Aunt Matilda's Pottage
Everyone called her Aunt Matilda. Each day, she cooked a cauldron of pottage with peas, carrots, onions, mushrooms, a few nuts, and black kernels of Elvenari rice.
Very rarely, a sliver of meat might appear. Nobody asked where the meat came from. It was hot, and it filled empty bellies. That was all anyone needed to know.
She carried it one wooden bowl at a time up the stone stairs running up to the outer wall. She would deliver her food, a kind word, and a pat on the arm to each of the weary soldiers manning the wall. The soldiers would smile and, staring across the once-manicured market grounds toward the forest, eat their pottage in silence.
Sometimes, an arrow would come out of the forest and fall short. The soldiers would jeer and call to the invisible enemy to improve their aim. Sometimes the arrows would go long, and the soldiers would call out to the people in the courtyard behind them to watch out.
One day, an arrow landed next to Elzalore, splintering on the cobbled lane running to the king's cottage. The teenager picked up the shaft, now about half its original length, and saw crude writing engraved in the wood.
She carried it one wooden bowl at a time up the stone stairs running up to the outer wall. She would deliver her food, a kind word, and a pat on the arm to each of the weary soldiers manning the wall. The soldiers would smile and, staring across the once-manicured market grounds toward the forest, eat their pottage in silence.
Sometimes, an arrow would come out of the forest and fall short. The soldiers would jeer and call to the invisible enemy to improve their aim. Sometimes the arrows would go long, and the soldiers would call out to the people in the courtyard behind them to watch out.
One day, an arrow landed next to Elzalore, splintering on the cobbled lane running to the king's cottage. The teenager picked up the shaft, now about half its original length, and saw crude writing engraved in the wood.
He felt the tingling in his head that he had always associated with The Power. When The Power came, he knew it needed him to do something, and it would pester him until he let it flow through him.
Today, he closed his eyes and saw a glowing arrow in his mind. He felt the broken arrow tugging in his hand. It wanted to fly again. The Power told him so.
Today, he closed his eyes and saw a glowing arrow in his mind. He felt the broken arrow tugging in his hand. It wanted to fly again. The Power told him so.
He let it go, and his mind saw it speeding back over the wall, arching high, and dropping into the forest.
He heard a distant cry of pain and dismay, and The Power flowed away.
He heard a distant cry of pain and dismay, and The Power flowed away.
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