Violet

Chapter 1

The water washed over Kayla’s face, down her neck and over her breasts as she stood under the waterfall. She opened her mouth, allowing water to trickle in. It tasted so sweet, so warm. Kayla waded forward, her eyes opening to view her surroundings. She smiled at the gather of birds frolicking among the deep forest undergrowth. Her eyes moved further to the left to the rocky cliff and the water cascading down its side, and then to rest upon the violet grasses that thrived on the lonely island in the pool. A swift rustle caused Kayla to look up among the trees. Then the voices came. They whispered so softly, so softly. They whispered as the breeze rustled the red leaves of the trees that grew along the bank of the pool. Kayla gasped as the voices increased in volume. She clasped her hands over her ears, the echo of the ocean her only silence as the voices persisted. The breeze increased in intensity, ripples forming on the pool of the clear water, lapping against Kayla’s waist. She waded forward as the whispering increased tenfold. Kayla pressed harder against her ears; but the voices just got louder and the ripples grew in size until they were small waves. “No!” Kayla screamed at the lonely landscape, the birds flying away in haste, their chirps lost to the increased intensity of the voices. “Please…Not again …” The whispers became so loud that they blocked out the sounds of the waterfall and the rustling of the leaves. Kayla stumbled forward. The voices grew louder and louder; “Stop!” she screamed, but the voices still persisted. Kayla waded through the water, her hands still firmly pressed against her ears. A tear was born from her left emerald-green eye, it fell down her tanned cheek, and then finally into the water. Kayla didn’t notice the man wading through the water towards her, which was most unfortunate.

A man hurried to the edge of the pool in anticipation of the water, as he was dreadfully thirsty after a long day of unsuccessful hunting. He kneeled by the pool, bowing his head low, his brown hair just touching the water as he drew his hands, filled to the brim with water, closer to his mouth. He noted the sweet warmth that flooded down his throat as he drank from the pool. The man, after satisfying his thirst for the moment, suddenly noticed the unusually high waves. He looked up to the centre of the pool and gasped at what he saw. A young woman stood, with her hands clasped to her ears, in the water; she was crying. Peter’s mouth fell upon at the sight of her beauty She had a perfect tan, that was even visible in the areas that aren’t deemed decent to have exposed, and wild dark brown hair. He slowly walked around the bank, trying to get in her line of vision; he didn’t want to alarm her by coming up from behind. He wondered why she was crying as he entered the water. Even though he was in her sight she didn’t seem to notice him. Peter waded through the water, suddenly realizing that he probably should have removed at least his heavy leather vest, his father’s tailor was going to have it out with him now. Just as he was almost there he heard a sharp whipping sound coming from the edge of the pool, an arrow whizzed over Peter’s shoulder and continued on its flight towards the beauty crying in the pool. The last thing Kayla heard as the arrow imbedded into her thigh was the urgent whispering of the voices, the whispering that ended as soon as her flesh was pierced. Blood trickled down her thighs and into the warm, sweet pool.

“I’m sick of your practical jokes Tomas!” Peter strolled up and down the hallway, his hands clasped together hard. “What did you hope to achieve?”
Tomas stood, his face was no longer the smile it had been when he had released the arrow in the jest of scaring his friend. “I…I didn’t…I just wanted to-“
“To…what!?” Peter’s face was no longer calm and peaceful as it was when he had happened upon the lady in the pool, the lady who was bleeding, possibly to death, in the next room.
“-scare you” Tomas felt ashamed, he felt guilty. It was his entire fault. He had played practical jokes on people before, but they had never had such a serious consequence. “I’m sorry” Peter went silent at his friend’s confession. He knew he was too angry to accept any sort of apology, not matter how heartfelt it was. “Just leave…please” Tomas’s face betrayed the sadness he felt as he turned and walked through a door at the end of the hallway. Peter continued on his anger and sadness driven pace up and down the hallway for news of the young woman’s plight.

It seemed an eternity before the door to the guest bedroom opened. Peter jumped; the hallway had been in silence for sometime now. He hurried forwards to see who the person was. “Father!” The man who had opened the door was quite old; he had a short brown beard that was speckled with white, short graying-brown hair, and sparkling blue eyes, exactly the same as Peter’s own. “My boy -” Peter couldn’t contain himself; he needed to know everything, now. “How is she, father?” Peter inquired, interrupting his father. Peter’s father, who’s given name is Magus, was bemused at his son’s abrupt manner. “-everything will be fine. The bleeding stopped long ago, all she needs now is rest.” ‘He has been with many a girl, he has also seen many a girl hurt but he has never before cared this deeply for them, maybe he felt responsible in some way, or maybe there was more to it…’ Magus silently mused.
“Why didn’t you come tell me sooner?” Peter asked, he was fed up with ignorance and patience today. “I should have been the first to be informed!” Peter was fuming, and his father’s smile did anything but calm him down.
“I’m sorry son, but was it not better that I come tell you now, when she is awake, rather than have told you several hours ago when she was asleep, and when I would not have let you even enter this room” Magus replied, his eyes sparkling as he motioned with his hand to the room he had just departed. ‘His words are wise, like always’ Peter thought. ‘Why can’t he ever be wrong…?’
“You may enter now, if you wish?” Peter didn’t need asking twice as he walked briskly past his father and into one of the many guest rooms of the estate.

Peter entered the room. He gasped as he took in the refurbishments of the room. Peter pondered on why the room had been changed; he came to the conclusion that his father was sick of the old design. The walls were once made of a lightwood, but now the walls were of a deep brown, and the wall skirting of a dark burgundy colour. The old wooden floors were now covered in a rich carpet of various animal skins, the old cupboards removed with new in-built wardrobes on the same side of the room as the door and mirrors had also been installed on the wall to Peter’s right. He noticed the reflection of a set of doors leading to a beautiful garden; the old wooden shutters on the left wall had been replaced with new doors that slid open onto the estate gardens. Peter suddenly remembered why he was in the room and looked to the bed, the same old bed as always. Underneath a mass of thick leather rugs and satin sheets was a woman with long brown hair, and emerald-green eyes that shone in the moonlight from the garden doors. Peter walked slowly forward. Kayla looked up startled. Peter smiled, and so did she.