Erika shook from the wet and cold of the mossy walls that enclosed her like a vengeful womb. The blood on her hands would soon become her blood poured out in vengeance over this isle. She moaned at the thought of death being her solitary friend and so speedily. Never had she imagined she would court the end of her life like this? She had assumed, that if she were going to die young, it would happen on the battlefield, defending her homelands, or rescuing her brother or her father. Never had she predicted she’d be executed in a foreign land as a reprisal for killing an allied king. How had she come to such a fate?

As she leaned against the stone wall and closed her eyes, she envisioned her bow raised, a noise in the grass, the string releasing, and then her arrow soaring into the brush. She tried to grab it as it flew away from her, to bring it back, but she couldn’t catch it, of course. There was no negating what she had done. The man was dead and entombed on a grassy slope on a beautiful reef that had once been his home. Would they bury her in the same graveyard? Or would they toss her corpse out to sea? Or burn it?

Why hadn’t she taken time to understand or weigh the circumstances? Why did she forever act on impulse? She’d been a fool. Her ultimate mistake brought her here, in this dungeon, and her life would soon be over.

When the guard locked the cells beyond hers, Erika rose and grasped the iron bars. Already she felt paralyzed and buried with life continuing without her.

Her clothes still harbored the fragrance of the castle. Arell touched the fabric that afternoon and she could even now imagine his softness against her skin, reminding her how gentle he’d been with her—how sweet his kisses were—how lovely his teasing–his warm arms and caresses. He had offered his palace to her, completely unaware of her evil deed. And she let him continue with his fancies, all the while deceiving him.

Arell had been the closest she’d ever come to loving someone.

She gazed down the dark and empty dungeon, wishing by some slim chance he’d arrive again. Hoping he’d whisper the same words he whispered to her once before. “You don’t deserve to be here. Come to the castle with me.” Yet she knew he wouldn’t. How could he? She killed the most important person he had in his life.

Erika glanced out the small window above her. A full moon had recently risen and the light from it reflected on the cell’s embankment, giving the stones a haunting sheen. On the hillside, back-lit by the silvery globe stood an ancient oak tree. Its branches twisted and gnarly reached to the sky much like an elderly woman pleading for mercy. A raven sat on one of its limbs and when Erika spotted it, the bird bent his head as if he saw her. They made eye contact, and then the fowl opened its mouth and squawked. The tone that came from the bird didn’t sound like any crow she’d ever heard before. It sounded more like a hyena—laughing.