Ebony

Ebony listened and looked around as her and her mother walked through the woods to the small town ahead. They had never been to this town before, at least not that Ebony could remember. So Ebony was taking everything in along the way, as she usually did when they were travelling to a new place. Ebony believed that each part of the wilderness had its own distinct sound, smell, and appearance. This was how she remembered the different places she’d been, through her observations of the nature surrounding her. The area they were in now had a very damp smell to it, and all the greenery was a little darker than normal. But despite the semi-gloominess, Ebony found it to be beautiful nonetheless.

“How much longer, mother?” Ebony asked as they walked.

“Not too much longer I hope, dearest,” her mother replied. “We should make it by early afternoon, with plenty of daylight left.”

Ebony nodded. She always loved going to a new town and meeting new people. They rarely stayed long though, even in the winter, and Ebony barely had any time to make friends.
Ebony had her name because of the very dark hair that she had had since she was a baby. Her mother had given birth to her in a monastery, barely making it. A monk just so happened to be passing by in the woods as she went into labor.

Ebony was eighteen years old now. And not once had she discovered the identity of her father. She just knew that her mother had once been a nun and hated it.

She had been forced into a nunnery because her mother believed her to never be able to be wanted by a man. She was unmarriageable. However, at the nunnery she found a knight who was exhausted and war torn. They fell in love and made love that night. However, the next day he had to leave but promised to return. He never did. Once Ebony’s mother discovered she was pregnant, she escaped the nunnery with no care of shame—for she had already received enough of that when here hateful mother put in her in that place—and went in search of her lover, only to discover him engaged to a noblewoman. She was heartbroken.

Ebony always wanted to know who her father was, but her mother refused to tell her where she could find the mystery knight.

A distant sound of hooves broke Ebony’s stream of consciousness. She turned to see a giant, brown stallion galloping full speed towards them. She grabbed her mother’s arm and they both began to run. The hooves were bearing down on them fast. Before it was too late, Ebony pulled her mother out of the way and they landed in the brush on the side of the rode. The horse galloped by without letting up. As it did, Ebony caught a glimpse of the rider, a slightly older noble with a stern look. They glared at each other briefly and then he was gone.

Ebony stood up and brushed herself off after helping her mother up.

“I hate nobles and the upper class,” Ebony hissed between her teeth. “Why do they treat us like such shit? What did we do to deserve this, mother?”

“Nothing,” Ebony’s mother replied evenly. “But nevertheless we cannot do anything about it. We just have to deal with it. We’ve put up with it for the almost the past nineteen years, I think we can put up with it a little longer.”

“How much longer is a little longer?” Ebony cried. “I will not stand for this for the rest of my life! We must do something!”

“There is nothing we can do,” her mother repeated. “It is wiser to just leave well enough alone, Ebony.” She paused as she looked down at her dirtied garments. “You’re just like your father,” she whispered. “He was always very aggressive, and he believed that there was an answer to every problem, and the answer most of the time was violence. This is why he was knight. If you were a boy, you would make a fine knight.”

Ebony was left speechless, angry, and at the same time heartbroken. She didn’t know how to respond to her mother. She had never been told that before by her mother and it took her by surprise.

“Come, Ebony,” her mother said after a period of silence. “We must continue towards the town if we wish to make it by mid-afternoon.”

And with that they continued on in silence.