The Blood of the Lamb- An Excerpt

Okay, so a while back I posted a bit on the subject of my latest work, The Blood of the Lamb. Well, I have been working on this story for quite a while, and since God has been good enough to give me a love for this work, I wish to share an excerpt with you. Enjoy and feel free to critique!

Golden beams of sunlight streamed through the canopy of trees. Arrenia’s blood pumped through her veins as the lush foliage rushed by. She clenched the mare’s mane, leaning forward as she enjoyed the breath of the wind blowing against her cheek. Her legs hugged the side of the horse. Heart racing, she whipped her head around.

“Faster!” she cried.

“Careful, little maiden,” Castor reminded. “You’ll scare all the game.”

She stretched out her arm, allowing her fingers to brush the branches. He caught it and pulled it in, only to receive a sharp, reprimanding slap upon the hand. Laughing inwardly, he sat marveling at this young creature who dared to oppose him in such a frank, open manner.

Arrenia drove her heels into the horse’s flanks, spurring her onward. Leaning over the mare’s neck, she watched the ground beneath her whizz by….

A small scream issued from her lips as she began to fall. Her hand grappled for a hold- anything that would spare her from landing in a hurting heap upon the path. Dirt sprinkled her face, which lay just inches from the horse’s menacing hooves.

Crushing her fingers in a grasp of steel, Castor yanked on the reins. The creature reared, whinnying its complaints. His legs constricted the horse’s sides as his feet slipped from the stirrups. Arrenia dangled from his grip, slipping slowly with every fleeting second.

Releasing the reins, he reached for her other hand. Cold sweat met his palms as she complied. The animal pawed at the air, sending its rider tumbling from his seat of command….

Castor found himself somersaulting through the atmosphere, Arrenia beneath him, above him, and beneath him again. Pain surged through him as he made contact with the earth. For a moment, they tottered on the brink of a hillside. The shoulders of his shirt gathered in her grasp, and he clung tightly to her arms. Tongues tied in terrification, they glanced from each other to the long descent below.

Then, with a shriek of delight, Arrenia fell backwards, pulling him with her. Toppled-on twigs snapped beneath them, rifling the forest with resonating cracks. Thistles stabbed their sharp blades into their clothing while disarrayed garlands of briars adorned their hair.

They stopped in a clearing. Letting go of each other, they rolled onto their backs, uproarious laughter subsiding to subsequent giggles.

“Well, so much for not scaring the game,” Castor observed, propping himself up with his elbow.

Arrenia plucked a blade of grass from the lush carpet beneath her. Holding it up, she watched as it tipped to and fro, dancing to the gentle whistle of the wind. Birds twittered their harmonious accompaniment. The girl closed her eyes, allowing the breeze to toss the tips of her hair.

Castor looked at her, his brows knitted in the stitches of puzzlement. “What are you doing?”

She swatted at him. “Shh! Listen!”

Delving into momentary silence, he closed his eyes. His mind focused. His ears strained. Then, “What?! I don’t hear anything!”

Arrenia lifted her face towards the sun, allowing it to wrap her in the warmth of its rays. “Shh! Hear it?”

The seconds crawled like ants on a hill. Still nothing. “Tell me, what is it?!”

She tilted her chin a bit higher. “Open your imagination. Listen to the song of Nature. Try it. You’ll hear her pretty voice.”

“Do you always do this?”

She opened her eyes. “Do what?”

“Imagine.”

She reclined, sinking her back deep into the grass. “I just like to appreciate the simple wonders Ino has provided us with.”

Removing his gaze from hers, he stared off into the impenetrable wall of trees, hoping to bore a hole, to be able to relate, to share in her source of wonder. He wet his lips. “I wish I could, too, Arrenia… But life’s too short, too fleeting. One day you’re alive, the next you’re dead.”

Her fingers hugged the stem of a flower, pulling it free from its earthly bonds. The petite, pink petals displayed their faded beauty, each telling the tale of gone days of glory as they drooped from the stem. She stroked the plant gently. “But that’s just it. Maybe life’s too fleeting. So we should enjoy it while we have it. Every…single…moment.”

She pulled one petal away and tossed it to the wind, plucking each in turn until the stem itself stood, stripped of its adornments and bared to the battering wills of the world. She handed it to Castor, and he twirled it between his fingers, examining its helpless, humble appearance.

She’s right, he thought as astonishment throttled all speech. He had certainly never thought of it that way!

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught her triumphant smile. He constricted the flower, crushing what little life it had left. What was he doing, letting this Lydacian girl put thoughts in his head? The filthy wretch! Did not everyone know this? That her people could deceive for years and never be caught?

Sighing, he unknotted his clenched hands. And yet, there was something different about this girl. Something he didn’t quite understand….

He shrugged the thought off his shoulders. He’d just have to watch her…and himself.

Concealed by a sea of green foliage, a scout observed them from his post. Squinting, he clarified in his mind the image of the girl, and her identity. Then, he turned from his post and sped northward, the words of news upon his tongue….