I really, really enjoyed that. It was such an original wayto look at it. I liked the way you took us through what it meant to be an executioner becasue it was a bit like a folk tale, or a history lesson, and then showed us how it was put into practise. There are a couple of bits where it felt like you changed tense a bit. Like, 'He did, however, longed to know her name.’ But they were the only mistakes I found.

The end was nice and heart wrenching as well. Through out the story I became fond enough of Aelfric to be sad that he ended up excepting what he was and walking away from anything else.

The twist on courage at the end was good too.

A bit of a personal question. What's fried cassava?

Sometimes it's just nice to know that somebody read.

It was worth it -- and I loved the line: the courage to give away the last piece of heaven that you have

Some people call me morbid, but I have always been very curious about executioners. Perhaps this is because I have watched an overdose of period dramas, haha. I like your style of writing here, so sparse in words yet beautiful in content.