Character Development: The Lady in the Red Dress

She is running. 
Away from him.
She must get away. 
She fears her life now depends on it.
Emily's did. 
Her breath catches for a second at that thought, slowing her down slightly. Pushing through it she keeps running but with a tear in her eye and a pain in her heart. Emotional more than physical.
Her long brown hair, set into ringlets, streams behind her. The late afternoon sun catching the bleached highlights bestowed upon her over the long hot summer. Her crimson silk gown is muddied at the hem, marring some of the beautiful blackwork embroidery, and her shoe heels are caked in mud and fallen leaves. Ugly to see but useful for grip. The diamond brooch at her throat bounces shafts of light off into the trees like a miniature firework display. 
She moves quickly despite the weight of her heavily layered gown on her short frame. Her healthy build giving her the endurance to continue against the dress' gravitational pull. Her outdoorsy nature also helping her stay ahead of him. 
She can hear him following behind, coughing occasionally and cursing his hearty appetite for food and wine. Cursing her too for escaping. He should have realised sooner this woman was too wild, too unpredictable for such a future. He had to stop her before she reached the village. He daren't not think of what might happen should she be believed.
The high lace collar and tight corset try to slow her down but sheer fear and adrenaline keep her moving forward, ploughing deeper into the forest behind her 'home'. Hopefully towards safety. But wondering in the depths of her kind if it actually would be.

(Task 1.14 from FutureLearn's Start Novel Writing FREE online Course - try it during the next session,  starting 26th April 2017: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/start-writing-fiction - remember a good writer is always getting better!)

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