The Eventide Child Read Free

to open wide as she saw her father standing above her bed. First light had not even shone and there he stood, ready to depart. Sleep never came easy to her. Not with her nightmares. She could practically taste the ash in her mouth this time.
    “It’s a long journey. You wanted to come.”
    She didn’t need his reminder, she needed more sleep. Sleep which was not plagued with such haunting visions. She groaned and dragged herself from her bed and threw her clothes on.  Her feet felt heavy, a yawn cracking her lips as she stepped out into the crisp morning air. Her father checked the cart one last time before he beckoned her.
    Just as they were about to leave, Petros gave pause, all movement ceasing as he eyed her up and down.
    “You’re not wearing it.”
    “Wearing what?”
    Petros gave her an annoyed look. A slight twitch in his brow as the laughter faded away and he turned his attention from Caius back to his daughter.
    “The bracelet your mother gave you, girl. Fetch it, hurry up.”
    She gave a groan. In the height of her excitement, she had completely forgotten the brass ornament that belonged to her mother's family. Father seemed convinced it was "lucky." His superstitious mind assumed that wearing the bracelet somehow protected her. Not even Mother believed it anymore. Alexandra didn’t understand why he insisted she wear it, only that he demanded it. A moment later and she returned, the bronze glimmering in the light. She thought little of it, only knowing that it had fit her wrist perfectly for the entirety of her life.
    “C’mon then, get off already!” Caius barked. Petros gave him a stern laugh in return as Alexandra climbed into the cart beside her father. He lifted the reins to give them a sharp crack as the donkey hee-hawed and set off along the road. Alexandra felt overwhelmed with a sense of adventure, a call to leave home and see new places.
    It was just a trip to the market, but somehow she felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, a voice in the back of her head telling her to jump.
     
     

Chapter II
    The journey to the city was an uneventful, but bumpy ride.
    She passed the time in idle conversation with her father—the only person alive who seemed capable of actually listening while Alexandra prattled on. She shared everything with him. Well, almost everything. She did not speak to him of her dreams. No, those thoughts she never shared with anyone. With his superstitious mind, she was certain he’d think she was cursed by the Gods. She’d wondered it herself, honestly. It was the same, recurring dream that plagued her throughout life. As the years passed and she grew older, so too did the dream. Now it was longer and more vivid. She could still taste the ash in her mouth, though it was hours past dawn. Was it prophetic, memory, or madness? She dared not ask.
    “...And that was how Neleos got caught embracing Delia, even though he’d already courted Adrasteia, who was the one that caught them!” Alexandra laughed as she threw her hands up before collapsing back against the wooden cart seat/bench. Petros just smirked, though she was certain her father cared little for the story.
    “So... Tell me a war story, then, if my story was so bad.”
    “Another? You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Petros asked with a laugh, cracking the reins again before turning back to Alexandra. “Should I tell you of the Battle of Marianus’ Pass, where Jupiter himself threw a thunderbolt to shatter the mountain and create a rockslide, allowing us to retreat? How about the Ambush at Adrianople, and the heroes of the 14th Legion who refused to stop fighting until the rest of us had fled? Tales of glory, of young boys promised eternal glory and sent to die?”
    She knew he wasn’t serious. Alexandra pouted, even going so far as to stick her tongue out at her father in protest before she leaned back.
    “I get the point.” Alexandra groaned, eyes rolling. “You could just say no,