Unto the old
And ancient divine.
Er’y corner of the land,
Er’y depth of the sea,
Shall open unto thee.
No plant nor man,
Bird nor beast,
Shall hold you back
when you desire release.”
The echoof a melody comes afar, as if singing with my thoughts, cut short by the low, loud resonance of a bell. How has it already been thirty minutes?
The lighthouse is now in the distance. I washed up on one of the distant shores that surrounded me for years.
After ten minutes of sitting and breathing glorious air and massaging my forearm—that I am pleased feels very much normal despite the new markings—I stand and put my back to the lighthouse, leaving it all behind me.
If I’m fast, I’ll be gone by dawn. Charles no doubt thinks me dead, which means he won’t report me as abandoning my marriage contract to the council. As long as no one knows I’m alive…I am finally free.
Five years of freedom on a siren’s boon. Five years for the adventure I’ve always wanted.
Practically an eternity…
CHAPTER1
Four years and six months later…
The four cornersof one sheet of paper hold my fate. The letter quivers in my fingers and the sound nearly takes me back to an afternoon a lifetime ago in a dusty, cluttered study. It started with a crumple of parchment. It’ll end with one.
I begin reading.
—
NOTICE OF FINAL JUDGMENT
Regarding the Matter of:Elizabeth Victoria Datch v. Charles Jol Vakstone
—
I suckin and hold a breath.Final judgment. This is it. For five years I’ve been working toward this moment.
Though, for all I want to read on, my eyes keep snagging on that second line. It’s odd now to see my first name written out. That name died in the cold sea that long-ago night. There’s only one person in the world now who uses that name…and it’s purely out of spite.
I shake off that slimy, cloying feeling and continue reading:
—
The Council of Tenvrathhas reached a judgment regarding the Forced Dissolution of Marriage requested by Elizabeth Victoria Datch.
Upon reviewing the supplementing documents provided by both Datch and Vakstone, as well as the full circumstances of the matter, the council has come to the following conclusion:
Severing of Marriage Contract:GRANTED
