A Mistrust

The trees stood like giants, towering over the ground with their imposing figures. They seemed to stare down and judge anyone and anything that would come across them. The wood was fairly quiet that day, the only sounds were the wind whispering through the trees and of Faewyn’s footsteps as she tread lightly through the forest.

It had been about ten days since she got in trouble with a cloak, accused of breaking the gathering permit law for having stored too much material from the wood within her backpack. Faewyn couldn’t prove her innocence in the matter and she now had to live with her punishment. One month of community service within the wood. She would be credited three shilling per day for helping plant trees, clean up trails, and fill in holes. A month of working off her debt seemed like a long time, an eternity for Faewyn. Every single day when she woke up, she would head to the woods in the west and she would spend a few hours working. Despite the fact that she was no longer allowed to gather for goods (or even her beloved seashells) for the time being, she had still kept training her sharp eyes and looked out for any dangers that may lurk in the forest. She knew, from her experience in the past, that there were demons around that were just waiting for any unsuspecting person to come along and fall prey to them. She would never let that happen to her again. If it did, her new dagger that she kept on her belt would allow her to defend herself.

Things couldn’t have gotten any worse for Faewyn. Unfortunately though, that was not the end. She went against Dalindo’s wishes and told Dayne, the cloak that had punished her for breaking the permit law, what had happened between her and Cavinaar. Somehow, she must of used the wrong choice of words because the cloak suddenly felt that she was accusing her former friend of attempting to rape her. That was clearly not her intention. When she tried to explain to Dayne that Cavinaar wasn’t trying to rape her, the cloak fined her ten shillings for making a ‘false report.’ Faewyn thankfully had enough coin to pay for the charge, but the abuse she endured was beyond repair. Dayne went so far as to call her a ‘manipulative bitch.’ The words stung her, so deeply. She never thought anyone could think so ill of her. Faewyn had lost her complete faith with the cloaks, or the rangers for that matter.  They proved to her that they could not give a damn for her feelings, or for anyone else’s.  She knew now that there would be few people that she could tell her problems to. Dalindo was perhaps the only one who would listen to her.  It really meant something, and he was always honest with her.

As she crouched down and began clearing away foilage and fallen branches from a forest path, she couldn’t help but feel just a little bitter about the way her life was going. Faewyn just had to keep her mind busy, to keep herself occupied, and try not to dwell on her problems and just let them settle into the past.

She could make new friends perhaps. Maybe one day she could come face to face with Cavinaar and they could resolve their differences. It was unlikely at this point. She couldn’t help but feel terrible for him. He was alone now and, in a way, she had betrayed him. Faewyn felt he was desperate to have someone to hold onto and unfortunately he tried to take her away from Dalindo. The kisses were, indeed, forced. She thought so in her mind. All those times, before she would push Cavinaar away, she had tried to think that it was Dalindo that was kissing her and not of her former friend. Was it wrong?

She turned away a man that had fallen deeply for her, and yet she chose to stay with another man that no longer believed in love.

Things would never be the same again. 

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