Due to a request of sorts from a reader, I decided to make a chapter to sort of show Isaac's back story. There will most likely be more than one of these throughout the story but here ya go! :)
Seriously, one of the saddest chapters I've ever had to write I was crying. You'll see why. Enjoy!
Elvedon – 10 years ago
May Day
"Emma, my love. Wake up!" Emma rolls over on her side but hears her name once again. "Emma!" She feels her husband roll her onto her back and say her name between kisses pressed to her cheeks. "Isaac!" She giggles. She opens her eyes to look up him. His boyish face is brightened by his excitement. "What is it?"
Grinning from ear to ear, he leans forward. "Today is May Day! No work in the field today. Only fun and merriment." He leans down to give her a peck on the lips. "Get dressed in your finest and we'll break our fast and then find some flowers and decorate our house."
"That sounds perfect, my love." She smiles, placing a hand on his cheek. He beams at her and placing his hand on hers, kisses her palm before rising. He leaves her to get the food ready until she calls his name. He hastens to their bedroom where she is standing in a simple brown linen dress with the back still untied. "Would you please help me, my dear husband?" She asks with a smile. "The bigger I become, the more difficult it is to do this." She lays a hand on her growing belly and he smiles.
"Of course." He walks over to her and grabbing the laces, he gently tugs at them and laces up the back, asking every so often if it's too tight. Afterwards he takes the hanging pieces of the band that goes right beneath her breast and ties it into a bow in the back. As soon as he finished, she turns to face him and leans forward and gives him a peck on the lips. "Thank you."
Following her into their little kitchen, he helps her with the pottage and sets up the few dishes they have on the table. He sits down and idly plays with the edge of one of the plates when he hears his wife let out a shocked cry. Jumping up, he joins her near the fire where she's sucking on her finger. "What's the matter?" He asks. "Are you hurt?"
"I was being stupid and burnt myself." She says. "I was stirring the stew and my finger touched the side of the pot."
Isaac chuckles earning a glare from his wife. "It's not funny! It hurts!" Grabbing her free hand, he turns her to face him and puts a hand on either side of her face. "You, my lovely wife, are not stupid." He kisses her forehead. "Young but not stupid."
"I'm not young." She says defensively. "I'm a grown woman of sixteen."
"Of course." He smiles and leads her over to the table. "Sit down and rest. I'll serve the food."
She frowns. "Are you sure? I can do it."
"Yes. Sit down and rest a while." He says walking back over to fire. Spooning out some stew into bowls, he set them down on the table. They ate in silence and then Emma went outside to wash her face with the early morning dew as this was a tradition on May Day. All women would wash their faces with the early morning dew for it was believed that this would make them very beautiful for the following year. Once she comes back inside the hut, she combs out her long light brown hair before putting it into plaits. Once she finishes, the two of them head out to join the other villagers in picking flowers off in the meadow nearby.
The day was filled with laughter and merriment as Isaac and Emma danced watched the archery contests. Maidens gave out ribbons to the winners and people could be seen showing off their strength. With much urging from Emma, Isaac joined in and came in second, winning a ribbon from the May Queen's hair. Winning this, he gave it to Emma, tying it at the end her braid. They walked around and laughed at the pranks that were pulled and saw the pile of cabbages stacked before the house of a woman known for her fondness for the young men in the village. Using a coin to buy a cabbage, Emma places it on the pile and shakes her head before Isaac leads her away to enjoy more of the May Day festivities. Close to dark, Emma starts to feel tired so Isaac walks her to their little hut. While she rests, he starts to cook some food and make an ointment from Emma's finger from some marigold petals that he picked and added them to a small pot of fat and simmered them for a while before straining it and letting it cool.
For supper they had goats milk and cheese with barley bread before settling into bed for the night. Emma put some of the ointment on her finger and thanked her husband with a kiss before falling into a deep sleep.
The Next Day
Isaac rouses from his sleep early the next morning, before the sun is even up. Feeling the chill in the room, he rubs his arms for warmth before starting a small fire to heat up the room. Emma is still sleeping and, seeing her shivering in her sleep, pulls the thin blanket over her to let her sleep a little longer.
Changing out of his night clothes, he pulls on his worn tunic, breeches and belt and takes the leftover food from the night before and dumps it into the troughs for the pigs. Coming back inside, he starts to make a fresh pot of pottage. If only this could have been his job. Sure, farming was honest work and paid their taxes but, cooking is what Isaac loved more than anything. Since he was a young boy of 12, his mother taught him simple recipes that he made every now and again when Emma wasn't feeling well and needed something to pick up her spirits. Earlier in the year, a day before his 16th birthday, Isaac's mother have him a pot that she had used since she married his father.
After waking Emma up, the day slowly drags on as any normal day does. Emma cards wool and cleans at home while Isaac works out in the fields with the other men. It seemed like any typical day until he heard shouting from the village and smoke.
"We're being attacked!" A man yelled at them as he ran out to them. "Raiders! They're Normans!"
"No…"Isaac says in disbelief. "Emma…" Dropping everything but his sickle, he sprints back into the village, dodging fleeing villagers and Raiders alike. Huts are going up in flames, women are being raped, children and men are being slaughtered all around him. Isaac slicing at a few men on near his house and starts battling a few right outside his hut when he hears Emma's cries from inside.
"Emma!" He yells, killing off the last of the group.
"Isaac!" She calls back. "Help me!"
He busts open the door and sees a raider punch her and pin her against a table, slapping her head down against the table. Her beaten, bloodied face looks out at Isaac and she mouths 'Help Me'.
"Get away from my wife!" Isaac hollers. He starts to run at the man but two more men appear and grab his arms, throwing him back towards the doorway.
"Looks like we have an audience!" The raider laughs. The men beat Isaac and hold him up. He struggles but to no avail. Grabbing his hair, they force him to watch as the man kicks Emma's legs apart and lifts the back of her skirts and thrusts into her hard. Emma, whom is already crying, winces every time he thrusts making Isaac try harder and harder to free himself.
One the man is finished he grabs Emma by her hair and drags her over to Isaac and kicks her behind her knees so she kneels. Tears and blood streaming down her face she looks up helplessly at her husband whose face is also streaked with tears and blood. He kneels next to her grinning and pulls out a knife. Isaac struggles against the men. "No…please….please, no…"
In one swipe, the man slices Emma's neck and drops her, laughing.
"NO!" Isaac bellows. "Emma!" The two men release Isaac and escape with their leader and Isaac scrambles over to his wife. "Emma…." He chokes out, rolling her over and cradling her head.
"Isaac…" She says gasping as blood pours out of her neck. "I..love you…" She says through her tears,
"I love you too." Isaac cries. She makes a few more coughing noises and then stops. Bawling his eyes out, Isaac cradles his wife's head, rocking back and forth. How could an ordinary day turn so bad so fast? The smell of smoke assaulted his senses and he looked up to see black smoke rising up from around him. The bastards set his house on fire! Coughing, he scrambles to pick up Emma's body in his weakened state but manages to get out the door, just as a portion of the roof collapses. Destruction lies all around him as the few survivors mourn their dead. Isaac walks over to a burnt hay stack and gently lies Emma's body on top and just looks at her. His home is destroyed and burnt to the ground and here, his wife and child lay dead before him. He has nothing.
The next day, the few people left alive bury their dead and slowly disperse. Isaac just keeps walking, almost as if in a trance. He doesn't even notice when it starts to downpour and just keeps walking, his wife's ribbon from her hair, clutched in his hand. He stops in a small tavern where everyone stares at his drenched form as he takes a seat at the bar, still in a trance.
"You look like you could use a drink." The bar maiden says. He looks at her for a moment then down at the counter before him. "Yeah… my wife just died."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that…. What can I get you? An ale?"
Isaac nods. "Yeah…an ale."
Two Years Later…
Tipping the tankard back, Isaac swayed a little, almost falling over. He drains it and chucks it onto the floor with a loud clunk. "Another one!" He yells. He can barely see straight but he doesn't care. The bar maiden who is walking past sighed and bent over to retrieve the tankard only to have her ass slapped. She slams the tankard onto his table. "Go be a drunken asshole, somewhere else!" She snaps. "This is getting out of hand."
He glares at her, which is hard considering he can barely focus on her. "Listen here…bitch. I want another…so go fetch me one!" He tosses the tankard at the bar, misses and hits a bigger guy.
"Oops." He giggles.
The man stands up and walks over to them. "You got a problem, drunk?"
"Just you bloody face." Isaac slurs.
Within seconds, Isaac being pushed out the door. In his intoxicated state, he loses his balance and end up face first into the mud. It's pouring outside and he just rolls over, mud coving his face and stares up at the sky. "God..please just kill me." He pleads. "I just want my wife back."
"It gets better." Isaac looks around him.
"Emma?"
Next to him, dressed in her May Day outfit, she smiles at him. "It'll get better, I promise."
Isaac blinks a few times before realizing he was hallucinating. "No it won't."
"It will." She says, frowning. "What's happened to you?"
"You died. That's what happened." Isaac says. He probably looks like a nutcase talking to himself but he didn't care anymore what people thought. After all, he hasn't shaved or bathed in 2 years.
"So? Life goes on, Isaac."
He feels the tears start to form. "I don't want it to, Emma. I want you. I want our baby."
"We're in a better place." She smiles. "We're happy. Now you should be happy."
"How?" Isaac asks.
"Go on with your life! Live! Live for the both of us!" She faded and all he could see was the ripples in the puddle next to me. She's right. He can't live like this. It's a waste and he doesn't want to shame Emma's existence. She tried to make every moment count and yet here he was wasting his life away. Pulling himself up into as much of a standing position as possible he makes his way towards a nearby stable and pass out on a pie of hay near the back. Tomorrow, he promises himself, he'll look for a food and a job. Time to get his life back on track.
The next morning, he awakens and walks around town in search of food when he's stopped by a man with a scruffy beard like his and ragged clothes. "Hey! You know how to fight?"
"Yeah, a little. Why?"
"My name is Delvin and I need men who know how to fight. You'll be paid and given food. Interested?"
Isaac thinks this over for a moment before smiling. "Where do I sign up?"
