Sunday, June 22, 2008

3: Edith

Edith stared out the window of her chamber, surveying the vast, motionless expanse of the Desert of Dreams; so close to her residence, yet a place she had never experienced, a far away land of mystery. It was a sight she beheld often, as she spent much time just sitting, thinking, by herself. Edith reflected over the past week, but there was nothing new or significant to her. The castle had been visited by the usual crowd of suitors. Vain, conceited men they were. She might have considered courting one of them, had he but spent at least an equal amount of time conversing with her as he did gazing greedily at the riches that surrounded her dwelling. But as usual, they only faked interest in her. To make matters worse, her father had amused himself that week by putting glue in the chair of a visiting landlord. He had previously stretched a string from this chair to the chandelier, upon which several bottles of ink had been precariously balanced. Edith shuddered when she recalled the results. Sighing, she took a bite of a crumpet, grimacing at it's overly sweet taste. Life at the castle was becoming such a misery. She gazed once again out the window, and this time a commotion at the gate aroused her interest. At first she wondered if she had spotted one of the mysterious dream-spirits that supposedly inhabited the Desert of Dreams, but she quickly realized that this was not so. Why did she continue to think on these beings? The king had been denying their existance to her since she was a child. Her thoughts returned to the scene below. Three knights were departing from the castle. A fluttering green banner with an emblem of the peacock announced the identity of the first knight: Sir Edward IV of Stranfordam; she remembered him. Stiff, dignified, and ceremonious, he had only remained her suitor for a few days, before becoming so disgusted with the king's behavior that he left. She smiled. For once, her father had done something beneficial for her, although the fact that it was unintended still remained. She immediately knew the second knight, who carried a batterd red banner with an emblem of the wolf: Sir Bruce of Wellington; another former suitor. Sir Bruce had remained at the castle, for less than one day. Upon being introduced to her, he immediately proposed marriage, she in surprise, naturally refused. With that, he angrily stormed away and she hadn't seen him since. Edith stared hard at the third knight, for he had no banner. The emblem of a fish on his pale blue sheild was unfamiliar to her. Strange, she thought, that she had never noticed him. Every knight in the land seemed to be struggling to put himself in her sight. A rap on the door and the entrance of one of her maids, brought her attention away from the scene below, and she turned away from the window.


--Thomas H

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