Wildflowers | Alec Volturi

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"I always knew where I could find her. I always found her so predictable."

The sun was burning bright that fateful morning, the dawn peeking high over the horizon and gracing the small village with the opportunity to begin their day early with a warmth not gained from hard labour.

It made picking her way across tree roots and uneven earth easy with the added advantage of sight on her journey. Basket tucked in the crook of her elbow to free the use of her hands for balance, she was very careful to keep the contents within from spilling, berries and herbs that weren't grown in the garden – the type that flourished in the forest and were the best down by the stream where they were nourished and cared for by nature itself.

It wasn't very far to get to the small place that held the sweet fruits, the trip only done by those that had the time to go out of their way, and Robyn was free to go as far out as she wished with her father being the honourable priest. With horses and stock only needing her around high noon, the fiery girl was more than able to escape in the early hours of the morning.

Her trip home was delayed as she strayed from her path, tiptoeing to the side and towards where she knew to be a vast meadow filed with wildflowers beautiful and remarkable for picking. She would take some home, present them to her mother with a smile to lessen the wrath of the woman as she was not a happy individual in the morning.

In charge of the home and land in her father's stead, her mother did not enjoy spending her mornings ensuring that everything that was needed to be done was completed fully while her father escaped to the heart of town, hiding away in an office under the guise of work while Robyn knew that he partook in secret sin of laying with another woman.

She had caught him once, bringing to him his mid-day meal earlier than she regularly did and had seen the dark-haired temptress leave from her uncle's office scarcely dressed and her father pulling himself together as she walked in to greet him. He had not mentioned it, had not needed to as the threat loomed greatly over her head.

Through this she had been granted permission to enter the woods alone, to collect what she wanted and return within time to do her daily chores. It allowed her to enter the meadow with a happy skip to her step, enjoying the feel of the high grass as it caught under her skirts and brushed against the smooth skin that was hidden underneath.

Touch was a rare, treasured experience as such intimate feelings were forbidden to her apart from marriage. The grass and flowers were a freedom to her that did not extend from her own hand on her skin as she washed. Robyn could remember what it was like to be little, when she was free to play with Rodick, and he would grab her by her ankles to pull her into the mud or lift her by the waist to pace her on a horse or let her stand upon his back to reach something they weren't allowed to touch.

Now her skin was shunned, sacred to the sanctity of marriage, according to her mother, but Robyn knew better, knew it to be a weapon carefully played from the dark-haired temptress that visited her father. The woman that Robyn shared secret glances with and praised as a woman strong enough to take what she wanted.

It had been years since she had taken what she truly wanted, the boy with dark hair and alabaster skin that stuck to the side of his twin sister, neither speaking to anyone since they were believed to be odd. As a child, Robyn had tried to play with them, to get them to smile and create silly games that would entertain them for hours.

But then it had become forbidden, just like the innocent touches she shared with her brother, and Robyn had missed him the more they had grown, her heart beating wildly in her chest in a way that her friends had teased to be love.

In the meadow, one filled with wildflowers, Robyn kept herself quiet, unheard, as she watched the raven-haired boy staring up at the sky, squinting at the glare of the sun, and Robyn shook her head, basket dropping to the floor at her side.