Chapter 3

If it is true and destiny does indeed exist, we seldom see destiny at play until we look over the past. And often at that point, it is much too late.

Lark could not know he had started his destiny that night. Was it mapped for him or did he create it? That was the question he would ask himself through the centuries that followed as he lived one long, cursed life. He would wonder about the question and its answer as Erin paraded through his one life with her many lives, one after another. In each of those lives, he would try to let her say the three words he needed to hear, “I love you.”

And he would try to have her kiss him. Truly kiss him, because she truly loved him. That was the only way he would be free. The only way Erin and a few others would ever be free. And over the years he would come to wonder if he still loved her or if she had simply become a means to an end.

Lark escaped from the castle unscathed. He thanked the gods for his luck. Not only that, he had believed he had been caught for stealing, but he hadn’t. It had been a good night on many counts. No, it had been a great night on many counts especially considering the Lady Erin had kissed him. His hand went to his lips involuntarily as he recalled their kiss. It had been heaven. Her breath, her scent, her soft touch and fingers, and her soft skin. Her voice and her hair, all that he had been able to take in during their kiss. It was burned into his mind like a brand on an animal. He would never forget it as long as he lived. He knew too that he could never give up the Lady Erin either. It simply wasn’t an option. As he walked in the dark, he started to plan how he could see her again.

Lark finally arrived home but was stopped just outside.

“Hey, Lark,” a voice whispered loudly.

Lark stopped and looked to where the voice had come from. A shadow flowed from the dark and approached like a wraith. Doman.

“I got it,” Lark said.

“Really?” Doman asked.

“Yeah, really,” Lark replied. He fished in his pockets and offered the money he had stolen from Eugene to Doman. “There you go. Even a bit extra.”

Doman grabbed the money greedily and counted it in the moonlight. “So it is, all of it and then some.”

“Are we square now?” Lark asked.

Doman didn’t reply but lunged at Lark and hit him squarely on the chin. Lark stumbled back and fell to the ground. Doman was on him instantly going through his pockets. “We’ll be square when you give me all of what you got from him,” Doman snarled.

“Get off me!” Lark protested. “I already gave you everything!”

“You’re lying!” Doman said as he hit Lark again. “Where’s the rest of it?”

“That’s all, I swear man,” Lark said. “Why can’t you just be grateful that it’s more than I owed you?”

“Because you giving me more, means you must have more,” Doman said.

“I had more but I’ve given it all to you because I knew you were going to beat me anyway. Now get off! I ain’t got nothing more!”

Doman finally relented and stood.

Lark got up and dusted himself off, “You’ve ruined my clothes idiot!”

“Who gave them to you in the first place?” Doman said.

“Whatever,” Lark said still brushing himself off.

“Thanks, Lark. This better be all. Don’t let me find out you’ve got more that you didn’t give me.”

“Screw you,” Lark said. He turned and entered the cabin.

His mother was asleep, thankfully. He changed into his pajamas and removed the rest of the cash he had hidden in his butt crack. He had known there was no way Doman would search there. Besides, he had given Doman fifty quid which was a lot. A fortune. The fact that he had kept fifty quid for himself had nothing to do with Doman. He would wash it in the morning. After all, no-one wanted money that smelled like someone’s butt.

He climbed into bed after putting the money under his mattress. Lark found he was unable to sleep and lay awake until the early hours as he remembered Erin and the kiss he had shared with her. He had to see her again.

Destiny has a funny way of making things happen. So often, what we must not do, or what we have been prohibited to do, comes back and tempts us with an attractive opportunity.

And so it was a few days later when Lark’s mother, Vangie, was asked by a customer about Lark.

“That your boy?”

Vangie nodded. “Yes, sir. He is. His name is Lark.”

The man looked at Lark. “He seems like a strong and intelligent young fella. Far too intelligent to be sitting here with nothing to do. You know what they say about the devil and idle hands.”

“I do indeed sir,” Vangie replied. She was a seamstress. She was known to provide the best quality work in their small town and as such, she was able to charge more and provide a fairly decent living for her and Lark. They would never be rich but they lived well enough.

“Well, I know that there is a need for young boys like him at the castle. I can take him and propose him for work.”

“Could you do that?” Vangie asked surprised. There were few people in these hard times that offered to do good for others so she was a bit taken aback.

“I sure can Ma’am. And seeing as you are a good woman and seem to have raised a good boy, I would be happy to help and keep the devil away.”

“I would be most grateful, sir. You are too kind.”

“Well, I’m on my way to the castle now. If you would like me to bring the boy along, I will be happy to.”

“That would be such a great help sir,” Vangie said.

Lark had come to stand by his mother’s side as he listened to the conversation.

I can work in the castle? I’ll be close to her. I can see her! Lark thought. He recalled what Eugene had told him but did it matter? Would he even know? He had simply been unlucky when he had been caught. He was sure her father was much too busy to track her every move much less be on the lookout for a pickpocket he had threatened. The last place he would expect a boy to appear again would be in his castle working for him! They often said the best place to hide was right under someone’s nose.