The Well at the World's End - Story Book
The Well Beyond Grief
William Morris
1896
The Well Beyond Grief
The Life He Refused
What could make Ralph abandon everything?
The Well Beyond Grief
The Life He Refused
Lots had sent his three brothers into the world, yet ordered the youngest to stay and inherit.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Life He Refused
Ralph loved the river meadows and every sleeping face beneath the high roof.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Life He Refused
Still, his hands tightened whenever that borrowed future closed around him.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Life He Refused
He slipped through the mist with his bright sword, leaving Upmeads before anyone could stop him.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Life He Refused
At Wulstead, his godmother placed a jeweled chaplet in his palm and spoke of deathless water.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Life He Refused
What is that water, and how may I find it?
The Well Beyond Grief
The Life He Refused
She named the Well at the World's End, and his restless road finally found direction.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Woman in the Wood
The chaplet flashed beneath ancient oaks as Ralph entered Wood Perilous.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Woman in the Wood
At a hidden crossroads, two armed men dragged a red-haired woman by a rope.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Woman in the Wood
They rushed Ralph together, and his bright sword answered before doubt could root him.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Woman in the Wood
Both attackers fell, and the thorns went silent.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Woman in the Wood
The freed Lady of Abundance kissed him once, warned him from danger, and rode away alone.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Woman in the Wood
Her grey eyes vanished between the trees, but Ralph carried their calm like a wound.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Woman in the Wood
A watchful woodman named Roger claimed the Lady wanted Ralph guided onward.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Woman in the Wood
Ralph mistrusted him, yet followed through the wilderness toward the Castle of Abundance.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Woman in the Wood
Its white walls rose beyond hayfields, offering shelter and hiding a deeper snare.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
Inside the white walls, silence received Ralph like a host.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
Tapestries showed the Lady of Abundance unchanged beneath crowns and passing years.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
A book claimed she drank from the Well at the World's End and ensnared every man who saw her.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
Hope warmed his face, then fear chilled it.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
Ralph waited for days, afraid she would arrive whenever he crossed the empty threshold.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
Obsession finally drove him into Wood Perilous toward the Water of the Oak.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
There, the Knight of the Sun stood over a fallen rival and threatened the Lady.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
Ralph charged, but the giant knight hammered him senseless beside the still water.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
He woke beneath a raised sword.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
The Lady of Abundance offered to go with the Knight if Ralph lived and joined them.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Book and the Blade
The sword stopped, but freedom closed around them both.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
That stopped blade became a chain beside the rival's campfire.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
The Knight of the Sun returned Ralph's weapons and urged flight before morning.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
Ralph set down his sword, refusing to abandon the Lady of Abundance.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
Before dawn, her fingers pulled him into the forest.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
They ran until the campfire vanished behind rain.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
She had brought him away from death.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
She revealed the Knight as her estranged husband, who had cursed and cast her out.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
Ralph asked whether her love would bless him or ruin him.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
I am good to thee, and will be true to thee.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
Their faces softened as they chose each other beneath the boughs.
The Well Beyond Grief
Away From Death
She promised to guide Ralph to the Well at the World's End.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
The promised road narrowed to the Desert-House, a white-sanded cave above a clear stream.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
The Lady of Abundance called it their Chamber of Love and set bread beside the stones.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
Ralph watched her hands work as if a shared life had already begun.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
She sent him hunting while she readied their refuge.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
Near the stream, her scream tore through the green stillness.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
Help me, O help, lovely creature of God!
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
Ralph turned unarmed and saw the Knight of the Sun drive steel through her breast.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
He snatched his bow from the grass.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
One arrow struck through the Knight's eye, and the huge body fell.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
Ralph's hands stopped above her wound because she was already gone.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Chamber of Love
The stream kept moving beside them.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Last Promise
The stream sounded through a night Ralph could not escape.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Last Promise
He knelt beside the Lady until cold light entered the Desert-House.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Last Promise
At dawn, he sealed her beneath stones in their refuge.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Last Promise
Outside, he raised another cairn over the Knight of the Sun.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Last Promise
Each stone replaced one stroke of rage with exhausted mercy.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Last Promise
Ralph freed her horse into the thorns.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Last Promise
Home waited behind him, but he could not return unchanged.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Last Promise
Ahead lay the Well at the World's End, the water she had promised to show him.
The Well Beyond Grief
The Last Promise
Ralph walked from the wilderness carrying grief, while their last promise carried him forward.
The Well Beyond Grief
The End
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