Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #14 May 2015 | Page 74

her heartbeat slowing down. Once the blood had
stopped pounding in her head she realized how silent
the market had become.

He grinned. “See they love you?”

She opened her eyes again. A hundred gawking faces
surrounded her. Behind her, a lone set of hands began
to clap. The rest of the townspeople glanced at each
other, unsure, but soon the whole market was clapping along. Looks of fear and confusion brightened
to approval and excitement. Angwenth turned on her
heel to face who started this nonsense and frowned. Of
course. “Oh, it’s you.”
An elf stood before her in a set of elegant and wellmade clothes. His leggings were pressed and his white
flowing shirt left little to the imagination. His whole
pale porcelain body was perfectly toned, and his grey
eyes resembled storming clouds. His hair was pure
white, though he was still young for his race.

Angwenth’s cheeks were heated but she hid her blush
by looking at the ground. She could feel the eyes of
the patrons still watching her every move. I’m a fool.
I need to keep that under control, and here he is, just
cheering my stupidity on. She rushed towards him,
pulling his arm into hers and yanking him to follow
with her. “Let’s go, Grey.”

Of course, Grey had taken that as a challenge and
continued to try to win Angwenth over. After a year or
two they built an odd type of friendship that seemed to
work for them.
“How much of that did you hear?” Angwenth asked
him after a few moments.

He chuckled, a warm laughter that usually made all
those around join with him. “Why the rush, my darling? The crowd is not done cheering for your bravery.”
“It wasn’t bravery, and you know it. I lost my temper.”
Angwenth muttered through clenched teeth.

The crowd cheered and kept cheering until Angwenth
pulled him into an alleyway and pushed him gently
against the wall.

“Grey, this is serious.” Though she couldn’t help but
smile.
The two had met over ten years ago in school. Grey
was a well-known player and flirted with all the girls.
Angwenth brushed him off when he tried to flirt with
her the first time. He was so confused when he was
greeted with a no, his smile faltered for one of the few
times since she met him. Angwenth told herself she
was the only one who could keep him grounded and
from thinking he could always get his way.

“At your service, Angwenth, my darling.” He bowed,
his arm tucked beneath him.

He turned to face the crowd as Angwenth yanked him
away in embarrassment, shouting to them. “You all
loved her performance, no?”

Angwenth groaned. Grey always loved to put on a
show; being the centre of attention was where he was
most comfortable. His warm and playful personality always won the crowds over. His gorgeous looks
definitely helped as well. Angwenth on the other hand
looked homely and messy. While she tried to remain
clean, her brown hair was a rat’s nest of untameable
curls, and her skin was tanned from her preference of
outdoor work and play.

“Enough to know it had to do with a little girl and
Francis did something to piss you off.” He let off a
snicker. “Though, a lot of things tend to piss you off,
huh?”
She rolled her eyes and filled him in with the details.
“You know him?”
“Yes, he’s Francis Tinimon. Married to the seamstress,
Laura. That’s was their daughter, Amelia.” Grey had a
tone that he knew more about them but he didn’t keep
going.
Angwenth raised a brow. “What does he do all day?
Drink?”

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