,” the girl replied.

Of course she did, she was never alone. Silence was bliss for a girl like her, Ro thought.

“I haven’t seen you around, are you new here?” the girl asked.

“I’m just passing through with my parents. Do you live in this town?” Ro asked in return.

“Yes. But I want to leave. I hate it here,” the girl said, as she took a seat on a log.

“Why? Isn’t it nice here?”

“No. No one understands me. The only one who did left me,” the girl answered sourly.

Ro thought for a while before she spoke. The girl felt alone too, and it must be horrible to feel alone even when there were so many people around. At least Ro never had to deal with loneliness that way.

“Who left?”

“My father. He died,” the girl replied softly.

Ro sat beside her, and watched her closely. Was she going to cry?

“How about your mother?” Ro tried to sound comforting.

“She thinks I’m a freak.”

“Why would any mother think that of her child?”

“Because I can do things. Things normal people can’t.”

Immediately, Ro felt a surge of happiness, which she felt bad for feeling at the same time.

“What kind of things?” Ro asked, trying to hide her excitement.

“Strange things. Things my mother said the King would burn me for.” The girl turned to look at Ro and asked, “Can you do strange things too?”

There was the same glinting hope in the girl’s eyes that Ro could sense, but Ro just stared at the girl, unsure if she should admit it.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I can do strange things too remember?” the girl said with a sweet smile.

Ro nodded and smiled. But her smiled soon died as she said, “I will be gone in the morning. My parents will not let me stay, and they won’t let you come along either.”

“I know. But we can always find each other, because we are special,” the girl said confidently.

“How?”

“A vow.” The girl took Ro’s hand and continued, “I promise to find you when I’m old enough to leave. I promise that we will find others like us. And I promise we will be together till the very end. Do you promise the same?”

“I promise to go with you when you find me. I promise that we will find and help others like us. And I promise we will be together till the very end,” Ro said her own vows, her hand still tightly gripping the girl’s.

“Good,” the girl said as she pulled her hand away, and gave Ro a hug.

Once they sat back, Ro curiously asked, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Helga. What is yours?”

“I’m Rowena. But you can call me Ro.”

They sat there long enough to share their dreams, desires, and even their gifts, that when morning came, Ro felt like crying again, not because of loneliness but because she might have to wait a long time before she could see her new sister again.

Almost 10 years later, the wait was over when Ro received a letter from Helga. Not thinking twice, Rowena packed her bags and left the small school she was learning magic from. She was not going to break her vow, as vows were never meant to be broken. Maybe when she has obtained a wand, Ro could come up with a spell for vows, so words were not just spoken but binding to the souls.

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The Runaway Bride

In the broad valleys of Wales was a young beautiful girl. She lived with her mother and step father in a brick house, where she had to look after her brother, her 2 step sisters and her twin half brothers.

When her father died in the war, while serving the King in service, her mother came under the spell of a wealthy man, who promised wonderful things for her family, but when he married her mother, she and her brother became outcasts.

She was forced to do the cleaning and cooking, as though she was one of the maids in her own home. Her younger brother was forced to work in the farm and over see the male workers. And since she was the oldest among all her siblings, she was forced to look after all of them. She could easily call herself the head maid of her home, as she did everything for her step and half siblings upon their commands.

As a young lady turning 21, she felt as though this was all to the life she had. She never expected anything more as her future seemed as dry as the drought that would occasional sweep across their land. So when she met a young man, she never expected him to be the one that changed her life.

It was during a hot afternoon, that she was sent to the market to fetch for kitchen supplies. As she was browsing through the pile of one day old cabbages, a young man with jet black hair and mysterious eyes came up to her asking for directions to the town exit.

“You have to cross Pixie bridge before you take the left on the split road,” she told the young man.

“Thank you my lady,” he replied with a charming smile.

She couldn’t help but blush as he was a handsome one. But when she wanted to offer him a place for the night, she found out he wasn’t alone.

“Have you found the way out?” his friend with green eyes asked.

“Yes. This young lady here was such a great help. If ever, you need us to do anything for you, just say it, before we leave of course,” the man answered with a wink.

And she blushed even more before she jumped on her question, “Why don’t you buy me a drink?”

“Oh? A fine lady like you drinks?” he asked, while his friend merely snickered by his side.

“I’m not a fine lady, not even a lady as you can see. I’m a maid,” she answered.

“Well, you look like a lady to me. So how about tomorrow afternoon at the tavern?” he asked.

“Sure. That sounds great,” she quickly said and hurried off, completely forgetting to get the cabbages she had took a while to pick out.

When she reached home, she couldn’t help but smile. She smiled while doing all her chores that the house maids thought she was going crazy. But even the idea of having a drink with such a handsome man could not stop the horrifying news she was about to receive at dinner time.

As she finally sat down with her family, after serving each of her siblings, her step father told her she was to marry a man he knew called Arctacus Hawtorn. At the sound of his name, she wanted to burst into tears as Arctacus Hawtorn was no gentleman, he was not even around her age. He was an old rich man whom her step father had been trying to do business with for years.

“I can’t marry him! He’s old and ugly!” She tried to defend her rights.

“When I say you’ll marry him, you WILL marry him!”

She immediately turned to her mother for help, but her mother merely looked away, in guilt and shame.

“Mother! You can’t let him do this!”

“Don’t shout at your mother! She agrees with me on this,” her step father immediately said before her mother could answer her.

“How could you? I’m your real daughter, of flesh and blood! And you’re giving me away to an old filthy man?!” she added as she stood up.

And then, as though she knew it would happen, her step father rose from his seat and slapped her so hard she stumbled onto her chair.

With tears streaming down her eyes, she ran to her room, locked herself in it and never came out till the following day came. Even then, she had to sneak through her window and jump into a hay stack to break her fall.

Once she had made it to town, she headed to the tavern to meet the two men she met the day before. And without expecting to do so, she spilled her whole story to them, with anger and hate in her voice that did not even trigger any tears to flow from her eyes.

“You know what I would do if I were you?” the handsome, dark haired man, asked.

“What?”

“I would run away,” he answered with a shrug.

“I have no where to go,” she replied softly.

“You can come with us,” he offered.

At that moment, a spark of hope left a warm feeling in her heart. Though she wasn’t sure if she should actually agree to it, because she barely knew the men, she somehow felt safer with them than with her own family.

“I would love to, but…” She hesitated.

“The longer you think, the more you would not run away. The less you think, the more risks you would take. So think less and just agree.”

“Sal, are you sure…” his friend finally spoke in a whisper, and she caught it.

“You have not told me your names, how can I just run away with strangers?” she asked as she eyed them.

“I’m Salazar, you can call me Sal. And this is Godric, you cant call him God, so just call him Ric. We’re friends now, so what say you?”

“O.k. I’ll leave with you,” she said as a smile spread across her face. She was finally taking her life in her own hands and it felt good.

“And what shall we call you?” Sal asked.

“You can call me Helga, just Helga.”