A Tale of Revenge Ch. 15

She moved through the busy courtyard, servants and guards bustling about despite the hour for the evening meal growing close. The turnover was going rather seamlessly given Rafia's small force. The king's assumed suicide and general unpopularity certainly helped. Anna passed a soldier flirting with a laundress who smiled and shamelessly offered to take his clothing for a wash where he stood. The soldier went red and his friends laughed as he stuttered an answer. The laundress winked and sashayed away with her bundle.

Anna approached the infirmary where others dressed in the healer's green uniforms moved to and fro. She peeked in the main door and saw Marek sitting by one of the beds, changing bandages. She could see how he was burning out infections with his magic, encouraging the healing process as he worked while no one else was the wiser. She smiled and moved on. The others would be heading for the royal wing soon, but she would wait to join them a moment longer.

She found her way into the private gardens behind the royal residence where she was blessedly alone. The grounds were meticulously maintained, rows of towering hedges shielded her from anyone looking from the castle and lined a path that opened onto a small pond where water lilies floated in the dark waters. She walked out onto the wooden dock that extended over the water and stopped at the edge to look out into the scene painted blue with the coming night.

Her feelings were confused during her walk, but now in her stillness and solitude she relaxed, letting the anxiety ebb as she closed out the questions and the complications that plagued her. For a moment she simply felt what her body was telling her without trying to influence it with her thoughts. A great surge of relief, like a font of contentment and joy that had been tamped down for too long, surged in her chest. After everything she had endured she realized she had not only survived but succeeded. The future was no longer a horrible blank space before her but a place full of possibilities and connection. She looked up at the gathering clouds and grinned.

When the skies opened up and cool rain began to fall, she reached out her arms, welcoming the storm. She let her relief well up from inside her and escape into the air as a laugh that rippled over the water, releasing the elation she felt into the night. Lightning shot across the sky followed by the crack and rumble of thunder with answering snaps of her power at the ends of her fingertips. Rain lashed her skin, soaked her clothing and ran down her scalp. Tomorrow there would be more work to be done, her friend to mourn, politics and fights.

But for tonight, for this moment, she was allowed simply to be.

***

So we've come to the end, of sorts. The epilogue will be posted in a few days. Thank you guys for all your comments and support. I hope this end finds you smiling.