Stolen in the Night

It was midday when Jon woke with a pulsing head and strained eyes, to see a line of coins … small golden coins - laid out upon his mantle. The fire in the hearth had disappeared, and being Winter’s eve, it was cold, so very cold within his little house. And worst of all, Zithia had disappeared also.

When Jonathon realised that Zithia had not returned, he immediately felt a rock in his stomach, a cold hard rock of upset. Up until now he had forgotten what it had been like to have his loved ones simply vanish from his life - and this felt doubly troublesome … for all of their time together Jon had never acknowledged what she was to him. They had lived so perfectly together the two had blended into one, and he had not thought of it. Now it was that everyone had left him one way or another.

This confusion he felt quickly shed into rage, as it occurred to him that it was Tindle who had literally stolen her from his house in the night - and the coins placed there were nothing but a sarcastic and very sinister token to have been left in her place for exchange, indicating this to be true.

He collected them up into his handkerchief along with the night’s leftovers and stuffed them into his saddle bag. He then filled a flask from the urn, gathered two blankets hurriedly (one for himself and one for his horse), took a few minutes more to relieve himself and say a hurried prayer, before departing out onto the road to go find her.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Finding Self - Second Guesses- Azlander Series