Egfor pulled his horse up to a halt. He grips the leather reins tightly in his gloved hands. He sits back in the saddle, staring at the jail.
Through the cold steel bars of the jailyard doors and past the armed guards, there stood the gallows. A severed rope still swung, recently cut.
He closed his eyes. Though he did not witness it, he got a vision the moment it happened. It was burned into his mind.
The trap door swinging down, the rope going taut. He was not there to witness it but he could sense Nathan's distress over witnessing it.
He opens his eyes, staring at the gallows once more. His mind drifted to the rabbit he caught with his hands earlier. He had a firm grip on its neck, ready to finish the deed and bring it home. Carm yelled at him to release the rabbit, despite Egfor trying to explain he had mouths to feed and he relied on hunting for a living. Exasperated with the show she was making, he let the thing go.
"A life for a life. The world has an odd sense of humor."
Nathan's words rang through his head on repeat. Why did Wulf claim a crime that wasn't his? He would have hung, regardless. And Egfor will not deny he was relieved his tormentor and abuser is dead.
However, there was no trial. This was not a proper procedure with no proof. He got pinned for a murder he didn't commit. Egfor was thankful that Nathan gave the man a proper burial so he wouldn't have to track him down to usher him into the afterlife.
Fear of corruption in the town authorities plagued his mind as he turned his horse North, riding through town. He pulled his furs tighter around his body.
He needed to go on a spiritual hunt to deal with some things and meditate.
