A Hunter's Tale, goldfishlover [electric book reader .TXT] 📗

He paused, took a deep breath, and said, “When I received word that a pack of demons successfully found Cyrus’s lover, I went straight to his citadel, because I knew it was he that summoned the demons in the first place. He imprisoned your mother, and allowed no one to see her. During the days of her captivity, I visited her in secret; spoke to her, asked questions about you… I asked her, ‘What happened to you?’ and she told me: ‘I told Cyrus the baby died as I gave birth to her and that I could not face him again after what happened. I lied- she is somewhere safe, where Cyrus will never find her. Please, Samuel, please, do not tell Cyrus! Please, please, whatever you do, do not tell him! I don’t want that monster near my child…’ I promised your mother that I would not tell Cyrus about you and that I would take care of you if only she’d tell me where you were, but she would not tell me.
“No matter how many times I asked, she would not tell me where she hid you. Eventually, I gave up, and eventually, after six torturous months spent wasting away in a cell, Cyrus killed your mother. I kept my promise, but searched everywhere for you. It wasn’t until I met Angelica that I found you. I met her while looking for you in the Isle of Dawn. After all, where does one go when looking for support? They go home. Your mother was originally from the Isle of Dawn, home of the elves, and I thought that perhaps she hid you amongst the elves, where, to the human eye, you would blend in. While there, I met Angelica. She offered me a place to stay while I searched for you. After months of relentless and almost pointless searching, Angelica stepped in and asked me who I was looking for. She brought out a crystal ball and within an hour, the face of a ten-year-old child- your face- appeared. That was the first time I saw you. She informed me your mother hid you in Selentia and a woman by the name of Marian Hokinson took you in after your mother died.”
I closed my eyes and stopped listening then. I couldn’t take any more information. My head was pounding and my heart felt as though it had been impaled on a pike and left there for the world to see. I rested my head on the table, buried my face so that Samuel could not see me, and started to cry. I learned it a long time ago, life wasn’t fair, but now, as I cried my heart out for the first time in years, I shouted out, “Life isn’t fair!” It wasn’t my fault my mother fell in love with a wretched human; yet, I paid the price for her foolishness. It wasn’t my fault demons came after her; yet, I too, paid the price for her actions. It wasn’t my fault that my mother wouldn’t tell Samuel where to find me; yet I suffered the loss of my childhood. It wasn’t my fault Samuel didn’t think to take me away from that wretched woman- Hokinson- yet I suffered for it. Life wasn’t fair and whoever watched over us from above was making extra sure I knew it.
Samuel came up to me, rested his hand on me, and patted my back, just as my mother had done when I cried as a child. “It’s alright Victoria,” He crooned softly, “It’s okay. Let it all out…” And I did. I cried more that night than I had in my whole life. All the walls I had spent over the years, carefully building so that no one could see me as I was now were broken beyond repair. Only time would tell if I’d ever be able to reconstruct them to their former glory.
Chapter 9

I did not sleep well that night. In between the endless stream of crying and cursing, I had strange dreams; dreams of my mother lying in a cell, broken and starving to death while a man sat outside, taunting her with freedom she would never again have. I would wake up and silently call her name, yet there would be no answer. There would be no warm reply that everything was alright. There would be no soft laughter or worried cries. Save Samuel, sleeping calmly, in the other room, I was alone.
Well into the early morn, just before the sun began to rise, I fell asleep. I was no longer in the warm bed Samuel had generously offered me; rather, I lied on the floor, in fetal position, swaddled in a cocoon of various blankets. Old habits, I suppose, are hard to break; it had been well over three years, maybe more, since I had last slept in a warm bed. I wasn’t used to feeling so… pampered. On a good night, I would sleep under the watchful eyes of the moon and stars and hope like hell nothing was hungry or stupid enough to pick a fight with me during the night. On a bad night, I would walk around looking for a dry place to rest my eyes, if only for a few precious seconds. Now, the thought of sleeping in a warm bed, as welcoming as it was, was an alien custom, almost unknown to me.

I awoke to find Samuel, nibbling on a slice of cheese, and staring at me with curious eyes. “Any reason,” he said, “you’re on the floor?”
I yawned, stretched my arms for a moment, and replied calmly, “I have not slept in a bed for over three years now. As welcoming as the idea is, I’m not used to such a civilized way of living. I’d rather sleep on the floor, to retain a small sense of normality.” It sounded weird, even to my own ears, which had grown accustomed to my backwards sayings and often-failed speech patterns.
“Suit yourself. Now, are you hungry?” I nodded and Samuel replied, “I’ve got fresh eggs cooking over a fire in the other room. I ate the last of the cheese unfortunately. It will be a while before I dig up the coins to go to the market for anymore. Speaking of money, have I spoken to you of your payment yet?”
“No. From the way you spoke in your letter, however, you make it seem as though you’ve stored away the king’s treasury. Tell me, what is it you do to earn so much money? Most shops hardly pay a few bronze coins for a year’s worth of labor, and I know farms are doing poorly this season. What is it you’ve done that’s entitles you to so much extra?”
Samuel shook his head. “I do not like to speak much of my wealth, nor do you of your past, I assume, but as you are now my niece,” I held back the urge to cringe, hearing that word, “I will tell you. When Cyrus killed your mother, blinded by rage, I gathered the help of the people of the Skell Marshes, and I overthrew Cyrus. I became the ruler of the Skell Marshes, but when things turned too ugly for my taste, I bailed out and began looking for you. I took as much gold with me as I could pack, stuffing some in my horse’s saddle bags, some in my pockets; I even hid a few pieces in the rim of an old hat Cyrus had stolen from me years ago. I found it in his bedchamber, next to a portrait of the two of us when we were younger. I have stored most of the gold away, somewhere will no one but I will ever find it. I keep what I need here at the house. It is not a lot, but I get by just as well as any common villager.
“Now, give me but a moment and I shall return with your payment. I only hope that you are not disappointed. I may have been a king of the Skell Marshes, but I was a poor king; one that could net keep track of money very well. I took the rest of what I could before leaving the Skell Marshes forever.” He left the room for a moment, leaving me on the floor, slightly groggy, and thoroughly aroused with curiosity. He came back quickly with a small, royal purple sack in his left hand. Coins and other various riches bulged from the sack, and I wondered how many other sacks he had filled with similar treasures.
“In this bag, is your payment, Victoria. There are twenty gold coins inside, along with other highly valued objects. When you find yourself low on money, simply reach in, and when you can, exchange one of the rings at the bottom for more gold. The rings are worth more than everything I own today combined, and one ring should provide enough money to last a few months.”
I nodded. “Thank you Samuel. By no means, am I disappointed; this is more than all of my previous earning combined. In fact, it saddens me to think that I may not live long enough to put all of it to use, but either way, I thank you. You have been most generous with both information and hospitality. It’s been a while since someone has been brave enough to invite me into their home. As you can see, I’m not the best guest in Ageria, but I do know how to return a favor, and I promise, even if it kills me, I will take on your mission. It seems the least I can do to repay you for all you’ve given me in this short period of time.” I got up, stretching my arms and legs as I did so, and started putting my nest of blankets back on the bed where they belonged.
Samuel smiled. “You’re very welcome. It’s been a long time since I’ve had company, and it pleases me to no end, that I’ve been a good host. Now, will you stay for breakfast before you go, or would you rather get going? The Isle of Dawn is a long ways away, and I know better than anyone that procrastination is Bane’s own handiwork.”
I shook my head no and said apologetically, “I best be on my way. I, too, understand the ghastly effects of procrastination, and I fear that if I don’t get going now, I’ll never find the courage to leave later on. Once again, thank you for all you’ve given me.”