The Benton Manor Fire

Prompt: Burning Down the House

The servants were out; it was time. The rebels pulled back on their drawstrings and released a volley of flaming arrows toward the building, then watched as they arced up into the sky and turned down toward the manor house. Arrows hitting the roof made a cacophony of thock, thock, thock and an occasional clatter as some that didn’t get a foothold fell to the ground. A few bounced off the stone masonry on the outside, others shattered windows, and the crashing and tinkling of glass panes was like music to the rebel’s ears. It wasn’t long before the inside of the manor house glowed with an orange light. Flames licked up the sides of the window frames as heavy draperies caught fire.

A man on horseback galloped up to the archers from the back of the house. “Sir, I saw the Benton family escaping out the back, heading into the eastern fields.”

The rebel he was talking to smiled. “Good, let them run. Let them fear us the way we feared them for generations.” The man turned to his fellow archers. “Do you hear that, friends?! The Bentons are running scared! Mark this night, and tell your children. You were here when the revolution began!”

The men and women in the ranks cheered as the orange glow danced across their faces. Now, it was time to prepare for war.